I Just Had to Share...

a few pictures from Christmas at our house!  I'm supposed to be taking a little break from blogging, but with so many fun Christmas posts from all of you, I was feeling a little left out!  HA!

Jack must've been a really good boy this year, because Santa unloaded quite a few goodies at our house!

Checking out his stocking stuff!  He got a dinosaur sandwich cutter, stickers, bath crayons, books and some socks.

Unwrapping his gifts.  He wasn't quite sure about the unwrapping, but of course he loved playing with the paper and bows.

I must've been pretty good this year too, because Santa left me a new coat and a serger!  WooHoo!  Now, if I can just figure out how to work that bad boy!  HA!

Jack and me on Christmas morning.  Of course, Randy and my mom were there too, but for some reason I didn't get any pictures of them or their Santa goodies.

Christmas Day at Memaw and Grandad's House with all the cousins and spouses.

I love Jack's new little boots!

My living room now looks like Toys R Us on Black Friday!  It's out of control! 

We had a very Merry Christmas and enjoyed seeing all of my family.  More pictures to come after the new year! 

Have a great week! 

I'm officially on bloggy vacay now!  HA!

(semi) Wordless Wednesday

Christmas is in 3 days...

Only 10 days until the New Year...

Only 67 days until I turn 30...

And only 210 days until Jack turns 2!

Time really needs to slow down!  Where has this year gone?  It seems like just yesterday we were ringing in 2010, now it's almost over?  I need time to just stand still for a bit!  Jumping Jack will be a bloggy vacay until after the New Year, but you can betcha' I'll be back with a lot of pictures in 2011!  HA!

I hope yall have a very Merry Christmas, enjoy your families, eat lots of yummy food and thank God for all of your many blessings! I'll see yall in 2011!

(semi) wordless wednesday is hosted by Daphne

Christmas in Katy

We celebrated Christmas in Katy this weekend with my family!  I'm short on time today, so I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.  Get ready for major picture overload!

Friday night when we got to town, we ate at Taste of Texas.  It's an awesome steakhouse and if you live anywhere near Houston, you must try it!  We love it!  Jack loved the popcorn!

Saturday, my mom and I took Jack to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop.  Unfortunately, this was the best picture we got.  Jack wanted absolutely nothing to do with Santa!  At least the pictures were free!  Maybe next year!

And our attempt at a cute family picture didn't turn out too well either!  It is hard to get a sleepy toddler to look at the camera.  I'm holding his hand, in hopes of getting a picture without his thumb in his mouth.  HA!

At least the one of Ran and me is decent.

My parent's tree with all the presents!  Total craziness!

Jack is looking for the perfect gift to open first.

He loves his new Pum Pum Drum.  If you have toddlers and don't mind A LOT of noise, this drum is so cute.  It comes with a lot of other little musical instruments too!

Those egg looking things are LOUD!

Mama and Jeff - that's the best picture I got of them.  I made Mama's shirt, I think it's so cute!

Sarah and Brian - they're expecting a little boy, Brady, in April.

Linzi and Zack - sorry, I didn't get a good picture of them either.  Linzi's showing off the necklace I made!

Jack checking out all the loot! 

He LOVED being the center of attention all weekend.  He was quite the little ham!

Our awful attempt at a self-portrait!  HA!

The morning after!  Jack's wondering what happened to all of the presents!

And, pulling the ornaments off of the tree just wasn't quite good enough!  He got a branch with this one.  Silly boy!

We had such a great time seeing everyone this weekend and can't wait to do it again next year!

We are truly blessed! 

 

This and That

As most of you already know, I participated in Shannon and Karen's First Ever Ornament Exchange and I am so glad I did!  I had so much fun and made so many new friends because of this little exchange!  Plus, I received this precious 2010 Hallmark Snowflake ornament from my awesome partner, Adrienne! 

The snowflake fit perfectly on our tree and I love how it sparkles in the light! 

Thanks Adrienne!  I love it!

Always into something!

One of Santa's Elves made a special delivery to our house yesterday afternoon!  I guess he figured since Grammy would be there Christmas morning, she needed a stocking too!

If you plan on waking up at our house on Christmas morning, you better let Santa know so he can send a special stocking just for you!  :)

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

In hopes that St Nicholas would soon be there!

Have you heard of Ebates?  I'm not exactly sure how I missed out on that little shopping secret, but thanks Daphne for filling me in yesterday!  You get PAID TO SHOP ONLINE, ok maybe not exactly paid, but you do get cash back from every purchase!  Pretty awesome, right?  I shopped at Sephora online yesterday and earned $5 back.  Ebates deposits your earnings into your PayPal account every so often and it's FREE to sign up!  More money to shop online? Yes, please!  So, if you haven't signed up with Ebates already - GO NOW!  And tell your friends!

***Sample Sale Update***

I told you this post was a little of this and that!  HA!  Some orders have already shipped and should arrive today or tomorrow, the rest will ship sometime next week.  I have enjoyed my little break from my Etsy shop, but I am ready to get to sewing again and create all of your things!  If you have any questions about your order, please email me.

Have a Great Weekend Yall!

Why I Blog

I am supposed to be linking up my Super Cute ornament from the Ornament Exchange Party today, but that will have to wait until tomorrow since in my mad dash to get out of the house this morning, I forgot to grab my camera.  I hate it when that happens!  But do come back tomorrow for pictures of the precious ornament Adrienne picked out just for me!

*********************************************

I was inspired by the fabulous Aly to write a Why I Blog post when I read her's the other day on Life with a Lab.  I think she summed it up best: "It's a long distance relationship that lasts."  Everyone blogs for different reasons, some to cope with a life changing event, some to share their incredible crafting skills, others just to ramble about random stuff.  The list of reasons people blog varies as much as people themselves do. 

Memaw and Jack - Feb 2010

When Jack was first born, I started a Shutterfly site so I could post daily pictures and videos of Jack for my family to see, since they are all out of town and wanted to watch him grow up.  That worked for a few months, but it wasn't a good format for writing what all he was doing, so in February I started Jumping Jack. 

April 2010

I have been lurking reading blogs for years (it all started when Heather first started blogging), but never really understood why people blogged.  Sure it was fun to read what everyone was up to, but I couldn't understand why perfect strangers were putting their lives on the interwebs for everyone to stalk read and I sure didn't understand why random people were commenting on their blogs.  Wasn't that weird? 

May 2010

And, then I started blogging...

July 2010

Like Shutterfly, it started as a way to keep friends and family updated on Jack's latest achievements or cutest pictures, but then one by one I started gaining "followers".  People actually wanted to read my blog?  WOW!  Then, I wanted people to comment on my posts, so I started commenting as well.  After all, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is the Golden Rule.  And then, I read a post very similar to this one and the option to REPLY to comments opened up a whole new world to me!  Now blogging has grown into something so much more than just chornicling our lives.  It's now become a place I go to meet new people, learn about other's lives and other traditions!

August 2010

Through blogging I've met some really great friends. It's nice to know there are other moms going through the same things as you, we really are all in this together. One of my favorite bloggers Hello Sneakers, Goodbye Heels said it best "because every new mom needs some good support!"  That's why we "follow" other blogs - we want to create that bond, that sense of comfort knowing we are not alone!  There are also a ton of crafting, cooking, funny blogs out there that I love as well!  We are all so different, yet so much alike! 

September 2010

So, back to why I blog!  I blog so when I'm old I can look back on our life and remember the "good 'ol days" and see how far we've come!  I try to be as real as possible here, but I'm not an open book like some other blogs out there (those are some of my favorites, by the way) but that is my choice.  Our life is not sunshine and roses all of the time, but I'd say 95% of the time it is and those are the parts that I want to remember.  Those are the parts that I want to share.  Those are the parts that I want Jack to read about.

October 2010

Why do you blog?

Salted Caramel Brownie Bites & a Winner

Because it is not yet the New Year and the Holiday Season is the time to induldge, I thought I'd share the recipe for Salted Caramel Brownie Bites!  These babies are SOOO GOOD!  I can't remember where I first saw the recipe, but if this was your idea, please let me know, because you ROCK and deserve to get credit for the goodness that is Salted Caramel Brownie Bites!  (I'm not sure if that's what they're called, but that's what I'm calling them!)

Ingredients:

1 box Brownie mix and ingredients to make brownies

1 bag caramel Hershey kisses

1 lb chocolate candy coating (I used white chocolate too for garnish)

Coarse ground Kosher salt

Directions:

Bake brownies according to package directions, but bake for the least amount of time required for your pan.  You want the brownies to still be gooey, so you can easily form balls with them.

Let brownies cool for a bit, then break them up or use a scoop to make your balls.  They only need to be about 1 inch.  These brownie bites are RICH, so just a little will do it!  Place brownie balls on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Put one caramel kiss in the center of each brownie ball - make sure the brownie covers the whole kiss.  Put finished brownie balls in the fridge to cool for a bit.  15 minutes should be long enough.

Once brownie balls are cooled, melt your chocolate candy coating in the microwave according to package directions.  Be careful not to burn your chocolate.  Once chocolate is melted, dip brownie balls in chocolate to coat.  (Tip: Use a helper during this step.  Have your helper sprinkle each ball with a little salt after you dip in chocolate.  The salt won't stick once the chocolate hardens.  I didn't do this!)

Melt white chocolate and drizzle on top of each ball with a spoon.  If you don't have a helper, sprinkle the salt during this step.  It worked fine for me.  Let brownie bites sit for a bit to harden.

Next, perform Quality Assurance testing on at least one Salted Caramel Brownie Bite!  You would hate for your guests, friends or family to get a less than AWESOME brownie bite!  (wink)

Package with cute tissue in a tin can and you're ready for your next holiday party! 

Indulge and Enjoy!

The WINNER of the Pom Pom Necklace giveaway is commentor #10 Denise from Satisfy Your Senses!  Congratulations!  I will be emailing you shortly!

Obviously, Jack wasn't thrilled about going to school this morning! 

He wouldn't smile at anything!

Happy Wednesday, Friends! 

Only 10 more days till Christmas!