Move Over, Martha Stewart...

A few of you inquired as to how the headband making was going. Well, here it is. In all it's headband glory. Move over, Martha Stewart, there's a new super woman in town! Ok, well maybe it's not perfect, but it is finished and I didn't even throw anything across the room in the process!! Woo Hoo!

The color ended up matching prettymuch perfectly. Am I good, or what?? I think it took me longer to pick the stinkin' ribbon than to actually sew the headband.

In fact, it went so well I might even try to make another one. :) Probably....Maybe....we'll see.

Pretty Ribbon and Tiny Celebs

I went over to Joann ETC today. I am trying to make a couple of little headbands for my baby. Notice I used the word TRYING. I cannot sew. I know, picking out some ribbon and attaching a small piece of elastic isn't exactly what most people would call sewing, but to me, it's all the same. And I suck at it all!!

So, I had to run over and pick out some pretty ribbon. I am trying to make a headband to match her cute little green Christmas dress. I was standing there in the ribbon aisle, checking out all the green ribbon they had. There was light green, dark green, shiny green, silky green, striped green, green with polka dots, green lace. Good gravy! Who'd a thought picking out some ribbon would be so exhausting?!

I had decided to bring Alaina with me so I could hold the ribbon up to her head and see how it would look against the color of her hair, but had I thought to actually bring the dress (or at least the bloomers) with me to match the colors and make sure the ribbon would match the DRESS and not just the baby....? Neh, I'm not that smart.

So as I am standing there, holding about 17 different kinds of ribbon, I felt someone standing behind me, peering over my shoulder.

"Awww, what an adorable baby. She has the most beautiful eyes. How old is she?"

I began to answer, "She is 6 months," as I turned around to see who the stranger was complimenting my child. I looked at her face. She looked very familiar to me. She was short. She was petite....VERY petite. She had really blond hair, pulled back into a tight ponytail. Did she go to my church? Had I seen her at my child's school? I had been at Target a lot lately, maybe she worked there...That could be. Then, all of a sudden, it hit me!! Lizzie Spalding!! It was Crystal Hunt, the girl who plays Lizzie Spalding on Guiding Light (a daytime Soap)and she was in Sydney White (a movie that recently came out).



I had to keep myself from gasping and saying "Oh my gosh! You are Lizzie!! You have done some really bad things in your life, little missy!!" I played it cool. She stood there and we talked for a while. I never let on that I knew who she was. In retrospect, I wish I had. It was obvious no one else there had recognized her and although I am sure celebs don't like it when people mob them, I am sure it is nice to be recognized and know that people are watching their work.

I should have asked her for an autograph. It would have been great to have kept it for Alaina and told her the story of when the actress stopped me in the store to tell me how cute she was. Why is it that sometimes our brains just quit working completely?? I am generally a pretty intelligent woman. I blame it on trying to shop for sewing items. I was using way too much of my brain power trying not to go crazy picking out the ribbon that by the time Lizzie came along I had nothing left.

Plus, I found myself, yet AGAIN, wondering why I hadn't put my camera in my bag! UGH! I had had it in there for the last week and yesterday took it out to snap some photos of my children. Maybe I need to just buy myself a second camera to keep in my bag. *double sigh* Oh well.

Photohunt: LONG

I went to Disney a few years back and they have a small petting farm you can find (free of charge) if you know where to go. We saw this peacock there that had some seriously LONG tail feathers. He was beautiful.

Here he was showing off for the ladies.

That Figures...

Evan went in for his sleep study last night. He has sleep apnea. My wonderful husband volunteered to take him. OK, so I am using the word "volunteered" loosely. I had to do a decent amount of begging and a small amount of crying to convince him, but nevertheless he did it. He called me at one point to tell me that Evan had been perfect and that he was about ready to fall asleep. I was relieved that things had gone well, but found myself a little annoyed.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am glad that he did so well. But why is it that I take him to the dentist to get a simple teeth cleaning and he acts like Armageddon has begun, and his dad takes him to the hospital where they do this to him....

and he is "perfect." Seriously? I mean, come on. Are you kidding me?? Jason said they had to scrub the little spots on his head and stick all this gunk and tape all over him and NOT ONE TEAR??? I know. I am a horrible person for saying these things. But...I have been dragging kids to doctors and therapists and dentists and trying to stay calm while they throw conniptions and I convince Jason to do it this one time and nothing?!?! That figures. *sigh* I will never be able to play the sympathy card now.

So anyways....Evan did great and we just have to sit around and wait for the results now. I seem to have passed down a rather annoying gene to my baby boy. If you look at the picture close enough you can see where he is having an allergic reaction to the tape they used all over him. He's all red and puffy and his skin is all dried out.

It is getting better now. They told us it should go away in a day or two. If it doesn't, I am making Jason take him to the pediatrician!!

Dentist Visits and Dino Tales

My children normally don't mind going to the dentist. For some reason, last week when I took my oldest 3, they all decided they didn't want to be there and all simultaneously (just to make life fun for me!!) threw fits in the middle of the dentist's office.

I intentionally take them to a pediatric dentist for just this reason. So, why is it when I was prying my 3 year old's fingers off of the chair leg, they looked at me like I was crazy...?? You can't convince me my child is the first to ever throw a fit in your office. YES! This is what a child looks like when they are misbehaving! Take a picture. It'll last longer. They just stood there like morons whispering to each other. I wanted to take the little sprayer thingy and spray them in their smug faces with it. But I didn't.

So anyways...I told my 7 year old she had no choice and was getting in the stupid chair. She climbed in and cried the whole time. Boo Hoo. I'm the meanest mom in the world. You'll thank me someday when you still have all your teeth!! The boys refused, so we rescheduled. Mikaily got to spend the night at Aunt Tracy's house since she had let the dentist look at her. The boys did not. So, when the boys went back for their make-up appointments, they were perfect angels.

Kyle got to go spend the night at Aunt Tracy's this past weekend. They always have tons of fun. They get to eat yummy food and watch lots of movies and she plays all kids of cool games with them. She is nice. Not like Mommy.

Kyle wanted to take his dinosaur movies over. He loves to watch this show on the Discovery channel called Prehistoric Park. Tracy bought him the DVD for his birthday and he wanted to take it with him. She told me a cute little discussion that she had had with him while they were watching. It went something like this....

Kyle: "Ohhh, we should be careful. This next part is terrifying!"
Tracy: "Terrifying...? That's a funny word for you. I've never heard you say that before." She chuckled a little.
Kyle: "Yeah, well, just keep watching. You'll see. It's terrifying."
So, Tracy kept watching. The scene that was on was a T-Rex (or 2 or more...?) chasing down and eating a smaller dinosaur (Don't worry, none of this show is graphic. No blood, no guts, nothing like that).
Tracy: "Is this the part that you think is terrifying?" She asked because, although it didn't seem intense or frightening to her, she thought maybe a young child's imagination would make it an intense scene.
Kyle: "Yeah, can't you see? That T-Rex is tearing the other dinosaur apart. They are tearing it. So it's "tear"ifying."

IKEA

My sisters and I decided to drive over to Orlando yesterday to experience firsthand the bliss they call IKEA. None of us had ever been before and what an adventure it was! For those of you who don't know much about the store, here is a little background. IKEA began in a small farming village in Sweden 6 decades ago and has now taken up residency in 34 countries. This particular store we went to is more than 309,000 sq. ft. and has anything and everything you could ever need, want, or dream of having for your home....and then some.

There is a playroom where you can drop your children off while you shop. I peaked in the window to see what it was like and I have to tell you, I wanted to go jump in and play!

Oh, and if you work up an appetite while doing all your shopping, no problem! Just stop by the restaurant right inside the store and grab a refreshing drink and a bite to eat!
We were IKEA rookies, so we had gone out to lunch beforehand. But, I hear the Swedish meatballs are amazing! They also have a Swede Shop where you can buy all sorts of yummy Swedish goodies.

One of my favorite things about the children's section of the store was that there weren't really any shelves. Most things were hanging from the ceiling in colorful displays. It was kind of like shopping with a kid in a candy store. We walked into the children's area and immediately the "OOhhhh, look at that!!" and the "Oh my gosh! That is so cute! Go over there!" started.


The thing I found most amusing about the store was something I came across in the bathroom. Hehe...did I get your attention with that one?? IKEA is all about being environmental friendly. So, when you go in to use the restroom there is a little sign on the back of the toilet that says "Toilets are specially designed to save water. Please push handle up for liquid waste (less water) and down for solid waste (more water)." I laughed. The funniest part was that then, I couldn't help but listen to the flushing toilets and had to refrain from looking at the lady that came out of the stall that had obviously (from the sound of things)pushed the handle down and saying "I know what you did in there!!" I figured she wouldn't see the humor in it though. So, as usual, I just chuckled at myself and went on shopping.

It was fun and we got lots of great stuff. After we were done shopping we decided to go over to Disney and play their miniature golf course. I will be blogging about that in the next day or two. But I will tell you I don't think any of us have a pro (or even amateur) golf career in our future.

Photohunt: RED