Color Me Stupid

I feel like a complete nincompoop. After Christmas, Wal-Mart had this batting stuff (in the seasonal area) clearanced, which I thought was a great deal. And it would have been, IF it was the size that both Mark and I thought it was (15 feet by 10 feet). It is 15 feet by 10 inches. So here I am with 4 packages of 15" by 10' batting that will only work for small projects, and no way to finish mine and Mark's new comforter by the end of January (a.k.a. tonight). I guess that is what I get for trying to save a couple dollars. Oh well, I can use it for stockings. I was asked to make 6 for the family for this year's Christmas (Dee Dee & Justin (I made Hannah's last year), along with ones for Rebecca, Mike, Zach & Shawn (they are just finishing their new house and Becky wants all new Christmas stuff for it)). Then there is the tree skirt that I need to make for us next year. So it won't go to waste.

Sierra-Lynn is saying good-bye to another friend, Lexi Morgan (her and her mom Paula are pictured left). Paula lost her job a while back and was able to get another, but they are still moving back in with Paula's ex (Lexi's dad). Talk about confusing the child, but who am I to judge, I am far from perfect and until I can make that claim (which will be never) I will just let it go. They will be missed. Paula has said that she wants the girls (and us) to stay in touch and would like to have us (not Mark) over, but I don't have the number where they are now, so I'm not real clear has to how that will work. I hope that things in there lives go the way that they want them to and that they receive all of the happiness that they deserve.I just received an e-mail from my sister-in-law Dee Dee that Hannah is sick again. The poor baby won't be two until the end of April and in the last 6 months she has been sick more times than I can count. Dee Dee thought that she had the stomach flu, but then her eyes matted shut and blisters formed under them. After a trip to the doctor, the diagnosis is a very BAD double ear infection that also turned into an eye infection. According to Dee Dee she looks like a burn victim. IF we get the okay, we are going to go see her tomorrow. I hate when little kids are sick, it just breaks my heart.

All Well That Ends Well

We (Mark, Sierra-Lynn and I) went to see Dr. Judkins today. She is a family psychologist. At first I wasn't sure want to think, but everything went pretty well. She told us that with all of the death and other stresses that have been in our lives the past few years, we are actually very lucky that Sierra-Lynn is doing as well as she is. Most children don't handle stress well (especially the amount that we have endured), according to her, we are lucky that Sierra-Lynn is not a violent child. The fact that she can tell us what is bothering her, that she is able to say "Mommy, I don't want to wear that because Papa isn't here" (though hurtful, it's always said about her 'princess' dresses that I made her), is a good thing. It means that she is dealing with her emotions.

The same can be said about her obsessions, when she is playing, about death. She is constantly "calling" 911 because her baby is hurt or someone died. She gave us some pointers on how to help her to deal with that so that she is not always playing that someone is dying, so that she can move on from that. Rest assured Sierra-Lynn will still have her bad days, but now I don't have to feel like such a failure as a mom, now I can help her to deal.

Our follow up is a phone call in a month or two to let her know how Sierra-Lynn is doing and if by then she is still having "death" play, then we take her back. If not, if everything is back to normal, then we just relax and enjoy life together. Doctor's orders are to take this year to rest and enjoy being with each other. A year to take it easy! What will I do with my time?

The other day, I was finally able to get Sierra-Lynn to wear one of the dresses that I made her for her birthday (I had to remind her that her best friend Ella has one too), and she wanted me to take a picture of her. She actually went and got the camera and brought it to me so that I could take her picture. I thought that I would pass it along to you.

Baby Clothes For Sale

Know anyone looking for beautiful handmade baby clothes?

Look no farther than me and BJB Style. Here are couple little outfits that are available right now.

Here we have a two piece jacket and pants outfit. The pattern claims that it is for a 1 to 3 month old, but it measures from top to bottom (with an overlap at the waistline) 26 1/2 inches. I put it on my little Sierra-Lynn (age 4) and was able to button it, other than being a little on the short side it fit. It should fit a baby that is 7 to 13 pounds and 17 to 24 inches long. Unisex.
$15.00

Next we have a pretty little dress that is also for the 1 to 3 month crowd. It should fit little princesses that are between 7 and 13 pounds and/or 17 to 24 inches in length. $12.00

I have one of each in stock. If you would like something in a different size/fabric/ or pattern feel free to contact me.

Let It Snow, Let it Snow

Sierra-Lynn, aka snow baby. If given the chance she would stay outside forever to play in the snow. Although, today she was ready to come inside for hot chocolate (I was too until I realized that the cocoa was diet, we grabbed the wrong box) :(

I'm a bit better today. Still slightly dizzy if I try to do to much, but at least I can walk from one end of the house and back without getting winded. I even chased Sierra-Lynn around the yard and helped her to build a snowman. Sorry, that would be a snow woman. We had a snowball fight, and let me tell you, that kid has quite the aim (and arm). She pegged me right in the face with one (it went in my eye, not easy considering that I wear glasses). :P

The look is because one of the buttons fell off (I guess that is what we get for using lumps of charcoal, oh well).

I don't know what her snow woman's name is, but she sure had fun making it. I think that she had more fun watching mommy fall flat on my butt. It was the first time in a long time that I have done the splits. Her and Daddy are supposed to make another one latter, that is if the snow doesn't melt before then. Our current temperature is 38 degrees, so we will see if that happens. She has made two snow people in her life and I have been the one to help her, the poor guy always has to work when the snow comes and by the time that he is ready to help her, the snow is gone. He did almost stay home today, he was worried about me and he wanted to play in the snow with her, but he ended up going. :(

I took this to show my Uncle David what snow looks like. He has lived in Knoxville, TN for so long that he has forgotten what it is like to get snow.

I should be working out about now, but with the way that I feel and my lack of progress, I think that I will just enjoy a well deserved day off. Besides I have a ton of sewing to do (curtains for the kitchen, a dress for Sierra-Lynn, a comforter for mine and Mark's bed, some doll clothes for Sierra-Lynn and Hannah and a couple of baby outfits) by the end of the month. Then I have a whole new list for next month. I also have to get the house ready for my interview tonight (fingers crossed), Teri and I seem to like each other (on the phone) and Gavin (the baby) likes Mark, but we still have to see how he and I click, as well as fill out the proper paperwork (which I still have to finalize). Oh the joys of in home daycare. ;)

FIRE

This is what my new used wok looks like after a grease fire. I was given this for Christmas from my Uncle David and had not gotten a chance to use it, until tonight. I planned to make pork with carrots (a variation of beef with broccoli) along with Rachael Ray's special fried rice. This is something that I make (one variation or another) about once a month, at least. We all love Chinese, but can't really afford it all the time.

Generally, I am a great cook, but I don't think that I good do what some of the chefs on Food Network do. I don't do well with fire, and in all of the years that I have been around the stove, this was my first fire. At least I didn't do what my sister did when she had a grease fire. She threw gobs of water at it, I threw baking soda and it went out. Not before almost getting my cabinets. I have seen Mark put out a few grease fires (all small) and his went right out, not mine. It hissed at me and then grew several inches before dying a slow death. Needless to say it will be awhile before I feel like fried rice, at least at home. We ended up having KFC for dinner.

In other news, Mark is now feeling much better. I am the one who feels like death warmed over, probably due to inhaling to much smoke (shortness of breath, stabbing pains, the works). The snow has also started to fall. Depending on where you look, we are supposed to get anywhere from 3 to 12 inches of snow. Sierra-Lynn and I wanted snow (to build a snowman) but not that much. I also have an interview with a woman named Teri tomorrow. If all goes well, this time tomorrow I will be putting my degree in child day care management to good use. Wish me luck.

What would this blog, or my life for that matter, be without a little blond girl named Sierra-Lynn Michelle Bennett. Here she is showing off one of her birthday gifts. Yes, it has taken me this long to get her to wear it. It also has a beautiful red coat that goes with it, but she wouldn't let me put it on her to take a picture (just think Eloise at the Plaza).

This Week

Like I have said before, I suck at titling things.

This week in the Bennett household has been relatively slow. We did our taxes and went out to "Pizza Street" (Mark has been sick ever since). He thinks that he may have eaten an onion, I hope not as he is extremely allergic.

Mark and I are under the impression that Sierra-Lynn knows her ABC's. Yesterday, Mark started saying them and she chimed in, he stopped and she kept going. When I asked her to say them again she got all bashful and left the room, so I don't know.

We did rent some movies; "Employee of the Month" this one is funny. Jessica Simpson shows that under all that hair, she does have brains (along with huge ears); "Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning" in my opinion much better than the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", although I have to wonder, if everyone dies, how does anyone know what happened?; and finally "The Wicker Man".
This has to be Nickolas Cage's worst film yet. If you have not seen it, don't. The whole movie has Nick running all over an island that is owned by the leader of a bee worshiping cult that fancies women being superior to men (not that that is a bad thing, just can't deal with the whole bee thing). Anyway, he is looking for a little girl who was reported missing by his ex girlfriend. You guessed it, the little one is his. Along the way he finds out that they plan to sacrifice this girl because their honey crop was the worst in their history. He finally manages to save her (right before the event and right at the end of the movie). They run and like a moron he follows her, she leads them right back to the swarm of bee worshipping beotches and their drones who attack him, break his legs and then lift him to the top of a wicker man. Rowan (his little girl) then takes a torch and burns the man (a giant man made of wood and filled with animals and NC). The movie ends with Nickolas Cage at the top of this wicker man screaming as he burns to death and the rest of the cast chanting "the drone must die". That's it in a nut shell, there is an alternate ending, but I didn't watch that (the main movie was just a little to weird to want to waste anymore time on it). Hopefully in the future we can look forward to better movies from both Nickolas Cage and Leelee Sobeski.

You Be The Judge!

You will not believe what Sierra-Lynn thought she could get away with today. With today being Mark's day off (as well as payday) we used it as "Running Day". While at Target, Sierra-Lynn decided to put a teddy bear makeup kit (from the one spot) under her coat and then wrapped her arms around it. Yep, you heard right, my sweet little angel tried her hand at stealing.
Mark pulled the makeup away from her and smacked both of her hands. We took the makeup and put it back on the shelf (which led to a full fledged fit). On top of that she lost playgroup tomorrow and Chuck E Cheese next week. I don't know what kind of world that I have found myself living in, but the woman in the next aisle was absolutely floored that we would punish her so severely. She didn't think that such a small child should lose so much. How is how we chose to deal with this situation any of her business?
We took away things that she loves, we could have done what I know some parents do and beat her (not that I could do that, once it is done to you, you don't want to impart that kind of punishment on anyone). So, I just thought that I would ask other parents, what would you do if you found your child trying to steal something?
Mark and I talked about it and we think that if you can catch unacceptable behavior when your child is little, they won't do things that they shouldn't when they are bigger. Then again, we could be wrong, after all every child is different.
Speaking of children. I don't know what has been wrong with me today, but I didn't even feel like getting out of bed today. I just felt drained. And feel even worse now. While at Schnucks (and Shop N Save) I felt like I had surround sound in my head. Every little noise was magnified about a million times and I had this sharp pain in the back of my head (about 3 inches behind my left ear (straight back from the bottom of my ear)). Its not the first time that I have had this pain either, but it hasn't been quite so intense before. If you believe Mark, the last time that my head had surround sound was before Sierra-Lynn was born, but how often can you trust what a man says. ;)
In other news, we had an impromptu play date yesterday at which something amazing happen. The little girl that came over is Lexi (Alexis Morgan Dee) and she is a sweet little girl, but quite the mama's girl. Meaning she never leaves mama's side, she did yesterday. Both she and Sierra went from the living room through the kitchen, past the laundry room and into the office, all without Lexi crying. It was great. That and Sierra finally stood up for herself. Lexi can be very mean sometimes (pinching, biting, pulling hair) and Sierra normally just takes it, but she told Lexi in no uncertain terms that if she did it again she would pinch back. After that it was all love and hugs, and when I say hugs, I mean 20 minutes of hugs, it was so cute. I got some pictures of it, but like I said I don't feel very well and don't want to wait the hour that it will take to down load it.
If I feel better I will post again tomorrow, if not I'll be back in a few days. Until then wish me luck on getting a couple day care kids.

Families, Can't Live With (Or Without) Them

I just received a phone call from my all time favorite uncle, Uncle David. He got a call from my Uncle Carl demanding to know how he spent Christmas.
I don't know if he has found this blog, but he is welcome to read and leave his comments (I am moderating them because of my dad, he may not like what is said about him).
As for Carl, I was going to send him a letter, but I don't know that there is really a point. I am so mad at him. The thing is, he asked David for my phone number months ago and has yet to use it, so I will probably say something that I will regret (I always do). I know that he just wants to yell at me for something that happened almost 4 years ago that I didn't do. It's like this, he has always loved my sister Missie more than me, I don't know why. But if she is around, I am invisible. So, naturally, I was blamed for calling DFS on her, I didn't, not that that matters. So, if you read this Carl Herriott, feel free to call me, but don't bring up Missie. I haven't seen or heard from her in almost 4 years, K?

2007

The new year is finally here. (Thank God!!!!)
So far this year has been spent working towards making my resolutions happen. I know that we are only 4 days into 2007, but its never to late to start. I started this year weighing 218 pounds (Grrrrrrrrrrr) and am down 1 (happy happy joy joy). I am making myself accountable to the readers of this blog and http://mom-2-mom.blogspot.com to get the weight off for good (I heard that is a great way to do it). I am also making use of my gazelle (my legs are hurting, but they are also looking good (now if I could do something about my stomach)).

After a trip to the toy store, yes toy store, we now have 3 swords. To get closer to your husband and child (and to bring them closer to each other) buy a soft sword for each family member and beat each other up. Who would have thunk it? Yesterday I actually told Sierra-Lynn to go beat up her dad, she hits him with her sword and laughs, then gets hit and laughs harder. I love it.

On New Year's Eve I rearranged mine and Mark's room and now it looks twice as big and is clean for the first time since we moved. ;) Once the tree is back in the storage unit and I can get my living room back from the holidays I will be able to find the office (it is currently filled with everything that couldn't be in the living room and didn't seem to fit anywhere else, our catch all if you will). Once that is done I will be closer to getting and keeping my house clean.

I have spent the last few days (when Sierra naps or is just watching a movie in her room) working on my January sewing. A new bedspread and pillow cases for Mark and I, a dress for Sierra-Lynn, birthday/Easter gifts for Hannah and Sierra-Lynn and a couple of baby outfits. It's never to soon to start working on a wardrobe for a baby. No, we are not expecting yet, but I have no baby stuff so I have to start now.

I still need to work on staying in touch with friends and not putting myself last, but 4 out of 6 isn't bad.