Bye Sweet Barty Boy

I can hardly believe that Bart is gone. I guess since he hasn't lived with us for the past year or so, it feels like he is just in Memphis waiting for us to visit. I got the call yesterday afternoon from Mom that she didn't think he was going to make it and sure enough, today he had to be put to sleep.

We got Bart when he was 5 weeks old and he was my baby. He was a tiny (when we got him) red minature doberman that thought he was a full size doberman. I couldn't sit down without him right there curled up resting his head on my leg. If there was a blanket he had to be under it. He didn't seem to mind when he was replaced by a real baby when he was 7 years old. Even though he always hated kids, he knew Colton was ours and he loved him and Colton loved Bart. Bart loved to run and I always felt terrible that we never had a fenced yard for him to run in. When he got loose, he would run for hours and bark and chase anyone he saw. I have run through fields of soybeans, neighborhoods, parking lots, and streets to catch him. He had the police called on him more than once and the police would try to help me capture him. You couldn't catch Bart though until he was finished, it was a game to him, you would think you had him and he would dart off again. Only when he was good and ready did he allow you to catch him. I spent several nights awake waiting for him to come home. And waking up to him barking at a neighbor who was up well before dawn. I would sit on the front porch while he was there in the yard, not quite ready to come in. I'm glad he got to at least spend the last year running in a fenced yard.

Bart was a special dog and a special friend that I will forever miss.



THE CATCH of the DAY

Tonight was the preview sale for a children's consignment sale. If you consign you get to go before it opens to the public. Heath took the kids to the park to fish this afternoon so I could go to the sale. As I was walking out the door he called and told me that Colton had hooked Ava in the neck. We had to take her to the ER to get it removed. Ava being her jolly little self didn't seem to notice there was a fishing lure in her neck and smiled and talked to everyone just like she normally would. They just tied string around it and pulled it out. Thankfully it was the RN that did it because he was the only one that seemed to know how to do it. Everyone else just looked at it like, "Who is going to hurt this sweet little girl trying to get this thing out". She cried just a little, they put a bandaid (pink of course) on it, and we left. I did get a video of her saying she was a glub glub when we asked what kind of fish she is. If I can figure out how to post it I will. I did make it to the sale, thank goodness. After the day I had, I needed some shopping therapy.

I've Been Hacked

My hotmail email address was hacked. They got my password and changed my security question. They have been emailing people that I am stuck in Nigeria and need money sent. Please don't respond to any such emails. I don't have access to my address book so I don't know anyone's email addresses.

OK, OK, I'm Here

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted. What can I say, my life is pretty boring.

OK, my life since October, besides things I do all the time. Cleaning house, meetings, service, etc. Here goes... I pioneered in Nov. It was a great time to with the special campaign. A little difficult with two little ones. But I had great help as aways from my friends. I actually made my time and even got to go Black Friday shopping with Tina. We went to Memphis for a family dinner. Which was fabulously Southern. Everything you could possibly eat and much more. Delicious as always and great to all be together.

Hum, December, I don't remember anything special about that month except for turning 34 and a very busy day with a cooking with kids class at the school and then a Mudpuppies class at the conservation dept. followed by lunch at Panera and Bolt, I think it was even a meeting night.

This month we went on a road trip to Ohio. Just Heath & I. Mom & Dad came up and watched the kids. Heath had to go for business. We left Wed morning and were back by 7 Friday night. It snowed the entire way there. I went to Ikea in Cincinnati. LOVE. THAT. STORE. Stayed at a fabulous hotel that had an indoor pool with a waterfall. The water was very warm too.

I found out that I may no longer be in business next month with a new law that has passed which makes it illegal to sell any item geared toward children under 13 without it going through extensive and VERY expensive testing for lead. It's ribbon people! Come on. It's not even Chinese ribbon. They have been tweaking the law though so hopefully it will be adjusted for small businesses like me and the million other bow makers out there. Under the new law it was going to be illegal to sell any item (even clothing and shoes) that was made before Feb 10, 2009, even at a garage sale or consignment shop. They have adjusted that now. The economy is falling apart and now they weren't going to let people buy used clothing. And with all of the testing that will have to be done, clothing prices for kids are going to go way up for sure. It's crazy. I've spent hours getting Material Safety Data Sheets for every item I have to prove that what I make doesn't contain lead. In Nov. that won't be enough. I would have to send each bow that I make (I never make 2 the same) and they would test every component of the finished bow. Each component they test is hundreds of dollars. So to have one bow tested it would probably be around $500. I would sell this bow for $7. Needless to say, I'll be out of business soon if it stays the same.

We are leaving in a few days for a cruise. It's just a short one. 4 days. We're meeting friends in New Orleans and hopping on a boat. Hopefully it will be hot in Cozumel and New Orleans for that matter. I'm getting really tired of these Arctic Clippers. It was warmer in Alaska than it was here last week. Colton is very concerned about sharks. He keeps asking Heath if he is sure that he wants to swim in the ocean. He is determined that it is unsafe for any of us to get in.

I have seen a few movies. Bedtime Stories, Madagascar 2 (twice), & Australia. Australia was definitely the best of the three. Hello Hugh. The scenery was gorgeous. Australia I mean. Not Hugh, well, Hugh too. OK, I'll shut up now.
Bedtime Stories was OK, different than his other movies. I like that he uses the same people in his movies, it's always fun looking for them as different characters. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. We went to an evening movie though and Ava was restless, that was probably part of it. Plus I had to take Colton to the bathroom during the gumball scene. We're going to have to stick to Matinees for now.
I really liked Madagascar 2. I normally wouldn't have seen it twice. My mother-in-law had my niece for the day and wanted my kids to go to see it with them too, but understandably couldn't handle 2 two year olds and a 4 year old by herself. Who could? So we saw it again. It is funnier than the first one I think.

Well, that's my life the past 3 months in a nutshell. I hope that this post has satisfied the Blog Nazis for a while.

Banishing the BaBa

Since Ava was almost two and way to attached to a bottle (baba to her) needing it first thing in the morning, during any stressful time, to go to sleep, and any other time during the day, it had to go. Pediatricians recommend that babies are off of a bottle by the time they are one, so we are a little behind. Don't get me wrong, I tried when she was about a year old. She did very well. I don't know when or how the set back occurred, but it did and how. Yes, I realize that this is my own fault for giving in to her screaming fits for one, so I could have a few moments of peace. My compliance just made her more addicted and unable to cope without it. One day, I decided that enough was enough. She wasn't eating well because she was always full from milk. I though we were going to have to find a Baby Bottles Anonymous support group or go through rehab to get her off. But no. She has done remarkably well. I told her we gave her bottles to the tiny little babies (she Loves babies) that needed them. I really gave them to the trash can. Except for one emergency one. The first few mornings were the worst. Every morning she gets up, she cries for a bottle and her lovey, she takes them and lays in the living room floor and watches a cartoon. Well, until last week, she now asks for a bottle, I tell her they are gone and she cries for a little while, declines her sippy cup of milk, sometimes very angrily, and finally comes to grips with it again that they are gone, and accepts the sippy cup. Last night she even asked for a sippy cup after of course she asked for a bottle and I told her they were gone. It has been 10 days since her last bottle. Hopefully we are home free. Now if we could just get Colton off the paci.

Random Ramblings

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. I guess there just hasn't been too much excitement. Well, Heath and I went to NY without the kids. That was pretty major. It was really great. We got to stay at Bethel, at 90 Sands. Our room was amazing and it overlooked the Brooklyn Bridge. We ate at awesome restaurants, rode the subways, and walked until I thought my feet would fall off, and got to spend time with our close friends there.

Last night we went to Walmart for groceries. As if a trip to Walmart for a weeks worth of groceries is not stressful enough, they were remodeling. Not only did it smell like a poopy diaper (I kept checking to see if it was Ava, it wasn't), but nothing was where it was, and things I had come for (i.e. Cottage Cheese) they did not have. The deli was closed, the bakery was closed, the towels and other housewares are now outside in the garden area. Who wants to go out there in 100 degree weather.

Ava who doesn't tend to eat food too often, decided the other day that she would try poop. She got a dirty diaper out of the trash, opened it, and took a little bite, spit it out, and started gagging and saying YUCK! How exactly do children make it to adulthood? She is a handfull. Much more curious and into things than Colton ever was.

Colton was so funny yesterday. He loves to roll his window down and try to make truck drivers honk. Yesterday on our way home, he got the long haired trucker to honk. Heath told him it was nice of the man to honk for him. Colton replied, "Dad, that was not a man, it was a lady man." At least the man could not hear him. Unlike the old man that is always at the only restaurant that serves breakfast here. He has a microphone that he puts to his throat to talk (not sure what that's called). The first time Colton heard him, he told Heath, "Oh my goodness Dad, there is a robot in here". This is a tiny place and he is very loud. Heath- "Shhh, he's not a robot". Colton- "Dad, yes he is a robot, I see him, he is right there (pointing), he is a robot". I think Heath forgot to talk to him about it because the next time they went, he was there again. Colton- "Oh my goodness dad, the robot is here again".

I can't think of anything else too exciting.

Memorial Hair Mishap

Since I went dark with my hair a few months ago, I've started noticing a few gray hairs. This to my horror. I have always said that I will never have gray hair, they make hair color and I am much too vain not to use it. The day of the memorial was uneventful. We distributed invitations, cleaned the Kingdom Hall, and came home. I decided that I definitely should not go the memorial with gray roots. After all I was a professional hairdresser for several years, I know how to apply color, I have the professional color here. So I applied the color to my new growth as best I could and as far as I could see to the back of my head. Of course when applying color it is very difficult to not get it on your skin. It was covering most of my forehead, one ear, and a small spot on the tip of my nose. Not a big deal, since I'm remembering the rule from my hair doing days, "Color removes color". When it was time to rinse, I took some color and rubbed it where I knew it was on my skin. Color removes color, no problem. That is until I looked in the mirror. Evidently, color no longer removes color. At least not with the color I was using, which on my skin looked like I had applied dark brown shoe polish to my forehead, ear, and nose. Wow, I'm going to make a nice impression to newcomers to the memorial. Of all days for me to do this. I tried to get it off with alcohol, nail polish remover, even more color. I finally called a sister who does hair begging for suggestions for removal. Thank goodness she had a product at her salon that took most of it off. I don't think anyone noticed at the memorial if they did they were kind and didn't mention it.

Colton loved passing the emblems. I let him pass the bread with help. He wouldn't let go of the wine, he was holding on to it and I was so afraid it was going to spill even though I was holding it too. I had to tell him to let go. When he did he asked me, "Are we not going to drink any?". Then he asked, "What are we passing next?". We had 169 there, a nice size for our congregation of around 90.

Etsy

I've been wanting to start a website for quite some time now and had even considered having a store on eBay. Since eBay is having a little trouble right now, or maybe I should say they are making a lot of trouble for sellers, I've decided not to sell on eBay anymore. That is unless they change their new fees. This is beside the point however. I have decided to open a store on a website called Etsy. For those of you unfamiliar with Etsy, it is a website that is exclusivly for handmade items. They have some awesome things on there and some amazing artisans. I recently found the most beautiful silver ring on there that is a large handmade silver ginko leaf. They have things for everyone, even some great clothing. So my store, Little Belles Boutique, is now a part of Etsy as well. And hopefully it will do well. Here is a link so y'all can check it out. http://www.littlebellesboutique.etsy.com There isn't much in there yet for sell but, tell me what y'all think.