Friday, October 31, 2008

Trick-or-Treat (Come rub my feet !!!)




















I'm absolutely exhausted (as are all the other members of the Veal/Bennett Household). We took all three kids trick-or-treating at the church. Kate ("Aunt Duck"), Jessica (Ta-Ta), Brandon (no cutsie nickname although I did just accidentally type Brandong"), and Corbin all came with us. If Kate hadn't been here we would not have made it!! First of all... My mom had the wrong time for the start of the event. She said 6:30, but it was 6:00, So we were already 30 minutes behind in prep. She was a lifesaver!!! THANK YOU AUNT DUCK!!!!! Anyway, of course our kids were by far the cutest kids there (and in the world). Leyland looked precious in her Abby Cadabby outfit. She got her hands on some suckers and that was good enough for her. She was content to stroll along with 2 suckers in her mouth. Corey was the precious boy he always is. He was sporting a dinosaur costume that was mistaken for a Marvin the Martian costume by some retard. We actually didn't stay gone very long. Everyone came back to the house for a quick supper, then Ta-Ta and Brandong were off to their various other stops and Kate also ran screaming for the hills... not really, but I wouldn't blame her if she had. I made a deal with the kids that they could trade in their buckets of who knows what candy that they trick-or-treated for and get a special halloween surprise bag. They chose the bags which had SOME candy and mostly other stuff that I knew they would like. Mary got some Hannah Montana stuff. On a side note, there is Hannah Montana EVERYTHING; in case you were wondering. Leyland got a Halloween Mr. Potato head and they both got some other crap that they love. Corey got a shirt, hat, and a crinkle book. So everyone is pretty happy. Now that everyone else is asleep I'm extremely happy to go to bed. Hope everyone had a safe, happy, melamine-free Halloween !!!!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Corey Singing

Just wanted to share a cute video of Corey talking to "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Enjoy :)

Halloween


This Friday, as everyone knows, is Halloween. We are planning to pick Mary up from school so that she can do the trick-or-treat bit with us. So we are going to get everyone ready, go down to the church for the trunk-or-treat (where everyone puts their candy in their trunks and the kids walk around the parking lot instead of the house to house thing). So apparently there is a big concern about chocolate candy from China with melamine in it. So on top of the usual removal of items that are sketchy and/or choking hazards, now I have to look for melamine bars. Maybe I'll just buy a separate bag of loot for the kids and just throw out everything that they get. I mean when I was a kid you just avoided the crazy witch lady that lived across the street and threw away anything that didn't have a wrapper. That was it. Now, with all of the crazy people and horrible chemicals you have to do a complete security check on every dum dum. What makes this a million times more aggravating is that I will have a 2 y/o and a 6y/o wanting to eat everything that falls into their bucket as soon as they get it. Anyone want to come along for damage control? My step-mother wants us to come out there and trick-or-treat in their fancy pants neighborhood with my niece. Mary would love to do this, but I just don't know if I'll be able to do it. I guess I should try. I think people should just fork out cash.... when that catches on I'll be trick-or-treating with the best of them :) Have a safe and happy Halloween and seriously check out the candy. I know it's a pain in the ass, but I've seen several videos about the melamine thing. You can watch one here.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Stop the insanity!

Okay, first lemme start off by saying that I have combed the web and come up with a list of absolutely ridiculous baby products. Some of them I stole from another list created by someone else and some of them I came across on my own. More than likely you will be tempted to believe that these products are fake, but I assure you that they are real and available for purchase (with the exception of the Japanese mop idea). So let's get started :
The baby wig. Yes you are seeing a "lil kim" and a Jamaican wig for infants. I don't think that I need to express how many ways in which this is retarded.
Next, we have a baby spoon which dispenses a bite-sized portion of baby food with a squeeze. Now, this to me is just absolute laziness. It takes exactly 3.2 seconds to dip your spoon in the baby food, while it takes the baby about 10 seconds to swallow what you have given him. They should've just made an automatic swallower.
Next on the list is the Japanese design for a baby mop. I mean the kid is just crawling on the floor anyway, you might as well get your cleaning done! I think I"m going to order one of these....
This one is just sad. This is baby perfume. It is "new baby smell". So you don't even have to keep your baby clean anymore... just spritz 'em with this and they'll be good to go. I expect that this will be available in the car air freshner form soon also.
This is probably my personal favorite. Okay, so apparently if you have never heard of a play pen this is an acceptable alternative. You are seeing an infant hanging from a wall. I think this is actually for public restrooms, but I'm sure that if certain people got hold of this product their children would never be allowed down from the wall, and thus generally accepted as modern art in the home.
Let me introduce you to the Nosefrida. This product is exactly what you think it is. The woman has the end of a tube in her mouth and the other end strategically placed in her infant's nose so that she can effectively suck the snot from his nose. Now, I will say that there is a shield that prevents the snot from entering her mouth but still. EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW

Finally we have this. If I'm not mistaken it is called a zaky pillow. The sausage like protrusions you see on the baby's back are supposed to be fingers. I would laugh at anyone I saw using this product. This is a pillow in the shape of two hands designed to mimic the feel of the parent. ( I don't really see how it would fool a child unless you too have sausage fingers ). I guess this to make the parenting experience as "hands-off" as possible. Although, if you are going to trick you child into thinking he's being held, why not just hold him?
Well, I hope I have enlightened you to all of the "wonderful" products available for today's parents. Also, this doubles as my christmas wish list. Just in case you were wondering.

Abby Cadabby


For those of you who don't know, we (meaning Leyland) are currently obsessed with Abby Cadabby (Elmo's very cute fairy best friend). Okay, so I have to admit that I somewhat forced this obsession on her because the Abby clothes etc are far cuter than any other character out there. So for Leyland's birthday party we did Elmo/Abby it was a huge hit and thanks to my cousin Abby (purely coincidence) Leyland had an adorable dress with a custom embroidery design. Anyway, I digress. I decided that Leyland would be Abby Cadabby for halloween. We found her an Abby candy bucket and there is an Abby costume out there but in my opinion it is hideous. So since I am into making hairbows and tutus, I decided that I would just make her costume. I completed the tutu yesterday and it is absolutely precious. I still have to make her hair bows, but I don't think that will take me long once I have the time to devote to it. Mom bought Leyland some Abby PJ's and so she is just going to wear that under her tutu. I thought the "real" costume was retarded because it was sleeveless and really thin. I mean this is going to be the end of October at night, I don't want Leyland prancing around in just a flimsy little (ugly) thing. Anyway I can't wait for her to put the whole outfit on together. It's sure to be cute. Corey is going to be a dinosaur. Unfortunately, I do not yet possess the talents required to make a dinosaur costume (Dustin didn't want him to be a ballerina) so I guess I'll just have to settle with purchasing his costumes. Well, I hope everyone has a pleasant day. I am currently working on a blog that I hope you will find as funny as I do; maybe I'll finish it today. (Just so you know I am aware that I use a ridiculous amount of parentheses in my blogs...)

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Weekend

Well, the weekend was utterly exhausting as well as tons of fun. We went to pick up Mary in Gainesville about 4pm Friday. We came home and I made the girls some macaroni and cheese. Mary informed me that I am a better cook than her mother (which I appreciate since it was a box of Mac). After dinner, Mary and Leyland enjoyed a relaxing evening with a couple of good books. Saturday morning we got up with the sun to get ready to go to the fall festival. It was very very cold so everyone was bundled up. We met up with Lynn, MawMaw, and my niece, Bailey. Bailey and Mary had a blast! Lynn bought them day passes for all of the inflatable things (moonwalk, pirate ship, rocket, etc). They rode each of them about 84,000 times. So Lynn took Mary and Bailey around while Dustin and I took the little ones to get a bite to eat and look at stuff. Leyland got on the moonwalk, but refused to do anything but just lie there. After about 15 minutes, we finally convinced her to come out. We got some delicious homemade ice cream, and Leyland got to have her own bowl which thrilled her to no end. She was very careful and didn't really make too much of a mess. We met up with Lynn to retrieve Mary. They had gone to see the petting zoo and play in the corn box. Mary kept telling me that she had dried corn kernels in her pants. I figured she had a couple of pieces, but when we got home and got ready for bath she took off her pants to reveal over 100 kernels. I am not exaggerating at all. We counted to 100 and I have continued to find kernels since she went home. Mary went home Sunday after a visit to Dustin's Grandparents' house. She fell asleep approximately four seconds after we left. Leyland was asleep when we dropped Mary off and woke up about half way home and said "Where Mae?" (she has advanced from Bee to Mae). Leyland spiked a fever Sunday night and after the Doctor visit yesterday we learned that she has a virus which causes pink eye, sore throat, and fever. Corey was such a prince all weekend long! He was so chill at the Fall Festival. He was also the cutest boy there in his dinosaur outfit that Aunt Kate bought him. The weekend was busy busy and fun fun fun :)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Bowdacious Bows




Boutique Halloween Korker My presidential seal




tutu bow UGA football loopy bow Elmo Loopy Bow

My latest ambition is to be able to sell some of the hair bows that I have been making. I thought I would show some pictures here and anyone with girls (or boys.. I'm not judging) that would like to have a custom made hairbow you know where to find me. This is just a representative sample of the different styles that I can do. There are a few other varieties that I don't currently have made, but if you are curious I can make a few more to post pictures of. All colors can be interchanged as well, as objects (i.e. football or elmo). Extra charges will only acrue if I have to order something to complete your bow. Christmas colors available :)

Pinwheel bow Contrasting colors pinwheel Bitty Baby bow

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

I call it dookie...

Ok so this video is hilarious. Please read this before you watch it! My dad bought Leyland the Elmo Potty Time DVD for her birthday because I bought her the Elmo potty. Basically the whole DVD is funny because obviously they are talking about peeing and pooping. So this is a clip of kids describing what word they use for poop. My mom and I were watching this with Leyland the first time we played it for her. We almost had to run to the potty ourselves. Enjoy this clip and please laugh your butt off as I will not be able to be your friend if you do not. Well, I will be your friend, but I will think that your sense of humor sucks. By the way, the black bar that appears on the tv screen is not there in real life... It must have something to do with video taping a tv. sorry about that. Make sure your volume is up loud enough to appreciate :)

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday, Dustin and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch. It was actually breezy and cool, making it feel more fall-ish . Leyland looked so adorable in her Halloween outfit with matching bows that Mom and I made for her. (I gave you credit Mom, ya happy?) I had to carry Corey in my papoose thing because I forgot to bring the stroller. Mom bought a camera for me and Dustin for Christmas, but gave it to us early so that we could take some good pictures of the kids for the holidays that are coming up. Thanks Mom. Leyland had a ball at the pumpkin patch (for $8 each she better have!). She played in a huge "corn box", pet some goats, played in the dirt, and went through a hay maze with Dustin. when she reached the end of the hay maze she sat down in the dirt and wouldn't let anyone else pass. We all went on a hay ride and right before we left, we go to see a pig race. It was a pretty good day. Leyland wanted to spend the whole afternoon in the corn box, but there were bigger kids in there playing rough and a little boy putting corn in his ears. I didn't think Leyland needed anymore ideas about where to put objects (since she already puts everything she touches up her nose) so we pulled her out. That was the only melt down we had on the trip so that is amazing :) I'm including some pictures for your aesthetic pleasure.

So, I have this game

I play this game on google sometimes where I take either my name or the name of one of my friends and type something in quotations on google (i.e. "Cathy smells like") and it will pull up from somewhere on the internet that exact phrase followed by the rest of the sentence. It is especially fun for me to use my own name because usually the "Whitney" that people are referring to is Whitney Houston. So I thought I would include a few of my favorites :)

Google: "Whitney looks like"

1.Whitney looks like a clean paid crackhead that aint got to pay as much anymore because she aint sharing with bobby no more.

2. [Mount] Whitney looks like an impressive crag, but it is actually gently rounded on the west side

3.Whitney looks like she's been bonging it in the ladies room.

4.Whitney looks like her hair smells

5.Whitney looks like a dazed and confused crack-head like she always did!!!

6.Whitney looks like a crackhead in a nice dress

7.Whitney looks like a cow. Not because of her size, but her bovine face.

8.Whitney looks like the space aliens are about to beam her up into the ship.

9.Whitney looks like she was on her way to see her Grandparents

10.Whitney looks like Skeletor out of He-Man.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Leylanese

For those of you who are not fluent in Leylanese... here is a quick Leyland/English dictionary.


Bucoo- sippy cup or drink (we don't know where this came from)

pees- Pen, Crayon, Pencil any other writing utensil

Fors- Fork

Poon- Spoon

Cowey- Corey

Boon- Balloon

"Ike a Fy"- I can fly

Bardey- Barney

Toot- Stuart (as in Stuart Little the movie)

Tays- Tales (Veggie Tales)

up uh bub uh bub uh bub - " up above the world so high"

deek it- Drink it

Ma- Grandma

Bee- Mary

OCA- Oscar (The Grouch) this is usually growled

Pappy- Pacifier

Peety- Pizza

cwose- Clothes

Pitty- Pretty

Rub A Dub Dub There's A Turd in the Tub?!

Yep, you read right. First let me start by congratulating Leyland on using the potty for the first time!!! YAY!! but before that..... Leyland was having her bath this morning, playing as usual for about 20 minutes after the bathing is complete. I stepped around the corner for a moment to do something at the sink. (Leyland was in my peripheral vision). I come back around the corner to see what looks like a piece of meat loaf floating in the tub ( this would not have been unusual, because Leyland has secret hiding places everywhere and she had meat loaf for dinner Tuesday night.) I said "What is that Leyland?" She started to scream. She was terrified of the object. I got a closer look and, you guessed it, a huge turd is floating in the tub ( I am very thankful that it was an actual turd instead of the mushier variety). I immediately pulled her out of the tub and place her on the potty. Where she proceeds to pee, while I get the turd out of the tub. So Yay for Peeing in the potty, Boo on pooping in the tub. It's a work in progress, what can I say?

Monday, October 6, 2008

Sick

Leyland, Corey, Dustin, and I seem to have come down with a cold over the weekend. This really sucks because on top of being sick myself, I have to take care of 3 other people who are also sick. Leyland gets irritable and mean, Corey gets choked up when he's trying to sleep, and Dustin snores so loud (further depriving me of sleep) that I'm afraid the windows will break. Hopefully this will not last long. This is the first time I have had to deal with ALL of us being sick at once. Wish me luck (and naps) ! On a side note, I have to go and change my name on the voter registration list so that I will be able to vote for McCain/Palin come November. I can put it off no longer as today is the last day.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Debate

Okay, I love Sarah Palin as much as the next republican, but seriously can we just remove the words "maverick" and "reform" from her vocabulary for a while? Please?

Sears = frustrated Whit and Babies

SIGH.......So, My father came over yesterday to put the donut tire on my car so that I could drive to Sears to get new tires. I chose Sears because they quoted me a cheaper "drive-off" price than Wal-Mart or anywhere else for that matter. So, I arrive at Sears at approximately 1:15pm prepared to wait about an hour and a half or so. It takes about 20 minutes for someone to even help me, then another 10 minutes for me to get the point across that I had already reserved my tires and no I do not want any additional services. At this point I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the speed with which anything is happening. V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W..... Finally, they tell me to go and walk around the mall and come back in an hour. It is now approximately 2pm. 45 minutes have passed with virtually nothing accomplished. So I walk around the mall, marveling at the fact that there is a Laser Tooth Whitening kiosk as well as a ProActiv vending machine. Leyland of course, has started down the irreversible path towards a meltdown. So eventually an hour has passed so at 3 I start heading back to Sears. When I reach the entrance to the store, my phone rings. The seemingly incompetent man informs me that "there was a problem". Without meaning to be rude I accidentally said "Oh Shit" into the phone. (woops). The man proceeds to tell me that when removing the tires, they discovered that the lug nuts on the donut tire are "cross-threaded". I ask him if this will cost more money, and of course it does. So I ask him how much more and he tells me that the parts are about 20.00 and he isn't sure of the labor cost. Thinking this not too unreasonable, I told him that I would be at the counter momentarily and he could go and find out the labor cost while I walked. He agreed to do so and I continued towards the counter. Meanwhile, Leyland is getting closer and closer to the meltdown that I have been anticipating. Once we arrive at the counter I see through the window that my car is up on the lift and my original tires are simply lying on the ground next to my car. Apparently it takes an hour to accomplish this much. The man finally comes out to talk to me after I've been waiting (impatiently) at the counter for 15 minutes. He informs me that the labor to put these three lug nuts back on will be FORTY-SEVEN DOLLARS I almost fell over!! The man working on my car tells me that whomever changed my tire put the lug nuts on cross-threaded. Unfortunately I have no frame of reference for why this is such a huge problem so naturally I call my father. Now, my father has been in the automotive business for most of his adult life (although now he is a police officer). My family ran a tune-up shop for ages. Needless to say, this was not the first time he'd ever changed a tire. So I call my dad, and he tells me that there is no possible way that he cross-threaded the lug nuts for 2 reasons. 1) This cannot be done using your fingers and tightening with a lug wrench (which is exactly what he did) It can only be done with an air wrench and 2) The lug nuts threaded very easily without force. So, I tell him that they are going to charge me an extra $67.00 to correct the problem. He offers to "speak" to the man working on my car for me. So I tell another guy to get Barry (the guy working on my car) so that my father can discuss the situation with him. So screaming Leyland , screaming Corey, and I stand there on the phone with my dad for a good 10 minutes before Barry makes an appearance. Don't ask me what he was doing all this time, but he sure as hell wasn't working on my car! So he finally comes out and talks to my Dad... I listen while the tone of the call goes from polite to belligerent. I can hear my fathers voice getting louder and louder and then finally I hear Barry say " I am the manager! The lug nuts are cross-threaded now!!" So then Barry hangs up and I call my dad back. Anyway, long story....long... Dad said that they were not cross-threaded when I drove to Sears and that Barry probably accidentally cross-threaded them with the air wrench. He also said that basically they have got you by the balls and you have to pay it. It takes about another 20 minutes for them to finish my car and it sits in the parking lot for an additional 20 minutes before anyone will let me check out. The check out process took about 10 minutes and by this point Leyland and Corey are in absolute DEFCON5. So ultimately, I paid $311.00 for 4 absolute bottom of the line tires (39.00 each) and spent almost 4 hours at Sears. Aren't you jealous???

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Flat Tire

So, I'm lying in bed about 6:30 this morning enjoying my time alone in the bed, when Dustin barges in telling me that I have to drive him to work this morning in Mom's car because our car has a flat tire. GREAT! So I throw Corey in his carseat, make sure Leyland is occupied with Stuart Little, and run out the door in my PJ's to make a mad dash to get Dustin to work on time. Of course we get behind the people who are just taking a leisurely drive and hit every single red light between Statham and Chase Street. We pull into the parking lot of Power Partners at 6:59. Dustin has to clock in by 7:00 at the latest to avoid getting an occurence, so I hope he made it to the time clock in under a minute. Now, I'm going to spend the rest of the morning trying to figure out where to get the best deal on tires (we were planning on getting new tires this weekend anyway... thank God). Anyway, It's 7:53am and I've already had my adventure for the day.... I hope...