I Love a Good Bet

Nick and I are always betting on something. They are usually simple little bets like how much money is in the coin jar, or what type of breed a dog was at the park, or how old Angelina Jolie is. Sometimes there's a wager, but more times than not, it's just for fun. I'd like to think that I win more than I lose, but I am sure Nick will beg to differ. I am sorry to say that when I do win, I am not very gracious about it. I tend to rub it in a little by doing the I'm-a-winner-you're-a-big-fat-loser dance round and round his body.

Last night we went to Champp's for dinner. Nick ordered a Patty Melt and as an after thought, asked her to put mushrooms on it. The waitress did not write it down, and then went to 2 more tables after ours. I bet him that there would not be mushrooms on the patty melt, and he said there would be. (Yes this is the level of excitement that our life has become) The wager was, if there were no mushrooms on the sandwich, Nick had to wear his hair slicked back like a sleazy Italian for 3 days this week to work PLUS (this is a big one), I could purchase a new pair of Ugg boots that I have been eyeing. If there were mushrooms, I had to choose between cutting my hair to my chin, or tattooing Nick's name on my butt. (I know what you're thinking; I married a sicko) I think my hair will look like a coiffed poodle if I cut my hair that short, so I almost agreed to the tattoo. After all, what's 4 tiny little letters on a place where no one will see. That was until he informed me that it had to be his full name. First, Middle, Last and the suffix, Sr. That's 28 letters. Uh-uh fool, I went with the haircut. After all, hair grows back eventually, right? And he's the one that will have to look at me day after day until it does. So we shook on it. It was stupid, but all I could envision was how nice my new boots were going to look, and how funny it would be to watch him walk out of the house all week looking like Tony Soprano.

I underestimated the talents of our fine waitress, because sure as heck, there were mushrooms covering the entire top of that stupid sandwich. I LOST! And of course, I, being the mature person that I am, wished that he choked on one of those dumb things for the rest of our meal.

When we got home, Nick proudly got the laptop and started scouring the Internet for short curly hair cuts. Of course there aren't any because everyone knows you can't have short curly hair unless you look like Meg Ryan, WHICH I DON'T!! You can be certain that I will be looking for some other bet to wager with my darling husband where I don't have to cut my hair if I win.

So long Ugg's, I will visit you at Nordstrom soon. I promise!

I Am Just About Ready, and With 1 Day to Spare

The shopping is done (except for the food), the gifts are wrapped, and my house is trashed.

On the agenda today is: Clean house, finish laundry, grocery shop, find Shea something to wear for Christmas Eve, and help Shea make her friend's Christmas present.

I promised everyone some pictures of our decorated house, so I thought with it being 1 day before Christmas Eve, I should get on it, since no one will care how my house was decorated the day after Christmas.



I bought this Advent Calendar when Taylor and Shea were really little and it is the best one I've seen for little kids. It's by Play Mobil. Nicholas and Isabella have been single handedly ripping the boxes apart to get the toy on the inside. Some major surgery is needed on a few of them.

Don't you love these handmade gifts that the kids bring home from school? They are my all time favorite. Taylor made this in the 1st Grade.

At the time this picture was taken, our tree had no ornaments on it. There was an entire week where Taylor had something going on every evening. Decorating the tree is usually a family tradition where we all do it together. Taylor is very into traditions and not straying from them. Therefore, I waited a week until she was home so that she could be a part of the festivities. It ended up being just her and I and the little kids. So much for traditions.

Once the ornaments were hung, Nicholas started systematically removing the glass balls pulling the little metal thingy out and smashing the balls on our slate floors. It was tons of fun. The bottom half of our tree has no ornaments so it looks a little goofy.

Taylor and Shea are leaving for their dad's in the afternoon of Christmas day. The very next day, the tree will be down and out of our house. Nicholas will have to find something else to destroy.

This wreath is my pride and joy of all Christmas decorations. We really needed something large for the fireplace so that it wouldn't look lost, but most of the wreaths that we found were either too small or too expensive. We bought a bare wreath at Michael's, and then I bought pine cones, berries, and fruit and glue-gunned everything to the wreath. Because I am as creatively talented as a Chimpanzee, we bought the bow at Michael's. When the woman rang us up at the register, the bow itself was $30. Nick almost had a heart attack. So much for our homemade, bargain wreath. But I think it looks awesome, and I usually lie and say that I made the bow too.

After Isabella was born, I had pretty much decided that I was done having children. Hence the PEACE stocking holders. Nicholas gets the star since he is the littlest star of the family. Maybe he will get a stocking. I haven't decided yet. (Relax, he has a stocking. It just wasn't hung when this picture was taken.)

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy the day!

I Know, I Know....It's Been Weeks!

No I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. I'm busy! And unmotivated to write.

I will post some pics of Christmas decorations soon. In the meantime, here is a picture of my favorite animal at the zoo. I have nicknamed him Skeeterific. He reminds me of Skeet, our Golden Retriever (Whom we no longer have). Someday when I am feeling really sorry for myself, and want to bring myself down even further, I will tell you all about him and his brother, Hunter.

Oops...

Never sit on your mom's lap while she's eating a big sub from Jersey's Mikes.

Nature Hike (In Our Backyard)

On Friday, the weather was really nice, so I took the kids outside in the woods. We pretended we were explorers searching for treasures.

As you can see, neither kid has their "woods legs" yet. Isabella is much more cautious, by nature, so as soon as she would start slipping, she would sit down. Nicholas was running down the hills, and would do a full slip-on-a-banana-peel fall, roll over, get up, and start running again.

This is Taylor and Shea's fort that they made with friends the first summer that we moved in. (4 1/2 years ago) Still intact and quite impressive. It's a little tight inside, but I am sure Nicholas and Isabella will be able to continue building it sometime in the future to enlarge it and make it usable.

Here they are very impressed that they are capable of shaking a tree so hard that the entire thing moves. It was about an inch in diameter.

This is my favorite tree in our entire back yard. I know it's just a stump, but it was once a really huge tree. The tree was cut down a really really long time ago because the remains of the stump are very brittle and soft. I'd like to imagine that this tree was cut down maybe 100 years ago. And if the tree was that big 100 years ago, how long before that was it planted? Our development is new as of about 10 years ago, so why was this big tree cut down? I would love to find out the history of who lived on this land way back when.

This is in the side of our yard, and I am not even sure if this is our property or not, but the kids love to throw rocks and sticks in this creek and see how big of a splash they can make.

This was Isabella's first attempt at photography. Not too bad. She managed to get my entire body centered perfectly in the next picture. These don't look too different than the pictures I take. Is she that good, or do I take photos like a 3 year old?

After so many pictures, they were no longer willing to smile. They tried to give me their scariest faces.

And the winner is.......

New Favorite Purchase

Nick has been bugging me for weeks to buy flannel sheets for our bed. Our regular cotton sheets are just too harsh on his delicate skin apparently....So anyway....I found these great holiday sheets at Target over the weekend for $15 on any size! And they are really, really soft.

Of course, where ever I am, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum are never far behind. The moment I had the bed made, it became playground central. Why is it so fun to jump on parent's beds? Even Taylor and Shea take running dives from the doorway of our bedroom onto our bed. No matter how much we yell at them, for some crazy reason, it's always worth the tongue lashing.

Holloween Festivites

Halloween started for us on Wednesday at Isabella's preschool, where they had their party. I was one of the "helpers" and had so much fun. They had a parade for the parents to show off their costumes. Then the kids got to play their games and decorate Halloween cookies with frosting and LOTS of sprinkles. 3 year-olds are really, really, really cute!

Saturday we went to my Brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house to trick or treat. We also were there to celebrate Heidi's birthday. Aside from my husband, Heidi hates to celebrate her birthday more than anyone I know. So, she will do anything she can to get out of a party. This year, she cleverly decided that since we would all be at her house anyway for trick or treating, then we could celebrate her birthday as an after thought.

Isabella as Sleeping Beauty

Nicholas as a pumpkin (This also happened to be Taylor's costume when she was 2. At the time, I was felling rambunctious enough to sew the girls costumes. I went to the fabric store and picked the easiest pattern I could find. For the average sewer, it probably would have taken an afternoon to make this simple costume. I think I worked on it for about a week, with SEVERAL errors, where I had to rip apart seams and re-do them. But when it was done, it looked really good, and I was really, really proud of myself.) So why is Nicholas wearing it? Because I waited until the last minute to buy costumes. The upside: 50% off all costumes at The Disney Store. The downside: No boys costumes under a size 8. Low and behold - Nicholas is a 13 year old pumpkin. But was very, very happy.

Anthony: Scary Skeleton

Joseph: Scary I-don't-know-what

Taylor did not trick or treat this year. She decided to walk with the little kids, and pass out candy at Joe and Heidi's house instead. Boo-hoo, my little baby - all grown up and not trick or treating anymore.

Shea and her friend Lauren met up with us later. They decided on their costumes all by themselves. Lauren was "Attacked by an artist". Yes, I know. I had the same puzzled look on my face that you do on yours. And Shea was an old lady, but also the artist whom attacked Lauren. Again, I know - puzzlement. They both looked really cute through.

The happy birthday girl and her boys.

The happy birthday girl and her hubby.

Joe sporting the new do. He LOVED his new hair, and continuously flipped his hair out of his face ALL NIGHT!

I'm only 39 and 1/2!!!!!

I am falling apart......

Last week at my physical, I happened to casually mention to my doctor that for the last few months I have been experiencing heart palpitations during insignificant times, 3 or 4 times a month. She suggested that I see a cardiologist, who almost guaranteed me that I was in no danger, but to rule any possibility out, I have to wear a mini EKG and hit the record button when I have an episode. This little gadget with 4 wires attached to stickers stuck to my skin will be accompanying me for 30 days, all day long.

Saturday, while running around like a mad woman getting ready for the Homecoming dance, I started getting a tooth ache. Of course I ignored it because I had too much drama to deal with. Sunday the ache turned into a throb. Monday I was ready to die, and by Tuesday I wanted to chop my own head off just to end the pain. Somehow I developed an infection in my tooth and the gum surrounding it. Today I had the tooth pulled, which was a lovely experience that I do not wish to have again anytime soon.

Sunday, while loading my groceries into the car, I pulled my back out lifting a 40 pound bag of salt out of the cart to put into my car.

Picture this: (If you need to close your eyes to get the full effect, feel free) I am walking around with wires hanging off my body, hunched over with one hand on my back, and holding my cheek with the other hand, which by the way, is getting puffier by the minute. I look like a science experiment gone awry.

Just try to throw one more thing my way........

Homecoming 2009

Taylor looked beautiful, I think she had a good time, and I am very thankful that the weekend is behind me for an entire year. In order to protect the innocent, that is all I will say about the weekend.

I'm Having a Bad Day...Or Two

It all started yesterday morning when I went for a physical and the doctor talked me into getting a flu shot and updating my Tetanus booster. I have never had a flu shot before, but not because I am opposed to them. I have just never felt the urge to drive to some walk-in clinic and stand in line behind 20 grumpy old men and women with my screaming kids. But as luck should have it, this year, my physical was scheduled in the fall. The shot was so easy that I didn't even feel the needle go into my arm. Fantastic, I thought. It was piece of cake, and now I don't have to worry about the flu all winter. My house simply cannot run when I am sick, and I was probably gambling by not getting the shot these last few years.

When the kids got home from school, my very rough 13 year old grabbed me by the arms and shook me. The muscles in my arms hurt so bad I couldn't believe it. They never stopped aching for the rest of the night. Every time I rolled over at night I woke up because my arms hurt so bad. That can't be normal, can it? Or maybe that's why my kids are so crabby after they come home from the doctor.

Against my better judgment, I took the entire brood to the mall to find a Homecoming dress for Taylor. After 3 hours of trying on 20 dresses, arguing with Taylor, and chasing after Nicholas, we found a dress. On the way out of Dillards, while arguing about why I will not buy a pair of $90 shoes, I am told that the dress we just purchased at the other store is not the favorite. Well the return policy at that particular store is 14 days, with a receipt, and merchandise credit only. No refunds. Guess what toots, you're wearing that darn dress!

On to Today.....I was running late to get to storytime at the library and we walked out without our stuffed animals that we needed for an activity. So of course, the librarian brought extra animals for all the loser moms who forgot theirs. While singing a song, I notice the librarian looking at Nicholas. I glance over at him and he has the entire face of his BORROWED Beanie Baby Dog in his slobbery mouth! I snatched it away so fast and tried to rub the spit off as best I could.

After story time was over, Isabella wanted to borrow some new books. Like some kind of free-for-all, the two of them started ripping books off the shelf faster than I can review them to see if they were worth borrowing. My usual rules for borrowing books are: Nicholas has to be strapped in the stroller (didn't have it today); I need my book bag (didn't have that either) and I take the books off the shelves. (Their rule is: if tweedle dee does it, than so does tweedle dum).

I grabbed 5 books and stood in line behind 4 other people while wrestling with Nicholas to stay in my arms. On the way to the car, I dropped every book in the wet parking lot.

Shortly after we got home, Nicholas found a container of McDonald's honey mustard sauce, poked his finger through the top and dumped it all over my carpet.

I am not leaving my house for the rest of the day, and I am going to try to keep from getting hog tied and gagged by my own kids.

Fall is Here...Whether I Like it or Not

I have said it before; I love summer. It's my favorite season. I love the heat and the sun. I love swimming and cookouts, and eating outside. I would rather wear tank tops and flip flops than a big, thick sweater and Uggs. And I am very sorry to see another summer end.

But.....I also love fall. It's not my favorite, but I do love it. And what better way to kick start the fall than by going to Patterson's Fruit Farm to pick apples. Last Friday, my nieces, Paige and Chloe had the day off from school for a staff day. Taylor and Shea did not have the day off so they couldn't come. (I tried to keep the outing a secret, but they found out and were a little miffed that they had to spend the day in school.) The little kids and I met Penny and the girls and my parents at Patterson's and picked some apples and then went to the Holden Arboretum for a picnic.

I permitted Nicholas and Isabella to eat one apple each while we were picking, and I made sure that they were small ones.

Even my Dad's youngest and most favorite daughter, Abby came with us. (She's the one in Black)

Penny found a Wooly Bear and it crawled all over Nicholas' arm. He thought it was cool, but was a little leery when it started to get higher up his arm. Isabella kept a far distance.