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.