I WAS INVITED TOO

OK - So Josie, my sister, commented that I am NEVER in any photos. It's not that I am not there, it's just that I am the camera-girl. My dad was totally the camera-guy growing up. We joke that he was just never invited. Well, I am here to say that I have been invited to some things this year. I actually have some pictures to prove it. So - enjoy this barrage of Briar photos because it will take at least another 12 months to get this many again.
Josie, this is dedicated to you.

I was invited (by myself) to cut 14 inches off my hair. . .


I was invited to my own house to decorate Christmas cookies with the Bithells...


I was invited to Lagoon this summer with my family and the Hillmans. . .


I was even invited onto the Ferris Wheel with Avery. . .


I was invited to be a spectator with Avery at every one of Téa's soccer games. . .


I was invited to a little snuggle-time with Téa before the babysitter came over...


I was invited to one of Ben's art shows downtown. . .


I was invited to take a long-needed breather with my dad from prepping for my first ever at-home Thanksgiving. . .


And, I was totally invited to Angela and Scott's wedding. . .


. . .and fade to black. . .

Not Another Griswald Christmas

We are leaving today for a few days in Idaho and then a few days in Big Sky, Montana for the girls' first ski trip. We finally got our tree (Ben wouldn't allow us to drag another pine tree in from the yard this year. He said it was too ugly. What?) The girls decorated the tree BEAUTIFULLY, with all 76 ornaments in a 4 inch area of the tree, and 2 on their ears.

YOU CAN CONGRATULATE ME LATER

Did you hear a drum roll and then The Hallelujah Chorus the day after Thanksgiving? I think you did. It may have been muffled by a slew of other things, but it was there. Trust me.
You see, after two and a half years, I walked into our bedroom on Thanksgiving Day and I immediately became clinically depressed. Or how Ben asks me if my self-esteem drops 20 points the second I put on my 15 year old "Abner" (A very well worn - and loved - sweatshirt). . . it was a lot like that. Our room was SO ugly.
I finally painted our smoker's-yellow bedroom.
I am a freak. I research and researched everything; to make sure I have made the "perfect" choice, of course. The paint color was no exception. The fact that I was looking into METALLIC paint made it all the more intense.
We painted late at night and I was a little freaked when we finished. It was looking, well, metallic. Ben suggested I wait until morning to freak out. Maybe it would look better.
Well - we woke up and just layed there in silence. It was actually worse. Way worse. I thought we were laying in the inside of a Jiffy Pop bag. We may as well have glued foil to the walls.
Long story short - sort of - we bought "the special roller" that we had mocked the day before, and all was set straight. I am not clinically depressed anymore, but I may have a lower self esteem from time to time (I'm not giving up that sweatshirt Ben).

THE REVEREND ROCCO

Let's talk about Rocco, shall we?
I think we need to have a debate if he is the dumbest dog on the planet, or the smartest, most stubborn. I truly don't know.
He will scratch at the door incessantly and then just stand there and not come in (point: dumb). This happens over and over. I finally give up. So then he starts barking like crazy KNOWING that I will have to let him in (point: smart). He is a year and a half and the only command he knows is SIT (point: dumb) But has figured out how to open his kennel with one of his fangs (point: smart) He was "fixed," which cured his severe problem, but goes back to his old ways ONLY when near other male dogs (point: dumb) (extra point: gross/weird)
Anyway, I think DUMB is up by one point. Whatever.
Wait, he has a love affair with shoes. He loves to lick them. He had a weird licking thing with Zach's (printer who use to work for Ben) legs. He LOVED them. I realize dogs lick things. I realize this. But this is not normal licking.There is something so creepy about it. Honest.
He snores so loud that the walls vibrate. When he was about 2 months old and started snoring, I had to take Tylenol PM and cover my head with my pillow. But that did nothing. The snoring vibrates the walls. (It freaks our babysitters out the first time they come over.)
I have to say though, I love him. I do. He is calming down and getting sweeter. The girls love him. Ben adores him. He is HUGE and insists on sitting on your lap. He gets stuck with his front legs caught in the swing. When he tries to fetch a ball, his short fat body just rolls over the top of it. Rocco sleeps upside down, on his back with his legs straight up. He is such a freak, but I do love him.