{Staying} Warm in Wyoming

My kids are so squirrelly, they have been caged up in the house for way way too long. So on Saturday they were able to enjoy the relatively warm weather with a friend at the park.

Like I said, squirrelly! Carter was so happy to be out in the fresh air.

And Caleb was just happy to watch them out the window, it was still a little too cold for this meowzer to play out of doors.

She Bangs She Bangs

I may or may not immediately regret my {Jay's} decision to cut me some super-duper fun bangs. Bangs and Wyoming wind are not always the best of friends. So, we'll see how it goes. If all else fails I'll just give it a few weeks and they'll grown out enough to pull back in my signature I-just-got-done-working-out-head-band.

Speaking of Jay, my trip to the salon wouldn't be complete without some words of pure wisdom and reason. This man/girl is a total trip, I really do pay of the whole experience--not just the cut and color. Like when I walked into the salon and he said, "Oh Cammie! Your hair! You really need to go with more hooker less mom!" Can there be a happy medium?

Or the fact that he is convinced that his house is haunted. He had a psychic check it out, but she determined it was out of her leauge. So she called in an "expert" who determined that his apartment complex used to be an old railroad station....built on an Indian burial ground. Apparently, the way the axis of the world is positioned in 2010 tilts the veil just so that more spirits are visible. And it just so happens that the vortex to the spirit world is on one of the walls in his house. Needless to say, he's moving! He has also taken up bulimia as a way to lose weight, however, he's very dissatisfied with the results. So far, all he's got is a gaunt face and a pot belly...not any skinnier. However, he will do whatever it takes to reach his ultimate goal in life which is to be, "The skinnest with the most hair in any given situation". Aim high!

Many Hours in a Carseat

This is the face of little boy who has been in his carseat carrier a little too long. On Friday we rode to SLC for my hair appointment and to deliver the Girl Scout cookies. However, with no cookies, the trip turned into a hair-do/shopping trip. Bethany watched my kids for me while Jay worked his magic on my much over grown hair {more on this in another post}. When he was finished we went to Costco and then to Park City for a little more shopping.

The kids had a wonderful time at what they call, "The best place on earth" aka the University Village. They played outside in the warm {well, warm to us!} weather. Carter even joined a group of Activity Day girls and their leader, and mooched some Sunkist soda off them. Bethany snuggled and cuddled Caleb all day, and Cali met up with her friends from last time we were there. It was a great time.

My sister and her husband were so nice to come a long and help herd the wild meowzers through stores and hang with us through diaper changes, feedings, fits, and french fries. I sure hope our adventures this weekend don't traumatize them and prevent them from having a kid of their own...

Caleb and Mia

My little niece Mia is the cutest thing. Carson brought her over on Saturday morning while he and Christian finished up our little basement tile project. She can sit up and is army crawling all over the place. Cali and Carter did their best to entertain her with Transformers and stuffed animals, but she really liked trying to push buttons on the BlueRay and poking Caleb's eyes out. Which, by the way, is just payback for all the times Cali and Carter mauled Mia to death.

Here's a little comparison of the two cousins closest in age in our family. In this picture Mia is 9 months and a few days old. Caleb is 3.5 months old. She's on the tiny side for her age, and Caleb is on the large side for his age, so I'm not sure that it's a fair comparison...but they sure are cute...and the comparison sure is funny!

...Please Bless Alvin, Simon, and Theodore

A few extra blessing never hurt anyone, right? Carter regularly includes Alvin et al. in his prayers. He made this little Alvin at Build A Bear as a reward for not sucking his thumb anymore, and he loves him. He takes good care of him and after breakfast on Friday morning said, "Mom, I need to nurse Alvin with this mustard." I guess the pretend mustard looked enough like a bottle, and "nursing" is synonymous with eating around here...Well, Alvin I hope you enjoyed your breakfast!

More Peacock Pictures

These are just a few of the photos that my mom and dad took while they were visiting last Monday, wow...I can't believe that was a whole week ago.

Now, I ask you, which of these children would you rather deal with for an extended period of time? Needless to say we are having some attitude adjustments {straight up problems!} with a certain Miss Cali, I hope she grows out of it...If not, it's going to be a long 12 years!

I like this picture because it looks like my dad is asking Carter and Caleb a questions, and Caleb is raising his hand. Which is quite fitting seeing that my dad is a teacher and all!

We hope to see them again very soon. Carter asks everyday if we can, "ride over to Castle Dale". That's a pretty long ride!

The Surprise of a Lifetime

This post requires a little background information. When it comes to being surprised, I'm not. There are very few times in my entire life when I can truly say that I was surprised. It's not that I don't like surprises, it's just that I'm slightly skeptical and have a hard time giving up control.

A couple weeks ago my dad called and asked if he and my mom could come for a visit on President's Day. He was out of school and said that they were looking to get out of town for a couple of days. I tried to talk him into coming for the whole long weekend, but they both had other obligations and decided that coming Monday morning and leaving Tuesday morning would be the best plan for them.

When they arrived on Monday they watched my kids for me so I could run to the dentist. Afterward we talked, ate the cookies they brought, watched movies, and relaxed for the rest of the day. At 5:30 I had to go to the rec center to teach a kickboxing class. Christian was on his way home, and when I finished teaching my class we were planning on heading out {or picking something up} for dinner.

Nothing too surprising about this story....yet...

When I got home from the rec center Christian and my dad were standing on the driveway. I figured they were hungry and waiting for me, so we could eat. When I got out of the car Christian said that Caleb was really hungry and freaking out and that I better hurry in the house and nurse him. So I did. But when I got in the house Caleb wasn't freaking out, he was just playing with my mom, smiling....weird.

I asked my mom what was wrong, and she said that Caleb had been fussy, but she calmed him with the binki. However, I better go somewhere and feed him. So I sat on the couch and began to nurse him. While I was sitting there...nursing away, a person entered my house through the garage. I heard my dad say, "No, Mark, not that door....". I covered up.

Confused...I asked my mom who this "Mark" person was, why he was in my house, and how my dad knew him. My mom assured me that he was a nice person and that she and dad knew him. Still confused...I told her that she didn't know anyone in Rock Springs....She just nodded and told me to go take care of Caleb. So, I went in Caleb's room.

Then Cali started freaking out, running around the house, yelling about a surprise. My mom told her to go downstairs. Very confused...I heard a truck back into the driveway, my mom told me not to look out the window. Everyone was acting strange, and no one would answer any of my many questions.

Finally my mom told me that she had a surprise planned for me. Surprise? Really? I couldn't even think of a way they could surprise me, let alone what it could be. Several minutes later she allowed me to come out of Caleb's room and see the surprise.

My first surprise was that there were two people in my house who I had never before seen in my entire life and Christian's friend Paul was standing in the hall. However, this is how my face looked when I saw the real surprise.....

My parents bought me a piano! I could not believe it. Never could I have ever imagined such a generous and heartfelt surprise. My parents are very generous, but this is above and beyond!

The two strangers were the piano store owner and her son from Price Utah. Christian had called Paul to help with the lifting, and between the four of them they carefully manuvered the piano down the stairs to it's final spot.

Now our house is filled with music. Cali begs to play it all day, she "practices" before school. I am brushing up on my skills, and am so thankful grateful and overwhelmed at the generosity.

Flexibility...Not the Yoga Kind

Last week Cali pulled a pretty awesome stunt. One of her classmates was selling candy bars as part of a school fundraiser. On the bus on the way home the little girl asked Cali if she wanted to buy one. Duh...what six year old doesn't want to buy candy bars? So, of course, Cali said yes. But when she realized she didn't have any money she suggested that they both get off at our house because, "my mom will give you money."

There were only a few problems with this scenario: (1) I had never seen this girl in my life, but not to worry...Cali knew her! (2) The girl's mother had no idea where she was. (3) The little girl did not know her phone number. (4) The little girl only knew part of her address. (5)The little girl's parents had different last names, and neither of them matched her name.

So, instead of sending her on her way to sell candy bars all the way home, I called the school. They couldn't give me her phone number, so I gave them mine...to give to the girl's mother. A few minutes later her mother called. After assuring the scared mother that her child was OK she told me that she didn't have a car or a way to pick her up, her husband was on his way to work. She gave me her address.

I let the girls eat a snack, bought $5.00 worth of candy bars, loaded up all the kids and took her home. It was a strange afternoon to say the least. It totally threw me off my schedule. I was in the process of prepping for dinner when this all happened, so when I returned from running her home I was in a hurry to finish what I started. In the process I cut my finger open and immediately stuck it in my mouth...raw chicken guts and all...It was so gross and suck a knee jerk reaction to being cut.

I called my mom to tell her about my shredded day and the adventures of the random candy bar kid, she listened to my rant and then said, "Wow...you aren't very flexible are you?" I tried to respond by saying that I was flexible and it was everyone else's fault that my day went to hell, but then I realized...I'm not flexible. That one glitch threw me into a tailspin...Which means that I have to try to be more flexible or try not to cram so much into one day. What do you think? Are you flexible?

Blogging...My Number One Priority

As soon as I have a few extra minutes I am going to make blogging my number one priority...Right before sleeping, but possibly after eating. I have many wonderful blogging topics that have been swirling around in my head, but my computer time has been devoted to writing papers and learning about the 6th edition of APA format....Exciting....I know I know I know.

I have commentary about life, possibly some pictures, probably some hilarity, and most likely a killer Olympic flashback Friday from my Olympic adventures in SLC 2002. Stay tuned, please...

Getting Our Love On

We had a busy Valentine's week this year. More and more it seems that most holiday celebrations extend way before and beyond the actual day! For Carter's school Valentine's party we made cream cheese and strawberry jam heart sandwiches, along with some good old fashioned pink and white chex mix.

His party was out of control. I cannot thank Miss Emily enough for her constant patience, these boys are crazy. They were just so full of love and energy, I thought I needed nap after just attending the party.

Here's a picture of Carter with his favorite little friend from school.

We made up another batch of the famous chex mix and went to Cali's party too. It was fun to watch the kids give each other their Valentine's, she has a very sweet class and great teacher.

As for me and Christian, we got our bar area downstairs tiled {romantic...I know I know}. We also spent some time together on Saturday night watching a very funny movie. I recommend Couples Retreat, it was hilarious. One thing I DIDN'T get this year was pregnant....So, that's a bonus! Since I have two boys born within a week of each other in November, you can see that we've had some pretty good Valentine's Days!

Where's Waldo

Here's a collage that the MS Walk put together with photos from last year's walk. Somewhere in this pile of pictures is a stunning photo of me and my sister. Can you find us.....

We are almost famous!

Super Lasagna {Bowl} Sunday

Last Sunday Christian made a new meat sauce and compiled this delicious meat and cheese layered lasagna. He searched high and low in Rock Springs for veal, and it was worth it. The pictures do not do it justice, it was quite amazing. This is going to be our new go to sauce and lasagna recipe for sure!

A Big Day in a Young Boy's Life

Last week was a big one for Caleb. After discovering the joys of the ExerSaucer at the Rec Center day care, I just had to get him one. I walked into the daycare after working out and couldn't see Caleb anywhere. I was looking for him in all the wrong places, he wasn't in his carrier or being held by one of the day care workers....No, he was just bouncing away without a care in the world. So, now he has his own. Quite possibly the best $40.00 investment ever.

We also gave rice cereal a whirl this week. Caleb is starving! Although he could live on his fat stores for months, he still finds it necessary to eat every 2ish hours at night. I just can't take it anymore, so we tried the rice cereal. He was less than impressed, but I managed to get a few spoonfuls down. And a few spoonfuls on everything else!

MS Walk 2010: Team Tootsie Roll

My mom was diagnosed with MS sixteen years ago. I was in eighth grade at the time, and was old enough to be mad and scared. During the past sixteen years my mom has suffered and struggled with debilitating and unpredictable symptoms. During my senior year of high school she lost the use of her hands. At the dinner table one night she kept dropping her fork over and over again. She laughed and smiled and picked her fork up over and over again. I one the other hand, didn't think it was very funny, and decided to cry instead.

Since that time I've learned many valuable lessons from my mom. Sometimes when you feel like crying, try laughing instead. It's a little trick that has served our family well over the years. At present, my mom enjoys and excellent quality of life. She has been able to manage her major flare ups with the help of medical miracles.

These medical miracles are only made possible by advancing research and providing resources to those with MS. This is the reason we walk...Because she can!

Last year during the MS walk we enjoyed beautifully crisp weather on our 3 mile walk of downtown SLC. The orange balloons were carried by almost everyone, it was a sight to see. We finished our walk back where we started, at the Gateway Mall, as we came into the plaza there were hundreds of people clapping and cheering. They lined the sidewalk and told us "thank you" as we finished the walk. They were all people with MS who couldn't walk for themselves.

We are very blessed, lucky, and thankful that our mom was one of those with the disease who could complete the 3 mile walk unassisted.

Although fundraising is not my specialty, the experience was truly life changing. I can't thank you enough for your donations last year, our team raised $2200.00. We are trying to double that figure this year. It's a lofty goal. But we know that every donation, regardless of size, will help those suffering with MS.

If you would like to make a donation, or join our team, please click on the link below.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/cpollastro

Click on the "Donate to Cammie" tab. Or the "Join Team Tootsie Roll" tab.

Flashback Friday {Weezer Edition}

Right before we moved at the end of 2008 my brother and I had the most wonderful experience of going to a Weezer concert together. The story goes like this...

I was driving to work one morning listening to X96, they mentioned that Weezer was coming in concert and looking for amateur musicians. My brother just happens to be great musician so I called him up and told him to call the radio station. He did, did a small audition on the phone/radio, and was picked to play his trumpet on stage with Weezer at the concert. He was also given two tickets to the concert, and he picked ME, of course!

Here's a few pictures from our adventure that night. This is Brandt with his backstage pass. Woot woo!

Just enjoying the music, and acting like goof balls!

And here are the lucky radio winners/musicians on stage with Weezer. The band members are in red jumpsuits. You can see Brandt right in the middle...look for the sweater vest!

Three Months Old

My tiny baby is three months old today. I can't believe how time flies by. Is it funny that when you're pregnant three months seems like an eternity, but three months of life comes and goes in an instant? I just can't even wrap my mind around it. For the record, Caleb is happy and chubby and funny and still a huge novelty in our house. I thought that the novelty would've worn off by now, but no such luck. Cali and {especially} Carter are constantly mauling him, singing to him, trying to pick him up, getting in his face, and smooching him until his cheeks and hair smell like kid spit. Can you blame them?

Groundhog Day

Cali's arrival home from school each day is an event. She can't just quietly open the door and calmly enter the house. Oh no. She alternates ringing the doorbell {even when the door is open} and pounding on the door. Once inside she kicks off her shoes, drops her backpack, and runs {sprints} to the bathroom. This whirlwind of homecoming is usually accompanied by a lot of laughing, yelling, story telling, possible dancing, and maybe even a little screaming to top it all off.

This afternoon as she came in the door she poked a little groundhog out of a Styrofoam cup and yelled, "That stupid groundhog saw it's shadow...now we have six more weeks of stinkin' winter!"

{Note} While I was typing this post she snuck down the stairs quietly, snuck up behind Carter, yelled "Roar! Did you miss me today!!!!" and scared him to tears. So, now I have one kid napping {Caleb} one kid laughing {Cali} and one kid crying {Carter}.

Family Birthday Party Time

Happy Birthday to several of our favorite Pollastro's. It was Carl's birthday earlier this month, Devin's on the 30th, and Brittany's yesterday. We had a great time eating great food...BBQ pork chops by Vicki...and laughing our selves silly at the Brigham Apartments party room! Here's a picture of Brittany at the kid's table, and Brittany and Cali posing it up for the camera.

And here's Carl trying on his new Utes shirt! Happy Birthday everyone!

Carter's World

Carter borrowed my camera for a few hours during our family birthday party. Here are the results. I think they are all pretty good, very artistic and expressive. I call this one...

Family Photos

and this one...

Random Objects

Ear Surgery Aventures

We were at the LDS Hospital surgical center bright and early on Friday morning. Cali was calm and very brave. Promptly at 10am the nurses started the prep work. They took her blood pressure, listened to her heart, asked many questions, loaded her up on stickers, and had her change into this fancy surgical gown. The anethesiologist came in and talked with us for a few minutes, and then the nurse gave Cali one teaspoon of what can only be described as the-most-happy-dizzy-giggly-relaxing-juice know to man. She explained that it was make her very relaxed and ready for the anethesiologist to do his thing. I will agree...She was high...very high...She asked Christian why his hat was on the middle of his two heads. She was also really confused about why I had an eyeball on my cheek bone. I tried to read her a story, but she was angered that I wasn't reading the story from the first...I was, she just couldn't remember back that far.

Finally, after a half hour of the most hilarious and semi-heartbreaking drug induced conversation, the doctor took her back for the surgery. He finished patching her ear drum and removing her tube in a matter of minutes. However, it took her nearly an hour of napping and coaxing to come out of the anesthetic. She was groggy, confused, and a little bit mad. It took her most of the afternoon to recover. By the end of the day she was back to normal Cali and on her way to Build a Bear with Grandpa and dad to get some new clothes for her pink leopard, Fluffy.

All in all, it was a successful day. We are so glad and grateful that all went well and that she won't have any permanent hearing loss or damage to her poor little ear.