...It was Christmas Eve Night...

Not really the way you want to spend Christmas Eve... I think Cali's face says it all, and that there is a rare picture of the empty barf bowl, for most of the night she was filling it up every 20 minutes. I made her a deal that if she didn't throw up for 30 consecutive minutes, then she could sip some Powerade. It was a proud moment and huge relief for us all when she made it 31 minutes! It was a violent stomach bug that ravaged our house for the holidays. Cali's bout with it was just a warning of things to come for the rest of us!

Carter and I tried to carry on some Christmas Eve traditions by preparing the Reindeer some food. Christian kept Caleb entertained far away from the Cali volcano in an attempt to avoid getting the bug too {spoiler alert: it didn't work}

First you stir up some dry oatmeal in a shallow dish.

Then you sprinkle some glitter {it helps them fly}. Did I say "some" glitter? Sorry, I meant LOTS of glitter!

The Best of Times

It would take it's own blog to compile all  the adventures that I had with these girls in 2011. It really was the best of times. The insane laughing, the trampoline jumping, the double park days,  the rec center, the weird cry face, and the awkward bathroom breaks whilst running in the hills...just to name a few.  We had to say good bye to Jesika {second from the left} and the whole Nacey family in December. They moved to North Carolina where Josh is pursuing his dream of joining he Army's Special Forces, and Jesika is living her dream of being an Army wife. Which, by the way, is a great show on Lifetime that I could never talk her into watching. I miss my dear friend everyday, my kids miss her kids and we've had many talks about where and how and why they had to leave. Carter is still hoping to be reunited with Presley, his first love/sleepover buddy {hey, they were five and it was totally cute}. Thank goodness for texting and phones and facebook and the wonderful means that we have to stay connected. I already got all my weird crying and even weirder cry face out of the way weeks ago. So, I think it's safe to say a big thanks to the Nacey family for welcoming us to Rock Springs and instantly befriending us. My life would never have been as complete or wonderful without your friendship!

Cali Christmas

It was a crazy holiday season for us this year. I was very naive to think that taking care of a baby was the "busy" part of raising kids. Or in other words, when my kids were babies I thought I was sooooo busy. No one ever mentioned {or I didn't figure it out} that the older kids get, the more of their own life they acquire.

Cali has been so excited this year to be involved in the school choir. This choir does not mess around. There are before school practices {thanks to my friend Apryl for driving Cali to every single one of them} several times a week.  The kids bring home music to practice, there are parts to memorize, and CD's to listen to.

The music director and her assistant do a great job with the kids. For their Christmas performance the kids were divided into different sections...deer, bear, villagers...etc. Each section practiced on specific days of the week, and when they came together they all knew their parts so well they sang in several part harmony. It was really good.

During the performance Carter started playing video games on Christian's phone, when I told him to pay attention he told me, "I can't, the December song makes me cry. When they performed it for the school, I couldn't get the tears out of my eyes." I asked him if the song made him sad, he said, "no, it touches my heart." It was pretty touching!

This is also the fateful holiday season that most parents dread. Almost as uncomfortable as the s.e.x. talk, the s.a.n.t.a. talk is a close second. Since Cali's been in the know about the s.e.x for over a year {thank you little girl who explained where all her mom's piercings were...and why}I knew that Santa would be close behind.

One day she said to me...seemingly out of nowhere, "Mom, if there are really flying reindeer, this is something that I've got to know about. Because if they are real, why aren't they in the zoo or in places where we can see and study them?" Can you really argue with this type of logic? I think not.

I talked to her about the spirit of Christmas and about the true meaning of Christmas and how Santa is a symbol of giving. Then I made her promise never to tell another soul. She promised.She was cool with it,  In fact, I think she likes being "in" on the secret. The other day I heard her say to Carter. "Carter how much food do you think reindeer need to eat to be able to fly all night?" Carter shrugged his shoulders...Cali continued "A lot, right mom?!" Right Cali!

This is also the season of lazy mother dinners. On several occasions we've ended up eating fast food for dinner. So far their metabolism seems just fine with eating fries at 8pm. And, I might mention, the above picture was taken at a cute little friend's birthday dinner. So, there are other mothers out there that struggle with dinner time during busy holiday events. Happy Birthday Sophie!

Finally, Cali and her primary class sang a cute Christmas song in church on December 18th. Since they all got baptized this year, we had them wear their baptism dresses. A couple other mothers helped arrange the practices and I played the piano for them. It was very sweet to see them all dressed up in their white again. Thanks to Emily for carrying her trusty camera everywhere...even to church, If it weren't for her I would far fewer pictures of my kids.

Our Pre-Christmas-Minus-the-Kids Vacation

Sometimes you want to create special holiday memories with your children, and sometimes after being husband-less for several weeks, you want to create special holiday memories without your children. I think Christian could see I was on the edge...not of glory like Lady Ga Ga....but the literal edge of my sanity. Maybe it was all the hints I dropped about checking myself into UNI. Whatever it was... It worked!

While Christian was working in Utah a couple weeks ago, and I was finishing up my final papers for school, he said to me "what are you doing the 9th and 10th of December". I checked my calendar and told him that I was free. He said that he had something planned. He sure did...

He arranged for grandma Vicki to watch the kids, she arrived on Thursday night, and we left first thing Friday morning for Salt Lake. Christian had to have a lunch date and finish up some work related business, so he dropped my off with my sissy.  Bethany and I hit up her hair stylist for some "hair-doing" lessons, then Granato's for lunch, and we met Christian at the Utah Utes store later that day.

Here we are, surrounded by our favorite team paraphernalia, right after we got our hair did! I think I've finally decided to give up the wavy hair fight, for a season, and try this curlier look. I'm giving my flat iron a break for a while.

Of course, Bethany had to try some cute baby clothes on her baby.

After we said good bye to Bethany...apparently some people have to go back to work... Christian and I checked into our hotel. He kept telling me that he got a room better than the Anniversary Inn, we laughed and joked because we thought our stay at the Anniversary Inn was a little lame for the price.

Then we drove right up to the Grand America, no joke. I have the slippers to prove it! For the sake of all my readers, this is the ONLY picture you will see from the inside of our room!

The Grand America, is just that....Grand. You could spend whole days inside and never come out into the real world. Some reasons for the five star rating...in my humble non-sophisticated opinion.

1. There is a door man that opens your car door when you arrive. Christian may or may not have almost slammed his hand in the door. We are obviously not that high class.
2. There is a cute little dude from the Ukraine that takes your bag to your room, and makes awkward small talk with you all the way to the 15th floor.
3. There is a free cookie and gelato cart that is available all hours of the day and night.
4. People call you Mrs. and Mr. and you have to look around to see what "old" people they are talking to.
5. They charge you $10 extra dollars just for getting on their treadmills.

There are some fun activities at the hotel, even if you are not a guest. There is a Christmas treasure hunt that we participated in. You walk through the main level of the hotel looking for clue in the fancy window decorations. It was really fun, I almost wished my kids were there...almost.

We also got to check out this gingerbread house. Yes, made by the chef at the Grand America. Christian is pretty tall, and he could have lived comfortably in this thing. All gingerbread, 30,000 gumballs, and the windows that look like glass are sheets of crystallized sugar. It smelled so good!

A nice family with kids, who actually had an excuse to get pumped up about gingerbread houses offered to take our picture. We were obviously way more excited about it than their kids!

 Finally, the bakery and toy store in the Grand America are worth a visit. The tree outside the store was decorated with balloons. Something I might try someday when my kids are at a less of a choking hazard age. The robot and dragon are displays in the store, and the monster is one of the main windows of the store. It was amazing. You could spend hours and your life's savings in that place. We managed to purchase a few books for the kids...we didn't forget about them entirely.

 

We got up at a reasonable hour on Saturday morning and ate breakfast at the Village Inn on 4th South for old time's sake, and then hit the shopping trail. More Costco, the outlets at Park City, and then home again.Grandma Vicki looked a little tired when we got back, but we were so grateful for her willingness to come and wrestle the kids for a couple of days. She left me a voice mail later that night that said something like..."Cammie, I told you that I cleaned your whole house, but we missed a few things. We didn't get the showers done and we only swept the floors...not mopped them -pause------pause- your one little helper was too much of a helper to get much done. Now I see why it's so hard for you to get things done."

I've been back to reality for a couple of days now, and it's not so bad.

Some Randomness

Just a couple of random cell phone pictures, and stories just as random.

Carter's school pictures were a little bit less than cute. So, on the designated retake day, I dressed in up in a handsome shirt and sent the appropriate form along with the original pictures to school with him. When he came home that day I found this note in his folder.

 When I asked him why he didn't go with the other kids to do retakes he said that he forgot. I told him that there was no way he could have forgot, because he was wearing his handsome-button-up shirt. To which he replied, I took off my shirt and put it in my book bag. I asked him when he took of his handsome-button-up shirt...he said, as soon as I got to school. At least he was honest...


Also, in the name of all things random. I ran into Thurl Bailey at the Life Time Fitness on 106 S in Sandy. I was walking down the hall on my way to a Zumba training, and almost ran right into him. How many other Zumba instructors stopped to say hi to a Jazz basketball legend. How many other Zumba instructors knew who he was. The answer, one....and she thought he was Clyde Drexler.

Go Greased Lightning

My dad always puts on a big high school musical the weekend before Thanksgiving, and although we didn't make it to the actual performance, he left his set up long enough for the kids to play on it after Thanksgiving. As you can see, this year he did the musical Grease. We wished that we could have made it to see this production, but Cali delighted us with a few musical numbers of her own.

The kids played in the cars for hours. They all took turns driving...and posing.

Grandpa Neal pushed them around so they could "drive" all over the stage. My kids could argue that their grandpa is cooler than yours!

Turkey Burn

The Saturday after Thanksgiving Bethany and I organized a Turkey Burn Cardio Party Extravaganza for the citizens of Emery County. The money we raised at the event went to the MS Society of Utah. It was fun to teach a class with my sister. She did Hip Hop Hustle and I did Zumba, and there were more than a few calories burned...for sure.

We worked hard, brought great music, tons of energy, and lots of fun cardio moves. The particpants said that they really liked it, and we are hoping to make it an annual tradition. Thanks to all of our friends, family, and new friends for coming out and supporting a cause that we feel so passionately about.

Our pre-workout picture. Or, in other words, our pre-pouring-gallons of sweat picture. When we were looking through our cameras after the event Bethany said -and I quote her directly-, "My marshmallow is way better than yours."

The warm-up...

Our great class participants that stuck with us for two hours...yes, two hours of cardio!

Our new friend and fellow Zumba instructor in the Castle Dale area, Sami. She brought a lot of fun to the class, and worked hard too!

My mom, and sister. The official money taker and photographer!

Thanksgiving Memories

Before we get any closer to Christmas, I thought I'd blog a little about our Thanksgiving and giving thanks...in general.

It's more than obvious that we all have a lot to be thankful for. Even when things are crazy or plans are changed or times get harder than are comfortable, there is always something to be thankful for.

My Grandpa Cook died at the end of October 2006, a month later my grandma was faced with her first holiday as a widow. My grandpa had actually been sick for the five years leading up to his death, so in some ways she'd been alone for years. However, this year she was really physically alone.

Somehow I talked her into letting me and Christian pick her up and drive her to Castle Dale to watch a play that my dad was directing and eat Thanksgiving dinner. She was not easily convinced to leave her house, but she did it, and I am so glad that she did. It's one of my most favorite Thanksgiving memories of all time.

The following year we tried to talk her into doing it again. She declined and told me something that I will never ever forget. She said that she was too tired to travel and although celebrating Thanksgiving is fun and important {and here's the kicker} "Living in America, everyday is Thanksgiving". Think about it. I've been thinking about it for the past few years, and I believe it. I also believe that it's possible to live with that much gratitude in our hearts.

So here are some thankful moments from our Thanksgiving 2011.

Pre-turkey coma naps. This poor child had not even tasted the turkey prior to this serious nap. We let him sleep through dinner, so I was able to eat with two hands!

 

The kids table, and two kids that totally feed themselves! 

 

The real table. Do not mess with Pollastro's and their dinner tables, they are serious!

Wii boxing...

Real boxing!

Loves!

I'm the King of the World

One More Party

 On Friday, November 18th Carter had some friends over for a little birthday party. Of course, we had to play Angry Birds. I constructed this Angry Birds game out of all the left-over boxes I could find and two of my dining room chairs. The kids took turns throwing the stuffed birds at the boxes, and knocking over the pigs. It was a success!

Cali and her friend Kenady set up the boxes in different configurations after each kids' turn. My friend Emily and I taunted the kids and secretly laughed at our son's throwing abilities. It was just as fun to watch as it was to play.

The kids also got to make their own personal pizza. They came up with some very delicious creations and were more than ready to scarf them down after all the Angry Bird throwing.  Carter was a little down in this picture. Somehow during the Angry Bird game he injured his "hip". He was fine by the time presents came around, but it's pretty weird to hear a six year old say, "my hip hurts". That's usually my line!

 Some cowboy donuts, some presents, and a few more pictures, and this birthday was officially wrapped up. Carter had a great time with his friends, and we are so thankful to be surrounded by great kids with great parents!

You Only Turn Six Once

"Mom, It is my dream to have my birthday every day. Or, at least the first day of every month" -Carter Pollastro six years old

Carter loves to play Angry Birds on the phone, but really wanted to play. angry. birds. As in, throw birds around the house and knock things down. His dream came true when he got a whole gang of Angry Birds for his birthday.

Eating his birthday dinner at Broadway Burger out of a cardboard car, another dream come true!

Getting his own Captain America, yes, a dream come true.

Getting clothes for a birthday gift... Not excatly his idea of a dream gift. He looks kind of happy here because he was told if he didn't quit crying about the clothes and say thanks to his grandma, he wouldn't have another birthday...ever.

A Lot of Anger Followed By A Lot of Coolness

Carter wanted an Angry Bird birthday, so for his school birthday treats I made angry birds sugar cookies {thank you Pinterest, you never let me down}. For a few short moments I was the coolest mother, ever!

Carter and his friend Chandler carefully handed out one angry cookie to each student in the class, while I sat back and basked in my ultra-cool-mother status.

Shouts of joy and excitement could be heard all around the classroom. Squeeky kindergarten voices shouted, "Carter, these are the best cookies ever", "Carter, I love your birthday cookies", "Carter, can I have another one", "Carter, your mom is so much cooler than my mom", so maybe I made the last one up, but you get the general idea.

Carter was so proud of his cookies and his birthday hat, he was king for a day.

With all the joy and adulation I forgot about this cute little angry piggy, he helped himself to several cookies and made himself right at home among the kindergarteners.

{side note} In the background of this Caleb picture you will see bean bags piled up in the left hand corner. You will also notice that these bean bags have no covers on them, and that their covers are laying on top of the bags. When we attended Carter's parent teacher conference Caleb fell and hit his head on the cubbies {pictured in the right side of this photo} and bled all over the bean bags. Thankfully the covers are washable and head injuries heal.