Girl's Camp 2012

It's so much work and it's so hard to spend a week in a tent, but it is always worth it. I had a great year at Girl's Camp this summer. As the Second Counselor in the Stake Young Women's Presidency, I had the opportunity to work with the stake leaders in planning and preparing this year's camp. I was able to work with the most dedicated women in this calling, and had the best time getting to know so many wonderful women.

 

I also got to spend some time with our White Mountain ward and get to know the girls in our ward a little bit better. As the bishop, Christian was able to come to camp on Wednesday night and speak with the girls about the importance of service and what serving others can do for their lives. 

 

I got to hang around the very beautiful and talented girls from our stake, especially this cutie...My friend Jessica. 

 

My brother Brandt and his wife Alexis were the main speakers for the camp theme on Thursday afternoon. He brought his picture and expertise from studying in Jerusalem and was able to give the girls some interesting insights about Jesus Christ from a different point of view. My sister in law, Alexis, also talked to them about the confidence women can have in their life when they know what Christ thinks of them. 

It was a very hard week. My kids were away in Castle Dale and worried that they were going to eat my parents alive. Christian had a busy week at work and had to make a lot of sacrifices to get up to camp on Wednesday. I was tired and stressed out from the preparations in takes to even get to the camp, and I was overwhelmed by the thought of being released from my calling after only a year of serving.

Like most things, it all worked out. My parents survived the "strong-willed" children, Christian made it to camp, and the stress of preparation faded away as I saw the energy and willingness of the girls who attended our camp this year. Nothing worthwhile comes easy, it was not easy but it was definitely  worth it. 

Bangs

For last few months Cali has made convincing arguments regarding the adding of a new hairstyle to match her grown-up-almost-fourth-grade-self. We went back and forth about the pros and cons of different hair styles.

First she wanted to cut her hair as short as mine...Then she wanted, "the same exact hair as aunt Bethany". These conversations opened more conversations about the need for having an age appropriate hair style.

I knew that Kendra would be able to help me, or in other words, I knew that she would listen to a super stylish stylist that wasn't her boring old mom.

Sure enough. Kendra complimented her on her smile and eyes and talked about her face shape and how wonderful it is to have long hair.

So, instead of chopping her hair to her chin (like Cali originally requested). Kendra talked her into a healthy trim and some bangs.

 

Cali loves her new hair do and she made Kendra a solemn promise that she would style her bangs each day. So far, she hasn't missed an opportunity to fire up the flat iron! 

 

Blogging for Five Years

I started blogging five years ago this month. So, in honor of five years of pictures and random thoughts, I've dug up a post from this week for each of the five years...

Last Year:

http://wildmeowzers.blogspot.com/2011/07/two-friends.html

Two Years Ago:

http://wildmeowzers.blogspot.com/2010/08/just-trying-to-fit-in.html

Three Years Ago:

http://wildmeowzers.blogspot.com/2009/07/another-one-bites-dust.html

Four Years Ago:

http://wildmeowzers.blogspot.com/2008/07/lamb-day.html

Five Years Ago:

http://wildmeowzers.blogspot.com/2007/07/better-late-than-never.html

What were you doing five years ago?

I Have Nine Year Old

I'm not quite sure how it happened, or if I approve of it, but I have a nine year old. Cali turned 9 years old on July 22nd. It really seems like only yesterday she was a tiny baby. So strange how time flies by. This year she was at grandma Vicki's on her birthday, but the day before we had a family party with her. Like always, she received so many nice and thoughtful gifts from all members of our family. She was so thankful and grateful for each one.

The number one thing that she wanted for her birthday was to get her ears pierced. So, when she got back from her grandma/cousin/birthday extravaganza, we went to the good old White Mountain mall and she didn't chicken out. She suggested that I get my pierced too so we could "match" but I totally chickened out...

Cali's favorite friend and my favorite babysitter, Marissa, came with us to try to comfort her and give her some extra courage! So now it's official, she's on her way to being a grown up girl. Fourth grade, bangs, earrings, what's next.... No, don't answer that, I really don't want to know!

Rockin' it Out This Summer

I have mixed emotions about this summer. Changes in our life, kids growing up, learning life lessons, and many more things have made this a summer of growth for me. It's not what I had planned, but sometimes things don't really go as planned.

Regardless of the unexpected, we're still rockin' it out this summer. Here are a few pictures that sum up some summer events...

Things we did: Rocked out at the movie theater on the 4th of July.

 

Things we ate: One Devil's Food cake mix and two cups of Honey flavored Greek Yogurt, combined and cooked at 350 for 30 minutes.

People who thought yogurt was "gross" but mysteriously devoured most of the pan: Christian Pollastro

Things we did on Tuesdays: Ate a lot of tacos.

Person who was thankful that her birthday fell on a Tuesday: Cammie Pollastro

 

Things we (and by we I mean "I") read: Somehow I ended up with three "strong willed" children.

 

Things received in the mail: One diploma and one updated driver's license. 

Person who realized she is very officially Wyoming-ized: Cammie Pollastro

Things that sent me into full blown laughter: When is a herd of sheep not funny? That's right, when you're trying to get somewhere in a hurry!

 

 

Tonsils: Who Really Needs Them?

On June 29th, after many years of snoring, Caleb had his tonsils removed. During the surgery the doctor found that one of the ear tubes in his ear had punctured his ear drum. So, while he was there, they removed his tubes and patched his ear drum. He will have a check-up in a few weeks and some hearing tests; but hopefully we are on our way to better health, better sleep, better eating, and better behavior. Apparently, hungry and tired two year olds are hard to manage.

What We Do: Summer Edition

 Summer is a wonderful time of year. As a kid I ALWAYS looked forward to it. As a mother, summer and I have a love/hate relationship. Apparently I am not as entertaining as four teachers and 80 friends (weird, I know), so we find creative ways to avoid the dreaded phrase, "I'm bored". I don't think my kids have ever been bored a day in their lives, and I try to plan a lot of fun outings and activities, but the more we do...the more they expect, and the more creative I become.

Here's a few things we've been doing, when we're not going and doing something else... Cali's been catching up on her reading. I told her a frightening statistic that kids can lose half a grade of knowledge over the summer. She is determined not to start fourth grade as half a third grader. Don't under estimate a little scare tactic. Also, a shout out to the cute bench she's sitting on. She almost always wants sit on it while reading. My friend Melinda made it out of a crib...so crafty.

 Thanks to Pinterest, and possibly sixth grade science, we created a huge disaster explosion of baking soda and colored vinegar. Baking soda in a sheet pan followed by the systematic dropping of colored vinegar onto the soda creates a foamy mess like none other. It was a good three hours of entertainment, followed by an hour of clean up. Next time, this project will begin and end outside.

 I've been teaching a kid's fitness program called ZumbAtomic. It's very fun to teach and fun to attend. I love these kids, they are so fun and so willing to try new things and explore movement in a way that adults don't. It's a very rewarding class to teach. Here I am pictured with one of my all time favorite students. Liam is super special to me and we share the same birthday. I was his primary teacher when his family first moved to Rock Springs and we became instant friends.

And what would summer be without a parade. We went to the Flaming Gorge Days parade a few Saturday's ago. It was an experience...