Easter Shoplifting

In the true spirit of Easter, Caleb lifted a carrot from Walmart while I was getting one of Christian's Rx's filled. Bethany was "watching" him and she claimed that she only looked away for a second. That's all it takes, one second, and your child is a criminal. Carter told him that he was going to jail to which he cried, "No, don't let them put me in the jungeon (a combination of jail and dungeon)."

An Easter to Remember, But Not To Repeat

With all of the worry and stress that surgery can bring, and my inability to manage said stress with much grace, we (and by "we" I of course mean, me) nearly forgot about Easter. Well, let me rephrase, we nearly forgot about random Easter stuff. Of course we didn't forget about the Atonement, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, I know that He is the only reason I made it through the entire situation in one piece.

We spent Thursday March 28th through Easter Sunday March 31st at Christian's parents house in North Salt Lake. Christian was incapacitated with his recent surgery, and tried my best to make sure my kids were making some Easter memories.

Christian's sister Melissa and her family were there too. Melissa gave the kids an Easter egg dying tutorial, and then they went to town creating colorful eggs. 

I made some trips back and forth from Bethany's house to North Salt Lake, from Trader Joes to North Salt Lake, and got to have lunch with my best friend Nicole.

Compared to Wyoming weather, it was a beautiful extended weekend and we enjoyed playing outside. Brock and Caleb entertained Bethany by playing "cho cho train" on the slide.

And I tried to convince Cali that playing spider on the swing was "fun". Come to find out it's only fun when you're both the same size and not 32.

Caleb got a bunch of snuggle time with Christian who was probably too drugged to remember it. 

Finally, I recreated a photo from five years ago. It's one of my favorites, and the last time the kids will play on Bethany's playground, since she has since moved away from the University Village. It was definitely an Easter to remember, but not one I would recommend or do again.

 

Checking In

I am certainly glad to be sitting at day 35 post-surgery, and not back at day one. It's been a wild ride, and I'm not even the one who was injured. This whole my-calf-came-unhooked-from-my-foot business is no good, not one bit.

On March 28th Christian checked into the hospital for his Achilles's tendon repair. There were jokes about church basketball, and questions about how it happened, information about filing a claim with the church's liability insurance, and that was just the initial check in. Of course, no claims were filed, and we all got a good laugh about the hilarity of church basketball related injuries.

After an hour or so, Christian was fast asleep, and the doctor went to work putting him back together. Within about three hours the surgery was declared a success, and Christian was on his way to recovery. Well, not without some crazy nurse trying to hold him up by his pants, a lesson in maneuvering with crutches, and a big bag of pain meds.



Surgery Day Eve

 

After what seemed like an eternity, the surgeon scheduled Christian's Achillies' tendon surgery for Thursday March 28. To be ready for the big day, the kids and I headed back to SLC on Wednesday night. We stopped at Park City on the way for a little retail therapy, and some time with Bethany and Brock.

We didn't even get much shopping done, but talking with my sister and being with Brock and Cali and Carter and Caleb together was the actual therapy that I needed. The kids climbed all over the different playground and coin operated toys while Bethany and I took turns shopping and kid watching.



 

We also met Grandpa Carl at his office in downtown SLC and he took Carter for the rest of the night to the Jazz game. When we made it to the Pollastro house in North SLC we were so glad to all see each other again. Christian is on the road for his job a lot, and even when he's working locally, he's still very busy. We don't really see him that much. We are used to the week long separations and the work week craziness, but sitting around helpless waiting for surgery was a very different experience.



 

Christian was busy on a conference call with work when we got there, so we headed back downtown and spent some time shopping at Trader Joes and then went to Bethany's apartment for a while to let Cali and Caleb play around for a little bit. We finally got to sleep late that night, and I was super nervous for the next morning... the surgery... the recovery... and everything that goes along with it.

Does This Look Broken?

I somehow managed to fall out of my shoes and step on my own toe. Yes, this poor toe folded over and felt the wrath of my entire body weight. How? You ask... I tripped up a curb, lost my shoe, and I'm not sure how the rest happened... But I'm sure it looked a cool as it felt.

Austin Powers Found His MoJo!

 

We (and by "we" I mean Christian) may have made the fatal mistake of introducing our children to Austin Powers. Now anything in a small jar, or anything that looks like jelly, is automatically "MoJo".

Carter made some "MoJo" or gel crystals while he was attending the Mustangs class at the college. Caleb was so excited that someone had finally found his MoJo.





Last Basketball Game... And Not Just for Cali

 

On Saturday March 23, a day that will live in infamy, both Cali and Christian had a basketball tournament. Cali's was her final Tiger Tribe tournament, Christian's was the Stake tournament. After winning an 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. game Cali had a lunch break. So, Caleb and I took Cali to lunch and then to take some lunch to Christian and Carter at the Stake Center.

Cali had some time to run around with church friends, eat, and then we had to leave to make it to her 1:00 p.m. game. Cali's game was really fun to watch, the girls were playing very well together, and I found a place in the hall where I could contain Caleb and watch the game. They ended up losing by one point. It was disappointing, but the girls were all amped up from the energy surrounding a game that close.

As I loaded Cali and Caleb back in the car I noticed I had several missed calls from Christian, and several txt messages from numbers that I didn't recognize. One of the messages went (something) like this...

"Uh....Cam, I, uh.. did something to my leg...bad. I think we need to go to Salt Lake. K, love you bye..."

I loaded Cali and and Caleb in the car, drove home, and found Christian laying on the couch with his foot on the back of the couch. I immediately asked him what he did... He said, it was his Achillies' tendon. I ran around throwing clothes in a bag, and we drove to Salt Lake.

I took him to the ER at LDS hospital where they confirmed that yes, indeed, his Achillies' tendon was ruptured. As in, his calf was no longer hooked to his heel. Not good. We went to Christian's parents house in N. Salt Lake for the night, and then the kids and I made our way home Sunday morning. Christian stayed to await a call from the surgeon, which resulted in a surgery to repair the tendon on the Thursday following the injury.

It was a sad day for basketball players at the Pollastro house!

The Great Iguana Project

Carter was assigned an extra school project to showcase his love of reading and animals. He chose Iguanas (of all of God's creatures) to research. After his research he complied a presentation about Iguanas, which he gave to his class... Complete with a quiz at the end. 

He drew the Iguana in the middle of the board and then first-person thoughts in "thinking bubbles" to describe different aspects and characteristics of Iguana life. In one of the bubbles he wrote, "I figit for females." When I asked him what "figit for females" meant he said, "oh.... I meant fight for females".

We learned a lot about Iguanas and Carter was very proud of his project!

Climbing Club

The elementary gym teacher really does a great job or organizing healthy activities for kids. This year Cali and Carter both participated in climbing club. They stayed after school one day each week and participated in fun healthy activities which centered around the school's climbing wall. 

On the last day of climbing club the parents are invited to participate and see how strong their kids are. It was really fun to watch all the kids running around and showing off for their parents. Caleb jumped right in like he was one of the students.

There were healthy snacks, door prizes, and a whole pile of sweaty kids (and parents), it was pretty successful afternoon!

Brock's Birthday, Meeting Kate, and a Realization...

On March 15, 2013 my cute little nephew Brock Tyler turned one. I can hardly believe it! He is the cutest little ball of goo in the whole world, and we cannot get enough of his antics. On Saturday March 16 we took a little road trip to Salt Lake for his first birthday party. However, not before I accidentally jabbed a Qtip through my ear and into my brain. Worst. pain. ever. This little accident set us back from leaving on time, but I figured we had plenty of time. I was wrong, not only did we leave late (and mostly deaf), but I had written the bday party time down wrong in the first place. We were more than fashionably late, and I felt terrible about the whole situation.

Not to worry! We made it in time to see Brock pitch a fit about his cake, and then barely touch it. I really wanted him to make a mess, but in true laid back Brock fashion he only took a few licks. Oh well, more cake for me!

The second highlight of our little belated birthday trip was meeting Kate Gwen for the first time. My brother Brandt and his wife Alexis (or Wexis as Caleb...and now the rest of us call her) had a baby on January 11th. With all of our winter comings and goings we hadn't made it to Provo to meet her yet. Alexis was supposed to be in Las Vegas for the weekend, but came home early, and we were so glad that she did!

We haven't decided who she looks like the most, but the cheeks are definitely Brandt's!

 We tried to get a few photos of all the Peacock cousins together for the first time. As you can see, it was mildly successful.Also, my kids look like giant grown ups around these cute babies!

 

After the birthday party and the family fun, the kids played on the playground for a few minutes. I looked over to see Cali and Carter riding the fake NASA spaceship together. After watching High School Musical 2 on the way to SLC, they were once again playing Troy and Gabriella. They've been playing this for years, and as they sat there together I remembered that not too long ago I had taken a very similar picture.

Truthfully, after reflecting on how fast Brock's year had gone, and how much Kate had grown since January, I was not prepared for the contrast that five whole years can bring. Bethany said that the only thing this picture proves is that she's lived at the University Village for way too long. I think that it proves that no matter what, for good or for bad, time does not and cannot stand still. 

 

State Gymnastics

We survived our first competitive gymnastics season! Cali qualified to participate in the state meet fairly early in the season. Each meet she got better, more confident, and enjoyed each experience. 

This year the Rock Springs Rec Center hosted the meet, so it was nice not traveling for a change. The afternoon of the big day I picked Cali up early from school so she could make her 4pm warm up time. Of course, there was hair and makeup and packing up snacks and filling water bottles and trying to calm the nerves. 

We made it to the rec center in time to get a good seat, and we settled in for the evening. As a mother of three children, I often find it hard to be present in the small moments of life. I've never been a space cadet, an air head, or lacked in the attention span department. It just happens that with three kids going in three directions, my abilities to play a solid zone defense are sometimes lacking.

As I wrestled Caleb (physically) and Carter (emotionally) during the never-ending warmups and all the waiting that comes with a gymnastics meet, I tried to focus on watching Cali and connecting with the emotions that she must be feeling. After 2.5 hours of sitting and watching, the boys had finally had enough. Thankfully,  Christian made it there just in time and Marissa came bearing a cute candy poster to give to Cali.

 

Cali gave a great performance on all of her events and ended up taking 6th on the bars, 7th on the beam, and 11th overall. It has been so rewarding to see her grow personally through the competition experience. She will be training hard this spring and summer, and we'll see where next fall takes us!

Bumblebee

 After a long day of battling Decepticons (aka playing with his friend Hunter), Bumblebee needed a much deserved rest.

A Sister and a Cousin

My sister has always been my best babysitter. For going on ten years now, she's been around to help me with my kids. Through all my jobs and all different transitions of my life, she's been a very reliable support. In the middle of March WWCC, as most colleges do, celebrated their Spring Break. Students get to have a week of doing whatever it is that students do, and staff get to work. Without a second thought, she jumped in her car, buckled up her own cute little baby, and came to watch Caleb for me. 

My kids had a great time with her and baby Brock. There was eating and baking and cooking and swimming and crossfitting and just pretending that everything was the way it once was. However, we all know that nothing gold can stay, and neither can a sister and her golden baby. After the week was over, they returned to Salt Lake to get ready for Brock's first birthday. 

If having her 2.5 hours away isn't bad enough, things are about to get worse. She and her husband and my little nephew are moving to Blanding, Utah, at least 8 hours from me. Sometimes you have to go where the open road takes you. Sometimes it takes you to the frigid wind tunnel of Wyoming, other times it takes you to the remote beauty of Southern Utah.  Regardless of the miles I'm sure our grand adventures will continue.