My Baby Can Swim

Some babies can read, some can compose piano concertos, others can speak several languages...Mine, can swim. Well, not all by himself and definitely NOT without a swim cap {no water allowed in the ears}, but he's well on his way. After a couple sessions of mom and tot lessons he is bound to be the next Michael Phelps {minus the weed smoking...hopefully}.

Some of his swimming skills include {this list may be of interest to ESPN during the 2028 Olympic Games}:

• Licking the water
• Blowing bubbles...then licking the water
• Leg kicking...like crazy
• Going underwater for approx 2 seconds
• Being passed underwater from mom to teacher...kicking included
• Floating for approx 2 seconds
• Playing with pool toys
• Throwing pool toys from one pool to the other...maybe we should focus on a sport that involves throwing
• Sitting in the hot tub to relax and get warm after a hard workout

Not to mention, he looks so cute in swim cap. First I put the ear plugs in, then the ear wrap, then the pre-cap, then the plastic cap. He HATES it, but forgets about it as soon as he gets in the water. He also LOVES his swimming teacher Tanya, when he sees her he immediately puts his head in the water and begins to show off!

Thank You MLK Jr.

Not only did Martin Luther King Jr. inspire many people to shake off the bands of racism and believe in equality, his dream {and subsequent holiday} made it possible for my brother and sister to come to Rock Springs for a visit. The Monday holiday was a perfect time for Brandt and Bethany to ditch the city and entertain us for the weekend!

They came Saturday morning just in time to hit up the RSFRC center pool. Cali and Carter HAD to show them all their tricks, and Cali treated them to numerous rides down the tube slides. After swimming we ate Dickey's BBQ {If you Rock Springers haven't tried it yet, I would recommend it}. We watched The Other Guys {best movie ever} and Dinner for Schmucks {best move ever, I am easily entertained}.

On Sunday Bethany so graciously and kindly took Caleb home from church to watch some movies and hangout...It was a big sacrifice for both of them. In all there was lots of laughter, hanging out, doing nothing {except Brandt and his homework}, and just having fun.

Brandt, fresh off his Jerusalem adventure brought some little Kepas for Carter and Caleb. Now they are honorary Jews!

Matchers! They both look cute in blue and orange!

My FAVORITE Time of Year

Bad News: You can only buy these sweet treats once a year. Good News: You can buy enough of them to keep eating them all year long! Cali is selling Girl Scout Cookies, and I am ready to stock up on Thin Mints! Here are some reasons you should buy Girl Scout cookies {besides their obvious deliciousness}.

1. All the money earned by the girls stays in their troop {Woo Hoo Troop 1857}

2. The girls use half of the money earned to participate, perform, or make a service project for their community.

3. The rest of the money makes it possible for the girls to participate in an activity of their choice {last year they went to Lagoon}, and to ensure that all girls within the troop can participate in all girl scout activities and events with no cost to them or their family. In other words, the money earned by cookie sales financially supports the troop!

4. The girls have been asked to find creative ways to sell their cookies...NO door to door sales {there are creeps out there}, so Cali suggested that I add the info to blogs and Facebook.

5. Remember, these cookies freeze well...In July or August you're going to be so glad you have a frozen treat waiting for you.

They are $3.50/box and Cali will be taking orders until January 27th. The cookies will available the last week of February {no exact date yet}, and I will pay shipping to ship {anywhere in the lower 48 states} or deliver {to the greater Utah area} when they arrive.

If you don't like Girl Scout Cookies {gasp!} you can still buy a box and donate it to the Rock Springs food bank. The girls will deliver the donated cookies to the food bank. You can choose from {these are hard choices...maybe one of each?}:

Lemon Chalet Cremes
Trefoils
Do-so-dos
Samoas
Dulce De Leche
Thank U Berry Munch
Tagalongs
Thin Mints

Leave me a comment on this blog post or send me and email cpollastro{at}msn{dot}com.

A New Nephew/Cousin for Christmas

Early on Christmas Eve morning my sweet little nephew, Brock Devin, was born.

He was only seven days old in this picture, so I tried to keep my kid's and their grubby little mitts off of him.

This is as close as Carter was permitted to get to him.

I love the look on Carter's face in this picture...What do you think he's thinking?

Pinata Bashing

The only thing better than bashing a pinata to pieces, is all the stuff that comes flying out!

Ringing in the New Year Right

We spent New Year's Eve {No, I did not make it all the way to midnight} and New Year's Day at the Pollastro's. Caleb learned some new tricks, which he practices at home everyday...scary!

We opened presents all afternoon. Grandma Vicki made very cute blankets for each of her grand kids. Pink and green for Cali, dinosaurs for Caleb, and pirates for Carter.

After the clothes, the blankets, the books, and toys, it was time for the kids to opened their final present...

Ta Da! Each kid got their own coaster scooter. We can not wait for the snow to melt to take these bad boys for a ride. Dustin demonstrated how to ride them for us. {p.s. ladies he's single!}

Back to {and Home From} Bethlehem

This year my mom planned a special "event" for our Christmas celebration. She'd been talking about it for several weeks, but wouldn't say anything more than it was a surprise. On the night of December 30th we all went to my dad's classroom at the high school where he, my mom, and sister Dory had decorated and constructed a Bethlehem like village.

My mom got the idea from some friends, and modified it fit our family, and then cooked and decorated for days to surprise us with a "Back to Bethlehem" dinner and party. Ironically enough, my brother Brandt returned from his studies in Israel that very day. So in honor of his safe return, and the birth of the Savior, we celebrated Bethlehem style.

On the menu: pita bread, shredded beef and lamb, homemade crackers with various cheeses, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and sugar cookies.

Here we are in Bethlehem, each "shop" had different dinner items. We went around to each shop and made ourselves a delicious dinner. No plates or silverware just like in ancient times, except for the kids

We watched a movie about Bethlehem and the Savior's birth, then Brandt showed us a few of the pictures he'd taken while living in the Middle East. Bethany brought some Christmas gifts for the kids, and we shared some great times as a family.

Here are a few of the pictures from the "event".

Castle Dale Memories

Christian had to work in Utah for most of the last week of December, so we hung out in Castle Dale for most of the week. We woke up on Wednesday {12/29} morning to a blanket of snow. We hit up the local Alco store for some snow boots, and the kids were happy to help grandpa dig out cars and clear the sidewalks. Mostly Carter swept the lawn with a broom...but it was pretty helpful.

Pillow Pets! My kids have been asking for these since they first saw the commercials this summer. Grandma Gwennie must have known what they were thinking because she got one for each of them. Cali, sparkly unicorn. Carter, a dog. Caleb, a bee.

We also got to spend some time with my sister Dory on her Christmas break from school. We don't see her very often since she is an aspiring actress and very busy student, she entertained us with YouTube clips and hilriousness.

My mom and Cali performed a harp/vocal duet of Away in Manger for everyone.

A Very Low-Key Christmas

This could very well go down in history as my favorite Christmas morning of all time. We made it back from Disneyland on the night of December 23rd. We took some gifts around to friends on Christmas Eve, and then had a great Christmas Eve dinner with friends.

We made the kids a deal at Disneyland that they could buy some souvenirs, but they had to buy them for each other, and then give them on Christmas morning. Cali and Carter woke up around 8am ready to give the gifts they had picked out for each other. They didn't expect anything from Santa, since he had given us the tickets to Disneyland.

They were shocked, surprised, and grateful to see that Santa had filled their stockings with a movie, cookie cutters, and a game. They gave each other the gifts they had picked out, and everyone was happy!

We spent the rest of the day playing games. Cali picked a Toy Story game for Carter at Disneyland, and Santa brought one too. It was quite possibly the most relaxing and enjoyable day of the year.

What Characters

I understand that these very expensive costumes and very elaborate makeup jobs would be destroyed in the rain, but there is something very wrong about people {characters} waving and smiling at you from a dry double-decker bus while you are soaking in the rain. This is the only Disney character sighting we saw while we were there, and although it was brief, I shoved Cali and Carter to the front of the crowd so they could see.

I resisted screaming, "WIMPS!" at them, and decided instead to just soak in the magic...instead of the rain.

Here are some other characters that are not wimps! We stayed out late one night after Carl and Vicki took Caleb back to the hotel. Christian hit some of the bigger rides with Dustin and Brittany while Cali, Carter, and I enjoyed the Bugs Life rides in California Adventure. Still going strong, in the dark, in the rain...those Disney Characters could learn a thing or two from us!

Word Up {A True Nerd}

I just found out that I can publish documents from MS Word 2007 to my blog. Oh yes, this is awesome! I found an old document in my C: drive and published it through Word 2007 to my blog. Check out the previous post! It works!

21 Suggestions For Success

 

Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.

 

Work at something you enjoy and that is worthy of your time and talent.

 

Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully

 

Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

 

Be forgiving to yourself and others.

 

Be generous.

 

Have a grateful heart.

 

Persistence, Persistence, Persistence

 

Discipline yourself to save money even on the most modest salary.

 

Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.

 

Commit yourself to constant improvement.

 

Commit yourself to quality.

 

Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power, or prestige but on relationships with people you love and respect.

 

Be loyal.

 

Be honest.

 

Be a self-starter.

 

Be decisive even if it means that sometimes you'll be wrong.

 

Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.

 

Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.

 

Take good care of those you love.

 

Don't do anything that wouldn't make your mom proud.

"Living" in a Hotel

About half way through our trip I asked Carter to tell me his favorite part of the trip. Without hesitation he replied, "Living in a hotel!". It certainly looks like they are living it up!

Take Cover!

Inside someone elses poncho...

Underground in the Bug's Life movie...

At the Rainforest Cafe.

Plastic Wrapped Fun

Caleb spent most of our trip in his stroller, wrapped in plastic. He was the best sport. When he was tired, he fell asleep. When it was time to ride on a ride, he enjoyed every single second of it. I can't say enough good about this kid!

If you eat churros in the rain, you have to do it FAST. The rain will melt the sugar to your skin almost instantly. They were happy as clams!

Even waiting in line was fun...For the most part! The carousel was Carter's favorite. Even better, there were not many people riding so the kind Disney employee let us stay on over and over and over again!

Things You Can Do in the Rain

I learned a very interesting lesson during the pouring Disney rain. Apparently kids are barely affected by adverse weather conditions. While I was shivering, soaked boots, wet pants, freezing hands. They ran, skipped, hopped in puddles, and eagerly awaited every ride. They proved to me that despite the crappy weather you can still eat ice cream outside.

You can still pull the sword from the stone...

Hold hands and skip to the next ride...

Pose for a princess picture in front of the castle...in a rain poncho!

A Break in the Clouds

Our last afternoon/evening in the park the clouds finally got sick of dumping on us. We were so glad, we stopped to take some of the pictures that we hadn't taken the previous days. Like this one...Pretty cool if your name is Cali. That's her, sitting in the A. We couldn't get the people to move out of our way to get a better picture. You can't blame them, everyone was getting their camera on!

Christian and Carter had a lot of faith that the rain was over. As you can see they took off their ponchos. Not me and Cali, we were still sceptical about mother nature. And Caleb, well, he was just totally plastic wrapped!

Fun with the grandparents. Carl followed Christian's lead and ditched the poncho too.

The park was decorated so beautifully for Christmas. We love getting our picture taken in the C...as you can see!

Build A Bear...Reindeer

Christian's parents treated Cali and Carter with a trip to Build A Bear at Downtown Disney. This particular Build A Bear has the exclusive Mickey Mouse Bear. Yes, mouse bear, It's actually a bear with brightly colored Mickey's all over the fur...It can only be built at the Downtown Disney store. So, what did Cali and Carter build?

Carter: Rudolph, from the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer movie.
Cali: The iCarly Bear.
Caleb: Grandpa built a very cute puppy for him.

I don't know who was more excited for Build A Bear. My money is on Grandpa Carl!

Good Knight

We took Christian's parents and siblings to Medieval Times. It's a crazy place, and obviously a lot crazier for those who took full advantage of the open bar. When you arrive they give you a crown {ours were yellow and red}. There is a whole production before the show, then you are seated in an arena by colored crowns. During the show you are supposed to cheer for the Knight wearing the same colors as your crown. Our knight threw Cali a flower. She was beyond thrilled!

The food was really good, and just like in Medieval Times, no utensils allowed. Eating with your hands? Carter was in heaven!

Watching the jousting, sword fighting, and horse show. Speaking of horse show, these horses were amazing!

Here are the knights, ready for battle. The whole show has an elaborate plot about a prince being kidnapped, but most of it was lost on me. I chased Caleb around the gift shop, where he met many very drunk friends!

Both Caleb and Christian had a hard time taking of their crowns. We got clear back to the hotel before Christian reluctantly removed his. But don't worry, he packed it safe and sound in his suitcase and brought it home!

Curse You Cruel Fate

A picture of our hotel, AND BLUE SKY, as we drove to the airport on the last day of our vacation.