Expectations

We all have expectations at one time or another in our lives.

Holidays just seem to bring out the highest ones.

Especially Santa.

I remember when the boys were 3 and 1 and I was so excited to take them to the mall so they could meet Santa and have that special experience.

Warm images of my sweet boys sitting atop of a kind, loving Santa filled my mind. They were laughing, smiling, and enjoying every minute of it while telling Santa about all their hearts' desires.

Unfortunately, reality failed to meet my expectation. A crusty old Santa sat in a chair, waiting for the next kids in line to shuffle through while a disenchanted elf pressed a shutter on a pre-set up camera.

It was my boys' turn and neither Santa or the elf took the time to help them feel comfortable with this strange bearded fellow. It was so bad that I (not appearing camera ready) had to be forced into the photo to hold Jackson.

"$15 please."

You have got to be kidding me!

It was so traumatizing that we failed to go last year.

But this year was going to be different.

Another mall had a sign up for the "Santa Experience." Something that was so popular that when the tickets went on sale the first day, there was a 40 minute line up half an hour before the mall opened.

Crazy parents! What is so special about that, I wondered.

A few weeks later I was passing the booth again and thought I'd ask what it was all about.

For $5 a child, each kid could go an have a group session with Santa for 30 minutes. They would sing, dance, make magic, and read stories. And then each child would have a few minutes of one-on-one time with Santa and you could take the photo.

It didn't take much convincing for me to sign my three kids up.

The big event proved to be fabulous. The Santa was warm, friendly even, and cared about the kids he was interacting with.

The kids sat on the big red carpet awaiting the man in red. They rang their bells to help wake him up from his nap in the cottage that was in the plaza.

Avery, was a little scared when he finally came out. So scared, in fact, that she had to change seats to what was probably one of the best seats in the house.

The kids had a ball! They sang songs like Jingle Bells and Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer. They read books like Frosty the Snowman.

Santa even did a magic trick or two.

And then they all stood up to do the Reindeer Pokey. (They really got a kick out of putting their "antlers" and "tails" in.)

At last it was the one-on-one time. And the big expectation for parents.

The photoshoot.

Everyone wants that fabulous photoshoot with their kid and Santa.

But few can actually get it.

In spite of my big expectations, and Santa's help to try and make the kids cooperative, I fell pretty short on delivering.

Looking at the long line behind me, I thought sending each of my kids up one at a time would be too time consuming. So, I tried to achieve the virtually impossible.

And failed. Miserably.

I should have let them go up alone. (Holding a dSLR in one hand while a toddler wrestled in the other to get away didn't make for fabulous photography.) At the very least, I should have walked to the back of the line and tried each of my kids again, individually.

But, as Brad reminded me in the car ride home, it isn't the photo of Santa that the kids will remember, but the fun time that they had.

True. But I will remember the photo.

Super Mom

Today I deserved the title of Super Mom.

Truly, I did.

In the 2.5 hrs that I had between dropping Jayden off at school and then picking him up, I went to the gym, stayed for the entire cycling class, and went grocery shopping with two kids--picking up a very long list of groceries, mind you.

It wasn't easy. No way.

There were so many moments where I wanted to cut my workout short. But I didn't.

And then when I saw that I only had 1.5 hrs left to get to the grocery store, do all my shopping, AND drive to the school . . . I still went ahead and did it.

Our cupboards had been bare for a while, so it was one of those trips. The ones where you walk in and pretty much pull everything off every shelf and push a very heavy cart around the store.

Towards the end of my list, I found that it was 11:25 . . . and I had to pick Jayden up at 11:40. I still had to get through the check out, load my groceries into my cart, then into my car, and drive for 20 minutes to his school.

Yikes.

I flung all the groceries up on the belt like some kind of mad woman. Things were flying everywhere! What a sight.

As she rang the groceries through, I was bagging them like crazy. In fact, some items didn't even make it into bags, they just went in the cart . . . other times, a random, empty bag ended up in the cart.

Surprisingly, the cashier didn't help. Either she didn't see my urgency, or didn't want to get hurt by the flying groceries. I was rather annoyed when, as I signed my name to the receit, she said, "Have a nice day," and turned to the next customer . . . who was too busy reading tabloids to notice that the belt was empty, waiting for her groceries.

But I was late. Very late.

So I pushed the heavy cart as quickly as I could to the exit, only to be stopped, a mere two feet from the door by an elderly lady with a cart taking up the whole middle part of the door. Stalled. No room on either side of her.

"Excuse me," I said loudly.

No response.

Are you serious?? I thought!

Finally, after some time she moved out of the way and we were free to find our car.

Loading groceries into the car was another spectacal. I'd grab two or three bags at a time and fling them in. Several of the bags ended up ripping and spilling apples, grapes, and cans all over the parking lot. I would hurry and pick them up. The bottles of water I had purchased and tried to carry into the car ripped apart and rolled away. Then I grabbed a box of clemintines, and wouldn't you know the wooden box BROKE. Oranges all over the ground!

You've got to be kidding me! Why am I meeting opposition at every point just trying to get to school?!

Once in the car, I hit a red light at every stop light I came to. I did my best at obeying all the traffic signs . . . even the "Do Not Enter" one at the school that would have gotten me into the parking lot faster. Well, every traffic sign except the speed limit. (How else can you explain the fact that I did a 20 minute drive in 10 minutes, while hitting every red light??)

And I made it there only 4 minutes late, with Jayden being kept company by 5 other kids still waiting for their moms.

Super Mom. Most definitely.

(Of course, when I got home and checked myself out in the mirror I realized that Super Moms are not always attractive moms. It seems that in my haste, I forgot to clean up a bit after my cycling class and had hair sticking out in every which direction. No wonder no one wanted to help me. I must have looked like a lunetic!)

The City That Never Sleeps

Oh, la belle Paris! Again . . .
But this time, it was in Vegas, not Europe. However, the hotel and casino is truly one of my favourites on the strip. They did a great job incorporating all the beauty of Paris and France into one giant hotel.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner out on the patio of one of the Paris' famed restaurants, Mon Ami Gabi. We ordered the filet mignon, baguettes, and bananas foster . . . magnifique!

And the view?? Right across from the Bellagio and the dancing fountains. It was perfect.

But what else did we do in five days of kid-free time in Vegas? Well, we certainly didn't waste any time sleeping! (Not even in the morning, unfortunately, our internal alarm clocks were set to Eastern Kid Waking Time so we were wide awake at 5am every day.)

Now, having lived in Henderson and basically "honeymooned" on the strip, and lived close while in Utah to have visited regularly . . . we are somewhat celebrities here. We get amazing deals on hotels (anyone stayed at the Bellagio for free?) and this trip was no different.

As we came off the plane we were greeted warmly by the paps.


They were all wondering how we got such a steal on our hotel package from the Venetian. We were fortunate enough to stay in the Venezia Tower (an exquisite and romantic smaller hotel of the Venetian) AND get a several hundreds of dollars in spa credit that forced us to spend hours in a world class spa every day.

Oh, it was just so hard.

But don't cry too much for us, we made it through all right with a manicure, pedicure, brow waxing, and facial . . . and a hair cut for Brad.

In the package we also got $20 off three meals at our favourite restaurant, Le Bouchon, and a few handfuls of spa passes.


Walking the breathtaking hallways every day was fabulous. The only thing that would have made it more perfect was to have bought tickets to see Phantom (since they were blaring the soundtrack throughout the hallways every day). Instead, we went to Brad's favourite musical, Mama Mia. It was all right, but much more "Vegas-ized" than the Broadway version. (Far more pelvic thrusts than what we remembered from the version we saw on Broadway.)

We met up with some of our old friends. Gosh, there were a lot.


Cam asked me to come on set of the sequel to "What Happens in Vegas" and begged me to make a cameo in the film.


While I gabbed away, Brad had a busy day. First stop was to give Agassi a free coaching session (he's been a little off his game since retirement), a little stress-relief on the b-ball court with Jordan (he won, but only because of a serious height advantage), and then a friendly game of golf with the Tiger himself.

Since it was opening weekend of 007, we thought we'd make an appearance on the red carpet, not to see the movie (just too little time) but to rub shoulders with the other celebrities. It's amazing who came out of the woodwork!


Angelina had the weekend off from Brad (Pitt, that is) and the kids.

And there were a few surprising stars that I thought had died . . . but clearly, they staged their deaths to enjoy the life of luxury in Vegas!


For my mom, I got a photo with Robert Schuller. I spent many Sundays listening to his sermons.


Brad got to meet his idol, Diana. (She is doing REALLY well since the accident, by the way.)


And who could go to Vegas without paying tribute to "The King" himself? He still roams the streets.

After the carpet walk, we took in some more "touristy" Vegas attractions:



Gambling with Ben. He is pretty much a Vegas fixture these days. His poker buddy, Matt, was a little busy to join in. It seems as though he is researching the part of a restaurant waiter in a restaurant around the corner from our house. (No joke! We saw him last Saturday. He looks great!)


George was in town, working on Oceans 14. On his night off he wanted to do something "spontaneous", so we got hitched! (With Brad's permission, of course! He was our photographer!) We did get the marriage annuled the next day though. I just love Brad too much.

In our "spare" time, we thought we'd do some "once in a lifetime" things.


I, for one, auditioned for the 2009 season of American Idol. I think it is very safe to say that I will most definitely not be on the show. Ryan had nothing but praises for me, but Simon is one tough critic! He said I sounded as though I should be on a cruise ship! (Truly, I think that would be great--singing while sailing the Carribean and sunbathing on islands during the days.)


And then I tried to replace the American Flag on the moon with a Canadian one, but wouldn't you know, Neil was right! He wedged it in pretty well. It would not budge.

Things were not all fun and game though. The recession has hit Vegas really hard.

Hotels were going empty. The streets were nearly cleared of tourists, buffet lines were nonexistant, and new hotel construction had been stopped half way.

In fact, spirits were really low in the cab drivers, hotel staff and the store clerks in the mall. (By the way, sales were abundant--which worked in my favour, not so much Brad's.)


President Bush made an appearance to speak to the Vegans. I'm not sure if Brad had taken pity on the Old President or if he was just in the groove of over tipping everyone he met, but he subtly slipped some extra cash over to W's way.

Truly though, we really didn't do a whole lot but spa, shop, and attend a conference. And we spa'd hard! The Canyon Ranch Spa had: a suana, steam room, hot tub, herbal laconium (herbal steam/suana), igloo room (get doused in cold water), rain forest experience (three buttons with three different settings of lights, water temp and pressures, and sounds: cool mist, tropical rain, Carribean storm), heated lounge chairs, napping coccoons (heaven, for sure!), a solarium, a wave room (recline in leather arm chairs while listening to waves lap and watching waves on the ceiling), and a salt grotto (sit in the most comfortable stone recliners, listening to water falls in a warm, toasty environment while spritzes of salt float down).

The deals in the mall were fabulous. The Nordstrom half yearly sale did not disappoint, neither did Macy's triple sales (how can they have three cummulative sales on sale merchandise??), and friends and family discounts ontop of sale merchandise at other stores.

We did start the trip at our favourite Provo restaurant chain that we were so excited had come to Vegas.

Cafe Rio.


I ordered a chicken enchilada . . . and a chicken burrito, enchilada style. A chocolate cheese flan finished off the meal for dessert.

Brad got a steak salad and chips and salsa.


But we also ended it at Cafe Rio too. With basically the same menu, only added a tres leches cake for dessert.

The people in the restaurant must have thought I was a total nut, offering ordering advice to newcomers and taking photographs of the place and food.

But seriously, if they no longer had a Cafe Rio up the road from them but had to travel 2000 miles to get to one, they would take photos too!

We traveled to Vegas two years ago with the two boys. It was a crazy trip, having traveled to Calgary for Christmas, then to Provo (to eat at Cafe Rio), and on to Vegas. Between all the different climates we were traveling to and Christmas presents, car seats, strollers, etc. . . . we had a TON of luggage. (In fact, we even shipped two LARGE boxes home while in Calgary, but still were horribly embarrassed when anyone took our stuff off a shuttle and made a massive pile on the side of the road.)

This trip, we really tried to travel light. And we did begin the trip light.

But something happened during the five days. I'm not sure, but I think it might have been my fault. We had to fill our half-full bags and purchase another duffel bag.


Needless to say, people still stared at us and wondered how just two people could need so much luggage to a few days in Vegas.

It was a great time though. Thanks to our sitter for watching our kids all that time!

Hydrophobic

Apparently, some of us just aren't water people.

I fear we will be sponge-bathing our little kitten for years to come.

It's That Time of Year

When the snow starts to fall!

Excitement was so high in our house that I awoke to voices at 6:30am. When I peered into the boys' room I found two preschoolers, fully clothed and ready to make a snow fort and snow angels.

I did make them wait until after breakfast (7:15am), but I couldn't keep them in any longer. They raced to put on their snowsuits to see who would be first to make tracks in the freshly fallen snow.

As for myself, I am having mixed feelings about the snowy season. Yes, I am excited for a ski season where I am not pregnant or nursing (I can actually ski--and even fit into my ski suit!). And I am excited for Christmas time and am bursting to get out all the decorations. Our wreath and outdoor lights are up already. I won't mention that the lights just never came down last year.

But, as for the horrible driving weather when Brad's work hours and commute keep him out late and exhaust him . . . and for the extra time every morning to get each of the three kids bundled up, clear the snow and ice off the car, and then unbundle kids to do it all over again every 2.5 hours through out the day . . . Nope, that doesn't sound like fun.

But since today went fairly well, I am going to allow myself to get excited for a great Chrsitmas season and lots of skiing!

Cheating . . .

Yesterday, the kids and I cheated on our dog.

We went to the pet store and (as usual) found some adorable poodle cross puppies.

Only this time, one of them found Jackson to be adorable too.

One of the other shoppers in the store alerted me to it.

"This one really likes your son."

Intrigued as to how anyone could really tell if a poor little boxed up pet store puppy could really like one person over another through the glass, I observed for a few minutes.

Sure enough, the puppy was following Jackson with his eyes and his body . . . at least as far as he could travel without banging into the walls.

He was cute. Very much like the photo above.

A Shih Poo.

A very energetic shih poo. He probably would have gotten along great with Guillermo.

Oh, wouldn't that be nice! I thought. A friend for Guillermo!

(Never mind the fact that Guillermo was bought to be a friend to the kids.)

I couldn't resist. We asked the manager if we could take a look at the puppy.

"Only if you are really serious about buying a dog."

Of course I was serious! We have a dog at home, he could stand to have an extra friend around to play with. And I'd love to have my tricolored puppy. Plus, the boys wouldn't have to fight over who's lap Guillermo got to sit on. (Assuming he would even sit.)

We did play with the dog. He was very energetic. But also liked to sit on Jackson's lap. He could have been a great addition to the family.

But at $650 on sale for 50% off, it just wasn't going to happen.

In fact, with Brad already upset most days that we even have ONE dog, it's probably a good bet that we will never get another one.

So, we came home to our loving, black, furry friend. Ashamed for him to know that we were thinking of another dog. But he could smell it all over us.

I reassured Guillermo we were only thinking of him, to find a playmate for him. And then spent the rest of the day telling him what a good dog he was.

Because, truly, he is. He is smart, playful, good with the kids, and just wants to be loved.

And love him, we will.

Question . . .

Does the sun wake the children or do the children wake the sun?

Just wondering so we can get a bit of sleep here.

Destiny?

I think so.

How much more perfect could life get when we are headed to Vegas next Tuesday and Nordstrom has just started a 40% plus half-yearly sale for women and children???

I guess an unlimitted spending spree could make life more perfect . . . if I REALLY had to think of something.

Common Thread

What do the following words have in common?

"Hi Dadada" (Hey Dad)

"Skok" (Sock)

"Zhouz" (Shoes)

"Teese tik" (Cheese stick)

"Nanananana" (Give that to me now)

"Buh-I" (Bye)

"Uppp" (Up)

"Dik" (Drink)

"Puh-Jat" (Pajamas)

Give up??

They have all been mastered by Avery, or at least attempted, before the word: "Mama."

I am beginning to get a complex.

Halloween!

This Halloween was much better than last year's.

That isn't very hard to do though, since last year's was pretty horrifying.

It started at 1am when Avery (then a 3.5 week old baby) ran a fever of 104. I rushed her to the hospital, hoping that they would send me home with some instructions of how to monitor her.

Instead, I sat around in the waiting room for three hours until they finally looked at her.

The poor thing endured test after painful test (like blood draws, IV's and a spinal tap) . . . only to be admitted to the hospital.

It was here that we stayed. Unable to leave.

Have you ever heard of the Living Dead? It was certainly me after having no sleep for five days. And no shower or food even since I couldn't leave Avery for a second.

Seriously, the last day or so of our stay I finally had a moment to look in the mirror and was pretty horrified both by what I saw and what all the nurses and doctors had been looking at for the last four days!

Eventually we were released after they determined it was just a stomach flu.

But, Avery missed her very first Halloween.

And I missed out on dressing her up in her adorable skunk costume.

As for the boys, they only got to go Trick-or-Treating with Dad for a few houses before they too were tossing cookies. (And I don't mean the Trick-or-Treating kind!)

We really did have a great time this year. All of the reasonably geographically close cousins got together at Uncle Drew and Aunt Kelly's for a Tailgate Party. (Apparently, Trick-or-Treating becomes a big sporting event for the Dad's.)

Then we did ONE block in their subdivision and got enough candy to add about 6 spare tires and 8 new love handles on both Brad and myself.

Here are some quick snap shots of the night. (I only had a point and shoot with me, sorry!)

"Storming the Doors"
Avery LOVED Trick-or-Treating. She was adament about walking by herself up to each door and tried her very best to keep up with the older kids.

Her favourite treat? Peanut M&M's. She kept them tightly clenched in her fist all evening and searched each treat bowl for more.

Tasting the "Fruits (do Raisinettes count as fruit?) of Their Labour." Naturally Dad had to check each piece of candy for poison and quality control purposes. (If the chocolate didn't taste just right, it had to go to Dad.)

At first Avery was really excited that these strangers gave her cool things to put in and take out of her bag. What a fun night! (And she could have done nothing more but this and she would have died happy.)

Until . . . she discovered that there were candies and chocolates in those wrappers! Huh. Well, it was like being blind one minute and then all of a sudden seeing in technicolour!