Spring Break Slow Down

Spring Break 2016 was spent doing something that the Mazotti's never do...absolutely nothing! Knowing that our summer is already booked solid, we decided to not cram in any travel and instead focus on finishing our guest area at the cabin and do some fun stuff around Albuquerque.

We began the week with an Easter favorite...dying eggs. I braved Walmart on a Saturday to get color, boiled the eggs, got everything set out and all of the sudden it hit me. Brown eggs don't dye! I'm a loser. That is what I get for trying to be one of those cool moms who buys organic. I am going back to being awesome and buying the cheapest food money can buy!

FAIL

He Made The Best of It

After talking the kids off the ledge (I told them under no uncertain terms that I would not be going back to Walmart to get white eggs), we decided to take a walk along the bosque. Well that walk turned out about as great as the Easter egg project. AJ + anger + punching himself in the face = him saying "uh oh" + blood gushing from his face + mom freaking the funk out and seriously considering a one way bus ticket to Guadalajara, Mexico (for me.)

Why God, Why?

Easter Sunday was not a fail. The kids still LOVE following the clues the Easter Bunny leaves around the house to find their baskets and they were a bit surprised that the bunny stepped up his game this year and made the eggs pretty hard to find outside. I mean for God's sake they are 6 and 9!

In A Frenzy!

We then spent the week having a staycation of sorts. Trampoline parks, miniature golf, movie theaters, Meow Wolf, NCAA basketball finals in Houston....well for 1 of us!

Shirt Not Planned

All in all it was a fantastic Spring Break 2016!

Weekend Warriors

What a long cold winter it's been. Since December, we have been weekend warriors, piling into the car each Friday after school, making the 4+ hour trip to the cabin, skiing Saturday and Sunday and then back home Sunday evening. The kids have been real troopers throughout, but the one who gets the most credit for tolerance is Diesel. Poor guy has really put in work this winter.

There have been ups and downs this season, starting with Cienna wrecking her very first race. But she rebounded nicely by coming in 1st place in the Lake City downhill.

It was at that moment that we realized that all of the long drives, late nights and (sometimes) tears were so worth it. She was not only getting better...she was thriving. She made some new friends and so did we. We learned how to streamline our ski day process by pre-planning breakfast, packing our own lunch, arriving early and having the kids carry their own gear!

Last weekend was the last "official" race of the season and once again a valuable lesson came from it. (Actually 2 valuable lessons came from it.) Wolf Creek hosted the event and asked for parental volunteers to help with all aspects of the race, from setting up the course, providing lunch, registering racers, finding donations for the raffle, etc. Since we were in Florida the weekend before we did not get the list until we got back. By then the only job left was "gatekeeper." No one told us that gatekeeper meant standing on the steepest part of the mountain in your ski boots for 4 hours while radioing in any falls, gates down, etc. I was...how do you say...MISERABLE. Tony on the other hand made the best of his flat position by and I quote "digging himself a fox hole" hunkering down and drinking beer that he had brought with him. He kept shouting at me to "come down to his fox hole" to hang out while I was taking my job seriously as skier after skier continued to wipe out or almost wipe out right near my post. I was...how do you say...WANTING TO KILL HIM. Lesson learned. No more gatekeeper for me!

Cienna learned what it felt like to be Ms. Universe for a second. After posting the results in front of God and everyone showing Cienna in 2nd place, another parent quickly realized that the times near the bottom were quicker than the times near the top. She actually got 4th place. After a few tears, I told her the story about Ms. Universe and how they had announced her as the winner and gave her the crown and the flowers and then "ooops! I read it wrong! Give me that crown back and those flowers while your at it!" She started to smile and agreed that it would have been much worse to have been standing on the podium wearing the medal when they said "just kidding!" Another valuable lesson learned.

It was a great season for all of us. Even AJ rebounded nicely after loosing one of his skis on his 2nd day of skiing (they told us to come back when the snow melts.) He learned not to lie when you have a GoPro on your helmet recording everything. Or maybe he learned not to wear a GoPro. You would have to ask him. But after going on a run with sister, breaking off the trail and ending up in the parking lot, coming up with a story about someone "pushing him" down that way and then realizing that the entire event was recorded, he had to have learned some lesson. We will forever make fun of him for that video and most importantly "It's A Trap!" He will never live that one down. Ever.

Without Tony I could not have done it. I would like to think that without me he would not have been able to do it. But most likely he would have been fine because he's a much better driver than I am in the snow and the kids are scared of him. Still, I couldn't have asked for a better partner this ski season or in life.

Awesome season our "Lil Ripper!"

Flauridaa

After weeks and weeks of being NM - CO weekend warriors we decided to relax make a true trek across the country and spend the long weekend in Florida! Call us crazy, but we were ready for some sand instead of snow, and sun instead of...well...SNOW!

We left Thursday afternoon and everything was going splendidly smooth until about 5 MINUTES INTO THE TRIP when we were checking in and Tony realized he forgot his wallet at home. Awesome. Just awesome. So while he grabbed the shuttle back to the car to drive back to the house to get back on the shuttle to get onto the flight, I relaxed by the gate with the kids wondering what insanely unbelievable story Tony would come up to blame me for him forgetting his wallet.

After arriving in Ft. Lauderdale very, very late we met up with our friends from New Jersey who had flown down to meet us. We said hi and bye quickly and planned to "pool it up" the next day for the kids (our Cienna and AJ and their Gianna and Benny.)

After awesome weather and a relaxing day by the pool, we all went out to dinner and met up with my brother Jay and his wife Monique who recently relocated from CA to Boca Raton, FL. After dinner, they came back to our hotel where the kids had a lot of fun beating the hell out of him during a pillow fight. Maybe it's all that WWF wrestling that we used to watch, but my brother is the best at taking a beating and making it look "authentic."

Saturday we spent on the "A1A" strip in Ft Lauderdale, watching the kids collect seashells in once again beautiful weather. Benny and Gianna's aunt Phyllis flew in that day and joined our growing group in the fun. She served as a tour guide of sorts as she has a condo overlooking both the bay and the ocean. It was magnificent!

Sunday we spent at the world's largest swap meat / flea market / mercado extraordinaire with my brother. It was huge, dirty, smelly and totally something that we would do!

Monday we tried to go to the Miami Zoo, but the weather said NO! So we headed to a shopping area on the water and discovered a boat show that would forever change my mind regarding what a "boat" truly is. Boat to me now means LUXURY. I get it now.

It's hard to say what my favorite part of the trip was. The pool, the food, the beach, the sun, the sand, the friends or family. Maybe it was when the unmarked police car tried to warn Tony to slow down and he gave the guy the finger. Maybe it was when the guy didn't have the jurisdiction or the reason to pull him over and he had no choice but to let us be on our way. It's hard to say. But Flauridaa as we like to call it (thanks to our New Jersey friends!) was just what we needed to beat our winter blues!

First Race!

After several months of being "weekend warriors" so that Cienna could train, she had her first official downhill race last weekend at Purgatory Resort in Durango, CO. Thanks to our good friends Nick and Sayoko, we had world class accommodations which turned the weekend into a mini vacation for us. Since the race was Sunday, we decided to keep things low key Saturday and "hang by the pool." It was a pool unlike any other...

Why Yes, That Is A Ski Lift In The Background

We went to bed early, ate a hearty breakfast, were the first to arrive (see above re: world class accommodations), and Cienna was ready to OWN THE MOUNTAIN.

After taking the world's longest chair lift in near white out conditions, then having to shuffle (not ski) 100 yards to the starting line we waited anxiously for our little ripper to rip down the mountain.

This was it. The moment of truth. She was quick out of the gate. She flew past us, faster and more confident than any of the kids before her. She was navigating the course like a seasoned professional.

Going for it 110%, she approached the 5th switchback and disaster struck. As she described it, "I hit an edge and then my skis started to vibrate like crazy and I tried to turn but I couldn't and I just yard saled!" For those of you who are not familiar with the term "yard sale" it is when you lose most of your equipment and it is strewn about the mountain like items at a yard sale. After skiing to the bottom, taking the world's longest lift to the top, shuffling 100 yards and getting back in line for her 2nd run, she was told by the organizers that if she lost her ski again she would be disqualified from the race. She turns to me and says "do they think that I tried to crash? I couldn't help it if my ski came off!" She was pissed off. And I liked it.

After backing off for her second run, she was disqualified for missing the last gate. She took it like a true champion... by asking if we could warm up in the lodge!

Tony and I could not have been prouder of our little ripper. She truly gave it her all, showed no fear, and after crashing hard she had the determination to get back up there and try it again. I told her that crashing on her very first run of her very first race made us more proud than if she had taken first place. She left it all on the mountain last Sunday and came out the winner in our book!

Last Year of Single Digits

Ms. Cienna Elise Mazotti turned 9 years old on January 15th and with that I promptly realized that I can't possibly be old enough to have a 9 year old. I simply cannot be old enough to have a child who is almost in double digits. It is not possible.

After coming back to reality, we had to "negotiate" her birthday festivities. Cienna has been very excited about being part of the Wolf Creek Ski Team (Mom! Everyone has like 3 sets of skis!) but she did not calculate that sking every weekend during winter also meant no free weekends to have a birthday party. After "negotiating" for a spring time celebration we are hoping that she can finally put her friends, presents and cake behind her and focus on RIPPING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN this weekend in her first race in Durango, CO.

Speaking of ripping down the mountain, here is a picture of Cienna doing just that while sledding...

And AJ faceplanting while sledding...

So, back to the birthday girl. You are amazing. At 9 years old you love:

Lego Friends
American Girl
Target gift cards
Talking about the day that you might need a "trainer bra"
Liv & Maddie
School supplies
Vacationing
Ski team
Gymnastics
Riding your bicycle with gears
Taking showers every morning
UC Berkeley

You do not love:

Braces
Chores
Knots in your hair
Eating your dinner

We love you more than any words can say. You are our reason for being. You are our pride and joy. Thank you for being our baby girl!

Happy New Year!!! And Other Such Things....

Happy New Year! The Mazotti family welcomed 2016 "redneck style" complete with Fireball, Frito Pies and fire!! We spent the evening with the Webb family and their new, beautiful home in South Fork. With the construction on their house just completed and a large vast piece of property dubbed Rooster Tail Ranch, they had a pile of construction debris that needed to be "dealt wit" and that meant a chain saw and gas! We roasted like hot dogs in the -5 degree weather, while watching "kamikaze cottontails" douse themselves in water before running into the fire to rescue their babies who had been calling that debris pile home for the last several months. I know what you are thinking...those people are SICK! It was very sad indeed. But one helluva way to celebrate the end of 2015!

After achieving all of my goals / resolutions for 2015, I decided to give myself a break this year and pick something frivolous to focus on.

My goal / resolution for 2016 is to learn how to do a cartwheel. That is it. Boo yea!

My kids wanted to get into the spirit as well but they chose something that I AM SO NOT DOWN WITH. A cuss jar. They would like to hear less profanity in their household. I would like to have them in boarding school. We don't always get what we want. As of today I am "throwing the party" with $32 in the jar. I expect that I will not be successful in their resolution but as a lady I wish them the best of luck in their quest for a profanity-free universe.

I wish you all a happy and healthy 2016!

Merry Norovirus

Now that the holiday season is safely past us I can reflect with humor on the memories and mishaps that we encountered. The month of December was filled with many fun activities, including Tony breaking his knee cap AND the children's "International Cultural Celebration" at school. Cienna's 3rd grade class did a traditional dance from Mexico where she shinned like a star!

"Antonio's" kindergarten class did a fun "Baliwood" inspired dance from India. Poor Antonio was sick all week and had stayed home from school...but like the good stage mother that I am (drink this Go Go Juice AJ!), I forced him to go on performance day and shake what his mama gave him. He didn't exactly shake or shine and the teachers asked me to take him home as soon as they were done!

With the performances behind us we could focus on fun! Cienna started Wolf Creek Ski Team, AJ received a month of green faces (well they only went to school 3 weeks in December and 1 week he was out sick but those other 2 weeks ROCKED!) and we spread holiday cheer everywhere we went.

On Christmas Eve we went out to the geriatric active housing community where Mimi and Papa reside to read "The Night Before Christmas" with Ms. Claus (who BTW I overheard telling adult guests that she failed to put on undergarments under her outfit) and build gingerbread houses. All 3 of my children did a bang up job creating semi-edible real estate masterpieces!

We returned to Mimi and Papa's house for an afternoon of treasure hunts for presents and laced egg nog. I enjoyed my egg nog as much as the kids enjoyed finding their presents all over the house based on clues that Mimi made up.

In The Freezer...

The BBQ...

If AJ was exicted...

Then Cienna almost stopped breathing!

We headed back home around 2 so that Tony could go to the dump (typical) and the kids and I could assemble 4 dozen luminarias for the front of our home. Each Christmas Eve, our neighborhood puts out luminarias (paper bags folded at the top with sand and votive candles inside) and the city sells bus tickets to view them. It is my favorite part of Christmas Eve (well that and the tamales!)

Heading Out For The Unofficial Walking Tour

After all of our guests went home and the kids were tucked in their beds dreaming of sugar plum ferries, something happened that was neither happy, nor merry, nor magical. I must have made the VERY BAD LIST because I got a special delivery of the Norovirus! From 10pm - 4:30am I wished that Santa would run me over with his sleigh. And just when I felt well enough to sleep in my bed instead of on the bathroom floor the kids woke up and screamed "Santa Came!" It was 5:15am. I begged God to "take me now!" but my cries for help were not heard. True to my stage mom roots, I told the kids to go ahead without me...that the show must go on! But after 5 minutes of hearing their squealing joy coming from the living room I sat up, cried for a minute and crawled on my hands and knees to the couch to watch them open the gifts that they had been waiting for all year long. I even managed to snap 2 photos while in my own personal hell that was Christmas Day!

Twas' The Night Before The Norovirus

Oh Look! We Are Having Fun While Mom Is Dying On The Couch!

Merry Christmas to all and to all I hope you don't get what I did! Oh and don't break your knee cap either! That isn't fun as well.