Civil War

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Friday's Thanks

My thanks for today is actually for the Thanksgiving holiday we had with family yesterday. It was wonderful spending time with everyone. The food, the visits (the wine - thanks Mike for joining me in our "shots" :) And, might I point out, the only item which we did not have leftovers.) Thankful we all had a safe drive up and back - had some pretty nasty rain, thunder, and lightning storms. All in all a great day (we'll pretend the photo radar wasn't there, Bryan.) At any rate, mom and dad come into town today for the weekend, so looking forward to extending the holiday. Below are some pictures from our day. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was equally fantastic!

Why can't I have pie first? Huh? No fair!

Cameron and Scout

Cameron and Grandma Denise

The bright spot on the hills on an otherwise
very fall day!

Bryan, Cameron and Grandpa Lasky

Hmmm ... think I need some more wine? :)

Cameron running up the driveway

working off his dinner ...

Bryan looks SO thrilled! :)

Cameron and Great Grandma Peterson

Great Grandpa Lasky and Cam

Grandma Denise, Cam, & Great Grandma Lasky

Theresa & I

Another dinner guest

Cam and Papa Mike

No caption needed ... what a cutie!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things I Am Thankful For:
* My husband
* My son
* The roof over our heads
* The jobs that let us have that roof over our heads
* The food in our pantry, in our fridge, on our table, and under our table
* Family and family and more family.
* Good friends that make me laugh and let me cry
* Good health

And let us not forget some of the little things:

* Toilet paper (for obvious reasons)
* Health insurance
* Microwave ovens, dishwashers, washing machines, etc.
* The little signs they put in steaks to let you know how done the steak is (because how else would you know?)
* The movie "16 Candles"
* The smell of daphne (the flower)
* Our DVR (otherwise I would never get to see the shows that I want to see)
* Coffee (this requires no explanation)
* Red wine (with all those antioxidants and gum disease-fighting power- I read an article on this - it's true)
* Weekends
* My kollage edukation
* Swimming pools in an Arizona summer

I am also thankful for the freshly baked apple pie on the counter that my sister made (Thanks Theresa!), one which I cannot believe is still untouched, and Uncle Steve's mashed potatoes waiting patiently in the fridge. Bryan, Theresa, Cam and I are all headed up to Prescott to spend the day with Bryan's family. The high up there today is around 48, so we'll be pulling out the winter coats. (Yes - we do wear them here!). Looking forward to a wonderful day with family.

May your Thanksgiving be full of all things wonderful. We all have much to be thankful for!

Wednesday's Thanks

Today's thankful thoughts are brought to you by Cameron! We decided that there are just so many things to be thankful for, that it would take waaaay to long to list them all. So ... we figured eight (1 for each year of his life) would be sufficient! Here they are ...

8 Things Cameron Is Thankful For:

1. My parents
2. A place to live
3. Food to eat
4. Toys to play with
5. All the rest of my family
6. I am healthy and not in a hospital, I have all my body parts, and no broken bones (that goes for the rest of my family too)
7. My friends
8. The clothes and shoes I have to wear

Tuesday's Thanks

Today, I am thankful for this ... a fridge overflowing with mother's day gifts, drawings, book reports, spelling tests, calendars, and postcards.

It means I am a loved mother. It means my son has an incredible imagination and sense of creativity. It means my son can read and spell and works hard to get good grades. It means I have a son who is almost as excited as I am about bringing home these projects that he worked so hard on and is so proud to display. It means a fulfilling life drowning in extracurricular activities and lots of family time. It means notes from friends who are afar, but yet still thinking about us.

It means I might need a bigger fridge.

Thankfulness

Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday. This is probably due to the fact that it is very similar to Christmas with the food, family, and all the "day of" activities, but without the financial stress involved. And while it may not be a holiday with the same religious connotations as Christmas, it is a holiday that allows us to reflect on all that we have been blessed with. Perhaps it is the time of year, perhaps it is the obstacles our family has faced lately, or maybe a combination of both that have allowed me to reflect even more so on all that I have to be thankful for. So, this week I'll be blogging a lot about all the incredible things in my life that I have to be grateful for!

The above picture is of an original corn husk doll made by Cameron. They have been studying the Pilgrims and Indians, and made this doll in art class. I won't go into the adventure I had trying to find the corn husks for the class, but let's just say I was very grateful for the employees at Safeway: The checker and produce employee for graciously informing me they actually sell corn husks bags, the girl bagging the groceries for asking me what I was doing with all 30 bundles of Indian corn I had in my cart originally, and for kindly taking it and putting it all back for me when I had my 3 bags of corn husks. :)

NO. 21 Oregon State 19 | Arizona 17

This was on the front page of our sports section this morning. Way to go Beavs! What a fantastic game. I seriously think I wet my pants on three different occasions. Apparently I was "too loud and hurting people's ears" with my yelling. Hmmm. Oh well. Couldn't help that one! Bryan and I were laughing at thought of some of those Wildcats fans leaving the game early thinking they had it in the bag. Oh to be on your way home to celebrate when you hear they actually lost. Ha!!!

Next stop: Civil War.

Bring it on Ducks ... !!

Go Beavs!

Just a reminder for all you Beaver fans ... OSU plays University of Arizona tonight in Tuscon. It's on at 5:00 here, so 4:00 in Oregon? Bryan had a rather late work day - think he got home about 3:30 so we'll be watching the game right here. Chili dogs and Corona. I think we're set. :)

GO BEAVS!

Happy 35th Anniversary!

Mom and Dad,
Love brought you together as husband and wife, and gave each of you a best friend for life. May this special love of yours keep growing. May today, tomorrow, and every day after be filled with love and laughter. May your anniversary bring the happiest moments to enjoy together ... memories to share forever. Congratulations on 35 years of marriage!

Love,
Me

Honor Roll!

Cameron received all A's and B's on his last report card and made the Honor Roll at school! So proud of him - he worked his little tail off all quarter. There was one area in particular that he struggled with in the beginning - Phonics - but only because it was a completely new version of learning this subject for him. Phonograms are used in many of the charter schools and may as well be compared to learning Swahili as far as I'm concerned. With the exception of about 4 kids in his class, his entire class has been at Ben Franklin since Kindergarten, when the Phonograms program is introduced. The purpose is essentially to learn the proper method of reading, writing, and spelling. The format used is confusing, and when you already know how to do these three things, well it was almost as if we had to re-teach it all. Very difficult to explain so I'm not even going to try, but did want to mention that it was quite the learning experience for all of us. (I ordered the instruction manual - yes, instruction manual, which was bigger than most of my college textbooks - and the flashcards from the publisher, at which point Bryan graciously excused himself from all activities and participation with this particular subject.) This helped us both immensely. (The manual and flashcards, not the lack of participation on Bryan's part. Okay, well maybe that too, but anyway ... ) Cam didn't have to try and explain a new concept to me, one that was already challenging him, which was pretty frustrating in itself, and I was able to help focus on the areas that he was having difficulties. So needless to say, he had a "high" D the first quarter in Phonics. Weren't too worried, and neither was his teacher. In fact, she did NOT recommend tutoring since we were working so hard at home and he was catching on quickly. His hard work most certainly paid off ... he raised it up to a high B this quarter! So proud of him. At any rate, he's pretty sure he can get straight A's next quarter. I believe him.

The picture below is of Cam "catching some air" at one of his skate practices. Awesome picture. Even more incredible to see him land this in person. I apologize for the dirty lens. I was already reprimanded for not cleaning it off before I used it. I promise I now keep a couple of Q-tips in my purse in the event of such emergencies.

Kailee brought this home today and was SOOOOOO proud! Her painting took 2nd place at an art show held at school. Please take extra note in how the "number and letters on the ribbon sparkle .. isn't it beautiful?" :) It is proudly displayed on the fridge.

And of course not to be outdone, Mr. Alex came home with a fabulously stylish Pilgrim hat, which he proceeded to wear outside after school because he "wanted all the neighbors to see ..." What? Haven't you ever seen a Pilgrim ride a bike? Get with the times, will ya?

Another editorial

This was the headline of an article in our newspaper this morning: "Obama Supporters Won't Get Communion, Priest Says". It was in the Associated Press, so I was just curious if any of you saw this article? It seems to me from the article that if you are a Catholic that you should vote for the President based on this one issue only. Doesn't this fall under separation of church and state? I don't believe it is right for a priest or any other religious figure to more or less blackmail or threaten a parishioner over a presidential vote. I also don' believe that just because a person is pro choice that they automatically support abortion. I can take a pro choice stance and still CHOOSE not have an abortion, which I'm pretty sure is the same opinion Obama has. If I'm not mistaken, McCain also believed in exceptions to abortions, such as a risk to the mother's life or in cases of rape or incest. Doesn't this also make him pro choice?

The priest in the article states, "Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of divine law" ... so if there is an alternate choice, that is the one that should be made.

Republican Party - McCain also believed in exceptions to abortions, such as a risk to the mother's life or in cases of rape or incest. Doesn't this also make him pro choice? In addition, McCain is also divorced which is "frowned upon" and considered a sin with the Catholic church as well.

Independent - Ralph Nader doesn't believe the government possesses the authority to force a woman to have or not have a child. So he's out.

That leaves us with the Libertarian Party (supports gay marriage), Constitution Party (supports exceptions to abortions), and the Green Party (candidate is divorced). Soooooo ... who does the Catholic church suggest we support and vote for?

Anyone care to share their thoughts? It's okay if you don't. Maybe just take a minute to think about it.

Thank You

I don't have the name of the person who wrote this poem, so unfortunately I can't give credit to him or her. However, someone sent it to me through an email and I thought it was great.

You gave for peace with courage
That families may be free
So children could grow strong
And safe they'd ever be.
In giving for the sake of peace
You may have suffered loss
Your body may still show its wounds
From taking up the cause.

May remembrance of your time away
Your sacrifice for peace
Spur us on to strive more strongly
For freedom, that there'll be release.

From causes that sent some away
To fight that we may freely live
With gratefulness we thank you, veterans
For all you gave and give!

**A special thank you to all the veterans - for the service you have given our country, and the freedoms that you have allowed. The men and women who have sacrificed, and continue to sacrifice for this country are heroes. Remember to say "thank you" the next time you see someone who served our country ... two little words mean a lot.

Did you know?

My most recent "out of the mouth of babes":

So we're at dinner the other night and Cameron asks, "Did you know that some pearls come from oysters?" Hmm. You don't say? Well he loves impressing us with his facts so we bite, and ask him about it. He said that a girl in his class had one, he asks if I've ever had an oyster with a pearl inside, and I tell him no. So we're chatting about this for a while, and I ask him if he knows how a pearl is made. I told him that it usually starts out as a grain of sand. So I say, "Do you know what happens next?"

He answers, "Puberty?"

Right, right. So, Cam, how're those nachos?



On another note ... I'm sure by now you've noticed the new "gadgets" added to the right hand side of the blog ... Books that Cameron and I are currently reading, or have read, which are on the "bookshelf". Cameron has to read at least one book a quarter for class, so we decided to add this as an FYI for anyone who wants to reminisce about Beverly Cleary and Henry Huggins, Beezus or Ramona Quimby. :)

Cameron's First Skate Contest

Cam's skate contest ... it was his first "real" skate competition. And he did AWESOME. Have to give some details to lead into the contest a bit ... The competition on was open to all groups - including non-members of the skateboard school. All participants in the Intermediate and under all received a prize for competing. The Advanced and Expert competitions were actually judged and placed accordingly. Cameron decided that even though he was not in the Advanced group for his lessons each week, that he wanted to compete in the bowl competition. He wanted to see where he stood with everyone else. So the week before the contest - yes, in one week - he learned 4 or so new tricks to use in the contest. Friday night at his lesson and again for about 20 minutes or so on Saturday before the contest, he worked on his routine (run). So the tricks that he used in this contest, he essentially learned in one week. The other competitors have been in the Advanced group all year. Saturday morning we talk to the Skate manager and let him know that Cameron wanted to compete in the Advanced competition. Jeff was wary, and thought that it might be too much for him, that these guys knew a few more tricks than him. It had been quite a while since he had seen Cameron skate, so Bryan filled him in on what he had accomplished this week, and the tricks that he was pulling off. Jeff was surprised/impressed/etc., and absolutely agreed that Cameron should compete. So, he and his friend that is in the Advanced group were the youngest by far - the other kids he was competing against had at least 4 years on them. He was nervous up until Saturday, and in fact, did not want anyone coming and watching him. It was his first contest and he wasn't sure how it would go. So for those of you who wanted to attend, I apologize for that! However, he did later say that he really enjoyed the crowd cheering him on, and welcomes anyone to his next contest!

This particular area of the contest that he was competing in was the bowl. It was a half hour total, each skater took turns. When they fell, they got back in line and the next kid would go. Cameron had about 3 or 4 runs and did great. He had a great attitude (an area we have been working on a lot lately!) and was really focused on what he was doing. Without elaborating on all the tricks he pulled, (mostly because I'm not sure what they're all called ...) I will tell you that he placed 5th! He did so great and Bryan and I could not have been more proud. There were 9 total competing, and when they called out 9th place, and then 8th, up to 5th, he just had this huge grin on his face knowing he beat out these other kids - kids that had much more time and experience on him. He was a tad disappointed, thought for sure he would have placed fourth based on the competition, as did we, but still excited for him. The skate manager, the other coaches, and even the facility owner's wife came up to us and said they could not believe how well he did, and they had no idea he had worked so hard to land those tricks. :) At his first practice after the competition, the skate manager came up to Cameron, congratulated him on Saturday's run and said he was so impressed. He also told Cam that if he would have landed the 360 (the final fall in each of the video clips below) and handplant that he had tried (I didn't get this one on tape) in the competition, he would have definitely placed first! Like I said, we were incredibly proud! Hopefully you can see the video clips below ... it was tough to get a good spot to be able to tape the entire routine, mostly because of the logistics of the skatepark.

Cameron standing next to the cameraman!

Lined up with some of the other contestants (Cam is the 3rd one from the left)

Okay - you might want to turn your volume down just a tad, the sound is HORRIBLE! (Although you can hear a little bit of the announcer and how excited he was when Cameron landed some of his tricks.) I was standing next to the loudspeaker for the music, and combined with the people and the announcer, well it didn't turn out pretty. :(

Barrack Obama - President Elect

Well folks, we have a new president elect. Whether you voted for him or not, Obama won over this country unquestionably. People of all nationalities, religions, races and backgrounds collectively voted for him. His promise of change and straightforward attitude contributed to this greatly. I’m not sure that I have ever felt such overwhelming emotion during an election as I did watching him and McCain on Tuesday night. Perhaps it is because this election was a roller coaster considering the significance of some of the issues and especially the state of the economy. McCain graciously conceded, and Obama graciously accepted his concession. Both speeches were exceptional and powerful at the same time.

I’m sure everyone succumbed to the political chaos at one point or another in the last few weeks: mailings, commercials, phone calls (We had calls from Cindy McCain, two from John McCain, Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani on Election Day. Wondering if this was because we were in Arizona? Anyone else?) At any rate, I will proudly admit that I voted for Obama. I have endured conversations from people claiming to be a Republican so they have to vote McCain. Who says? How naïve some of these “adults” were to not realize that they can vote for whomever they choose, regardless of the political party they are registered with. I am not a registered democrat. However, I vote for who I believe in. This election was no different. I started paying a lot closer attention, going down the list of issues to see who stood for the same things I did, and making a mental note of the tally. Recently, though, (a lot more than during the campaigning) I have been reading articles, other blogs, editorials, and commentaries that frustrate me. The reactions from many since Obama was elected are unbelievable. I’m not going to debate politics. I just think some people needed to better educate themselves instead of just jumping on the bandwagon. I will admit that I do not agree with all that Obama stands for, although I do agree with the majority of it. Many have questioned his faith, calling him an anti-Christ, etc. To me, it is obvious Obama is a loving husband and father, he and his family attend church (not saying this is necessary to have faith by any means…) but he refers to his faith often. Nonetheless, some people feel they are in a position to judge that. A large number of these “complaints” are from Christians who believe his faith is not the “right” one, and that we (our country) will be ruined.

I’m going to take a side trip here, so stay with me, I’m on a roll. Four months ago when we found Cameron’s new school (a Charter school), and went to dis-enroll him from his current school (a Christian school) the principal surprised us, and really, offended us with a comment she made. “Oh, well you know, there are a lot of LDS (Mormans) enrolled in that school.” Bryan asked, “What does that have to do with anything?” She was quick to add, “Well I just think it might be harder for Cam to make friends because of all their cliques.” God bless my husband. He said to her, “We didn’t raise our son to choose who he is friends with or distinguish between groups of people based on their religious beliefs, color of skin, or background. I don’t care if they are LDS, Catholic, Hispanic, black or purple. It makes no difference.” I followed up by letting her know that “If there was one thing that Cameron has learned in the almost 4 years at this school, her school, that if there was anything that the teachers taught the students, it was that as a Christian, you love and respect everyone.”

To say the least, we were extremely surprised. My first thought was, “What makes her think her or her religion is any better than someone else?” I’m surprised at how some people consider themselves such strong Christians or believers, but yet so judgmental of others. It seems contradictory.

So back to Obama, I think that the comments I’ve heard about Obama from some of these people are similar in that they are fearful in Obama, that he is not strong enough, with his flaws, to govern our nation. We all have flaws. We all hold beliefs that do not align perfectly with God’s ways because none of us are perfect. I’m pretty certain that I have never heard Obama mention in any of his speeches that he is perfect. So I suppose my final thought is this: We need to understand that Obama IS going to be our next president, we need to support him in these difficult and challenging times (I for one wouldn’t want his job).

McCain couldn’t have said it better in his concession speech: “I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.”

When you have an "I Hate My Job" day ...

Try this: On your way home from work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the thermometer section and purchase a rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson. Be very sure you get this brand.

When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed. Change into very comfortable clothing and sit in your favorite chair. Open the package and remove the thermometer. Now, carefully place it on a table or a surface so that it will not become chipped or broken. Now the fun part begins.

Take out the literature from the box and read it carefully. You will notice that in small print there is a statement:


'Every Rectal Thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson is personally tested and then sanitized.'

Now, close your eyes and repeat aloud five times, 'I am so glad I do not work in the thermometer quality control department at Johnson & Johnson.'

Have a nice day! And remember,

there is always someone else with a job

that is more of a pain in the @ss than yours is!

Don't forget to ...

Halloween Pics

For once, we seemed to be able to enjoy the birthday/Halloween festivities on the 31st without having to worry about getting everything done within a certain time due to work and school the next day. What a difference! The kids that were here had a great time trick-or-treating, and the adults had an even better time helping to celebrate Bryan's birthday. It was the first time since we've been together that Bryan and I dressed up for Halloween! His idea, believe it or not. He comes home a couple of weeks ago and says "I'm going to be Hulk Hogan for Halloween. You should be Linda." Well okay - you get to wear the puffy muscles, and I have to look like an overly bronzed and platinum blonde floozy. Perfect! At any rate - the rest of the "adults" here were also dressed up and we had so much fun! Once again, Daddy went overboard on Cam's face for the full effect. While the majority of the mask was rubber, he cut out the bottom part of it so he could build out Cam's chin. Then added the fleshy, burned look to his ears and neck. Wouldn't be a true Freddy Krueger without it! Ironic that he's never seen a Nightmare on Elm Street movie with Freddy Krueger in it, but that's okay by me. He thought the costume was scary and wanted to be that one. So ... here are the pics!

Freddy Krueger!!


Hulk and Linda Hogan! :)





Freddy Krueger and Shaggy!


Coupla Rednecks!