I know, I suck. Just call me a ...

I seem to be getting worse at this. If excuses are accepted, I'd like to claim my school schedule, Cam's school-year wrapping up, Cam's skateboarding schedule, trying to get things squared set up for telecommuting, and all the rest of life's little tests, as reasons for not posting. Good enough? :)

Okay, so I'm in my last class. It started on Tuesday. My last class ended on Monday, and I normally have a break in between. I think mentally I feel I should be on break, because it has been REALLY hard to get into this one. Or it could be the fact that I'm burned out: I only have 5 weeks left of my schooling. For life. Seriously. I'm done. Then there's Cam's school - he's done next Friday. But we've had Parent Teacher conferences, end of the year activities, his program is next week, 1/2 days, you name it, it's going on. He's excited for school to be out, and he was officially signed off as a THIRD GRADER yesterday at his conference. Unbelievable. (Not that he is moving on, because we all knew there was no doubt, but that I have a 3rd grader!) Of course his report card was fantastic. I won't bore you all with the details but he is WAY ahead of where he should be, and ready for the challenges 3rd grade will have to offer. Let's see ... skateboarding schedule: Mondays (5-7), Wednesdays (5-7) and then either Fridays (5-7) or Saturdays (11-1). That is a lot of boarding my friends. He loves it ... still. There has never been any whining or griping about going to practice or skipping it for the day. He looks forward to it every time. The director of the skateboard division still needs to approve him moving up, but he's been gone on a trip. Hopefully next week will be the big "promotion." He's excited for today, the skate lesson is at one oft he outdoor skate parks in Chandler. That should be fun! Telecommuting is still coming along, slowly but surely. Need to have a phone line installed, waiting for my computer that is two weeks late in arriving, and the phone was just approved after the request was "lost". So ... it has been crazy!

My boys got me a handheld digital video camera for Mother's Day. Very excited about that. Have done some taping, but am still working on sending the clips as an email or even posting the clip on the blog. That is my goal for the weekend. So stay tuned!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! I wanted to say thank you to ALL of you moms ... for being such a wonderful friend, sister, aunt, mother-in-law, grandmother and other special "mom" in my life. I appreciate you, am grateful for you and admire every one of you!

I'd also like to say thank you to my mom, for everything you are and everything you have done to make me the person that I am today. Thank you for the examples that you set. Thank you for the goals that you inspire. Thank you for your wonderful caring ways. Most importantly, thank you for being the perfect blend of a mom and a friend. I have learned so much about being a mother from you. Thank you!




I hope you all have a WONDERFUL day full of all the love and happiness you deserve!

Does this picture look familiar?

Randy - bundled up on the Christmas Story movie - so much that he can barely move. This is how Cameron is starting to look at his skateboarding practices. Seriously. We've now moved up to "skate" tube-socks so the board isn't scraping up his shins. His knee pads have been switched out to throw pillows. Okay, well they're about the same size, and in fact, they are men's elbow pads. He already has the helmet, elbow pads, and of course the football pants that he wears underneath his shorts for the extra padding on his hips and butt. Next will be a mouth guard. He fell a few weeks ago on the mega ramp. A few times. And it was the third fall that he split his lip open - barely - but it was swollen and bleeding. Well last night he did the same thing in the bowl. Pretty sure it was the same scab that was just cut open again because it's the same part of his lip. At any rate, we've been lucky. Considering. And that's all I'm gonna say about that. So we'll be checking out a mouth guard before he loses anything more than the top layer of skin off his lip.

And just like a champ (I guess?) - in between tears and wiping the blood off his lip - he wants to first know what he did wrong. Then he wants to know how high he got, how much air he caught and if it looked cool. Typical.

He is just about ready to move up to KTR 1 (Kids That Rip 1), probably next week if he stays consistent with his "tricks". This is the 2nd to the last group at the facility - KTR 2 is the highest. These groups go to some of the skateboard pro ams that are around here and actually compete. We'll see how that goes - it could be fun. Right? RIGHT? :)

The "Middle Wife" ... by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I just had to post this. It is hilarious.I can only picture a little girl Cameron's age sharing this event. And I'm sure we can all relate with our own "out of the mouths of babes" stories!

******
I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame.

Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they are welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater. She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.'

'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.' She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)

'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, so there must be a lot of toys inside there.'

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

Peterson's ... where are you?

Present! We're here! I'm here! Just checking in ... I realized that it's been quite a while since the last post. Kind of a crazy week around here. Just busy with work, trying to get things squared away for my telecommuting, Cam's homework and extracurricular activities and of course my schoolwork. For those of you who haven't scrolled down to the bottom of hte blog in a while, there is a new addition ... my graduation countdown. This is the countdown to the actual graduation ceremony. I am very excited to say that I start week 6 of this class on Tuesday (my last week) and start my last class immediately afterwards. This means I have 7 weeks of class left. Ever. EVER! No, I'm not going on for my doctorate, so don't even ask.

We decided to have a Tres de Mayo celebration last night with some friends - had a great time. The build your own burrito bar, which just happened to be next to the build your own cocktail bar, was a hit. Did NOTHING today but play video games with Cam and headed over to Theresa's for dessert. Good thing ... "uno mas cerveza, por favor" apparently caught up to me ... Anyway, it was great hanging out today. Cannot remember the last time we had nothing going on and could veg all day. Sorry this is a short post, but I just finished my schoolwork and I am POOPED - off to bed!