Frank Caliendo Tonight

Chris and I went out tonight and saw comedian Frank Caliendo. He's known for his dead-on impressions. His best ones are John Madden, George W, and Charles Barkley. He was hilarious. We were going to buy tickets to the show, but then *surprise* I won some! That was the good news. The bad news was the tickets were for the 9:45pm show. Chris and I were tired, but we had a great time.

Here is Frank and I. Yes, it's a cell phone camera, but Chris and I didn't think to bring our real one. I actually got to talk to Frank before the show in kind of a "fluke" situation. He was pretty tired after the show when this was taken. Of course, we were too! But it was worth it!

Here is Frank Caliendo doing his Bush and Clinton impressions on Dave Letterman a while back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK1ekhovFeU

Thank You, Teachers!

Today was Mikelle and Christian's last day of school. Mikelle gave a fun little ceramic fish she made to Mrs. Vogt, her teacher, and she said everyone hugged Mrs. Vogt. After a disaster of a teacher for Mikelle's 4th grade year, Mrs. Vogt for 5th grade has been just wonderful.

She held Mikelle accountable and helped her with her organization. She was also wonderful with communicating with the parents.

I had to laugh though - Mikelle asked me if I knew who her sixth grade teacher was yet. I said I didn't know. She replied, "I hope I get Ms. West. She's nice. Lunch detention was in her classroom."

Mikelle then assured me she didn't go to lunch detention that much and it was only when she didn't get her work done that she should have had done. Considering her grades were good and I didn't get any phone calls from the school, I believed her.

Christian's last day of school was even more difficult. He's been blessed to have Ms. Litle for two years in a row. She was his kindergarten teacher and then she became his first grade teacher and "looped" many of her kinder kids into her first grade class. She was amazing in her structure and schedules with Christian and at the same time being warm and loving, but not letting him get away with anything! Mrs. Litle had a BBQ/Potluck last night with the kids and their parents as a great way to end the last 2 years.

I made Mrs. Litle the above artwork. I just wish I was able to find an 8x8 frame in time.

It's crazy to think that in 60+ days I'll have a 6th and 2nd grader.

Someone is FIVE Months.

I took these pictures today to commemorate AleXander's five month mark. He turned 5 months yesterday. Wow...five months already.

I know my pregnancy didn't go by this fast! It's just not fair that time moves fast when it comes to babies!

AleXander isn't sure about "Tummy Time" but we're working on it. He also isn't a fan of his crib., Again, we're working on it.

He is a big fist and foot eater. He loves grabbing onto his toes and he will try to eat just about anything around him and shove it into his mouth!

He is quite curious and loves looking around. Oh, he'll give you eye contact, but then get really bored with it quick and look around some more.

Mmmm....feet!

I'm so happy it looks like he'll keep his brown eyes! Mikelle got the blue eyes from a recessive gene. Christian got his dad's hazel eyes. Therefore, the fact that AleXander gets my brown eyes is so exciting for me and a previous gift from God that all three colors are in the house and all three have such significance.

As for his appetite... we started him on the cereal a couple of weeks ago, and you wouldn't have thought it was his first time with solids. It was like FEED ME, SEYMORE! from The Little Shop of Horrors. This kid is very serious about his food. I need to get him a onesie or T-shirt that says "Feed Me, Seymore!"

Even mid-blink, he's adorable. I can just eat him up!

Going the Distance

I blasted the theme from Rocky today.

I am done! I went the distance.

But sadly, I didn't get to punch anyone in the face.

Today was my last day of work. I felt relieved, elated, and at the same time, depressed. I question my abilities as a teacher. Did I do more harm than good? Did I inspire or make someone hate art even more? Because my head wasn't screwed on straight this year (being pregnant and then having a newborn and many factors related to that), I know I could have done better. I felt so overwhelmed.

It wasn't overwhelmed with the "okay, let's fix this," response. It was literally, "I'm so overwhelmed, I am paralyzed" type of feeling. While dealing with that, I felt like I was driving down a curvy bumpy dirt road with no power steering.
Chris is relating my questioning of myself and my feelings as a cross between a mid-life crisis and being clinically depressed. I don't exactly see it as simple as that. There are a lot of questions and doubt in my mind of how I should further pursue the art/career thing in the future.

But in the meantime, I am done. I am home for children this summer and AleXander for at least the next year or so. After all, he's only a baby once.

Shameless: Vote for AleXander

I entered a bunch of photos into a few contests sponsored and/or connected with Parents Magazine. I received an e-mail today that of the 5-6 I submitted, the photo to the left was selected to be in the running for a weekly contest for a $250 prize. Sure, they probably say that to all the entries, but it's still fun to vote.

Therefore, if you're not offended by this shameless request, please go to http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/856826 before 5/22 and vote for this adorable face!

Speaking of adorable faces, here are a few from last night that the kids insisted that I take:

Our Mothers Day

Okay, enough with the Mothers Day humor from yesterday's entry. Well, actually, I can't say that. Here is a card Mikelle made me today at church. Check out #8.

To start the day, Christian and Mikelle brought me waffles and orange juice for breakfast in bed this morning and presented me with the cards they made earlier this week. This is the front of Christian's:



And the inside:
Listed under "My Mom Likes To" and "My Mom's Hobby" he put Works Out. Gee, maybe I work out too much! lol
For my favorite food, he put "burning hot stuff that I do not know what it is." LOL! He's referring to when I order steak and/or chicken fajitas at restaurants.

Here is the card that Mikelle made me at Activity Days this week:
And the inside of it:

If you couldn't tell, Mikelle just adores her baby brother. Here they are earlier today:
And you gotta love this one that Mikelle took of AleXander. Sure, I could have cropped it, but why? lol

And here we are earlier today.
And the kids went to Home Depot yesterday for a special workshop to make their Mothers Day presents! Aren't they adorable?

Mothers Day

For Mothers Day, I don't want presents or flowers or to be taken out for dinner. Sure, all those are nice and all, but what I really want? The house spotless without me having to be a part of it. I also wish that once it is clean, it stays that way longer than 10 minutes.

I know, I'm crabby. I am down to 10 business days left until I'm done with work and despite it being so.close., I am very impatient.

But that's no excuse.I need to be a better Mom. A more patient Mom. A happier Mom.



Shifting to Mothers Day humor...
One of my favorite shows is Home Improvement. The show began when I was in high school and ended just before I became a mother for the first time.

Mikelle, 9 months old.

I'll never forget the Mother Poem from one of the Construction guys on Tool Time:

Who etched this tattoo in her big purple muu muu?
Mother.
Mother.
Who posted my bail - every time without fail?
Mother.
Mother.
And who rushed to the car - with my severed thumb in a jar?
Mother.
Mother.
And who sewed it back on - when the doctor was gone?
Mother. Mother.
Happy Mothers Day, Mom!


And then there's this T-shirt:
Okay, okay, that's a little harsh. But can I wear it when teaching? lol Okay, okay....

And is it horrible that I can totally relate with this exchange?
I feel like even though it's Mothers Day, I don't deserve it. I need to be nicer. I need to be more patient. I know I said that already, but it's still true.

Of course I could go all day with these. Despite my challenges with patience and perfectionism, I love my goofballs and wouldn't trade them for anything.