"...You're not a cool mom!"

                               Boys at Coker Arboretum at UNC last Sunday.  This is Gus' version on climbing a tree.  The Brown Boys would put him to shame!

So to the title of this week's blog... Yesterday was a LONG day.  I have a friend and 2nd grade teacher that tutors Gus 2 to 3 days a week after school.   So yesterday she worked with him then took him to McDonalds for dinner while I stayed for a 3rd grade parent info night on 'Read to Achieve" (NC's version of IREAD)  This is the first year for this kind of testing in NC....after this parent meeting the school hosted a Wellness Night that I had to stay for too.  So by the time we headed home it was almost 8. Gus is obsessed with Sirius Radio in the van and it ALWAYS has to be on channel 2.  If you try to sneak another channel, he'll freak out.  So a fun song came on and I started to sing.  He yelled at me for singing and said I wasn't good and to stop!  So I continued to sing and began dancing, knowing this would aggravate him more.  This really got him going!  He said "mom! you need to pay attention while you drive!  If dad were here, this wouldn't be happening."  When I tried to explain that I can dance and drive safely and that if Trent were with us he'd be dancing too-he interrupted me by saying " That's not cool...You're not a cool mom!"  My heart broke!  I'm so distressed that he already thinks I'm not cool!  I'm flipping awesome! and that little booger has no clue how lucky he is to have me.  I just figured I had a few more years before he felt like I was embarrassing him...I mean we weren't even in public and he felt embarrassed by me.  Did Ros and Quinn ever do that???? I guess I still have Hank for 5 more years before he doesn't think I'm cool :(

So I have a funny story about my almost 85 year old grandma, you've met her before...So I call Grandma Dorothy every morning to check in.  She's still living in the house her and her 2nd husband built like 60 years ago that's on 6 acres in east Putnam county.  So I called her yesterday and she said 'did I tell you about the bed?'  So she proceeded to tell me that on Wednesday she tried to switch mattresses between bedrooms.  Both bedrooms have those sleep number beds.  So evidently she felt as if the mattress she was sleeping on wasn't quite right so she had decided to simply switch the beds.  OKAY so my first thought was why didn't you call the company because the bed has a warranty OR if you wanted them switched why didn't you have Andy and Jill do it.  My grandma is very independent and so she said she thought she could manage.  So I guess the bed is made of two main sections that are divided by some black foam and the foam is also around the perimeter of the rest of the bed.  So she said once she had taken the bed apart to find all of this, she tried to pick up a section and "..it double over on her."  Not really sure what that meant, but she's alive....So she starting laughing and said that she finally got to the point when she took the black foam out and managed to kind of put to bed back together.  She said she then drug the black foam down near the barn and burned it.  Okay I wanted to ask how she managed to drag it down to the barn in the snow then burned it, but I didn't.  Then I wanted to ask How much did that bed cost? and can you still use it???  OH LORD!  I worry about her but glad she managed and still found the whole thing funny.  If my sister knew about this, she'd die!  She's always so worried about grandma and doesn't give her any credit for being competent at her age.  Oh well I suppose....

Did I tell you about my mom getting engaged???  Let me know and I'll explain more about this...

On to Hank Heffernan-He's still not sleeping well. Which means I'm not sleeping well.  My neck has hurt since Monday afternoon.  This kiddo is killing my beauty sleep! So Thursday morning at 3, Trent wakes me  up and says for me to look at Hank (which is in between us also including Gus).  There he is with the ipad watching videos on youtube about cartoon planes and trucks.  Seriously?  This kid is insane and we once again win parents of the year.  He's so funny!

Trent has come home nearly everyday this week telling me a different plan as to what his next contract situation might be.  At this point I wish he'd do the 6 month thing in Maryland just to know what he's doing!  It's driving me and Hank's sitter nuts not knowing what he's going to be doing.  So I still don't know what the plan is there...

Trent just walked in and told me to turn the channel.  I've been watching 45 minutes of dateline.  I NEED to know how it ends!  So I gave him a choice between Pulp Fiction and Say Yes To The Dress.  He says Pulp Fiction and then says "Oh I forgot I hate Pulp Fiction on TV because it's censored."  He then takes the remote and proceeds to flip through the guide menu page, then begins rambling about how National Geographic use to have "...good shows about water and stuff."  I look at him like he's nuts and start laughing.  He's NUTS!  Now he's trying to interrupt my blogging by sharing some new webpage software that he's using to create a page for Gus.  He's exhausting!

Now onto me :)  This week at work has been exhausting.  Paper work is kicking my butt!!  I have 2 IEPs to write by Wednesday and a mess with a few new kiddos.  It's been a lot but the gal that's half time and been on maternity leave is coming back next week so at least I won't have to do her meetings and paperwork anymore!  This week has been district CAs and my schedule has been off due to testing.  When I've seen my kiddos around this week, they say "are you getting me for reading today? will I see you for math?"  These poor babies miss me which makes me happy that they actually enjoy spending time with me!  I'm also reworking my schedule which is proving a lot more difficult than I expected, but I think I'll get there as long as classroom teachers don't mind : /  

My mom texted me a few days ago and said that my aunt Kathy had wrote her dissertation relating to what's going on a FV.  I just tried to look it up and I can only find the title the following  but not the actual piece- How would I find this???
 2007, Kathleen Luckett, Ed.D., Dissertation title: An examination of student retention patterns
and change in AEIS campus accountability ratings for Texas elementary schools with first
to fifth grade. Texas A&M University-Commerce

Speaking of drama in the Education world- Did you see this article?  Seriously?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/special-education-testing_n_4613727.html

So Gus and Hank are now climbing all over me while I'm trying to type...I'll check in with you later... I'm serious about this Skype business! We need to set it up!