this post makes me happy and sad all at the same time. don't know quite why yet but maybe i'll figure it out once i tell the story. brody is 12 (yes, i know, pretty crazy how that happened already!) and getting into those teenage years. but even with all the changes coming up for him, he has remained this sweet-hearted kid. i know i'm his mom and maybe slightly objective, but the pride i feel for my boy has never been proven more than from a story i heard last weekend.

i was at a bridal shower and the mother-of-the-groom introduced herself and said she recognized me from the school. after chatting for a few minutes, i found out her grandson was in the same class as brody. this boy has been adopted by his grandma and permantly lives with her in yankton. i remember this kid, quiet, shy and seemed like he had no self-esteem. this lady continued to tell me he is transferring to another school in a small town outside of yankton. he just couldn't take the bigger schools and the teasing he endured. i guess kids teased him for living with his grandma and not his mom. he was teased for being "different", his food would get stolen at lunch, he would come home crying. my heart just fell for this boy. she mentioned some of the kids that did the teasing. i knew all of them. i was angry at them inside. then she said how austin talks about brody to this day. austin said brody was one of the only kids that was nice to him. he liked brody because he always said hi to him in the hallway. my heart swelled with pride and the tears welled up (as they are now).

i went home and told brody how his actions impacted this kid probably for the rest of his life. austin will always remember the few positives even amongst all the negative. brody made some mighty fine choices without his parents around making sure he was being nice. he did this one on his own. to me, that shows a lot about him. yet, i feel bad for austin. i hate the idea that some kids think teasing is cool. i hope the smaller school will be good for austin because he deserves the same respect as any other kid. it was a life lesson for my son and he knew it. so, again, i can never be more proud of brod-man yet am sad for the child who is being forced to switch schools because of the actions of others. i just hope and pray for his happiness this coming year. and i hope and pray that my soon-to-be-teenager will stay on the right path, even with all the temptations that will come before him.

love ya, brody...

Life is good here. Just not so good at keeping up on the ol' blog. I've been reading yours, stalking I guess. And you're all in my prayers.

I knew the month of July would go fast. But this fast? Crazy. Last weekend, we went to my high school reunion. It was a weekend planned with events...golfing, Canaries game with all the food (Brody even got to be batboy for the night!) Nutty's north, picnic, tour of the pavilion and the Sugar Daddys' playing at wileys for us. And more food there too. I graduated with about 500+ people and about half came for the festivities. I went to everything, except golfing, and saw as many people as i could. I stayed out until 2 am both nights, just catching up with my girlfriends from 20 years ago. It was the best weekend, so much fun having the kids play together and us moms talking like no time had ever passed between us. It was awesome seeing people I haven't seen in years. People came from all over...CA, Washington, Phoenix, Colorado, Illinois. So the next reunion is supposed to be in 10 years but we may make it 5.

So, here's a shout out to all my Washington Warriors. You guys rock! I'm proud to be a 1989 WHSH graduate!

We made it back from wisconsin dells and man oh man, it was awesome! I have never felt so young! We waterparked it up for 3 days, non-stop. We made our home at the Wilderness Territory. The cabins were beautiful. This particular resort gave us 3 waterparks, over a million sq. feet of body slides, tube slides, the hurricane (name says it all) hot springs, lazy rivers, worlds largest wave pool, slides that made you scream, slides that made you really wet and cabinas for the times when you just wanted to relax. They were indoor, outdoor, some that were a little of both...it's undescribable really. Even our littlest, emerson, went down the black hole body slide like it was a walk in the park! It was a little unnerving sending her down this big dark hole, not knowing how she would react. But at the bottom her smile was bigger than i had ever seen it. It's definitely a vacation we'll be doing again. But even with all the fun, the truly best part was spending this vacation with my brother, sister-in-law and their kiddos. You would think the kids just saw each other last week. It was like no time had passed. Morgan cried when we left. that's the worst part, saying goodbye. I hate that part. But we'll be back again. Together. And we'll have just as much fun as we did this time. So for now, I have the memories. That's just the best.

Gosh, could the time possible go any faster?! Seems like I can't keep up with the days. Or the late nights. This summer has been one of the best so far. Relaxing, fun, busy but not too busy...I just wish it wasn't going so fast! What's filling the days?

*Brody finished up his golf league, took the test and passed to the birdie level! Must be that new driver of his. He's quite the golfer and really enjoys it. Now he's in an athletic training program at Mount Marty College.

*The girls are doing their dance classes, ballet and dance team and can't get enough of the water. They never seem to run out of energy!

*Still finding time to run everyday and just ran a race last weekend with Brody. He shaved 3 minutes off his first 5K time! I won my age group (it helps to be old!) and got a nice gift card to Runner's Block.

*We had our annual 4th of July party at our house and besides a few firecracker misfires and a burnt hand by one of the guests (he's fine, long story!) it was another fun evening.

*Now we are heading out this afternoon for Wisconsin Dells. We're meeting my brother and his family up there, staying in a cabin and bond with the waterparks. I've never been there but hear it's a blast. It's a long drive but we're ready for the adventure.

*Then it's off to Sioux Falls the following weekend for my 20th reunion. I can't wait to see my bestest friends from high school! It will be a good time. Then i go back to Sioux Falls for my dad's retirement. He just got an award to honor him for 50 years in banking. I'm so proud of him. What an accomplishment.

So that is July in a nutshell. Even with all the activities of summertime, my most favorite times are those hot summer nights when Seth and I sit outside, watch the kids play and just...be. I sure love summer. Must get back to last minute packing. Pray for our safe journey to Wisconsin and for good weather! See you when we get back!