Honey, I Don't Think We're in East Wateloo Anymore ...

School has started!!! Yeah! No more "I'm bored .... " whining from the kids (mainly Dayne). I think they are excited to be back in school too, but they'd never admit it!

Dayne is in 4th grade and Hunter is in 9th grade. Hard to believe they are that old already! I had a moment of weakness when I went to register Hunter for 9th grade classes. It hit me that every decision he makes and action he takes from this moment on plays a factor in what the rest of his life will be like. If he gets in a fight at school he could be kicked out ... if he gets in a car with someone "cool" and they drive erratic and crazy ... if he gets drunk at lunch (completely random "if" there ... no way I did that!) ... if he smokes pot and gets busted by the police ... it all determines what his options will be and if he gets to go to certain schools or do certain things or play certain sports. He's quickly heading towards man hood. Wow. Surreal.

The High School hosted an evening for the parents to check out the school and see what their child's schedule will be like. Graden and I both attended and as we were walking through the halls of the school I realized this school is nothing like East Waterloo. (For the record, there is "diversity" here in Lee's Summit, but the school itself is quite impressive). I turned to Graden and told him, "Honey, I don't think we're in East Waterloo anymore." Below is a picture of the back of the school. It is quite pretty as the sun sets on it.

This is the back of the school. I think I'd get lost ...

One Last Hoo-rah Before School Starts

School is scheduled to start in just a few days so I thought I'd take Dayne and her friends to the water park for the day. It just opened this year and is only $7 to get in - can't beat that! It has a lazy river, a few slides, a kids water park area, a real park and 12' pool with two diving boards.

After we were done at the water park I took them to the "regular" park for a while and they burned off some more of their summer energy!

My Deere Family

My brother, Brian, was able to come visit for a week so I picked him up from the KCI Airport on Friday night and then we headed to Iowa Saturday morning!

It was a nice five hour drive to our dad's house ... gave us some time to get caught up and just "chitter chat" as my mom likes to say! And anyone who know my brother knows there weren't many moments of silence during the drive!

My dad could hardly contain his excitement when we got there. Immediately (and I mean that!) he had us climb up on the tractor and check out his new toy - a John Deere Tractor. He told Susan he feels "complete" now. Sheesh ... that made us feel special to think WE had made no contribution but a stinkin' tractor had!

I stayed for the weekend and then headed home to leave the boys to spend a few days alone and do manly things (splitting wood took up a lot of their time I think!). Dad then brought Brian back to KC that following Friday and he headed home the following day.

Although I didn't get to spend much time with Brian it was good to see him and spend time with him and I know he and Dad enjoyed each other's company!

My brother, Brian

While we were there, Dayne gave me a makeover while I relaxed on the deck (another little slice of Heaven is my dad's back deck!!) Enjoy the chuckle!