happiness is....

Happiness is getting rewarded for all your hard work.

Bradley received certificates of excellence in reading, science and spelling. He was also awarded a trophy because of the minutes he read during the year. He always exceeded the minutes required by his teacher each month.

Happiness is going out for shakes at the end of the school year. This has become a fun tradition.

Happiness is trying something new.

On Memorial Day we took Bradley down to our friends farm and rode horses. Bradley has never been on a horse that wasn't hooked up to the thing that only allows them to go in a circle. (Like they always have at the fair.)

Happiness??? He really did like it, and so did his friend Landon, but they sure don't look happy do they? I had to use this photo because it made me laugh.

Happiness is finding your first water snake of the year.

Happiness is a peaceful walk through the gardens at Thanksgiving Point.

Happiness is someone treating you to lunch. (Bradley enjoyed feeding them too.)

Happiness is relaxing in the pool.

This is happiness! Being with the ones I love enjoying something so beautiful.

Happiness is hearing your baby talk.

Baby animals make everyone happy, don't they?!

Is milking a cow happiness? Wayne would say no after working on a dairy during his teen years.

This little pout face makes me happy. It's just the cutest little pout that comes on slowly, like she is melting or something. for some reason she wasn't very fond of the plastic cow that Bradley was milking. Elli knows how to "milk" the sympathy. ha ha!

Happiness is having this sweet little girl in our family. I often think about how the odds were so against her, and how hard she had to fight to live. She is an inspiration, and a joy!!!

For her, happiness is blowing dandelion seeds into the wind.

Happiness comes from the simple pleasures each day, and being with the people that we love. I am trying to focus more on those little magic moments that come and go so quickly. So let's enjoy the time we have with our loved ones, no matter what we are doing.

Parenting.....AHHHH!!!

Does anyone have any suggestions how to overcome an 8 1/2 year old thinking he knows more than everyone else, particularly his mom? It doesn't matter what I say ALL day long, it will always be contested by a much wiser Bradley. He will argue and contest everything I say, and I mean everything, literally!!

Here is an example from our walk this morning: We noticed a little boy running through a sprinkler and drinking the water. Bradley said, "he shouldn't drink that water." To which I replied, "you're right, that's irrigation water." Then he continued, "besides he can't run through those sprinklers anyway, it's too cold today, and that's not his property." I told him that it was up to his mom whether or not it was too cold, and that he could run through those sprinklers because they were in the park. It didn't matter what I said, he wouldn't believe that they were in the park. He absolutely knew that the little boy was trespassing in someone elses backyard. I have learned to just stop talking.

He is a smart kid, I know that, but how did I create this know-it-all monster? And now that I have, how do I fix it?

I am at the end of my rope with this and need some advice. I don't think he and I will survive the summer the way it is now.