Can't believe it's been almost a year...

since I last posted on here. Dakota is almost 13 years old and starts the 7th grade in 3 weeks. He has had a pretty lazy summer. We haven't gone anywhere, but next week his Dad is coming to town and they will be heading to Carowinds for a day.
He is changing and growing so tall. He is now taller than me by about 4 inches. He is now obsessed with comic books. He liked them before, but now he loves them. He eats, sleeps, breaths comics. He wants to own a comic book store when he grows up. For Christmas, a woman that used to work with me got a friend of her husband send Dakota a signed comic book and poster that he drew. Dakota was over the moon about that! He said it was his best gift!!
Dakota still says and does the funniest stuff ever. Mariah usually documents things he says on Facebook, lol.
As I mentioned before, we haven't really gone anywhere this summer, but we have been a couple places this year. For my birthday,  Dan, Dakota and I went to Sevierville, TN for a long weekend. We visited the Ripley's Aquarium, along with about a thousand other people. It was raining and I guess that was the place to go get out of the weather.

Dakota trying to touch one of the sting rays.

this sting ray was at least a foot wide!

In March, we went to Hilton Head for a Special Olympics tennis tournament. It was just Dakota and I and we had so much fun. We can't wait until next year to do it again!!

Dakota at tennis tournament. This event is so great.
All the volunteers are wonderful. There were Special
Olympic atheletes there from all over.

Our hotel was right on the beach and we got a little free time
to walk on the beach and pick up sea shells.

Dakota with the other atheletes in his group. These kids are so awesome!!!

 We really did not want to leave Hilton Head. It was such a nice get away.

Next week, before his Dad comes, I am taking Dakota to Frankie's Fun Park and school clothes shopping. Dreading the shoe shopping portion of the trip, because he now wears a size 13! That should be lots of fun!!

The Munsters

We were watching the old tv show, The Munsters and Dakota says, "there's a boy in my class that looks like him." I said, "looks like who?" and he said, "Frankenstein. That's his name, right?" and I said, "no, his name is Herman Munster. but the boy in your class looks like that?" and he said, "no, not really. just his hair."

Special Olympics Tennis

Dakota is in the 6th grade and goes to Pleasant Hill Middle School and they have Special Olympics events. We were so excited at the beginning of the year when they said that they would be competing in several events and that tennis was one of them. On Thursday, October 6, 2011, we went to a tennis event and while waiting his turn to play, the teacher handed him a tube to pick up tennis balls with. He looked at her with a straight face and said, "I didn't sign up for this!" His teacher thought that was so funny.

Never a dull moment....

This morning when I dropped Dakota off at school, one of the teachers that helps the kids out of the car, leans into my car (after Dakota got out, so that he couldn't hear what she was saying) and says that sometimes when Dakota is jabbering on and on about stuff, he will say, "I hit my mom in the face everyday"! Then she says, "Ms. Simons, you look fine!". I just about peed my pants laughing. No, he does not hit me in the face everyday, or anyday for that matter. But, yes, he does run off at the mouth! I hope that they know he doesn't really do some of the things he says he does. He is a little boy with a big imagination (and a big mouth) who doesn't quite understand that he is saying things that are hurtful or mean. I think that Dakota kinda lives in a cartoon world. He is smart mouthy at times and he does do mean things, but is quite remorseful afterwards. He might be bigger than me, already at 11 years old, but he will always be my "bubby".

Giving Thanks

I went to school to eat lunch with Dakota yesterday and when I was signing in at the office, one of the Guidance Councelors was in the office and she had to tell me what Dakota did on Thursday. She said he was so funny. She was in his class and they were talking about things they are thankful for (because next week is Thanksgiving) and it was Dakota's turn and he said that he was thankful for food. As she was writing it on the board, he stopped her and asked if he could change his answer to meat. He is thankful for meat! He is definitely a meat eater. So I guess on Thanksgiving, he will be really thankful for that turkey!

Our house sits right smack in the middle of what was once a cow field and then later a Christmas Tree farm, so every once in a while we get those little field mice when the weather turns cold. Well, we had a trap under the kitchen sink and yesterday we caught a mouse. Dakota was telling me all about it and he said, "Mommy, it was definitely not a baby, it was a parent or a teen." Then he said, "How old would a teen mouse be anyway?" I just about died laughing, but he was serious.

Dakota told my Mom last week that watching too much tv can wash your brain. After he thought about that for a moment he said, "I think I need my brains washed".