Feeling like an especially proud mom...

5 Oct '07 6:37 pm

today. I am always proud of my two children, a beautiful and smart 17 yr. old daughter named Ariel and a handsome smart 15 yr. old son named Joe. Today my son came home excited and happy, the state rankings for the High School Cross Country teams were announced. His school is small and in the 1A division, he is a sophomore and already his team's top runner, they call it the first man, the fastest on the team. I was already proud of him for that, he trains hard, runs 5 miles every morning before school and has gotten his time to 5 minutes and 9 seconds for a mile, so far. He was so excited because now he is 1st man on the top ranked team in his division for our state. He is thrilled but still very realistic as he explained to me, it doesn't mean he is the fastest in the state, it means he is the fastest on his team, who has thus far been the fastest team overall this season. The district meet is the 24th of this month, regionals the 4th of November and then state Nov.10th. They are pretty confident about getting to state, and if they do, hubby and I will take the trip ( a couple hundred miles) to cheer him and his team on. I just had to crow a little, sorry....

6 Oct '07 12:01 am

That really is an awesome achievement, Faerisweet, and you have every right to tell the world how proud you are of Joe! Perhaps even greater than the pride in his ability and perseverence must be the peace of mind that he has made decisions which rule out destructive substance abuse, one of the greatest fears and causes of heartache that any parent (ot teacher) can have! You just know that he will approach life sensibly and maturely!

And what a beauty Ariel is! Am I right to imagine that there is more than a chance link in her name to a certain delightful character in Shakespeare... after all, her mom is one who talks to the faeries...

6 Oct '07 12:15 am

Dear Faerisweet, you have every right to be proud of your children! Your daughter is, indeed, a very beautiful girl and your son seems to have his feet firmly on the ground ('scuse the pun!).

Wishing him all the best of luck for his upcoming meets and hopefully you can make a real trip out of going to see him at the state finals.

6 Oct '07 4:08 am

Jack: and yes Ariel is from Shakespeare, people usually assume it was from the little mermaid, a cute Disney film. I had not seen the movie before she was born, having no children at the time, cartoon movies weren't my thing. Being an avid reader, Shakespeare was more to my taste. Of course back then I was a huge Stephen King fan so I guess she is lucky I went with classic literature. She could have been named Christine after a car possessed by an evil spirit, lol.
I am so glad Joe is into sports and doesn't run with the wilder crowd. One of the good things about our sports program is they drug test all athletes twice a year and do random testing thruout the year. I admit at first I thought it wrong to require testing, not because I condone drug use, I don't, despite growing up in 1970's California. I was just raised against government regulation of a citizen's personal life, to believe in our right to privacy and a parent being able to raise their children without government interference. I still believe in those things, however drugs have become such a problem in our society, and parents are just not able to control it on their own. Sometimes the powers that be have to lend a helping hand, as long as common sense prevails, and we are careful about what and when we allow government to dictate to us in our personal lives, it can be a good thing. Oh no I'm getting political, I will stop now, sorry...

Bambi: Thank you, Joe definately has his feet on the ground. The other day hubby and I ran into the coach while shopping, he was full of praise for Joe. When we told Joe what was said he had this to say.
" I like when people tell me I am doing good but I think he does it too much, he tells me all the time and says I will definately get to college on this, I am afraid he will give me a big head and then I will mess up. I know I am pretty good but so are alot of other guys out there."
I told him as long as he is worried about becoming overconfident, I don't think he will have a problem. I am glad he is mature enough to realize that it could become a problem, if he let's it go to his head.

6 Oct '07 9:00 am

You all make a really great team! Well done to Joe and Ariel, and you're allowed to crow, and crow - and then crow some more! And you are allowed to get a tiny bit political, too! Great photos, and please give your children a huge gardeny hug from a New Zealand Mum! Cheers.

7 Oct '07 4:44 am

We are all indeed thrilled with your children's achievements,and feel like honorary Aunts and Uncles.
My son,too, was a high sporting achiever,and his friends had the same interests,so he was so busy that he stayed out of trouble...Part of an athlete's programme is caring for the body with healthy eating and minimum alcohol drinking.As an adult he now competes in triathlon events(swimming,cycling,running)so your son is very likely to carry on with opportunities open to him.
PS-I like Shakespeare too.
Dixie.

7 Oct '07 10:48 am

Crow all you like faerisweet and don't forget to pat yourself on the back also Wink

Well done to you all Very Happy

9 Oct '07 9:28 am

They do pretty well at school and have a wide circle of friends and interests, just wish one of those interests was cleaning their rooms...
can't have it all I suppose.

9 Oct '07 1:20 pm

You have a very beautiful daughter and your son is a fine young man. You have done very well by them lady. Being a mom is a tough job and we have all been there. You crow all you want we all need to crow about our kids.

Hugs!

10 Oct '07 6:47 pm

Being a country school drawing, on the whole, children with a well-balanced wholesome background, we don't have too much of a drug scare situation. However we are implementing, after a change in national policy, compulsory random drug testing next year. The reason is the tremendous preventative power it has: a child finds it easier to resist peer pressure when they can say they fear drug testing at school...

Feeling like an especially proud mom...

Feeling like an especially proud mom...

Congratulations, Joe!

Thank you

Congrats to all of you

Great news

Thanks everyone,

yes indeed...

Random drug testing