monday.

oh, my kids are a charming lot...

this morning wingman comes up to me and gives me a hug and says

"you have a big ol' tummy...you need to get a baby from the sky to put in that big ol' tummy"

wow, with the charming children i already have why wouldn't i want more?

speaking of my big ol' tummy, i haven't been totally on par with my exercise because i hurt my knee a few weeks ago...i'm trying to go easy on it...i was griping about it the other day and the lord of the ring cheekily says

"oh is that your old cycling injury acting up?"

"more like re-cycling injury from carrying those damned beer bottles to the end of the driveway"

buh dump bump.

seriously, i hurt it in the pool...we went to a community pool (yes, i wore a bathing suit in public...i know i know, sometimes i even surprise myself) a few weeks ago and since neither of my boys can swim (the duke doesn't want to get his face wet GOOD LORD!, wingman hasn't had lessons yet) "swimming at the pool" consists of me hauling their little wet bodies around the deep end and hanging out in the shallow end with them...

so while i was hauling them around i tweaked my knee funny and it hasn't been the same since...but, it's slowly getting better and i hope to be back up to my normal exercise routine soon...

meanwhile, we are still on a break from school...we go back at the beginning of august and i can't wait...school lends a certain structure to the day that we desperately need...or i do anyway...

the boybarians are like puppies...without structure they are left to their own devices...mostly it's okay, but some days it just ain't pretty...

speaking of which, since the duke came home from camp he hasn't been the same kid that left...he's been like a some sort of pseudo teenager...all weird tone inflections and just *not* in his body...it's age appropriate and it's really annoying...it's finally flushing out, but not soon enough for my liking...

anyhow, i think i have gotten even closer to the actual root of the change...it's less the lord of the flies influence of camp than i thought it was and far more insidious...we had a conversation yesterday that went like this

"hey mama, did you know that at camp i had two little milks with every meal?"

"oh, i didn't realize you were such a milk drinker"

"yeah, two cartons...most of the kids did"

"well, i hope you had some water, too"

"actually, i didn't drink any water while i was there"

(insert previous crack pipe scenario here)

"um, what?...i sent your water bottle...and they have water pitchers on each table...you must have had some water"

"nope, just milk"

oh. my. god.

i encourage water drinking here...rarely is there a time we have anything BUT water at meals to drink or anytime during the day for that matter...and this kid is telling me for eight days he didn't drink a drop?

what the hell!...didn't the counselors encourage it?...did he leave his brain at home?...i even sent letters and in every letter i mentioned "hey, remember to drink lots of water!"...i *know* that doesn't work, but it makes me feel better...

no wonder he came back and acted the way he did...he's dehydrated!...friggin' kid...leaves home and loses his ever lovin' mind!...

sigh...

they did a study on happiness and it turns out the actual day to day act of parenting came in at the bottom of the list...after laundry and taking out the garbage...everyone always says their kids bring them the greatest joy, it's just the actual act of parenting that makes them want to take a long walk off a short pier...

well, we're off on a letterbox* hunt...we made our own stamps and we got some clues to a letterbox really close to us so we're off to see if we can find it...i'll let you know how it goes...

x.

*letterboxing is the hunt for hidden boxes filled with a rubber stamp and a logbook...someone hides a box and puts clues on the web and you get the clues and hunt for the box...it's usually on some walking trail or park...you find the box and stamp your logbook with the stamp in the box and stamp the logbook in the box with your stamp...

it originated in europe and has made its way to the states...it sounds like fun** and our stamps turned out really cool!

**well, "fun" if there isn't some creep who reads the clues and lies in wait on trails for unsuspecting parents and kids...i know, i'm deranged but i wouldn't be me if i didn't think worst case scenario...that's just how i roll...and probably why my blood pressure is so high...