I wouldn't lick that if I were you

Boy 2 came home with a bloody tongue a few days ago. Apparently he licked the monkey bars. The next day he told his cousin that there are magnets in your tongue. Why else would it stick to metal?

I don't think I will correct him. I hate when they lick stuff.

Label your belongings, please

My advice to my PHD is, don't leave a permanent Sharpie marker sticking out of your overall pockets, that's all.  What else is a kid to do??

It may be hard for PHD to keep up his tough guy image out on the job site with that label on his pants.  Might as well stick a "Baby on Board" sign on his work van.

Boy 2's constant need to express himself on my walls, clothing, belongings in general, did make me think about what he might be when he grows up.  I read somewhere (I could have made it up - sounds more authoritative if I say I read it.) that you should think about what you wanted to be when you were six and that is what you should be.  When you are six, you pick something you like to do, you don't care what others think and you have no idea that you have to earn a living at it.  Perfect time to find your passion!

I asked my nephews what they might be when they grow up.  My six year old nephew said he wants to be a tow truck driver and maybe a teacher.  We think maybe the tow truck thing will be a weekend/summer gig.  My seven year old nephew  wants to be a Biker. I am not sure what that is or how to earn money at it but it doesn't matter!  Boy 1 wants to be an engineer, probably a toy engineer, or an app designer. (The iPad was an investment in his future career, I guess!)  Boy 2 wants to be a principal so he can give the kids recess all day, or maybe a scientist.  I think he should see if there are any tester positions at Sharpie corporation, he already has a lot of data for them...

Things I Can't Explain

Here's one thing I can't explain:

Why would a person want to ride a bike in hockey shin pads and swimming trunks?

Why would jamming yourself in a box be so hilarious?

Why would you ever say this sentence, "Hey, look, it makes me cry but I can stick my finger right down my throat!" and then do it?

When I asked Boy 2 why he did this:

He said "Cuz I was hot."  I can't explain why a do it yourself haircut would be the first solution to cool a person down.

Why would you climb on a shelf at Dollarama to pee down your pant leg?  Not going to say which boy it was but in his defense, he was only 2 at the time.  I didn't have so much as a Kleenex on me at the time and they don't have public washrooms so all four of us ran away like we stole something.  Sorry to the employee that had to clean that up!

How I can I get stabbed in the foot with a butter knife at the dinner table without it leaving the boy's hand?

Where is the left arm to my office chair?  Everytime I stop typing to think for a minute, I lean to the left and almost fall off.

Why do I have these on my kitchen table?

I don't even want to know where the tenth one is. Boy 2 thinks the explanation is pretty obvious.  If you want to walk around without a shirt but still need mitts on, you can cut the fingers off and still peel an orange. Awesome.

Why would a grown man lick my fridge? SMac obviously has a giant tongue.  No wonder he can't close his mouth when he's chewing gum.

One more, I have spent the last two years wondering what my PHD said to Boy 1 to get these looks of disgust:  (even the dog looks irritated!)

Oh boy, this could go on for days!  This post may be part one of a series!!

Fall, I mean Winter, I mean Fall Pictures

Saturday in the park with short sleeves:

Tuesday, in the front yard in snow suits...

Sad to be a snow board on Monday, boys are riding bikes!

 

That was all within a few days!  Love the prairies, never know what's coming! I am pretty sure winter is now here to stay now.  Boy 2 was quite thrilled to tell me our neighbors had all their Christmas decorations up and in his words, "Dad said, what the beeeep, is it Christmas already??" So the Sunday after Remembrance Day we thought we would put up the Christmas tree to surprise my PHD.  Not necessarily a surprise PHD liked but Boy 2 was hoping he would say the same curse with me as a witness and get him into trouble.  Diabolical. 

 

This beautiful brother moment lasted for 32 seconds and ended with a head butt.  Still, I caught it on camera so I have proof that they occasionally like each other!  

After we put up the tree, I tackled the new IKEA dresser we had purchased in Edmonton.  When Boy 2 noticed the left-over screws, he said, "Clearly you messed that up."  Clearly more than one thing has gone wrong here and the dresser is the least of my worries!

Anyway, the boys were so into the Christmas spirit they started their Christmas lists.  Boy 1's list was about four pages long, covering every base, from Lego to an iPod touch which I said was too expensive to which he said, "It's okay Santa will make it". Boy 2 got right to the point:

1.  Harry Potter movie

2.  remote control helicopter

3.  lego star wars set

4.  $1000 dollars

Just in case you can't find the first three things, you can just give him $1000 and he's all set.  Brilliant, I thought!

Why don't you eat a bucket of icing and see what happens?

Dear "Experts":

I know your latest research disputes the claim that a child's behaviour is affected by sugar.  However, you were not at my house on Sunday when I found this hidden in Boy 2's laundry basket:

He came out of Time-Out #1 of the day with something white around his mouth.  We had had eggs for breakfast so I assumed that was the mess on his face.  He cleaned his face and carried on.  Most of the morning sounded like, "Zing, Zip, Whee, Boing, Pop!"  Somewhere in the midst of the cartoon-like activities, this happened to Boy 1:

After Time-Out #2, Boy 2 came out of his room with white stuff smeared all around his mouth.  I got closer, "Is that icing?!"  Once I tossed his cell, I mean room, I found that instead of the half a tub of icing I used to have in the fridge,  I now have an empty tub of icing and a WIRED 7 year old.  This lasted for hours.  At one point he got so far away from me, I actually had to search the neighborhood for him.  This ended at 4 pm with the blessed sugar crash.  As you can see, he didn't even get his snow pants off.

So, "Experts", I invite you to care for the child after he has a load of sugar.  If you make it through the day, you will no longer claim "Sugar doesn't cause hyperactive behaviour".  I promise.

Goodbye H1 or Rename the Husband Contest Part 2

For those of you that have been married for more than 7 years, you may know that it is unusual that your spouse does something completely unexpected.  After that many years, you usually know him or her well enough that there are few surprises.  This is not a bad thing; regardless, you may understand my excitement right now.  After 15 years of marriage, I caused my spouse to start making a new facial expression.  He started making a face I have never seen before. It all started with this post:  Rename the Husband Contest. First he read the post then made the face.  At first I thought it was a mad face, but he said no.  I thought maybe it was a puzzled face.  He said "What face?" Then he made the face again.  Every time I excitedly told him about a new suggestion, he made the face.

Anyway, I had lots of creative submissions and lots of laughs over the contest.   

And the winner is:  PHD...or maybe SMac.  

I spent a week going back and forth, trying each one out, asking H1 what he liked better.  He said he didn't care, really.  (What? Maybe I will stick with H1!) He made the new face equally at each suggestion so I finally decided both names are winners!  I will mostly call him PHD which stands for Plumber, Husband, Dad.  If he does something that displeases me I will call him SMac, sort of his initials but sounds like "smack".  Congratulations Michelle you obviously have a gift for naming Blog Husbands - you win twice!  You win the dubious honour of Naming the Blog Husband. Unless you want my broken iPod.  Let me know!  

Thanks for playing everyone!  My next contest will be "Name PHD's Facial Expression".  I just have to get a picture of it for you.  Stay tuned!

Yakima, Edmonton

We went to Edmonton last weekend. The ride to Edmonton sounded like this:

"....punch, punch, punch, Stop it or we are turning the car around...I forgot my phone, turn the car around...punch, punch, punch...I said Stop it!...Don't touch me, I don't want your germs!  (really? You were okay licking the floor of the emergency room bathroom , but Boy 2 germs, no good?)... I have to go to the bathroom...Doesn't the word "Yakima" sound like puking?...yak, yak, yakima...I'm hungry...punch, punch, punch...Stop it, I mean it..."

Just to clarify, it was Boy 1 and Boy 2 punching each other.  Once we got to Edmonton, it started getting fun.

We went rock climbing,

knocked out a few gophers,

went on some rides,

cleaned my change purse out on wishes in the pond,

petted some stingrays,

made friends with a penguin,

hung out with the sea lions,

took home a penguin,

and a stingray,

and that was day one!

Day 2, H1 took the boys to the water park while I shopped.  That worked well for me.  Probably a bit more tiring for H1!

Here's how Boy 2 felt about leaving the water park: (bad pictures but you get the idea)

Day three was IKEA and home! When we stopped for gas on the way home, the boys each got a pack of 6 gumballs.  Boy 1's pack only had five. He was so outraged  by the false advertising, "The pack says 6 but it only has five!!" that he actually returned it to the store.  He is a firm believer in justice.  So, I know Yakima is a city but I believe the word "Yakima" sounds more like a high five, or way to go -  as in Yakima, Boy 1!! Way to go!!

Rename the Husband Contest

Today, November 11, is our 15 year wedding anniversary.  (Yes, I was a child bride.)  I figured the date would be hard to forget, because for one, it was 11/11/95 and two, it's Remembrance Day.(It is still possible to forget, though, and if you  think you can hear  "Oh *$#@!" as you read this, H1 is also reading this and realizing he has forgotten. ) Little bonus - always a stat holiday on our anniversary.  Look how young we were:

Recently, H1 figured out how to access my blog.  He thought it was all very funny , particularly Finger Knitting, and SOS Batman , however, he didn't care for the name H1. In fact, he has threatened to start looking for W2, a couple of times. I think he's kidding. Just to be safe, and in honour of our 15 years of wedded bliss, I will do something to make him happy.  I will hold a "Name My Blog Husband Contest".  (If you thought I was going to say something else, you need to get your mind out of the gutter.  Or not.  I am just recognizing  you as dirty!) If you are the one person reading this blog that doesn't actually know him, here's what you need to know about him (and thanks for reading my blog, One Person that doesn't know us):

He is very charming, funny and interesting.  He is from Nova Scotia. He does things like build Lego tables with/for the boys.

He is a plumber, and runs his own business. I tell him what to do all the time and he ignores most of it until he thinks I am not paying attention. 

He is also a bit accident prone. He once got his head stuck in a house, his upper arm impaled to (impaled on or impaled to? Not sure.) his work van and falls down on a consistent basis, especially if there is a puddle of water in which to land.

Lately, he is obsessed with marbles.

That's all you need to know to get started! Whomever comes up with the best name wins!  No, you don't win anything good like an iPod, unless you want one that doesn't work (see Where's All My Stuff? ).  I will pick my favorite name and use that from now on, or start calling him by his real name, whichever I like better.   Fun!

Halloweenie

I have a love hate relationship with Halloween.  I am afraid to discuss it with Halloween in case I get egged or TPed, but I don't care for it much.  Boy 2's buddy calls it Helloweenie.  Very efficient, I thought, fitting two inappropriate words into one long one. Also apt, because people seem to think that when they are dressed in costumes they can act like weenies. However, the kids like Halloween so much it is hard to hang onto the hate.  Boy 1 called this the best three days of his life - Friday was a Halloween dance at school.  Saturday was a Huskies basketball game and Sunday, of course, is trick or treating.

Friday night we (well, the boys and I, H1 was being a spoilsport) dressed up.  Boy 1 was Hades, Boy 2 was Mickey Mouse. I put on a Spiderman mask and called myself "Spidermom".  H1 told me the mask was sexy which prompted me to say, "Why, because my face is covered??  What is that?  Are you going to call me fat next?" Only sort of kidding...We grabbed burgers and sat down in the hallway to eat while the boys took off.  Next thing I see is Hades running by full tilt, and sliding down the hall to come to rest at the principal's feet.  He got a bit of what for after which the principal looks up to see Hades' parents sitting on the sidelines, eating burgers and watching the misbehaviour, like they are spectators at a ball game.  Any more questions about the root cause of the behavior problems at the MacFuddle house?  No?  Good, let's move on!

On Saturday, we went to the Huskie basketball game.  Having a great time, kids are running around, I am visiting with my friends, until Boy 2 shows up like this:

He says he got his foot stuck in the railing and the shoe came off when he pulled his foot out.  It (the shoe, not his foot) fell beside the court.  We had to run up and down stairs and ask a variety of staff for a while.  We found the shoe with a 20 year old Mean Girl who told him he because he kicked his shoe on the court he wasn't allowed to be anywhere but with his mom for the rest of the night. He started crying. I asked Mean Girl if she saw him kick it because he said it was an accident.  She did that "Whatever" sniff, shoulder shrug thing and turned her back on me.  I hate Mean Girl.  I might call her Hellomeenie. That'll teach her.

We took a bad picture of the big Huskie dog on our way out.  Always fun.

On Sunday we carved pumpkins and waited for something exciting to happen.

 Boy 2 favors the punched out eyes while Boy 1 likes a more traditional Jack o lantern.

This was what we did in 2005, our best work to date.  I even got to use H1's electric drill to make polka dots on a curvy pumpkin:

The boys passed the rest of the afternoon by saying, "How much longer until the cousins get here?" every ten seconds or so. We have a little tradition on Halloween, my sisters bring their kids over, we order pizza for supper, take 1004 pictures then hit the streets for treats.  Boy 1 unexpectedly  had some friends come over and take him trick or treating  which threw off the schedule so much that I didn't even get a picture of him in his Hades costume!  He said he will get dressed up again and we will take a picture some day when we have nothing else to do.  Maybe over the Christmas holidays.  Boy 2 and my 2 nephews hit the streets like this (my sister Chris took these two pics and I borrowed them from facebook so they are a bit blurry):

Good looking boys, aren't they?

My adorable little niece was dressed like an Ewok but the scarf thing was slowing her down so she took it off.

With all that cuteness it is so hard to hang on to my Halloween hate...

Wall People

Do you ever have those moments when something very weird or shocking seems to be happening and then you realize it isn't?  It is usually something terrifying to you and hysterically funny to others.  For example, Boy 2 said to me the other night, "I just thought I had a toe on the side of my foot."  I looked.  He didn't have an extra toe, it just seemed that way to him for a minute.  One of my co-workers thought there was a cat in her living room for a second then she realized it was a dust bunny.  Boy 1 had that happen one night:

 

"Whoh!" is right! Or, like a few days ago, Boy 1 was in his room digging around in the mess in his closet and I happened to be beside the living room wall which backs the closet.  So, naturally, I knocked on the wall.  He came running out of his room like he was on fire.  He did this fantastic baseball slide around the corner and started down the five stairs to the living room when he looked up and saw me standing there, laughing.  He says, "Oh, thank god, I thought someone was in the wall."  See what I mean?  Terrifying if you think there is someone in the wall, hysterically funny to the other person!  Is that funny or  is that mean?  Little Column A, Little Column B?  And does this happen to anyone else or just the clowns at this house?

Finger Knitting

On Sunday the boys and I went to Costco.  I know, Costco on a rainy Sunday afternoon -  I am either stupid or insane - depends who you ask.  We had to circle the lot 41 times and say Maryann's parking prayer, "Hail Mary full of grace, help us find a parking space!"  many times.  When we finally got a space we cheered and did the wave in the car. The wave is much more fun with Mickey Mouse hands, I have to say.

The whole production reminded me of the day H1 decided to come with me to pick up the boys from the after-school program so we could all go to Costco together.  I don't know what I was thinking.  Anyway, he offered to go inside to collect the boys, probably thinking it was still like when they were little, little boys and they would come running to see you, all cute and delighted.  I opened a book and started reading in the car.  About 10 minutes later he comes out with Boy 2.  They hop in the car and start buckling up.  I say, "Where's the other one?"  After a what do you mean, isn't he here and a curse or 2, H1 heads back into the school to collect Boy 1. Ten minutes later, they get in the car.  I say, "Where were you Boy 1?"  He says, as though I haven't been paying attention and should have known, "I was finger-knitting."  Of course, that's what I should have guessed, even though I didn't know there was such a thing, or that it was something a 9 year-old boy would like.  

We carry on to Costco.  Each boy was soooo tired that they each needed a cart.  Boy 1 is being pushed by H1 through the produce cooler when he says, "Jesus Christ it's cold in here."  I couldn't believe my ears and I must have been a bit slow that day because I say, "What?" so he screams "Jesus Christ it's cold in here!"  All 312 people in the produce department stop shopping and look at the cursing kid then at the mother of the cursing kid.  I respond appropriately by laughing hysterically.  I did consider pushing my cart with the non-cursing boy away like I wasn't with the sailor mouthed boy but instead I stayed and told him, "You can't say that, Boy 1, it's a swear."  We did the whole "No, it's not!"  "Yes, it is."  for a few rounds until I say, "Fine, say it to your teacher and I will meet you in your principal's office to discuss."    

So, the point is, if anyone needs a scarf, I can have one custom finger-knitted for you, for a price...

(If you are really tall or have a really big neck, maybe we could try finger-knitting on the Mickey Mouse fingers and see how that works for you.  We'd probably charge more for that.)

London Drugs

Last night, we ran out of Advil so H1 offered to take both boys to London Drugs.  At London Drugs, he  left them in the candy aisle while he went to get the Advil.  Here's my illustration of what he returned to (excuse my limited drawing skills!):

They were chit chatting away like nothing unusual was going on.  Boy 1's story is this:  

"I went to check out the board games and when I came back Boy 2 was holding up a shelf of chocolate bars and he had one in his mouth!"  

So, Boy 1 grabs onto the shelf and settles in.  When H1 finds them this way, he  takes the shelf so they can let go, and the two boys take off.(Whew - relief - let's go look at computer games!)  Now H1 is stuck holding the shelf. I'm not sure how long he did that until he either dropped it or conned some other poor sucker into holding the shelf (you touched it last!), but I am pleased to tell you Boy 2 let me in on the secret of what I am getting for my birthday.  He says it is an iPad but I suspect it is a London Drugs shelf of damaged chocolate bars. 

Where's all my stuff??

We have a big problem keeping track of things at our house.  Always have.  In the past month we have lost:

• 4 sweaters
• 1 coat
• 2 lunch bags
• My iPod
• Boy 2's iPod
• Boy 2's DS
• Boy 1 (the whole boy, not just his stuff)
• my running friend Leanne

That's the stuff I know about.  There's probably lots more I have yet to discover.  That also doesn't count H1's wallet and keys because they get "lost" at least once a week. (I like to tell him they aren't lost, he just can't remember where they are.  That seems to irritate him.  "How is that different?!") Last winter, Boy 2 actually lost his winter coat on our front lawn overnight.  The next morning, H1 walked by it at least 3 times without noticing while I was inside screeching, "How do you lose a winter coat?  You can't go outside without it - it's too cold!  How did you get home without a coat?"

Anyway, by yesterday, as we were leaving to catch the school bus, I realize we are down to one sweater between the two boys.  That leaves Boy 2 wearing a short sleeved t-shirt with a vest.  The temperature is 0 degrees. He insists he's not cold.  I say, "Of course you aren't, you are still indoors."  He didn't care. I let him go to school that way and told them both to check lost and found and don't come home without sweaters, jackets and lunch bags.  At 3:30, Boy 2 comes home with nothing, not even Boy 1!  Where's your brother?  "Dunno - he didn't even get on the bus."  My first thought was I guess he couldn't find his stuff so just didn't come home.  After I ran around in a panicked circle for a minute, I called the school.  Apparently he missed the bus so he toddled up the sidewalk a few minutes later with one coat.  I took them both back to the school on a search and rescue mission.  We found 4 sweaters/jackets and two lunch boxes in the lost and found, or as it has also been called, the MacFuddle Closet.  I hadn't seen Boy 2's lunch bag for at least three weeks and there was a half-eaten yogurt in there.  Boy 1 has a very delicate stomach so every time he so much as looked in the direction of the lunch he would gag.  Boy 2 thought this was great fun so he chased him around for a while, pretending to eat the yogurt (gag), pretending to rub yogurt on Boy 1 (another gag), trying to put it under Boy 1's nose (big gag- almost vomit). I told them next time they lost their lunch bags I would buy them each a nice new pink one.  Boy 1 says, "I'd just lose it."  Good point.

My iPod turned up in a load of clean clothes.  It didn't like that so it is refusing to turn on or charge.  Boy 2's iPod fell out of the dryer last night.  I admit it, I said the F word.  Good thing everyone was already asleep.  His iPod still seems to still work, though.  It probably liked being clean for a change.

My running friend Leanne took a wrong turn and we all lost track of each other on our early Thursday morning run.  She turned up right away, without us even having to do much of a search and rescue mission.  Wish the DS would be that co-operative...

H1 Birthday and Superheroes

Happy Birthday H1! His birthday is actually October 14 but I am dragging out the joyous occasion as long as possible.  He was not as excited about his birthday as Boy 2 was about his own the day before.   Boy 1 didn't help matters when he sat beside dad on the couch on the morning of the big day and told him, "It sounds like there's a creaky old door inside your body."  Awesome - just what you want to hear on your birthday!

One piece of advice if you want to fit in with the young kids, H1, - cut back on the Facebook posts like this one:

this site is ridiculous . cant navigate my way around. i ended up deleting a bunch of stuff , including my friends list. sorry about . not on here much.

Don't worry H1, you haven't changed a bit since I met you.  Maybe I will call you Superman instead of H1. 

Oddly enough, as I was giggling over this post, my friend Carlene sent me this video http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7398253/.  She and her brother Bob are famous food bloggers: http://www.bsinthekitchen.com/.

Superheroes seem to be a theme at the MacFuddle house, lately.

 

S.O.S. Batman!

Friday night all three boys went to a football game giving me a whole hour to wander around Michaels and think about all the things I could make but probably won't.  H1 and Boy 2 came home at half-time because it was cold.  Boy 1 stayed at the game with friends.  I thought it might be a good night for a dip in the hot tub.  

Batman joined me.

Saturday was the usual, go for run, hang at the Farmer's Market.  I found this at the Market:

I like the shadowy picture.  It looks like spooky alien food, not just  boring old cauliflower. I made the kids try it then we went to basketball and Boy 2's birthday party.

Sunday was designated quiet day.  Boy 2 was having trouble with the concept so he got to have a timeout in his room until he was ready to try again.  Boy 1 and I did some paper quilling while we waited.  

Boy 1 was pretty pumped about that.

My first attempt at paper quilling was a flower garden. Boy 1 made me a pretty purple tulip and a moon for the flower garden. Cute, right?

Meanwhile, Boy 2 was expressing himself on the walls of his bedroom.

His printing is coming along nicely...

Spiderman turns 7 and practicing gratitude!

Happy Birthday Boy 2!  

When Boy 2 first started Kindergarten two years ago, he got a new pair of Spiderman pjs.  He wanted to wear them to daycare.  I told him he couldn't because he would be going to school in the afternoon so he needed to wear clothes.  I should have known something was up because he chirped, "Okay",  happily ran to his room, got dressed and was ready to go, without argument.  Of course, I told him how pleased I was, what a nice morning with no fighting, blah, blah, blah.   When I picked him up from daycare at the end of the day, he was wearing the spidey pjs.  I said, "Where did those come from?"  He said, "Under my clothes."  I thought, okay, that's pretty clever, way to put one over on mom, sneaking out with the pjs under the clothes.  Then I noticed something crusty in his hair.  Apparently he had taken the spiderman toothpaste from the bathroom and hidden it in his backpack.  I noticed it was missing a week or so before and just assumed it had been used up.  Anyway, the first story I got was that he got on the bus after kindergarten, took his clothes off to show off the pjs then proceeded to run up and down the bus aisle squirting the toothpaste as though it were spiderwebs.  Turns out bus drivers don't like that.  Warning 1.  The next day, when I pick up Boy 1, I find out that the pjs weren't actually under Boy 2's clothes, they were in his backpack.  That's right - he actually changed on the bus.  Kids were approaching Boy 1 all day - "Your brother was naked on the bus!!" 

I am grateful that he is an interesting and creative child.  I am also grateful that he was wearing underwear that day.

QCM Race Report - My First Marathon

Yup - won't be doing that again!   Queen City Marathon in Regina, September 12, 2010. Two of my dear running friends, Margaret and Cindy, and I, ran our first marathon.  The rest of our running group attended as our pit crew.

Here's what I liked:

• The pit crew wore funny signs and wigs to cheer us on.

• One second at the 32K mark where there was a sign that read, "This marathon just turned into a 10K".
• I can insert phrases like "That was the weekend after we ran the marathon," or,  "Well, it wasn't like when we ran the marathon, but it was a solid achievement", into pretty much any conversation.

Here's what I hated:

• Everything else.

That's right - I hated the long training runs, I hated how cranky I was the whole summer because I was so tired, I really hated that I didn't enjoy the race, at all, and I hated that once I didn't need to back down stairs anymore (about 2 days post race), I started finding bruises, blisters and chafing that I hadn't noticed to that point, in places too gross to talk about. 

When I finally finished the race with a time of 4:51:13 (No, not a typo!), I was a bit lost because there were a bunch of different people handing out medals then JOHN STANTON tapped me on the shoulder and said, "You just finished a marathon, I think you need a medal."  So he put the finisher's medal around my neck.  So, I guess I can add that to the  like list.  But then I have to cross off the one about bragging because when I said to Boy 1, "Well, I did just run a marathon", he said, "Terry Fox ran a marathon every day."
   

For now, I will stick to a reasonable distance the still respectable half marathon - 21.1K.  And I will only insert the braggy phrases into casual conversation when Boy 1 isn't around.

Our First Half Marathon AKA the day I lost Boy 2

Back in April my running group ran our first 1/2 marathon.   I didn't post a report because I didn't have a blog then.  I recently came across Boy 1's cartoon about the event.  It tells the story best:

Yup - we were all on the third floor enjoying a post-run burger and in the 15 seconds that I had my eyes off him, Boy 2 wandered off, down the elevator and climbed a pillar in front of the Bess, where he balanced until we found him. The event was sponsored by the City Police so I kept thinking, I am in a room full of cops and I can't find my kid.  I don't understand the thought, either, but it seemed almost meaningful.  We did a re-enactment recently.  Boy 2 stood on the pillar at the scene of the crime.  He is lucky he is cute.

And here is Page 2 of Boy 1's cartoon.  It seems like losing his brother wasn't that big a deal...