Matthew

He's my favorite.
He used to be so angry, and soooo fresh.
He didn't know where to draw the line and it
ended him up in the office quite a few times.
Once he was suspended for a day and the suspension
came with a promise: the next time he was sent to the
office, he'd win a one way ticket out of camp for good.
Matthew and I talked about it and I realized that maybe
he just needed a little attention and some TLC.
Well, it worked.
We started spending more time together, laughing, joking
and really having fun.
He's a great kid!
Well, guess what....
The other day I saw one of my counselors leading him into
the office and I thought...Uh oh, and I ran in there.
I asked what happened.
Counselor: Matthew was jumping on me, horsing around.
(a normal occurrence for 8 year olds at summer camp)
Me: Ok.
Counselor: He kept saying, "I'm going to fart on you. I'm going to fart on you."
Me: Uh huh....
Counselor: And he farted on me.
Me: ..............blink*blink.............................
I looked at Matthew, he had tears in his eyes because he
knew what this office trip meant.
Me: You farted on Kevin??
Matthew:It was an accident.
Counselor: No it wasn't. He said he was going to do it and he did it.
Me:Ok.
Now I'm trying not to laugh. What am I going to do, call home?
"Hello, Mrs. ******.Matthew farted on someone today and now
he's kicked out of camp."
Yeah, I just couldn't see myself doing that.
Plus, I thought it was pretty damn funny,
So I sat down with my little guy and looked at him, like, "what the hell were you thinking??"
We both started smirking.
I asked him,"Matthew, would you like it if I farted on you?"
Trying to be serious, "No"
"Would you like it if Kevin farted on you?"
"No"
"Would you like it if Kevin went home and had tacos for
dinner and came in tomorrow and farted on you?"
"NO!"
"Matthew, you can't fart on people".
"Ok. I"m sorry. I"m really, really sorry."
"Ok. Go back to homeroom."
"I'm not going home???"
"No."
Then he hugged me.
HE HUGGED ME!
He loves me now.
Want to know how I know.....at the camp carnival
he asked me to marry him at the marriage booth.
Ok, so he married a toilet afterwards, but still.
(yeah, kids were marrying everything. Republicans
would have had a field day with it)
He hugs me every day. He comes in and says,
"hug the woman" and gives me a hug.
Love him.
As for Kevin, the farted on counselor....he feels like
I let him down. I should have been more stern.
I told him to get over it or else I'd fart on him.

Thank you!

Hey, thanks for all the birthday wishes!
You are good people.

Wanna know what I'm doing right now???
I'm typing this on my new
MAC BOOK!!!!

Paul and Dylan gave me a lap top!!
I LOVE IT - was up late last night playing with it.
Once the house is wireless they'll be no stopping me!
They also bought me a new lens for my camera
so now I can capture great shots of Dylan on the soccer field.
Man, this was a GREAT birthday!!!!
I'm going to turn 41 again next year!

Birthday

Today is my birthday.
I am 41.
It's a great day!

Mojo Weekend

Dylan was sick on Friday so we stayed home from camp.
I had an entire rainy day to work and that's what I needed.
I love this album:







This is the mini kit from Serendipity Kits.
I LOVE this kit.
I have another one to work on and I can't wait for the August kit to get here.
I also made this:


I this it's so cute!
I'm going to carry my glasses everywhere now.
I also made three cards with my wonderful Worldwin Doublemates Cardstock.
Love that paper! It has a light color on one side, a darker on the other.



Yeah, so I was very busy and loved every minute of it.
And Dylan is just fine :-).

Love 'em all.

So here we are in week 6 of summer camp.
Those little 8 and 9 year olds that were driving
me to drink are now my little buddies.
They grow on you, ya know?
No, literally, they hang off me all day long.
I love:
-Mitchell - "Kerry. Kerry. Kerry. Kerry....."
-Katie tells me that her day was super because she was with me.
-Sara who hugs me all the time.
-I am no longer afraid of Anthony. All he needed was a little
attention and a few Starbursts.
-and Matthew.....
Ah,Matthew.
He may be my favorite.
He's tough, but lovable...and very fresh, but we're working on that.
I let him know he's approaching the "fresh line" and we need to back away.
He thinks that's funny, but he backs off.
He's also the one who I caught writing "this place suks" on the wall".
I always seem to catch him doing "things" and he can't understand it.
The other day I came around the corner to see him throwing his
water bottle up into the air knocking ceiling tiles out of whack.
His claim -
"Everyone does things, why do you always catch me?"
Well, yesterday he punched another little guy in the nuts.
The details are not important (well, I guess they are to the other kid)
but this deed earned Matthew a trip to the office.
After his "talking to" I came in and asked him what happened.
Sadly, he explained:
"Well, I apologized and I don't have to go home. But....
the next time something happens I'm getting thrown
out of camp.........and that'll probably be tomorrow."
He sounded like "well, I guess this is it, I may as well
just throw my hands up in the air and surrender. There's no hope"
He was so cute, in a sad sort of way.
Oh well, I hope we make it through the day together.
Maybe I'll just keep him by my side all day....and on a leash.
And NO water bottles.

Boy Scout

Yeah, so my baby has been away at Boy Scout camp all week.
HE HAS NOT CALLED ONCE!
NOT ONCE!
I've checked the news, haven't heard about any bear attacks
or boy scouts lost in the mountains or anything.
So tell me, why hasn't he called???!!!!
We were told they'd call on Wednesday evening.
Paul and I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Maybe that's why I got the migraine.
That little shit must be having the time of his life
while his parents AND grandparents worry their lives away.
He gets back today.
I'm going to punish him for having such a good time.
The nerve!
*Update:
He's home.
He's filthy.
He didn't call because he LOST all his money and
his phone card. He thinks someone took it,
but he had a great time.

migraine

I had a WICKED migraine yesterday.
It woke me up at 3:30am.
I take Midrin and took 8 of them yesterday.
I'm only supposed to take 5 in a 12 hour period.
Oh well, say goodbye to my liver.
I still have the headache today
but not as severe.
I have to call the MD for something stronger.
Either that or I have to start carrying a hammer
around with me. A hammer would help.

Thumper - R.I.P.

The camp has a rabbit named Thumper.
His hutch is near the locker rooms so every day at
swim time the kids beg to go see him.
The kids LOVE to visit with Thumper and
secretly feed him leaves and other crap they find on the ground.
Well, guess what. Thumper died on Monday. We didn't really
tell anyone, didn't want to upset the kids.
So let me set the scene:
Yesterday, I'm sitting on a bench waiting for all the kids to
get changed after swim. I have about 10 kids surrounding me,
less than 6 inches away because that's how 8 year olds are.
They're like satellites.
Anyway, Mitchell (see below), one of Thumper's biggest
fans comes over and says;
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Can we go see Thumper?
I say;
Oh, honey, come here, I think we have to have a talk.
Well, Matthew - another 8 year old who cannot spell
(and I know this because yesterday I caught him writing 'this place suks' on the wall ) says,
"HE'S DEAD".
Thanks Matthew.

Recovery

Thursday night was our camp musical.
The kids were great. The show was great.
I was very proud of them.
Very proud and very tired.
The next day was Olympic Day and China
placed 4th, which is great since I was expecting 6th.
-even though our Sushi rocked the house.

My kids were not....how shall I put this.....all that interested
in being athletic on Friday. It was too hot. At one point,I was
alerted to the fact that my favorite, Mitchell (see below)
decided he'd had enough and just lay down in the middle
of the field. He was done.
So was I.
Saturday I slept.
I slept and slept and slept.
Then I slept some more.
And after that, I took a nap.

Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

I will go down in history as the first woman killed by
a group of 8 year olds.
They're killin' me I tell ya!
How many times have I said I love my job?
Many.
I do.
I love my job.
See??!! I said it again.
It's just the kids.......
Yeah, that's a bummer when you're a camp counselor.
Now, I love the kids, but they are a lot of work.
And they don't listen.
THEY DON'T LISTEN!
Those ears don't even work.
They're simply decorative, used for either earrings,
to hold up glasses or as a gauge...something for
the head to grow into.
Today I seriously contemplated getting a bottle of
wine on the way home. A bottle of wine and a straw.
However, I didn't even leave camp until 7pm, then
between running to the supermarket to pick up
$30 worth of "crap" to make candy sushi, then running
to another store for Swedish Fish, then listening
to the gross man at the gas station telling some
guy about his friend caught in the "coke sting" that
"went down" a few blocks away...I kind of forgot about the wine.
Thank God for Xanax.

Mitchell

Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Kerry?
Yes, Mitchell?
Kerry?
Yes?
What are we doing now?
We're not talking, Mitchell.
Oh.
Kerry?

Happy Monday!

I know I'm in the minority, but I've always liked Mondays.
Even when I was in school, it wasn't Monday's I hated,
it was Sundays - because the next day was Monday.
Anyway, Happy Monday! New beginning!!
I have a busy week ahead of me.
Not only does my musical open (and close) on Thursday,
but I have to transform my homeroom into China with the
"help" of 32 9 year olds. Wish me luck.
Have a great day!!!