now i was soo happy to read this part!! “would he mind terribly if I groped his arms and stomach for a second and moaned a little? I don’t think I said that last part out loud“! after you described him i was hunting for just such a sentence from you! you wouldn’t be my andy if you didn’t say somethin’ like that!

and as for the martial arts? i’ve always wanted to stick hannah in a class for that! she’s so shy she needs some encouragement and needs to be told to scream and grunt at the top of her lungs in front of **gasp**people that aren’t in her family or friend circle~! unfortunately around here you’d definitely have to be a lottery winner to put them in a class. it’s sad really. james’s best friend took it for years and because of the price (that went even more through the roof due to the economy and lots of kids dropping out) his mom had to take him out of it too. ugh.. maybe i’ll teach her from the internet!! then she’d want to practice on her brothers though..

anyway good luck helena!! can’t wait to see a picture of her breaking a concrete block with her head!!

The only activity we have pursued is swimming – the “as hot as tropical rain forest” pool where I perspire weekly ensures all our kids will be able to swim (up to 1000m). The girls have made it (Hallelujah!) but our son has just made his 5m on his back – so a long road of sweat still ahead of me.

My theory for persisting in this torture being that if I get into trouble in the water, at least my kids should be able to swim for help! However, once attaining the required distance, my daughters now barely swim 25m in any direction without stopping for a chat! Hmmmm……maybe I need to re-think this plan!