the new pool and hot summer days....

Camille played in the extra pool sand...

She lost her first tooth...

Paul worked so hard to get this pool set up. He let the girls play in it while the hose started to fill it. They ran and slid and, "rolled in the puddles", as Camille said. It is all up now, we just have to install the filter and put on the ladder.

Phew. It was not easy, and the weather didn't co-operate at all. Today was so very hot and sticky to be outside working. When we were done with the pool, I took a walk down the road....and almost melted right into the hot pavement. I enjoyed it anyway because it was quiet and there were dragonflies and it cleared my mind.

We had a full house this evening. All the kids were here except for Joseph, Aaron, and Samuel, who were finishing up the tiling job they have been working on. Mirielle was nice, there were seven guys working, so she grilled burgers and made pasta salad, and drove it over to near the big city where they were working so they could have a nice dinner. They just got home a little while ago, and now Benjamin and Ashley are back at Emily's house.

Tomorrow though, we have big plans: family picture time again! Benjamin is going fishing in the morning with one of his old friends from church, and Mali is working all afternoon and evening, so we have to work it out in the middle of the day.

Our dinner tonight was so good. Burgers on the grill. I don't like the frozen patties, I much prefer to use freshly ground meat. We sliced tomatoes and pickles and red onions, and had a watermelon, and pasta salad. I stuck with the burger and no bun, no pasta salad, but I did have popcorn this evening while the older kids played their own version of, "Scattergories", in which they make up the subject.

And it has been a long day. A good day. I am tired enough for bed. Oh, Simone: I had my iron level checked when I gave blood last week, it was good, as was my blood pressure (112/72). I am feeling lots better now, who knows what was wrong. I am getting into those middle ages...the dreaded menopause is around the corner. Oh wait, are we allowed to talk about that?:) Guess what? I am going to. If men went through it you can bet we would hear about it. There's not much to tell yet, just a bit of irregularity, some mood swings....like normal only a bit worse. I must be really tired to be sitting here writing about this...I will hate myself when I read this tomorrow and realize that I actually posted it....