beautiful hot and muggy day.

Jonathan Robert can jump off the diving board into 13 feet of water without a floatie on. Charlotte Claire jumped off WITH a floatie on. Mommy did not jump off, yet I aquired some gray hair just the same. Actually, besides just being alert and keeping an eye on them, it was very relaxing. The double-floatie trick works nicely for Miss Camille, who was very content to stay in the water for hours on end in this 95 degree eather.

The fun part for me was spending time with my friend Karen. She has six children, all grown up and moved out except for the two youngest. Her youngest child is 21 now, she has cerebal palsy, has very limited movement, and cannot speak. Well, she cannot OFFICIALLY speak, but anyone who knows Missy knows she certainly CAN talk. She uses her eyes and her expressions and her keen sense of humor to tell you just what she is thinking. Today she was quite entertained by my seven youngest children. When Charlotte Claire put on the butterfly flip-flops to go in to the bathroom, Camille threw a tantrum. She cried on and on and on, but Charlotte Claire was not going to give them up. I was holding Missy in the pool, and could do nothing about it....I asked Missy if she ever watched "Nanny 911", and she laughed her head off....anyway, spending time with Miss is always nice, and I had some good fellowship with Karen. I have known her for over 27 years now....very cliche', but good friends are better than gold.

We left their house feeling very blessed and happy....into our van that felt very much like sitting in front of the heat duct in our tiny bathroom when we were growing up, hogging the heat after playing in the snow, while our feet absolutely burned.....just hot air and more hot air, until I wondered if it was some kind of joke...but no, it was really that hot. Being in the pool just disguised it all day. We soaked corn, still in the husks, in cold water for an hour or so, then piled it on the grill on low, and closed it up for a while....it was so very very good. The kids ate 3 and 4 ears each, along with some barbecued chicken ....(I cheated on this, it was $3.99 each for whole rotisserie chickens....I bought two, and it was enough...probably because they filled up on corn). And because Margaret didn't eat here, Mali doesn't eat meat, Ben left before dinner, three of the kids are "out of the country", and Emily and Abigail weren't visiting.

Our pool is like bath water. Warm and cozy yet not refreshing. Yesterday we brought the hose in and sprayed each other with ice cold water...we made fountains and saw rainbows...now THAT was refreshing. Anyway, this evening at 9:30, I had a great idea: we should go swimming!! So Evelyn, Suzanne, Sonja, Jonathan, Charlotte Claire, and I got into our suits and went out back....the water was warm and the stars were shining, but unfortunately the mosquitoes were buzzing and biting....we came back in and I served them some orange juice with lots of ice.....it is still in the upper eighties out there....

It is past ten thirty and some of the kids are still up. The two little ones are tucked in, but the others are very mellow....Suze is reading "David and Goliath" to Jonathan....it is quiet and peaceful in here. The older kids are at the youth meeting......Paul is playing his guitar....this is a good life.

One nice thing about this weather is that we wear our bathing suits so much that the only laundry I have been doing is towels and undies. Martha, I laughed my head off about the scratchy clothes....I can't bring myself to use the dryer when it is this hot.

Tomorrow it is supposed to be stormy and rainy here, hot but not AS hot. We need a break from all the sun...even with sunscreen, we are tanned and burned and freckled....

hmm...tomorrow is a blank day...what will we do?