Ahhhh...

The sounds of happy children bouncing on our trampoline are coming through the walls as I sit here. It's been a good day. The weather has been surprisingly pleasant lately; today it was fairly cloudy in the morning with a nice strong breeze that made the temperature feel much cooler than usual for August in Las Vegas. The kids played on the trampoline while I read outside a bit this morning...they seem to stay on the trampoline longer (and play together more nicely) when they have an audience.

We did a reading lesson for Tobin, and then I began book #10 in the Magic Tree House series. The kids have really enjoyed reading these this summer. My friend Sarah had mentioned them to me awhile back, and I checked some out from the library before our trip to Idaho. The kids were spellbound...absolutely spellbound. (A MTH inside joke, for those who are familiar with them!) Arden knows only that Jack and Annie play with a magic tree house, and he's in and out throughout the stories, so I don't know how much he's picking up. But Tobin and Charis are being introduced to all kinds of little nuggets of history, social studies, and science, and I've enjoyed reading them aloud myself. The only problem is now that we've begun, well, we just can't quit. :-) I'm telling myself that this can be "school" activity since home schooling has gotten pushed to the back burner over the summer.

After lunch Sarah came over with her 3 kiddos, and our 6 children played together pretty well, going from the trampoline to the house and back a number of times. We enjoyed watching them through the dining room window as they played Duck, Duck, Goose on the trampoline and generally act silly. It was the first time in awhile that we had gotten together, and it was great to catch up a bit. I've missed my times of running with Sarah but hope to get back into it sooner rather than later.

By the time Sarah and her kids left, it was after 3 p.m., but I went ahead and put Arden down for a nap anyway. I figured even if he didn't fall asleep, I'd be good for an hour or so of rest time. I thought about putting him in a diaper, but since he was extremely resistent, I relented, figuring that even if he did nap, it would be fairly short, and he HAD stayed dry with only one accident in the morning...much better than a typical day. Plus, the mattress pad was in place!

I should have known better. I did get my hour of peace and quiet, as he fell asleep HARD. I even made homemade pizza and popped it into the oven before going to get him up, thinking that surely he would wake himself up if he started to wet himself. Not only had he not woken himself up...he was dead asleep on his tummy. And yes, the sheets were wet, as was his whole bottom half. NOT ONLY THAT...he had also pooped! What a day to NOT put him in a diaper for his nap! Lesson learned, I guess!

I had an interesting time of cleaning up a mess that I'd rather not remember, and then we read a couple more chapters in our Magic Tree House book while we waited for the pizza to finish. Dinner was yummy--Charis helped me with the pizza and was quite proud of her work. We ate without Ted, since he is late coming home from work tonight because of a naming ceremony, which happens every couple of months or so when there are new people. I expect him in the next hour or so, and in the meantime, I am going to give the trampoline a try, since the kids are begging me to come bounce them. Now that my food has settled, perhaps I should go out there with them!