Win or lose I told the children I would try go get a pool

I ordered a new pool, to be delivered to my door sometime in the next couple weeks. It may or may not get here before my mother and we may or may not get our money back on the other pool. What is important is that my children are going to have a pool, some fun, and good memories of this summer.

I am so exhausted that I can't even move some mornings. Exertion, like the cooking I did yesterday, is enough to have me falling asleep in my chair in the afternoon. I am afraid that too many trips and activities are out of the question at this point. What I can do is try to make staying home as much fun as possible.

My mother is coming, with a sewing machine she says, so I am sure we will have lots of dining room table projects along with our daily dips in the pool. I will happily welcome the children's friends over as often as we can manage. We have some high school girl who have volunteered to come to our house spend time with the kids. They each have their own ideas of how to help.

Usually the high school girls come to play. They bring different board games or puzzles for the children to play with while they are here, and read them books or have story tapes for them to listen to. They children enjoy their company and I can get a bit of a rest, make appointments, deal with medical issues, or have a quiet phone conversation knowing they are safe and happy.

Today a new high school girl came. She came determined to get my house back in order. She had the children pick up their toys from the floor, swept the floor from lunch, helped them organize their clothing in their closets and had them in nightgowns before she left.

I love her, my oldest child not as much. My daughter, only half jokingly, asked if she can make sure not to be here when this high school girls comes in the future. She is my ideal babysitter though. The one who would actually get the children in bed close to on time, wash the dishes and have the house feeling a bit better by the time I got home. I hope she babysits for pay, not just volunteers here time. She even lives locally and my husband are her father knew each other before either of them was married.

I think she is a great find! I hope she sticks around and I really hope that all of the kids warm up to her.

Toilet training is not much fun though. My boy didn't even go into the bathroom today. The good thing is, he doesn't really drink, he gets most of his fluids at night, so he only had two accidents. He cried every time I asked it he wanted to go on the toilet. Bribing him with chocolate chips did nothing.

The note I got home from his school said that this was going to take a lot of patience. One of his accidents was at school and they had no success at school either. I am thinking it may take a bit more than patience. Divine intervention is definitely needed.

Both divine intervention and some more shorts that he could theoretically push down and pull up himself. Even though he isn't trying, I can't in good conscience put a child who I am toilet training into overalls. I wonder if my mother would enjoy a shopping trip to go look for little boy sorts with me the day she arrives? I am hoping that shopping for little boy clothing and fabric for gowns will count as trips and seeing the country. They will be adventures at least!