Chronicling, for lack of a better idea

I don't know what to write, but I hate being stymied by a blank post box, so I'm going to do 13 things.

1. The Boy insists on falling into the pool! On Monday, the girls were hanging out on the seat in the deep end and their friend was hanging on near the side. The Boy came over to play and somehow managed to slip in. My friend and mother of our pool pal was closer than I was, so I pointed and yelled "Get him!" The Boy was hanging onto Pool Pal's hair to get himself to the surface, which dragged her under the water a bit. Fortunately we were able to resolve the situation in seconds, though afterwards Pool Pal claimed she was drowned. My friend was doing her best not to laugh as she explained there was a huge difference between swallowing a lot of water and drowning.

This is the third time The Boy's fallen in. The first time he was just leaning over too far and went in head first. I happened to be on my way to that side of the pool anyway, so I was able to grab the back of his shirt and haul him out. My friend said his eyes were the size of dinner plates. (She said his eyes were the same size this last time too. We get far too much amusement out of these little incidents.)

The second time we were all hanging around in the shallow end. I guess The Boy was going after a toy and slipped in, but in his words "I kicked and kicked and The Eldest saved me!" I turned around to see The Eldest holding The Boy and it took a second for my brain to register that this was not how things were supposed to be.

The Hub and I have discussed it and we think that next summer we will invest in one of those life jacket shirts and some swimming lessons for The Boy. We like him, we like swimming regularly, and it would be best if we could keep us all alive whilst swimming.

2. We've been swimming this summer! When I took the girls to their first lesson this summer (I convinced one of the college-bound teenagers from the ward to teach them--personal attention and low prices!), the swimming teacher's mom said that her kids just learned to swim by being in the pool ALL the time. She has also extended an open invitation to us to swim in their pool whenever we want--she's been telling us that for two years now. So this year we took her up on it. I asked my friend to come too, since the children thoroughly outnumber me, and so we've been going to the pool every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning for an hour and a half to two hours. Between that and the lessons, the girls are so much more comfortable in the water--as am I. And it's been great exercise! I borrowed a "baby boat" from my mother-in-law for The Baby and we were good to go. The Baby loves it too, I think.

3. This is my favorite Facebook status from the past week: "Last night was a conspiracy between my children and the universe in maternal sleep prevention." I'm just proud of my turn of phrase. Most nights are a conspiracy in maternal sleep prevention. Sometimes the mother is in on it! See: "Ergh. Reading hangover. I should NOT have stayed up until midnight."

4. The Hub and I went on an actual date on Saturday! We went to see The Dark Knight Rises, which I found to be quite enjoyable and a well-told story, and then we ate at La Hacienda Ranch, which was yummy and pricey and yummy. It was nice to be kid-free for a few hours and to spend time hanging out with The Hub, which is one of my favorite things to do.

5. Miss Bubbly and The Baby had their annual check ups last week. They're healthy, growing girls, which was to be expected. We monitor Miss Bubbly's health a little more closely, though not purposefully--it's a natural by-product of seeing a pediatric endocrinologist four times a year. It seems that we're managing her diabetes well, and we're finally in a place where we can tighten up control and get her A1C into an even healthier place.

The Baby's a bit skinnier than I realized--she didn't quite top 20 pounds (19 lbs 14 oz--she was close!), but between learning to crawl and walk in the last six months, she's been building up the ol' muscles and losing some of her rolls. Which is sad, because those rolls were MOST adorable, but I have to admit that it's nicer to have her independently mobile and able to indulge her curiosity, instead of insisting that I entertain her. She's also been my longest nurser--we're at well over 12 months and she doesn't seem to want to give it up anytime soon. I don't know how I feel about it, but it seems like time to start weaning her. Slowly.

6. On Monday we had the Smiths over for family home evening. They're a part-member family who live just one street over from us and have kids going to the same school that Miss Bubbly will be attending. We've agreed to carpool, and the best part is that I only have to pick up in the afternoons! They'll take Miss Bubbly every morning, which is a HUGE relief, because getting The Eldest out the door in the morning was the hardest part of having her in school. But now we know what everyone looks like and how to play Zingo! and lose at Apples to Apples to a 10-year-old with grace.

7. I let go of homeschooling for the summer. With Miss Bubbly going to public school (and she should already be slightly ahead of the curve. I hope) and The Eldest starting her online public school, the motivation just wasn't there. So we traded it for the valuable swimming time. I think it was a good trade.

8. If I'd numbered every paragraph, I'd be to 12 now.

9. So I'm calling it good, 'cause I ain't got nothin' else.