I think the paper said it's the 8th day in a row with temps over 100. I feel so bad for the kids. It's too hot to be outside, and combined with the poor air quality in the metroplex, we're pretty much prisoners indoors. So I guess it should be of no surprise that the captives have been very restless. Last night when I got home from grocery shopping Joshua escaped out the garage door, and made a rush at our neighbor across the alley. She was watering her flowers with a nozzle hose. Joshua thought "water play!" He wanted so bad to play. Poor guy.

Abby has been tearing the place apart - figuratively and literally. She flooded both the bathrooms this a.m. She took some cups and quickly dumped as much water as she could onto the floor in their bathroom. Then she went to our bathroom with the garden tub. The faucet is on the outside of the tub, and it is loose, I guess, because it twists around. Miss Abby figured out that she can turn on the water, twist the faucet around, and proceed to flood our bathroom (much quicker than the manual dumping-of-water in the other bathroom). She was so pleased with her handywork. She splashed and squealed on the flooded tile. I was just thinking "Thank goodness your brother Joshua wasn't home to take notes!"

..and speaking of 'taking notes.' Abigail has apparently been taking detailed notes from her siblings on how to throw a tantrum. When she isn't getting her way, watch out! She throws whatever is in reach, then she collapses on the floor and screams like a banshee. You think she's just suffered a great injury from the volume, but no, in this house you have to stand out from the crowd.

So okay, the flooding happened before 10am today. She then took a nap, and woke up at 12, ready to take on the afternoon. She figured out that the kid-sized chairs in the house are convenient stepping stools to about everything else. She loves playing on the computer. So you will often find her in the computer chair pounding on the computer. Deren saw this for the 1st time this morning, and being as safety-minded as he is, he was very disturbed. Of course, he wasn't around this afternoon when Abby pulled the chairs up to the kid table in the boys bedroom, then proceeded to use the kid table as a stepping stone to each of the boys' beds. A can of sprite had been left behind on Joshua's headboard (a full can, mind you). She then dumped the sprite all over Joshua's comforter and sheets, got off the bed, and poured the remainding sprite down the hallway. Joshua, in the meantime, was diving hands-first into red jello. Needless to say, when Deren got home I wasn't feeding the kids dinner, like I'm usually doing. I was mopping floors.

The boys are back in school this week and the next. Then they're off 2 wks. School starts up on August 14th. Rachael starts the following week. As trying as the summer has been, I'm getting nervous about the boys both having new teachers. "change is good, change is good, change is good" - repeat a couple thousand times..

I have a dr's appt on Thursday. I get to drink the orange sugary drink and have my glucose levels tested. Most other ladies I've talked to said the drink is so sweet it makes them nauseous. I remember liking the taste of it, myself. Shows you what a sugar hound I am.

Please keep my cousin Stephen in your prayers. He is in the hospital, and is not expected to make it much longer. My family has been pretty devastated. Sorry. Can't think of more to say. My heart is so heavy for him and those he'll leave behind.