7 quick takes

1. Mitch and I are going white water rafting this weekend with some friends. I hope we don't tip over! One of my friends is terrified of falling in the water. Watch it be me and not her. Maybe I'll buy one of those waterproof disposable cameras since it would be difficult to paddle with my Canon Rebel XTi strapped on. That would make a cool picture!

2. At age two, Abigail is almost completely potty trained. She alerts me throughout the day when she needs to tinkle and has only had one accident in the past three days. She is consistently waking from her afternoon nap and in the mornings totally dry. She doesn't like to be "dirty" so we haven't had any issues regarding #2 yet either (did I really just type that?). Wow, can it be that for the first time in five years that we might soon be a household empty of diapers? Goodbye wipes and hello flushable Cottenelle!

3. I have ENJOYED this summer immensely. We have had so much fun with our playgroup, going to various parks in our city, visiting family, doing Disney, sleeping late, and packing picnic lunches almost every day - we are always running out of bread. But, to be honest, I am READY FOR SCHOOL TO START BACK!

4. I'm still getting up in the mornings and swimming laps. I really do enjoy the time in the pool and it's nice to be able to workout in the cool water....well, they did find a small snake in the (indoor) pool yesterday but the lifeguards quickly removed it and killed the thing. I've noticed that I'm getting a wee bit faster with my time. I've been swimming for almost two months and it's encouraging to see improvement in my speed. Of course, I seem to always get the lane next to the girl who swims competitively and always brings her coach with her. I can either see her as a challenge, or give up - 'cause there's no way I'm gonna lap her.

5. I let the kids fingerpaint on their art paper yesterday in the kitchen. Let's just say that most of the paint ended up on the kitchen floor and not on their paper. However, I haven't mopped yet and I don't think I'm going to anytime soon. I like to imagine that three little Picasso's left their masterpieces for me to enjoy. No, I just don't want to mop.

6. It's 1:13 a.m. as I type this. I'm not even gonna try to trick you by setting this post in draft to appear later today. See, you need to pray for me that I will get more sleep. I need to be more disciplined in getting to bed at a decent hour. Friends joke that sleep deprivation is gonna be the death of me but it's just that my mind begins to race like crazy once the kids are in bed. My hands get busy doing things that they couldn't do when the children were awake and sometimes I want to veg and simply just sit and be lazy since I'm on GO all day long.

7. Mitch and I are about to embark on a journey we've never been on before. I can't really type details here but you can ask me privately on email and I'll be glad to share. We'd love to have friends and family praying for us.