Weekend Report and Something to Make You Laugh

I don't blog as much on weekends. Lots more warm little bodies around me then, I guess. But we had a super weekend! Ross and I went out on a date Friday night. It was especially nice because we've missed the last few. In what I call "Vintage Ross," he offered me his 2 closed fists when I got in the car, I chose the right hand, and he revealed the initials, "QC" which stood for "Quick China." That's how we picked the restaurant. Then when we got there, he took away my soy sauce bowl and filled it with 4 tiny pieces of paper with words on them. They all started with the same letter, and they were each topics for our discussion. That's the kind of stuff he did all the time when we dated.

I also did several things this weekend that I have wanted to do for a long time...things that get crowded out by housework and other demands. Annika and I began wallpapering and flooring her dollhouse. We made our own wallpaper paste (flour and water), and she learned how un-mathematical you really can be when hanging wallpaper. I'm a writer, not a mathematician.

Saturday night we watched the Wizard of Oz as a family. The girls had never seen it, but weren't nearly as scared as I was when I was a kid. I did enjoy it, but I was able to easily transport myself back to Ankara. Ross, on the other hand, pretty much stayed in Oz all weekend. If you ever want to know how the make-up artists quickly removed the Witch's makeup when her transporting fire accidentally burned her, or how Jed Clampett was 'supposed' to be the tin man, or why Dorothy wore ruby slippers instead of the original silver ones, just ask Ross. He's the walking Oz expert now.

Sunday I made a list with two headings (goals). One heading was "Things That Are Important To Me." Under that heading, I listed the 14 things that I want my children to do every day without me reminding them. The next heading was "Things That Are Important To Y'all." Under that heading, I listed the things I suspect my kids want from me: mom not being frustrated, mom not crying, mom not bugging me. Then I devised a plan by which both goals can be met. My kids do a lot of chores. They are super helpful and responsible. But I began to realize that many times they were waiting for me to TELL them to do those things. I've looked for a Chore Chart but never found one that was quite what I wanted. So, Ross made me a chart with 7 columns (one for each day of the week) and 56 lines (14 items per daughter, and 11 for Eva) spelling out what they need to do each day without me telling them. We still have our basic weekly helpers, where each week each girl has a job for the week: kitchen, lunches, trash, and pet; but this hopefully will help them remember without my voice. They bank points for privileges. I'll let ya know how it goes.

And finally, just something to make you laugh. Benaiah has a new trick to keep himself awake. As you can see in this video, it doesn't work very well.