Quick 5

Welcome, Friday.  And end of September.

1.  I know I've been a little slow on the draw, but I'm finally getting around to giving Alaina some solid chores.  She's been in charge of putting all the toys away at night (much to her chagrin) for some time now, and she makes her bed.  But everything else has been (and still is) easier just to do it myself.  I'm mending my ways, and first up has been putting her in charge of putting forks on the table for dinner each night.  So I say, "Alaina!  Come get forks for everyone!"  She says, "Okay!  Joya!  Come get your fork!" and promptly delegates that one utensil to Joya.  Joya loves to be included, so I haven't nipped it in the bud, but I'm a little afraid that Alaina might turn out to be something of a Tom Sawyer.  If she starts handing over more than one fork, I'll know that there is a discussion we should have.

2.  Thanks to our early Christmas present from Lee's parents, we now are the proud owners of our first piece of furniture from IKEA!  Our kitchen is pretty, but has very little counter space.  Which translates to very little work space.  So I'd been looking around for an island for our kitchen, and lo and behold the great behemoth that is IKEA had exactly what I had in mind.  So we trekked out there last Saturday to pick it up, and Lee spent most of the day putting it together.  We haven't gotten much use out of it yet, because the surface needed to be treated, and that involved several coats with six hours in between and a recommended 72 hours before using it completely, but I can already tell that it is going to make a huge difference in food prep.  Yes, it takes up much of the floor space in our kitchen, but all that floor space was being used for was a "swimming pool" by the girls.  (They liked to rub around on it after they got their jammies on each night.  Consequently I haven't had to sweep the floor much.) 

Before...the empty space

After...welcome island

3.  We had a family adventure after Cubbies on Wednesday night.  Usually either Lee or I take Alaina, and the other one stays home with Joya.  However, due to some scheduling errors, we all had to go last Wednesday; Lee had a class and I volunteered for the AWANA Sundae night.  After I had collected the girls, we discovered that it was raining Noah's Deluge-style outside, which is quite rare around here.  I didn't even realize it was going to rain that night.  We didn't wear jackets.  So Lee ran to get the car while I waited with the girls.  He got as close as he could, and waved for me to come out.  I couldn't get both girls, and clearly they were going to need to be carried through the storm.  So he ran back, grabbed Alaina (who started screaming the minute they hit the downpour) and I ran with Joya.  I knew I was about to get wet, but I was shocked at how much rain there was and how hard it was coming down.  We jumped in the van and closed the doors and then buckled everyone in.  Alaina was completely distraught (unnecessarily) and Joya and I looked like drowned rats.  Joya was completely cool with it; Alaina was not.  Apparently we have confirmation on which girl has the sense of adventure.

4.  One of my favorite things to do with the girls right now is sing along to "Home" by Phillip Phillips.  (Or "Oliver's Song," as Alaina calls it.)  During breakfast each morning we listen to the local radio station to hear the Mindbender, a fun little contest they do.  And of course, they usually play a current hit.  Lately we'll hear "Home" at least three times a week.  And thankfully 50% of the lyrics on that song are "Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh."  It cracks me up to see both Alaina and Joya singing their little hearts out.

5.  One benefit to having a big, ugly, very dead tree in our front yard: I get visitors at least once a week asking if they can cut it down for us.  They're so sweet.  In related news, I think it is very strange that it is the end of September, and the trees are all turning the appropriate shades, which means everything is shutting down for the winter, and yet our lawn is greener than I've ever seen it.  We've had two non-consecutive days of incredible rain, and apparently that was all it needed.  On the plus side, it makes our house look a little less ghetto for all the people who are coming to see the house that is for sale next door.  I almost want to go to each of them and say, "Don't freak out about our house.  We're working on it." 

Well, it's about time to bust out the electric blanket.  Guess you know our project this weekend.