trying this again

We went to Wal-Mart today, after the dr. appt. Have to get our gas money's worth. I got a nice comfortable lawn chair, a new yellow rake, some shorts for Aaron and Sam, some skorts for Evelyn, and some food: bagels, milk, eggs, cheese, juice, peppers, ham, and bread. Charlotte Claire is a little social bug. She can't talk very well, but she points to things, and says what words she knows. She smiles and laughs at/with people. Today, when we got in line at Wal-mart, she peed one too many times in her diaper, and it flowed out to the floor, where it splashed on Abigail's foot, and made a puddle....Ab ran over to the Subway for some napkins, and Charlotte just laughed. She kept saying, "Pee, pee!" We went back to see if Abigail's car was done, she had the oil changed, and it wasn't. So I took Charlotte to the bathroom and changed her. Of course I didn't have extra clothes for her, but luckily it was warm today, and she didn't look too funny in her shirt and diaper. My sister happened to be in Wal-Mart today too, so we sat on some benches and talked awhile. When we meet up, we can burn up the time easily.

Paul is taking the next two days off from work to tile the floor in the downstairs bathroom. It will be nice to have him around, but different. I'll feel lazy if I get on the computer in the middle of the day. Even though I'm not. Well, I kind of am. I know darn well I could work alot harder around here, but there does have to be a balance. I need down time, too. Today, I spent some time outside with the kids, and it's just delicious. I've been letting them play with the hose, with the water on just a trickle, and they fill up the sand-box top, and fill up buckets. And Jon puts the hose on Charlotte's head....he just loves to hear her scream. I ask him if he would like me to do that to him, and no, of course not. Maybe tomorrow after school I'll do the chore list thing. I write down all the kids (except Em, who will be working, and Ab, at classes all day, Ben, working) names and choose a job that needs to be done, that seems appropriate for their age and personality....then they have to each do their job after school, before dinner time.....when I get them properly encouraged, we can get the stairs vacuumed, the bathrooms cleaned, the living room picked up and vacuumed, the kitchen floor swept, the deck cleaned, maybe some windows cleaned, or tables dusted....some newspaper sorted and cleaned up....toys sorted, laundry hung up.....Hmm, I think I will. They all agree: they like the chore list afternoons because it accompllishes so much, and they do like it clean and shiny in here. But: they feel cheated if everyone doesn't pitch in and do their part. So they get some pressure from each other to do their jobs....and I certainly praise them to the skies when they get done!! I can't possibly make them do this on a daily basis, because they're in school all day, and need some play time. And everyone has to pitch in already with the table setting, serving, and clean up of supper. Aaron just finished the dishwasher.