Who is Running This Place Anyway?

I haven't been  that good at recording things lately.  It isn't because the girls have suddenly stopped doing weird things or that I have stopped taking pictures of them eating.  I think it has more to do with the ratio of energy to need.  The amount of energy that I have is grossly undermined by the amount of attention that these girls need.  Also the fact that I feel it is necessary to lie in my bed reading for several hours at a time kind of cuts into my free  time.

With another little Riglet on the way I have gotten serious about making the kids into child slaves.   If there is a job that they can do they are getting used to doing it without me.  This has resulted in one statement being made over and over again.   "Why do we have to do EVERYTHING?" I tried to remind them that it  was their dad who washed all the clothes and their mom who folded like almost half of them but  they don't seem to understand.  I have resulted back to the foolproof method  of bribery.  They get a dime  when they help out.  These dimes have been building up and are traded at local junk stores for toys that will be thrown into the Goodwill pile as soon as they aren't looking.  Despite the support to the crap toy trade in Eugene there haven't been any drawbacks so far.   I  feel justified  in the bribery because life, after all, is a bribe.  We go to work for money, we exercise so that we can eat brownies, we have children so they can do all the chores.  I am just training them for their futures as human beings. 

And then there is Rosy.  She still doesn't help with anything.
Good thing she is cute because otherwise she is totally not pulling her load.

 

Daisy doesn't take naps anymore unless she accidentally falls asleep crammed into a laundry basket with all her pillows and blankets.  I guess all that hard work just tuckered her right out.

Rocky has kept herself busy mecing samthng. 

She has gotten into creating treasure hunts out of arrows on sticky notes posted around the house.  Two words of advice if this fascination continues.  1.  Buy stock in Post It and 2. Follow the arrows and you will likely be generously rewarded.

Just look  at this portrait  that  she made of Brandon.  It looks just like him.  He just finished lifting his weight, clearly.  I can't think of a more interesting treasure (unless it was a bowl full of Cadbury Mini Eggs).

Daisy has been captivated  by her newest love,  Tinker Toys.  I never had  these when I was a kid but I remember they were the substitute that Ralphie  asked for on A Christmas Story when his mom said  no to the Red Rider BB Gun.   Because of this I always figured they were lame.  Then we were generously gifted this set from the Three Kings and they have  become a daily activity.
Boy was I wrong about them being a dumb toy.  Daisy makes  incredible stuff with them and Rosy uses them  to try and poke out the eyes of her siblings.  Ralphie's  dad maybe did his eyes a favor by going with the gun instead.  She builds a  lot  of vehicles for ants, animals (mostly giraffes) and foods (this is my daughter after all.)

Also, Daisy prefers to dress like a Ninja on  Fridays when she doesn't have school and I let her wear anything that  she wants.  Black on black is always in fashion right?  It has been the uniform of brooding artists for generations.   Why stop now?