The Think System

It was a good weekend.  Actually, it was a Devon weekend.  I had a little time with Aubrey, but a lot of time with Devon - it made for a very happy little girl ("just you and me?").

Friday night was lovely, all 4 of us went to dinner at the Temple and then services which was the end of year/graduation special services.  Aubrey and Devon both received awards for attendance - not perfect, but over 75% of the time at class.  They liked that.  They didn't really like the dinner - too spicy for them, which was unusual for a synagogue meal, but it did have a bit of kick - yum!  they made up for the lack of dinner by enjoying the dessert after services.  And, Devon and I got to snuggle in bed watching Frozen while Ron and Aubrey watched Black Beauty in the living room.  Saturday morning, Devon went horseback riding (in her new pink riding pants and her new paddock boots), and Aubrey and I went to services (again) because it was her friend Lizzie's Bat Mitzvah.  Lizzie did an awesome job and Aubrey and I had a chat about her (Aubrey's) behavior at services and what she should be doing.  She should not be constantly going to the bathroom and getting a drink and seeing what everyone else who has walked out is doing.  She should be staying in the sanctuary and listening to what is going on (that's how most of us learned the melodies for the different prayers) and if she can't read the Hebrew, read the transliteration when available so she learns what the actual words are so she can participate.  Her  Bat Mitzvah is just shy of one year away and she needs to be able to do a whole lot more than what she can do now - and she won't be just participating, the expectation is that she be able to lead some of the service, in addition to her reading from the Torah.  It's a big commitment and a big responsibility. Anyhow, services were nice and she only nagged me a couple of times to leave the luncheon, which is pretty good for her.  She spent the afternoon at a friend's house and I went home to see what Ron and Devon were up to

guess where we shop!

Devon was hot and sweaty from horseback riding and wanted to go swimming.  It was hot and beautiful out, so I figured what the heck and off we went, just Devon and me. We spent most of the afternoon at the pool, which was nice because there were lots of kids, mostly her friends, there for her to play with and I got to swim a bit and then enjoy some adult company.YEA!  After that, she and I went shopping for new shoes (party and sneaker) and had a successful venture.  We met up with Ron for dinner (Devon said it was okay to invite him) which was very enjoyable, even though she was a very tired little girl, which has been known to bring out the bad behavior.

all dressed up with new high heels and fancy earrings

This morning, it was the last day of Sunday school and the Lag B'Omer (a Jewish holiday celebrating a military victory) games.  It was a blast and we had a beautiful day for the kids to be doing all sorts of activities outside.  As soon as it was over, Devon and I flew over to Pappy's to go blueberry picking and then flew back home to get cleaned up to go back to Temple for the dedication of the new social hall.   I was in charge of opening the gift shop and Devon wanted to be my helper - which she was!  We redesigned the display of kippot (skullcaps) and it looks very nice.  After that, we came home and had a sewing lesson, which she's been begging for, then went swimming again.   Brrrrr, it's beautiful out but you really need to be a kid to enjoy swimming when it's only 70 degrees out and the pool isn't much warmer.  It was a tired by happy Devon at bedtime tonight.

WOW!

Aubrey had a great weekend, too, albeit one without us for most of it!  Saturday night she went to her first Bat Mitzvah party - parents not invited.  And the invitation said "dressy attire" so we had been shopping and found an outfit she was happy with and she looked beautiful!  Of course, much as I "complained" that she's getting so grown up, she reminded me (through actions not words) that she is only 12 and thinks like an adolescent, by leaving the party, ostensibly alone, to go for a walk and returning 20 minutes later with a young man.  She claims she got lost and he helped her find her way back.  I just don't trust her judgment, and was freaked out that I couldn't find her for a while, so to end the party we had a conversation about judgment and leaving places on her own - or even with someone that she doesn't really know, particularly a boy (of indeterminate age in this case) .....just not happening!  Fortunately, this did not take the joy out of her eveningl she had a great time and came home and passed out.  Sunday afternoon she spent at a friend's helping them prepare for their "Kitten Cuddle", an adoption event they were holding to find homes for the (I think it's 13) kittens they're fostering. Once again, she came home (relatively) happy and exhausted and passed out.  Got to love a happy and tired girl.  She was actually nasty when she first walked in the house, and we came to find out she hadn't really eaten since breakfast - it's now 8:30 pm...I'd be nasty, too. The friends said, sorry, they forgot to feed her, and she wasn't hungry when Ron made lunch.  Poor baby.... going to have to start running my kitchen like a third world country - eat when food's available, you never know when the next meal is coming.....

blueberry picking in new sneaker!

To keep with the theme of a happy girl, Devon LOVED grocery shopping with me today.  She got to pick out single-serving containers of Chef Boyardee type meals - so she can have them for breakfast.  She's not a huge fan of traditional breakfast food, and my feeling is if it's okay for dinner, why not for breakfast?  She was very unhappy that Ron and Aubrey dove into the blueberries - she feels very proprietary towards them. We'll probably go picking again next weekend sometime.  The people at the farm said the season will last a few more weeks and they had lots of non-blue blueberries which should ripen soon.  YUM!  And she got one of her favorite treats - to wash the windows of my car at the gas station (oh to be 7 again!).

So, all in all a good weekend.  Busy and we didn't get to everything we had planned, or hoped, to do.  But we had some good quality time together, mostly me and Devon, but all of us had our individual times with each other that made this an unusual but special weekend.  I'm hoping we can repeat it sometime, but it's probably like that perfect date Bill Murray had with Andie MacDowall in Groundhog Day -  happened once naturally and could never be repeated while he was trying to repeat it, it had to just happen.  So I'll just have to focus on the idea of more one-on-one weekends and hope they come out as well.