Today is Friday, right?

I think my favorite day of the week is Friday.  Not only is it the last day of work for two whole days, it's the last day of school for two whole days.  Plus, there's always the hope that it will be a nice week-end....the weather will be good and the girls will be good and we may actually get to do something fun as a family. Reality is that the girls are even busier on the week-end than they are during the week, and it is unlikely to happen unless I come up with something really special for us to do.  When I can, I like to go to Friday night services at the synagogue.  Since we got Aubrey's bat mitzvah date, she will occasionally be going with me, so she gets familiar with the service.  She has been going to Saturday morning services with me most weekends for the past few months.  Not happily, and not early, either - we miss the beginning of services every week but we're there for the parts she really needs to be there for.  But she doesn't sit still, so I'm not really sure how much of the service she's actually absorbing. You learn a lot of the services by attending, hearing the prayers, learning the melodies....I don't think she's grasped that concept.

This last week-end Aubrey was away, so we didn't get to do any whole family activities, but Ron, Devon and I took Bella to the dog park,  She and Devon had a good time running around, and when she conked out under the table, we came home.  It's been really beautiful out more often than not, and I love when the weather is like this - mostly 60s and 70s, sometimes hitting the low 80s.  I wish it was like this for more of the year, but then Florida would probably just be more crowded.  Richard, of course, knows how to ruin my love for this weather - he says it's the perfect temperature for cleaning out the garage.  Of course, he meant his garage, where a lot of our junk is right now, but still..... I wonder if Ron paid him to say that?  Too bad I know he's right (an annoying habit he has).

This coming weekend will be just as busy as any other - Aubrey has a sleepover birthday party at a friend's house Friday night to Saturday.  Devon will probably have a friend (her "twin" Isabella) sleep over so we'll still have 2 girls around.  The twins have horseback riding Saturday morning through the afternoon, and I am assuming that Aubrey will want to go riding Saturday afternoon as usual, especially since she missed it last week. If they're both riding for the afternoon, I may wind up crashing - it seems like at least once a month I have a Saturday afternoon where I literally cannot keep my eyes open - no matter what great plans I have, they're gone - poof!

Sunday is the Purim carnival at our temple, which should be a lot of fun. Purim is a really fun holiday where the kids get dressed up in costumes (many adults do, too) and the synagogue is having a carnival. I'm trying to talk Ron into helping set up, since I am sure he doesn't want to go to the megillah reading before the carnival (that's the telling of the story of the holiday and involves a LOT of noise).   Purim Carnival info   I'm volunteering at the carnival, so the girls will get to wander around and play whatever they want without my input (or saying no to a prize.)  I pre-bought tickets for the 3 girls (yes, we include Devon's twin in most outings) and I know Devon already has her eye on the prize of the 2-liter bottle of root beer we donated for the ring toss game.  Aubrey will probably go for the cake walk if they have anything good there. My favorite thing about Purim is the special cookie, for lack of a better word, that you get only at Purim.  Hamantaschen. Literally, Haman's pockets.  Haman is the bad guy of the story and why they named this awesome treat for him is beyond me, especially since one of the things about the holiday is that you're supposed to not remember his name.  (Don't ask.)  Anyway, they're very yummy and I hate to share them.

Anyhow, throw in a few loads of laundry and some grocery shopping for the upcoming week and all of a sudden the week-end is over and it's Monday morning and time for work and school...  but first, we have to awaken the monsters.  Well, to be honest, it's usually just one monster - an Aubrey-monster.  Devon typically wakes up pretty well and frequently on her own.  not so my Aubrey.....well, at least not during the week.  So, the week-end is over and it feels like it never got started.  What day is it again?