Funny kids

So today the boys both slept in until almost 8:00. I ended up going upstairs with the intent to wake them up but they were just waking up when I entered their room. Needless to say (but I'll say it:) we were all in a much better mood this morning than we were yesterday morning.

Today we went to the library for story time for the first time. We arrived just as they were starting and the boys didn't quite know what to think. I should have explained it to them a little better I suppose so they would have know more what to expect. They are normally such talkers and singers however they were very quiet during story time, even during the singing parts. They seems to enjoy, although they were easily distracted by the other kids. We ended up checking out three more audio books and we have to make a trip to the farm next week so we will have a great opportunity to listen to one of them then. We started one today as we left the library and headed to McDonalds (or Old McDonalds, as the boys say, even though I have explained to them many times that it is just McDonalds).

We were looking forward to lunch and some play time at McD's but it was extra packed because it is a rainy day here today and, of course, school is out for the summer. We ate our lunch and then went into the play area and we were only there maybe 5 or 10 minutes when the boys decided they wanted to leave. They didn't like it with so many kids (and I didn't like the noise level). So we headed home and we are now having some quiet time.

New topic: I have many yellow day lillies in the flower beds in the front yard (too many actually). They always look beautiful when they first bloom, after the spring rains and this lasts for a month or so. And then, they start doing this funny thing where the buds become round and they dry up and fall off, instead of becoming elongated and then blooming. If anyone knows why this happens and how to prevent it, I would really love to know. I am getting ready to search the Internet to see if I can find out why but I may have to take a couple of round buds over to a nearby nursery and see if they know.

The boys have gotten very good about our quiet time. We normally do 45 minutes of quiet time a day now, if they don't need a nap, which they normally do not these days. It is a very pleasant time. N is very good about getting a huge pile of books and looking through them, pouring over each picture. B tends to get 2 or 3 books and quickly becomes bored with them, after which he sprawls around on the couch, moving in this direction and that, all the while whispering to himself as he pretends something or other. it is very funny to watch and I can hear him whispering now, even though he is on the couch in the other room.

We have been doing lots of work to fix up our house lately. We hired someone to repair several window sills and then to put some sort of stuff over all of them so they won't do that again. We also hired someone to repairs the columns in front of our house, including the one holding our mailbox. They have stucco stuff on the ourside of them and the two beside our driveway and the one that holds the mailbox had all been hit by car mirrors or bumpers at some time or another (not ours:). Also, our friendly wood pecker had returned to put more holes in our chimney so we hired someone to repairs the columns and the chimney. And then the husband just finished repainting our shutters and restaining our fence. The outside is looking very nice now, although I am considering planting a couple more things in the front flower beds to add a bit more curb appeal. The inside needs a bit of work, such as touch up paint on the cabinets and revarnish of the floors (in hindsight, trikes in the house may have not been such a grand idea:).

We were considering selling our house and buying something a bit smaller, newer and much more energy efficient. However, we spoke at length with a local builder on the weekend and, after thinking about it and discussing it, we are thinking we might be better off staying where we are. Our motivation for moving was to lower our energy costs however, after hearing the cost of a lot and building a new house, we are not so sure. We were thinking that this house is bigger than we really need and we have concerns that the cost of energy is going to go up quite a bit over the future. Our current house is a four bedroom and is around 3,800 square feet and the husband was thinking that a four bedroom house around 2,500 square feet would do nicely. (He had a house that size when he lived in Tucson.) The only thing is that the house he had in Tucson (which I have seen and it is very nice) did not have a game room, which all four bedroom homes have around here and it is expected (if we built one without, the resale value may be bad). His Tucson house was also all on one level, which is also very hard to find here, as it cost a lot more to build one that way. So, we are now rethinking our plan and who knows where we will go from here. Until then, we will enjoy and appreciate the nice home that we are in.

Well, not much more going on around here today. Karen, I will continue with my summary of the book chapters. The husband and I take turns putting the boys down for bed so I will do the updates when it is his turn. I think tonight is my turn so it will likey be tomorrow night before I will start again. I think it is a great book though so I am happy to continue. Have a great day!