Summer Reading Program

Lauryn went to the Summer Reading Program at the Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library last night for the first time.  She had a blast!  They read three or four books, sang a few songs, danced, and at the end, the instructor told them there was a surprise waiting for them outside.  We all went out and there was a police car and fire truck out there.  The police officer handed out activity booklets that had all kinds of safety information and the fireman handed out sticker badges and coloring sheets.  We received a chart to keep track of how much time Lauryn is reading or being read to.  I know we'll have no troubles filling it in as we read stories every night before bed and she likes to look at books and try to figure out the words throughout the day.  I can't wait to see what next week will bring! :)

[caption id="attachment_4104" align="aligncenter" width="222"] Following the leader, being dinosaurs :)[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_4105" align="aligncenter" width="300"] "Hi Mama!"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4106" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hanging out on the fire truck.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4107" align="aligncenter" width="300"] And in the fire truck.[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_4108" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Lloyd says this is the cutest "hood ornament" he's ever seen! :)[/caption]

 

Porch Swing

While Lauryn was playing in the yard earlier, I was reading a book on the porch.  I kept thinking how we could really use a nice porch swing.  We had one growing up and I used to love to go out and swing while reading.  I kind of miss that.  We have a nice patio set but it's just not the same.  I'll have to keep an eye out this year and see if I can find a good deal on one.

Cleaning, Reading and Cleaning Some More

That's what today's schedule consists of.  At some point, I plan on dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, washing windows, doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen and bathroom and during all of that, I will take breaks to play with Lauryn and read my book :)  We have no other plans today so everything will get done in my own sweet time.  The kitchen sink needs a scrubbing badly.  It's clean but we have hard water and that makes it look gross.  Time to tackle it with some Comet.  I'm not a fan of using abrasives but Comet does the job nicely.

I am reading James Patterson's Alex Cross series right now.  I was never into detective-type books but I read one a while back and loved it.  I looked into the series and found that there are 17 of them so far.  I've read seven of them so far!  I plan to read his Women's Murder Club series when I'm done.

Reading

I LOVE to read!  When Lauryn was a little younger, I felt like I wasn't able to pick up a book and read more than a page before she needed something.  Now I'm able to read chapters before she needs me.  I'm so glad to be able to finish books again :)  I recently read a book called Mary, Mary by James Patterson.  A friend loaned it to me and I really liked it.  Then a couple of weeks later I picked up Cat & Mouse by him.  I didn't realize there was a whole series of books by that author, based on the main character, Alex Cross.  Since I really liked the two books I read, I decided to go back to the beginning and read them all.  I'm almost halfway through Along  Came A Spider, which I saw the movie but don't remember much of, and I'm really enjoying learning about the beginning of Alex Cross.  There are 17 books in the series so far and I intend on reading all of them.

I recently wrote about needing cables and I think we need to buy hdmi cables.  I think that will improve our reception and some of our other issues.  I don't know much about these things so Lloyd will have to help me figure it out :)

Yay For Cooler Weather!

I am so happy that it finally cooled down!  I've been needing to weed the garden but with the past couple days being so darn hot, there was no way I was going to do it!  We have Willow today and after the girls get up from their nap, as long as it doesn't rain, we're going to go out back and they can play while I weed the garden and clean out the flower bed.

I have a lot to catch up on inside the house today too!  Being Thursday, with trash day tomorrow, I have to clean out the fridge, gather all the garbage, sweep, vacuum, clean the finger print smudged windows, clean the bathroom and do some laundry.  There are two loads just calling my name and I've been ignoring them.  Can't avoid it forever! :) 

I finished "I've Heard That Song Before" by Mary Higgins Clark this morning.  It was a pretty good read!  I have quite a few books that I recently picked up at sales and I'm trying to decide which one to read next :)