Reading and Projects and Talking, oh my!

This post is a bit overdue, but we've been so busy the past few days that I haven't had time to fill you in, so here goes...

First of all, Grandma and Grandpa Bush came to visit us this weekend and we had a very enjoyable visit with them. It seems like it has been so long since they've visited, so it was fun that they got to see everything that the boys have been up to lately. The boys got some presents too -- lots of books! Grandma and Grandpa got them the Clifford book and the matching stuffed Clifford doll, and her friend Gena bought the boys the Little Critter books and board books. We always love getting new books. Thanks again!

While they were down, Troy and Dan were going to clean up our fir trees in the front yard. After looking a bit closer and trying to figure out what to cut off, they noticed that it looks like the trees are slowly dying. The inner part of all the branches have no needless on them, so "cleaning them up" would actually make them look more bare. So, ironically, a landscaper was working across the street so Troy went to talk to him and got a quote for cutting down the trees and planting a new maple tree, so that might be something we do in the fall. That, and cleaning up the corner that is full of flowers in a few weekends, which is a hot mess right now, and replanting some of those flowers elsewhere, and our front yard will be good to go (for now!).

We would also love to finish the basement but when we got a quote last fall, we didn't think it would be a good idea to spend all the money with the boys coming in the spring. This weekend, Dan decided to measure our basement and go to Home Depot with Troy and get prices on finishing the walls, ceiling and fixing up all the electrical and lighting. We'll worry about the flooring at another time (probably by winter) since we can do it on our own, but looks like all of that is within our budget now so we are hoping that can be done in the near future.

As for the talking, Logan and Troy had quite the conversation on Sunday night. They wouldn't tell me what they were talking about -- "boy talk" daddy said, but I thought it was very cute!

Yesterday the boys and I joined Nicole, Morgan, and Parker at the Detroit Zoo. It seems like forever since we've seen them, so it was good to catch up...and now that I think about it, I think I did all the talking...what a surprise! Sorry Nicole for talking your ear off! The boys did pretty good, until we stopped and changed diapers (Logan just HATES the loudness hand dryer in the bathroom but I don't think its possible to go in there when its not busy and someone is using it...). Once we got them back in the stroller, we were good to go. Here are a few pictures from the day:

And Morgan oh Morgan, you never fail to amaze me. She mentioned that she wanted to see the lions and we were headed to see the tigers so I said "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!" and Morgan repeated it. I asked her if she knew what movie that was from and she confidently said "yup!" I knew that she saw Wizard of Oz recently (well, more like in the spring I think), but I definitely wasn't expecting her to remember that line. So I followed it by "What movie is that in Morgan?" and she said "Wizard of Oz" without having to think twice. I about died. Whatever that girl is exposed to, even just one time, is stuck in her mind. What a smarty!