Why we don't watch TV

Okay, so maybe some people can turn the TV on and have their kids veg out, but not me.

Our neighborhood sponsors several (free!) movies throughout the summer, and the first one was last night. It started at 4pm, so we headed to the rec center about 3:30. I was a little panicked because I really anticipated a good turnout.

We were the only ones there. But we got good seats! LOL

More people did show up after the movie started, and the total crowd was maybe 35 people, including children. They showed Wall-E and it was pretty cute. However, the boys had absolutely NO INTEREST in watching it. They watched the first few minutes and then Zhenya went to sleep and Dima played with the blanket (we did wake Zhenya up). We stayed through the end but I'm convinced my boys need to spend more time playing, not more time watching movies and TV. As soon as the movie was over the boys ran laps in the gym (they had been jealously watching two younger kids whose parents had let them run in the gym during the movie).

I suppose if we watched more TV, I could probably train the boys to sit and watch it, but that seems a little counter-productive to me. I'd rather train them to use their energy wisely (like in weeding the garden or mopping the kitchen--see story later) than in suppressing it or draining it by sitting in front of a screen.

We spent quite a bit of time at the "big house" this weekend. Mark built gates for the front and back fences and I started painting. Ugh. I only moderately like painting. As in, I like it for about 10 minutes, then I'm ready for it to be done so I can move on to something else. Sound like two little boys you know? :) However, I had to prime the dining room and the living room (and several other rooms that I haven't gotten to yet) before I can paint so that was what I tackled on Saturday. The boys played outside, vacillating between helping Mark and coming to see what I was doing (which I was told was "really cool, Mama").

The dining room is now ready to paint (I think) but I still have more to do in the living room. I really want the living room and our bedrooms painted before we move in. It's just easier not to have to move living room furniture and I don't like breathing the fumes in the rooms we sleep in, so my goal is to get at least the living room and bedrooms finished (shhh, I know I started with the dining room, but the cracks were already spackled and sanded in there). We also installed a new faucet in the kitchen yesterday. There was one there, but for a reason that continues to confound us, it doesn't work. Mark took it apart and put it back together again a couple of times to no avail, so we finally had to go buy one. It's the only faucet in the house and we really wanted to be able to have water in the house (we've been going to the backyard spigot to clean brushes and wash hands). There was much rejoicing once it was installed and turned on! Even the boys were dancing around with joy.

The boys have decided their new entertainment is using the mop to clean the kitchen floor. They haven't figured out that they're supposed to use water with it (no comment on how often they must have seen me do this) so they just push it around the floor. I figure it's good practice. Their future wives can thank me later. :)

A side story--it has warmed up in the past week, and last week as the boys and Mark were leaving for school, Zhenya was very excited to go outside and have it be warm. He looked up into the sky and shouted as loud as he could, "THANK YOU GOD FOR SPRING!!" I think there are many of us that echo that sentiment...I know I do!