No News is Good News?

Not much has been happening in the Browder household of late unless you count the on-going construction.  For the past few weeks we have heard hammers and saws on a daily basis and now the results are clear.  After being built over 40 years ago and being painted a handful of times, our condo building has been made-over with new siding.  There are still little things left to be done so I am refraining from posting the before and after pictures but I will get them up soon.  In addition to the siding and new deck rails that every unit got we also had a new deck surface installed as well as new front stairs.  And as a side job we are having a pantry built in under the front stairs....though we have been waiting for the contractor to come back and finish for a couple of weeks.  The boys love the construction and pretend every day to be a couple of the guys on the work crew - Keith and Saul. 

Sam is actually at a stage where he would much rather be someone else rather than himself.  He spent the weekend in Redding for cousin Isaac's first birthday as Timmy - a Disney channel character, a claymation lamb in the style of Wallace and Gromit.  My brother-in-law, Pete, thought it was hysterical that Sam would only answer or do what was asked of him if you called him by the right name.  I find myself asking Sam every day who he is so I know who to call him.  What is even cuter about the whole situation is that Sam really gets into character.  If he is Timmy he spends the day answering in baas and maas as a little lamb would.  And if he is Saul, he uses a gruff manly voice and issues orders to get to work on the construction site.

Last week was also the Incline Schools' October break and the perfect time to get one more trip in before the weather turns.  But because Brian had been out of town for a week and because the boys and I had just made a trip north to see my family we opted to stay close to home.  We had some pretty rainy days so we did some puddle stomping and made an over-night trip to Quincy to see my best friend/the boys' godmother and her family.  It was the first time in three years that Steph and I have had more than about 20 consecutive minutes to just sit and catch up.  Ben (4), Julianna (3) and Sam (almost 3) played non-stop for hours at a time without needing the mommies for anything more than providing food and helping with the occasional potty visit.  Steph and I took turns holding little Bradley (4 months) and felt like our old selves again.  It was a beautiful 24 hours!

Other than all of that, we are in the normal swing of things.  Ben is doing great in preschool and has shown a major interest in writing the letters of the alphabet over and over again.  Sam and I have been going to TCF just one day a week while our new sitter Jaime spends time with Ben.  I have been cooking on Thursdays in the Meals By Maggie kitchen and have been able to pick up a couple of new clients who are quickly becoming regulars as well.  We got new tires on the car and are preparing for the busyness of the next couple of weeks with the local Halloween/Oktoberfest activities.  So, look for photos of costumes soon too. We also have family portraits scheduled with our good friend, Jen, this weekend.  Now hopefully the strange sound emitting from the laptop will not turn to something serious before I get some new photos uploaded.