My favorite guys in the world worked hard this weekend. The counter tops are poured and still drying in the garage. Ephraim loves to help and truly works hard. Ryan worked all day Sunday and finished, so now they sit (for at least 3 days) and the moment of truth will come when he unmolds them and we carry them in. Oh man! We tried carrying in the stove this weekend, but one of us wimped out (guess who?). So we took it out of its box thinking it would be less heavy if we unloaded it of all its innards. Not so much though, but we discovered in the process that we apparently are not going to have black appliances but white. Ahemmm, how was I to know that the order numbers are different per color??? We ordered through a contractor contact, so had to do all of the order number ourselves and unfortunately have had them so long that returning them is not an option. Truly though, and I am not just saying this to make myself feel better, white is actually going to go better with our kitchen. It just seems a little less sleek. So long story short, white it is, we got it in the house, with a neighbor's help. Then we carried in the dishwasher (Yes, I actually could do that one.) and it matches shiny white. I am so excited about the dishwasher it is a little weird. It has all these fun gadgets for organizing your dishes. Who knew I would be so domestic??? (Smile)

Anyways, we are still making progress. Salome is also making progress. Yesterday, after finishing her lunch she pointed at the cookie jar and said "cookca". Smart girl, eh?

She also decided that she is a walker last week and now if her hands accidentally touch the ground when she falls she has to have me wipe them off. Funny for a girl who had no problem crawling on them everywhere just a week ago.

More pics:

How can October almost be over? The time change is upon us next Sunday. This picture is describes how we have all been feeling lately. I am not sure if it is the weather or what but it seems like we are getting ready for winter hibernation. We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday with E's preschool. It was fun but quick. Located at a private farm some past alumni families invite the preschoolers to plant seeds and then harvest them later. Ephraim harvested last years seeds and will actually get to plant them in the spring.

Ryan is hard at work on the concrete countertops. He finished building the forms at about 11:30 last night and wants to pour them tonight. It will be exciting to see how they are going to turn out. I am still debating tile choices for our backsplash. Right now it is between tiny glass orange toned squares or large rectangle slate ones???? I need to choose so we can get them ordered. I think Ryan is thinking less color is better...hopefully we will figure it out soon. Meanwhile we are still waiting on our cabinet guy to give us a final estimate, time and price... oh, dear. A finished kitchen for thanksgiving would be great. But we will see...

Well it is laundry time for me. Thanks for checking in on us.

I have to tell you that I have the best kids. I am enjoying them so much right now. Salome is such a sweetie. She is not really talking much yet, but she uses her finger to tell us a lot. She points up, to get up, and she points up to get down. She points at her mouth for food, and rubs her tummy to say please. She pulls up her shirt and points at her belly and laughs to find her belly button. She loves shoes, and wants me to always put them on her when she finds a pair, even if she already has a pair on. She is especially in love with her papa. She can be so fussy in the afternoon and then when he walks through the door all is okay. She knows how to turn on the charm big time. It is pretty special.

Ephraim keeps getting compliments from other moms at preschool. One story goes that when a little girl got hurt at school, Ephraim ran over and said, "G., is there anything I can do to help you?" Another mom told me he is so involved with everything, constantly wanting to know how it works and help. She said, "He just seems so smart."

I came to pick him up one day and he was upset that he didn't get help with moving some of the furniture. So his teacher found him a job. Later I found out the other kids weren't helping it was just something he wanted to do.

Another time a girl missed her mom so he told me he just hung out with her so she had a friend. He has a couple little guy friends too that he calls his buddies. He has transitioned so well into preschool, it is really great.

He is also really into drawing right now, which of course I love. He makes really detailed imaginary machine drawings the most. He is also intiating learning letters and their sounds now. He doesn't know all of their sounds but knows quite a few and will sound them out together and form a few simple words. So I am thinking he will be reading within this year. I am a little worried about him having two years until kindergarten. I don't want him to be bored.

So anyways, I wanted to brag a little and write about these two wonderful beings who are not at always perfect, but we are constantly amazed with.

Salome still isn't really walking much. She can do it but doesn't seem interested. She walked all the way from her room to the bathroom the other day but only for the fun of following me, but mostly she crawls. She is so much fun right now. She gives us all little hugs and kisses and pats us on the head. So sweet!!