You knew it was coming

Riley's feeling much better and was actually able to go to school today, but this morning I felt my throat becoming raw. The sneezing and nagging cough have followed, so it looks like it's my turn. :-/ At least it appears to be somewhat short lived, so hopefully my run-in with this germ will pass as quickly as Riley's did. 

Big news at our house is that the contractors have arrived to finish up the work on the exterior! It's the same company who replaced the windows, and we were really pleased with how that job turned out, so we have high hopes for this portion too. They're covering what little wood there is on the outside, basically the soffits and facias, with siding material so we no longer have to worry about painting. And the carpenter bees, which used to make swiss cheese of the soffit above the garage, will no longer have access to the wood, thank goodness. The next step, once this portion of work is done, is the gutter installation, and then we'll be ready to hire someone to install an awning on the porch. 

It's noisy work and we wondered how Mister Hank would feel about all the tap, tap, tapping on the house, but he wasn't too perturbed about it. 

By the way, Riley was letting us know that he was worried about being at school, and that he'd miss us, but he far and away less distressed than he's been on previous days. He wasn't even crying a bit by the time his favorite teacher, Mister Huck, took him in to show him the fish tank. When I went to pick him up he was happily playing in the sandbox and was so busy with his project that he wasn't even aware I had arrived for several minutes! :-) When he finally noticed me he came racing over, grinning ear to ear, with his arms outstretched; an image which will be forever burned in my mind as precious and heart melting. Could the child be more of a delight? Not a chance! He was literally covered head to toe in sand. It was crusted in the corduroy of his pants and imbedded into his socks. He had sand on his face, in his hair and all in his sleeves. It took no end of careful wiping to get the sand off his face and away from his eyes.