House Update - we have a building!

I realized it had been a while, but didn't grasp the complete magnitude of not updating the blog until last night.  I got a text from my dear friend Julie saying, "Don't get alarmed at the car idling outside your fence...I just want to see what the addition looks like."  Needless to say, we ran out and offered her the tour by flashlight but today, I'll give you one in the daylight.

Also tomorrow (fingers crossed), they begin on the drywall - so this will give you a little before idea. 

One aspect of the addition is a new office and I am really excited about it.  Especially since I'm writing this with a two year old jumping from the bed to my lap, screaming at the computer, "Mama!  Yook, walls!  Walls!"  (That's what he calls the building project.)  I'm hoping the space will give me a place back on the ground floor to write and get caught up. 

We came straight out the back and added a covered porch.  This puppy already gets used almost every day and night and they haven't even installed the ceiling fans yet.  Not long after we started, we found out the  air conditioner was on it's last legs, so this unit will gone and a new one will be put on the other side of the house.  Scott's already taken out the bird feeder and I'm hoping to move that hydrangea today.

 

View from the side.  I can't wait to hang ferns.  We used to have them on our front porch in South Carolina and I miss having the shade to be able to put them out.  This angle gets the very early morning sun.

 

We really didn't lose that much space in the back yard.  Scott removed the apple tree earlier in the Spring so this should look really nice after it's graded and reseeded. 

Door from the porch to the mud room.  I asked for one with a window so we'd have more light.

The laundry room / mudroom.  I'll have to post a picture of our current laundry space so you can understand the full magnitude of my excitement.  This will be tiled and will also house the dog food and water.

French doors will lead straight into the office.  We're going to carry the wood floors from the house into the hallway and the office.  It has two sun tubes and a cigar fan and will have a full closet devoted to storage (glorious storage!!).  I guess you could call this Scott's man cave if he didn't have to share it with me (which he's been very gracious about).  We're looking forward to having a home for all the sports memorabilia and books we've been carting around for years.

This is the door into our master bedroom.  This will be carpeted and will have a ceiling fan.  I can't live without ceiling fans...am I a weirdo?   Or maybe I'm just Southern?

The master bath is kind of hard to picture without walls but to the left is a standing shower (the sun tube is in the shower) and the toilet is just to the left of the door.  To the right is a double vanity.  So it's not huge, but will be just what we need.  And that will be tiled. 

Beyond the bathroom?  That's the closet.

I'll give you a moment of silence on that one.

It spans the entire addition and is honestly mind-blowing.  My thoughts on organizing the thing will warrant it's own separate post.  

Double windows looking out to the porch from the master bedroom.  Window blinds are pretty high on my list. Because right beyond the fence is where the kids get the school bus...ahem.

This is the view off the porch...so you can imagine the air conditioning unit gone.

And so there's your update!  They say the drywall will take a couple days and then they will do the air.  After it's temperature controlled, they're going to cut the hole into the main house, which should offer it's own fun set of challenges. 

Until our South Carolina house sells, we're going to be pretty limited on what we can purchase as far as furniture, but first on the list is a new mattress and box springs.  Any advice on doing that?  We've honestly never gone mattress shopping before and don't know where to start amidst all the sleep numbers and Tempur-pedic and memory foam.  So if you have any horror or success stories, shoot them at me.  

Hope you have an awesome weekend!  Much love, my friends.

Failed Inspections and Personal Victories

I remember reading a devotional that FCA put out by John Wooden years ago and he was talking about dealing with the passing of his wife.  The two had been still very much in love after a long marriage and it had been hard on him when she died.  I remember him quoting James 1:2-3 (I love James...he's my favorite):  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  And he talked about how he had to make himself go through life (even after her death) and continue to "count it all joy."

I was coaching at the time and the thought stuck with me...to count it all joy.  All the turmoil and bumps and bruises along the way.  

Well, it's funny how God reminds you of things before you really need them because we just finished Lysa TerKeurst's Unglued in our women's Bible study (which is FANTASTIC, if you're looking for a good book) and she talked about thoughts to help you take on situations with more grace.  The statement that stuck with me was something like If this is the worst thing that happens today, then it will still be a pretty good day.  

Again, I was reminded of the Wooden lesson and smiled at the similarities and preceded to dive head first into a home renovation.  

Which you know.

What you don't know?  Today, we failed the foundation inspection.

I know...but first let me back up.

Monday, we had tornado and flood warnings.  Wanna know what showed up at our house?  

The wood.  For our addition.  (And here, I get into My Cousin Vinny mode...if you look trew dat dirty screen, past all dos leaves and over da fence, what do you see?)

The guy attempted two trips into the back yard before the mud was too deep for him to get through.  (Cue the major divots in our yard.  Right beside the attractive dumpster.  There's a porta potty on the other side of the dumpster too...our neighbors love us.)

So he unloaded the rest in the front yard.  The boy was thrilled.

On Tuesday, I took a picture of the wood stacked out front.  Underneath the gutter.

More wood. Can you see the broken pieces?

So Tuesday, another guy came out and put this plate on the top of the block wall and we felt that we were ready for inspection.

Except we weren't.

Today, the inspector came out and several things were wrong.  We couldn't frame tomorrow, like we had hoped.  The foundation needed to be fixed.  The wood would have to stay in the yard.

Oh my, I had myself quite the pity party.

And then I remembered.  And so I said to myself, "If this is the worst thing that happens today, then it's still a pretty good day."

And it was.  The contractors addressed a major issue today by waterproofing the foundation.

And then the block company will come back out to repair the rest tomorrow.  The remainder of today?  It was gorgeous.  The weather was perfect.  I made dinner and my children had moments of sanity.  My husband came home a little early from work, our SC house that's for sale had a scheduled viewing, and I got to talk to some good friends on the phone.

It wasn't until I was doing dishes tonight that I thought, "I could have been so bent out of shape over the failed inspection that I would have missed the rest of the good of today.  Oh, thank you Lord for that silly sentence that can turn my brain around so quickly."

Oh, and the fact that the inspector was making sure that our foundation was of quality work for our new addition.  Yes, that really was a good thing too...you know, if you're counting it all joy.  ;)

Have a great night, my friends.

Block is Down!

One week into the renovation and it's starting to look like something...

In the end, it's going to be about 800 square feet, plus a new covered deck.  This wall will be our closet and it will run the length of the wall.  Seriously...I'm going to be in storage heaven.

If my kids could get in that space, they would try jumping from block stump to block stump, guaranteed.  Before they added the block, there was just the foundation cement laid and I had just about had my fill of inside togetherness so I let the kids go outside and play.  Literally, they ran around the cement like it was a track, singing Katy Perry's "Roar" at the top of their lungs.  

No, I didn't get a video.

Yes, I regret it.  

To the left of Rachel there is a huge dirt pile and they love climbing it.  In their church dresses, obviously.

Why no, we don't have steps to the backyard yet.  *Twitch*  Luckily, the dogs have been really good about going in the front yard or walking around the gate to go in the back.  I will still never take the steps for granted again.

And you wouldn't believe how many people have asked how they got the cement mixer in our yard.  Well, if you can see, the fence is now junked from being taken apart at just about every point.  They're going to fix it in the end and grade the yard and put down seed, thankfully.  

And that bad boy also missed my pitching mat.  (Double thankfully.)

They're calling for rain and storms here for the next few days so I don't think we'll see anyone until the middle of the week.  It also makes me thankful that we don't have anything up that could be damaged.  

Stay safe, my friends!

Cement Day

And, on day three, we got cement.

I walked into the kitchen after doing my Wednesday scavenge-of-toys-I-can-get-rid-of-while-the-girls-are-in-pre-school to see a cement truck staring into my back window.  As in, parked in the back yard.  Our fenced-in back yard.  Yikes!!

So I ran upstairs to get a picture.  (Excuse the screen.)

And then I peeked in Caleb's room to see if he was up from his nap.

He wasn't.

P.S.  I swear he grows every day.

P.P.S.  Spiderman is under the blanket.

P.P.P.S.  He wakes up quickly to a loud cough.

We rushed downstairs to watch the truck fill the holes with cement and my boy was enthralled.  When it was time to go pick up the girls, he called out the sweetest, "Bye big truck!" I've ever heard. Lucky for us, it was still there, getting hosed down when we got back and we got to go check it out up close and personal.

So now the holes are filled and there may or may not be a path of dog prints through one...

...I'm just saying.  I've been letting them in the backyard to do their business from the side gate and they haven't gone near the holes, so I really thought they'd be fine.  As I started on some dishes, I looked out the kitchen window to see Butch running around with front cement paws.  So I ran to the back to hose him off.  (Lord help me if they had hardened...what would you even do then??)  I tried walking over to see the damage, but in the process stepped in dog poop and, when I looked up, caught a glimpse of my baby in the middle of the street on his big wheel with no shoes on. 

Oh yes, mother of the year today.  I think the line of the day came from Elizabeth at dinner.  "Hey!  Sandwiches for lunch AND dinner?!  Yay!  Thanks mom!"

Nothing will say please forgive me for letting my dog in the yard like fresh baked cookies tomorrow, right?!  It's worth a shot...

More to come!  Thanks for reading, sweet friends!

Easter and Home Construction

Whoa.

If you've hung out with Caleb for even a little while, you would know that this is one of his favorite expressions.  

"Whoa!  Big truck!"

"Whoa!  Tractor!!"

"Whoa!  (Unintelligible whatever)!!!"

But this would be a very "Whoa!  It's been a while."

It suddenly dawned on me today, as I was battling ants in my kitchen, that I needed to make a better effort to record the events in my kids' lives.  I hate ants.  And I hate the craziness that keeps me away from writing and I hate that I've missed recording so much here in the past couple months.  Because Lord knows, I've done just a bang up job on their baby books...

But any-who.....I'll catch you up eventually.

Easter was awesome here.  Mom came down and visited and really created some great memories for the kids.  Caleb even gave her a name, which was kind of like "Eh-ma" and sounded like Elmo.  At first I couldn't figure out why the sudden Elmo obsession, until I realized that every time he called it, she answered.  And that just made my heart smile. I remember when I was pregnant with Elizabeth and she was really concerned with what her name would be.  Like what they would call her.  So far, it's been Grandma, but Caleb is so behind on his language, that he really hasn't called her anything.  Therefore, the Eh-ma was especially sweet.

Saturday was our big celebration because she had to go home on Sunday so she and the kids made a bunny cake (which is a tradition my aunt has amazingly done for years) and then she hid 100 Easter eggs in the back yard.  Each egg had a puzzle piece in it and the kids then came inside and did the puzzle with Grandma.  

And yes, the spatula STAYED in the boy's mouth

Mom videoed the whole egg hunt for my grandparents to watch later.  It took Caleb a little bit to catch on.

I don't know if you had beautiful weather this weekend, but for us, it was gorgeous.

Did I mention they tore the back off our house??  No??  Oh, that will come with the catching up part. 

 

 

So it took a while to get the puzzle together because, as seen in this picture, Caleb was on top of the table and had knocked a good half of them underneath.  I liked this tradition way more than candy, because they were all straight crazy people after eating the goodies from their school egg hunt. 

We went to church Saturday night and then had to say goodbye to Mom on Sunday.

Of course, I worked in bunny ears.  And no, the boy would not put his on.  Not that we tried...hard...

This is my "please don't leave, Mom...I'm so tired.  Can't you see that I'm tired?!" face.  She used to cry a little when she left.  Now she burns rubber and waves out the window.  ;)

Speaking of crying a little bit, this was last year.

Why yes, that is the same cardigan.  Don't judge me people.  It's very springy.  And just look at Caleb.  He was so drooly.

Here is was tonight, pointing out the holes in the ground.

OH, YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE HOLES?!  Fine, stop yelling.

Well, of course, I forgot to take a before picture.  So this was last summer and you can see that we have plants and siding and a deck.

This was after today.  They are laying the footers for an 800 square foot addition, that will have our new master suite, laundry room and office.

And new deck. Those are the holes for the base of the deck.  The real rub?  See them stairs over yonder?  That was what was allowing the dogs access to the yard.  

Yes, exactly.

So now I have to take the dogs AND my little children out front to walk and go the bathroom.  Tonight, we went for a stroll after dinner, both dog leashes in one hand, the handle of the wagon containing Rachel and Caleb in the other, and Elizabeth following behind on her scooter.  It was really fine until Elizabeth tried to take a hill too fast and bit it on the way down, skinning a knee.  So then I had a howling 5-year-old bringing up the rear.  It was awesome, really.  I hope my neighbors aren't fans of youtube.

Didn't you miss us??  :)  Much love, my friends.

This One's for the Girls...

Or specifically, my sisters.

Or if you happen to love 90's country music.

Or Trisha Yearwood.

Or a little 3-year-old bootie shake.  ;)

TGIF, my friends!

Pumpkin Carving in this Joint

I have approximately 10 minutes before Caleb wakes up from his nap.  The house is trashed, the laundry's piled up and I could really use one more cup of coffee before we venture into the Halloween evening festivities.  But I just have to share our pumpkin carving pictures with you.

It all started with Scott and me sitting on the couch last Friday evening and having the following, loving conversation...

Me:  Well, you know that we have to carve pumpkins this weekend since Halloween is next week.

Scott:  *insert silent stare*

Me:  Seriously.  It's next Thursday.  

Scott:  Do you know when the last time was I carved a pumpkin?

Throw into the mix that Elizabeth insisted on making a GIRL pumpkin.  (No, Daddy, it has to be PRETTY!)  And all Scott and the girls ended up sitting at the dining room table, looking at design templates on Martha Stewart's website.  They finally settled on a kitty cat design that seemed cute and easy.  

Although when Scott suggested adding some fangs, Elizabeth threw herself on the ground in protest.

Such a drama lama.  

It worked out great though that Sunday was perfect weather. We were all able to be in the yard and Caleb was pretty distracted by everything BUT the pumpkin carving.

Well, except in the beginning.  Ok girls, now this is how you carve it.  Just pick it up and drop it!

Fine, you don't want to do it my way.  I'll just head down here and eat some sand.  

I'm sure ten years ago, Scott never pictured himself carving kitty cat pumpkins.  He cut the tops off and tried to get the girls help him scoop the guts out.  Rachel refused to get close to it and Elizabeth stuck her hand in one time and was sufficiently grossed out.  I'm thinking we don't have two doctors on our hands here.  I'm sure the boy would have nose-bombed right in.

The after shot.  Elizabeth is making her "scary" face.  Grrrr!

And my whole scary bunch...I pretty much love everyone's expression in this picture.  Can't wait to light these puppies (I mean) kitties up on the front porch!

Happy Halloween, my friends!  I'll post costume pics tomorrow!