Another busy day!

There were a lot of men working hard on our home today. So many in fact that our carpenter thought we should try and fit the plumbers in the house too. ;0 With all the buzz, Alan decided to wait until Saturday or Sunday to start working on his end of the electrical so he would be one less body.

The biggest news of the day - GARAGE DOORS! Woot! Woot! More tile work was done today, electrical was started, concrete sidewalk and walkways were poured, countertops installed (minus the grout on in the kitchen), and the first level of the deck was completed (no rail yet). It's really starting to come together now!

Cheese!

The kids are starting to grow tired of going up to the property. Katie has asked numerous times, "how many times a day do we have to go visit the property?!" Often times they prefer to sit in the car. Kind of surprising since there is so much changing now. For those of you who can't "see" the progress, below are today's photos. I think my point and shoot habits are starting to rub off on mini-me...SMILE!


Cheese!

Still no garage doors - but we're told they're here!

Front porch was poured today!

Decking looking down from the upper level.

Granite counter tops and a portion of the backsplash!

Counter tops installed in all bathrooms & the den + tile around tub.

Today, all closets were painted.

Paint, tile and more!

Look at the progress! Wahoo!

The meaning behind the address

God is good...all the time.

P46-10: Psalm 46:10 - Be still and know that I am God.

Precious Moments - those beautiful moments when my children hold my hand, life's stresses drift away, and I escape to a place that I want to hold on to forever. Those moments when my husband makes me laugh so hard I cry. Those times when I'm with my friends and can enjoy "girl time".

p46-10preciousmoments.blogspot.com - where I can share small glimpses of my faith and my life.

Another verse about being still: Psalm 37:7 - Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

As I've mentioned before , patience is not one of my strong points. :) Still a work in progress, I'm learning about being still, waiting on the Lord's timing and plan.

Faith -

Faith is what I believe kept my son Colin alive and well despite what doctors thought. It is faith that repeatedly pulled him through situation after situation.

Faith is what I believe brought Katie in to our lives despite having my tubes tied.

It is God who protected me by giving me a family who could love and care for me when my birth family couldn't.

Living by faith, not by sight. Sight would tell you that moving in this Saturday is impossible. Faith is what keeps me hoping that we'll be able to celebrate Christmas this year in our new home.

Regardless of where we rest our heads this Christmas Eve, there are two things I'm certain of. 1 - God has blessed me with a beautiful family who will fill this home for many years to come with love, laughter, and many precious moments. 2 - God sent his son, Jesus, my Savior, who was born on Christmas Day to save this world so that we could have eternal life. If you do not have this personal relationship with Him, I want to share that Jesus longs for you to be a part of His family. Take a leap of faith...

New pics

Here are the latest photos from work done today - stone on the front. The fireplace mantel and staircase were started yesterday.

What goes up...will eventually be finished

Does anyone else think it's odd that we are 12 days away from our closing date with so much left to do? I find comfort in knowing that eventually we will be done, but just not convinced we'll be in before Christmas. For now, we wait. The kids waiting for the Christmas tree with presents (although I've been trying to tell them no tree this year). Alan and I wait to sign papers and for the go ahead to assemble a moving team (to our friends and family who have offered to help us move we apologize in advance for the timing). And finally, our buyer of our current home waits to finally move in to the house he purchased in August. Brian, our friend who bought it, truly blessed us when he agreed to wait to take occupancy.

And on to the update...

As you can see concrete has been poured in the front and back (minus the front porch), cabinets have been hung, closets are almost complete, trim is almost done, insulation in the basement (minus crawlspace & attic), and laminate flooring in the den was installed (a big thank you to Ron for helping Alan). Progress was definitely made last week, but lots to do still. We are praying for patience (and warmer weather - concrete was poured when it was 20 some degrees, high of 31). Some of the work that still needs to be completed is: interior and exterior paint, stone work, decking, finish plumbing & electrical, tile work, and carpet. PS - ask Alan how his legs feel if you see him!! :)

More construction woes

A family member warned me about building - I thought - nah - we've done this before, it'll be just fine. Tonight, I sit here ready to throw my hands in the air and say I'm done. :( For whatever reason, this time around - the home building process has been much harder. For the last week and half, very little has been done in the house (let me remind you we're closing in less than one month). The only progress made over the past week or was last of the 3 patio doors was put in and some squeaky floors fixed (although even that will need to be re-addressed).

Another woe - another item has been discontinued, the beautiful 5-panel doors. We noticed this last week. While we still are getting the 5-panel door, it is definitely not the same door as what was originally ordered.

Today as we drove up we became even more discouraged as shingles were "flapping" in the wind and blowing across our yard hitting our neighbors homes. The temporary front door and door leading to the garage were blown open exposing the home to all of the debris circulating outside.

The problems continued as we walked inside. The cabinets had been delivered, but again - another bummer. Early on we made a change to the cabinet hardware. The cabinets were delivered with the original hardware we ordered - so instead of having the knobs we wanted, we now have pulls (2 screws vs. 1). Also, the bottom of one of our cabinets is broken.

We're definitely frustrated and at times at a loss for words. Alan's hoping to meet with the foreman tomorrow, but for now, we sit and wait. Gotta run - going to get me some Excedrin!

Drum roll....

....and the winner for the staircase vote is - NEITHER! :) We've decided to go with an all dark stain (no white spindles). Steph, our wonderful "eye for design" suggested we stay all dark - I think it will look snazzy!

Below are some photos. The drywallers are finishing up the mudding, Jocie has the the white on her sweater to prove it! :)


Siding almost complete

L-R: closet, boys' room, bathroom, girls' room (standing in gathering space)

Master bathroom

Looking from den into gathering area (laundry and master behind)

Standing in boys' room

Staircase Vote

Vote now for your favorite! :) Not much time for this poll, 1 day! Dark stain or white? Also, where that beautiful painting is - that will be a door to the "powder room". :)

Work Day!

Today was a work day for the family. It started shortly before 1:00 and ended around 6:00. With six of us working - a lot of time went in to cleaning up the house. Sweeping, shop vacc-ing, picking up drink cups, nails, wiring, etc. all made for a long day. Should have taken before and after photos - but trust us - what a difference!

The beautiful fall view of the kids' new school from our balcony.

Formal dining with floors so clean you could eat off of, well not really. :)

Family room!

Standing in boys' room looking at master closet & bath.

Quarantined

I feel that I have been quarantined with my children for over a month now. :( I wonder how they feel!? :) Illness has been running through our family - Jordan being the hardest hit. Sorry for the lack of updates, but it's been a whirlwind. Even with committments being taking off my plate because of my inability to get there with sickies, life is still crazy...a different kind of crazy.

Electrical and plumbing roughins are almost complete. The siding crew should be finishing up this week. Then I'm guessing it'll be insulation and then drywall? So here are the updated pictures.