Friday, December 9, 2011

We're Building a House! - Construction Update - 12/9/11

So much has happened in the last two weeks! I have already lost track of specific dates of the events, but I have tons of pictures and will post them in chronological order. And, I'm trying something new in this post. Since I have so many pictures, I posting them as a collage for each stage. Although, for the upstairs framing, I'll post separate photos so I can explain exactly what you're seeing because it's really starting to come together.

I think at the end of my last post, I mentioned the slab had been poured, but we hadn't seen it yet. We came back from Thanksgiving vacation to find this beautiful piece of concrete. You can also see the green plate on the walls.


Next up was framing. They started with the basement walls. Then, they moved to the first level floor system. You can see the I-Beams ready to go here and the pieces of the actual floor. I'm glad we decided to go with "Top Notch" sub-floor. Only the best... :)


We were just amazed at how fast the framers worked. The first day of framing was a lot of set up but after that, we have seen dramatic changes each day. Here is the second day's progress. You can see Tessa in a lot of these photos. She's really taken to the whole construction process and seems pretty interested. I think she looks so cute running around the house in her pink, fluffy skirt and sparkly boots.


Here are some photos of the rear elevation with the basement walls. Check out the mud! I think it will be spring before I get back there to check out the back!


Now, for the truly exciting part! The first floor framing began this week. First, they laid the floor.


Next came the walls, both exterior and interior. This is the entry from the front door. You can see the stairwell on the right. It's the horizontal boards.

This is the front door and the start of the master bedroom closets. Each side of the closet has a transom.

This is the big great room wall right before they lifted it into place. The far wall is the master bathroom and bedroom.

They used a crane to lift it into place. (I think this actually a photo of the front wall being placed, but you get the idea!)

Here are some more shots of the great room wall. This is Chad, our construction manager, standing right in front of the fireplace. There will be a door to the deck on each side of the fireplace.

The master bedroom is right next to the great room. This is before they put up the bedroom wall to separate the two.

Here is a shot from the kitchen. This is close to what we'll see looking to the left from the kitchen sink - the great room on the left and the dining nook out front.

And, this is what we'll see looking slightly to the right from the kitchen sink. The hearth room on the right and the dining nook on the left. No more walls going up in this section! I don't know that I've ever mentioned how open this plan really is. I love all of the light that will flood the kitchen! I really wanted to bust through the paper to see my actual view from the kitchen, but I resisted.

This is a view of the kitchen and great room from the hearth room. On the left is the sink and breakfast bar. The wall behind that (you can see a doorway and header) is the pantry wall.

And, the front garage wall.

Now, for my favorite part - the kids! We took them out there yesterday to check out the progress. We walked them through each room. Jack absolutely loved watching the crane and the framers using hammers and nail guns. He was pretending to hammer the whole time he was there. All boy! (Excuse the sweaty photos of me. I just finished a jog!)


I wish we could bottle the excitement we are feeling right now. If I could, we would have a waiting list a mile long and we would be building houses for other people for a lifetime. It's just amazing to see your design and plan for a home on paper come to life with lumber.

Next up will be framing in the second story which they're doing today. Then, they'll do siding, the roof and windows. The framer is thinking all of that will be done by 12/20 which is only 11 days away. So, expect my next update to be filled with even more photos!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Present Has Arrived!

Present, the Elf on the Shelf arrived at our house on Wednesday, December 1st this year. Tom and I were able to sneak home and dig him out of the garage. When he was out there, Tom found all of the Christmas books. So, we came up with the idea that Present went around the house and collected all of the Christmas books for the kids. I love this idea!

I thought it would be fun to chronicle Present's adventures at our house this Christmas season.

November 30th

December 1st 


December 2nd - Tessa thought they were in love


December 3rd


I've made a list of fun ideas for Present. I love this little guys smile. It's so innocent and sweet. I think tonight, he may just be hanging out checking out the tree. We got the tree and stockings up today which is about all we'll do here. I have the Nativity Scene to put out still, but we're keeping it low key. The tree is pretty, but the big lights blew a fuse so we need to get that working tomorrow and I'll grab another photo. I always forget how pretty it is though!




Thanksgiving 2011

Another great Thanksgiving in the books! I know it's over a week late and into the thick of the Christmas season, but I need to record the weekend for posterity's sake.

We arrived in Ohio early in the afternoon on Wednesday. We went over to Joyner's to visit and let the kids burn off some steam while Tom hunted. We worked on some puzzles and just laid low. Jack loved the stairs there and managed to get his head stuck (just for a second) in the banisters. I got this cute picture of him on the steps there.



Afterward we went over to my parent's and put the kids to bed and ate some yummy Turkey and Bison Meatballs. This time she added some shallots and spinach. Yum! This meal was all in preparation for the next day's feat...

Thursday morning, we bundled up and headed out to the Granville Turkey Trot 5K. It was a fun race and I was able to keep up with mom and her running partners so I was happy. We finished in about 29 1/2 minutes. Not bad considering I hadn't run for some time. (I've since registered for the Indy Mini again and that will certainly take some more training.) Here's two photos after the race.



After a quick shower, Josie and I hit CVS for my annual day of Thanksgiving trip to get a bunch of crap I don't need just to get the Extra Bucks. I went twice over the weekend and spent about $10 and got a lot of stuff most of which will just go in the garage sale. But, I now have about $35 in Extra Bucks to spend on other stuff during the year, like diapers. I think Josie had fun with me. She kept asking me to take her picture with random things. I finally said yes while waiting on the checkout.


After our shopping trip, we went over to Joyner's for a short little visit since Grammy and Grandpa were both there. The kids did some coloring and visited a while.

Then, it was time for the big meal. Our Thanksgivings are always a group effort. We really missed Matt this year - he's our potato masher. Here are some prep photos.

Corn pone in the oven.

Tom's gravy - honestly, I've never tasted better. I guess that's what you get for basting the turkey with three sticks of butter and a bottle of white wine.

My favorite dish underway - brown sugared sweet potatoes.

Dad bringing the turkey out of the oven.

Dad prepping the turkey for carving.

Mom working on the sweet potatoes and Tom working on gravy I think.

Corn pone and gravy - we thank Tom's family every year for introducing us to corn pone. :) 

Tom and the fantastic gravy.

Sweet potatoes!!!!!

This is where the magic is happening. Turkey carving! The lucky few get to sneak in a little taste. 

I usually am in charge of kid-wrangling. I think I may have helped set the table or filled water glasses or something. But, this year, I also really wanted to get some good pictures. And, you know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen... :) 




Yes. She's eating coconut M&M's before Thanksgiving Dinner. 


Mom and dad snuck in some Jack time too.



I set up a little makeshift tripod and tried to set the timer on the camera. Not something I've ever done, so it was a little sketchy. I felt like we were back on Christmas Eve and the DeLawder family photos. :) Managed to capture the moment anyway. (It looks like Jack is smiling. He's not. He's mid-scream.)

The finished product. Check out the color of that gravy. Wow!


After dinner and clean up, Barb & Vic came over for a little dessert. The kids continued to run around and have a blast. I think they watched a movie or something. 

We ended the night with a quick walk to show the kids the Christmas lights that Pop put out that day. It was a fun way to end the night and so pretty! 



The girls wanted to read books by the "hot back" or the kitchen fire place. I caught this sweet picture.

We managed to fit a lot more into the weekend. Here are some additional photos I took during the weekend. Fun was had by all!



I have this same nativity set but it looks so much better at mom's house! 



Such a fitting end to a blog post. Love it!