Framing, framing, framing!

Okay, I totally warned you all. I get into this sort of thing, and sadly nothing else major is happening in my life, so you'll get to see every detail of this house being built whether you like it or not. Sure, I will throw the occasional picture of my kids or a rare moment worthy of posting, but the majority of the posts from here on out (until April, at least) will be ones just like this.
Framing! HOORAY! I never thought I would see the day when I could actually SEE what my house will look like. I have already gushed about our framing crew. They are awesome, of course. But we go on vacation for a few days and BAM! There's a house, framed that is.

Here's the front..porch, entry, garage, guest room...
click on these if you can't see 'em too well.

Back of house...dining, living, master bedroom windows.

Standing in the living room looking at the front door
(office to the left, stairs to the right)

Living room to the back porch.
There will be a big fireplace going in on the left there.
All windows and a french door! Pretty, pretty.

Dining room/ breakfast nook off of the kitchen

Kitchen (cabinets and bar will be here).
Pantry is straight ahead. Office to the right.

Master bedroom...ahhh, my retreat.

Guest bedroom. What a view!Just a couple of basement shots...this is the game room.Kitchen/dining area,
home theater through the right doorway.
I am printing these pages off and compiling a chronology book of our building adventures. I am sure there will be good and bad times, ups and downs. But overall, it is a fun process and is so exciting to see OUR home! Please put up with me for the next few months...I will be a little obsessed if you haven't picked up on that already. Sorry. :)

Disneyland fun!

We took a little break during the kids' fall break at school. Where did we go? Disneyland, of course! We had an awesome time...the boys are really at the age where the wonder and magic are at an all time high. We had so much fun! BUT I am glad it is over. Three days at Disneyland is one day too many. We tagged along with Mindy and Steve and all their kids. It was a trip we will never forget. On with the show.... ( I apologize in advance for no pictures of my nieces and nephew. I only took pictures on the last day when we went our seperate ways. I did get one shot of dinner together, however).

Brennan and the binkie...
Man, I need to break him of his crutch. (Shudder to think).

"Hey! I don't think I can break this bridge...but let's find out!"

Connor's engineering tests prove successful.

Indiana Dad strikes again! (Connor took the photo I think.)

Happy baby's got his blanket, binkie, and no shoes! Hooray.

Brennan fought the nap for two days straight...

and finally gave in on the last day.

The bruise over his eye is from
doing battle with the coffee table.
It obviously won.

It's a small castle, after all.

Connor's attempt at being King of England...

...Gavin puts a little more effort into it.

The Mathis Train

Watch out, Toon cars drive themselves.

Back at the hotel....Brennan has
more fun playing in the cupboards.

Where's Connor?

Our last night at Disney. Rainforest Cafe was fun,

but if I never see another animatronic animal, pirate,
huge boulder rolling on top of me...that's just fine.
:)

Floor Joists and Snow

This may end up being an incomplete post only because I did not get the chance to take all the photos I wanted to take today. Our framers are frantically working to get us "dried-in" (meaning all framed with a roof on) before winter really hits. Our basement is totally framed now, (pictures to follow soon), and they laid the floor joists today amidst frigid temperatures and soggy wood. Our framing contractor Randy is the greatest guy...so flexible to last minute changes, and has even come up with some neat solutions to unforeseen problems. (Not to mention, meticulous). He is dead-on with the measurements of our rooms (which we've measured ourselves to make sure) and every wall is perfectly plum. It's nice to see someone take such pride in their work. Sorry... straight walls just make me so happy!

Still not a whole lot to see from this angle, but the floor joists are down and ready for a floor.

We are supposed to be getting the back porch, basement steps and driveway this week as well.

The park in front of our house is sure coming along nicely. The sidewalks are poured, the gazebo is being built, and the playground will be going in soon. Also, it's fun to see some snowy peaks...as long as it stays on the peaks and not in my house. (Crossing fingers the weather will hold!)

30 Pounds Lost....Never to be Found!

Today marks a very special occasion for me. Since the beginning of June, I have been working on losing some weight. I am embarrassed to say I topped the scale just shy of 200 pounds. (No, I do not have a before picture, unless one of you sneakily took a picture of me at Lydia's baby shower.)
Weight (gaining, losing, gaining more) has always been my nemesis in life...and something I never felt I had control of. Well, I have lost 30 pounds! That sounds like a lot doesn't it? Too bad it doesn't LOOK like a lot, especially since I have about 40 left to lose. But, I am happy and proud that I have gotten this far. I guess I am FINALLY figuring out (after 34 years) what food is. Food isn't the enemy I always thought it was. It is a friend who demands respect. Thankfully, it's finally clicking in my head...it's not so much what you eat, but at what TIME and HOW MUCH. No more nighttime ice cream binges. If I want a little treat, I have a small serving before 3 pm. If we eat out, I cut my portion in half or share with someone else. No eating after 7 pm, period. These little lifestyle changes are something I know I can stick with for the rest of my life. I don't dread working out like I used to, either. I have my days where I really don't want to go to the gym, and sometimes I don't. But, once I am there I wondered why I dreaded going in the first place. I feel alive, and AMAZING!
Sorry for the boring post. This is more for me than anyone else really....just trying to keep myself truckin' and pep talks (even to myself) are always good. I will be posting my photo soon... just got to get over my fear of the camera first. ;)

Concrete Done!

So here is the latest on our house. Concrete floors? Check.
We even have the radiant floor heating installed,
so now on with the framing!
Things are going much slower than I anticipated,
but maybe that's just the way things are around here,
right Mindy? ;-) (Speaking of just that, Mindy needs
to post an update with new pics of her house too!)

Connor looking in to what will be the home theater
on the left and the kitchenette on the right.
Straight ahead is the recreation room. (Or until it is finished,
the "ride your bikes around in a circle until you get sick" room)

A better angle on the home theater,
the 2 car garage is the gravel to the left,

and the 3rd garage bay will suspend over the home theater.

Here are some of the bedrooms, cold storage areas in
the far front left and back right, and HVAC room where
all the red tubes are sticking up.
Ahhh, warm concrete floors will be nice.
My next big project? I am going to do some concrete staining
in the bathrooms, kitchenette and workout area.
Never done it before,but I am borrowing my builder's wife
who is supposedly really good at it.
Hopefully, the floors will turn out nice.

Dorks On Parade

My kids (as you now well know), are quite creative. Today they came up with use #99 for an old bike tire. Sean was replacing his tires due to a major blowout involving a thorn patch (we counted over 60 holes in his front tire alone) and the kids had a blast coming up with uses for the discards.
I can only guess what people driving by must have thought seeing my two yahoos running around like this....I hope it gave them a good laugh. At any rate, it's good blackmail footage for when they are older.

They may be dorks, but they are still cute.
I love this picture of Connor.

Gavin's blue eyes and freckles are my favorite.
He refused to smile, though.

Brennan's a stinker, and unfortunately he inherited my teeth.
But to me he's the cutest darn baby in the world.
I love you, Bren-bren.

Gavin's Fun Day

I cannot believe it was Gavin's 6th Birthday yesterday. I cannot believe he is big enough to ride on the school bus. When did he grow up? I don't know why I am so surprised (maybe because Gavin was my baby for such a long time) but his 6th birthday made me realize how fast my precious ones are growing up. It's not fair really. I heard a wise mother once say,
'You need a "pause button" when your children are young,
and a "fast forward button" when they are teenagers'.
Right now...today, pause please.
Gavin sure had a great day. Being my most social child, a small party just wouldn't do.
Thank you to all that came and celebrated his special day with us.
After all, who doesn't like to bowl and eat cake??

This is determination, people.

Happy Birthday to you!

Nice dinosaur.....Nice dinosaur......Chomp!

The hardest part about bowling with kids?
Waiting your turn.

Even the babies had fun! For the first 10 minutes....

Strike, Strike, Strike....

Good one, Cameron!

Aw, Kate is so cute. (Even if she is a little blurry.)

Spooky Cloud

Living on the opposite side of the mountain range that I grew up next to has been a very cool experience. For one, the mountains are much prettier on this side...and two, the storms look really ominous when they roll in. Tonight's storm crept over the mountain like a giant wave. Crept is probably the wrong word for it. Maybe crashed over the mountain is more accurate. It was spooky to watch how fast those clouds were coming over the tops of the mountain. (I did a time lapse of only a few seconds between shots). Pictures truly don't do it justice.

Haircut Day

So today is a day that has been long overdue.... Haircut day. There is a story behind it all, starting with how much Sean loves Connor's thick, beautiful hair. I have to admit, the boy has a gorgeous head of hair. Sean has begged me not to cut it too short, to let it grow and flow like a wheat field in the wind. However, it is difficult to keep clean because of how sweaty his head gets, (being a boy and all) it's constantly getting tangled. Gavin has to have the same hairstyle as Connor or it "just isn't fair", and Brennan's hair was looking shaggy and orphan-like.
A grumpy old man at the check-out at Target made a flippant statement..."Hi girls!" he said when he saw my boys. "We're boys!" Connor exclaimed indignantly as Gavin just gave the old man a dirty look. "Hmm, couldn't tell with all that long hair," grumpy old man retorted back. Granted, I don't usually care what some "old as dirt" man says about my boys, but it did make me realize that they could use a little freshening up.
Just to rule out homelessness.
So short story long I pulled out my shears, blew off the thick layer of dust, and made my boys look like they actually do have a mom that cares. My, my! They are handsome young fellers, after all.

Footprint

Today we have our exterior and load bearing walls with concrete and rebar (sp?) which is fun because now we can see the actual footprint of our home. There is already a big OOPS however.....it looks as though we are a foot over the 10' easement on the left hand side of the house, which means they may have to tear it all down and move the whole house 1 foot to the right. If so, that will delay things by a couple of days, but it's better to get it right now, or else we will have major problems later. (And quite possibly an angry neighbor and a hefty fine.) I am expecting more OOPS in the future...all part of the process, I suppose. As long as they are fixed and don't delay us too much, it's ok. Anyway, it's cool to see where the walls are going to be.

Question.....

I really enjoy posting pics and blurbs about the build process, because I am totally into that sort of thing. However, I realize others may not share my enthusiasm for a dirt hole, framing, radiant floor heating, etc. So, here is my question to all you blog masters out there.....is there a way to have sub-categories under your main blog page or do you need to start an entirely new blog and just link it from your parent blog site? I kind of wanted to have an "Under Construction" section for those of you who might want to see the progress of our house build. Any ideas?

Until then, you will just have to suffer and look at my dirt hole I am so incredibly proud of. Sorry!

Echo.....Echo....Echo........

BOYS LOVE BIG TOYS....(Sean wants to play in this thing so bad!)