Houston, we have a floor joists!

The weekend of January 31st was a great weekend. With the help of some friends, Bryan was able to get the floor joists in place and secured. Up next? Plywood sheeting which will make our house feel even more like a home.

Almost a sleepover in our mini apartment

On Saturday, Bryan and I babysat for our great friends, Kelly and Luke. They were WAY over due to get out and be kid free for a bit. We haven't had any "extra" kids over since we moved to our mini-apartment, but sometimes less is more. Hayden is almost 3 and Everett is almost 9 months old. Pair Carter, who is 2 up with Hayden and Everett and you've got a great comedy show. Hayden and Carter have a love hate relationship. I love you till' you have a toy I want, then it's MINE and I need it. Everett just sits and watches. Soon, he will be part of their "Mine" fest! Bryan and I had such a great time. We had tacos, and as Bryan helped himself to seconds Hayden said so clearly "Bryan, aren't you full yet"? It was hilarious! Around 7:45pm, all boys were in their jammies watching Toy Story. It was so cute...Hayden loves Mr. Potato Head but insists on calling him Tomato head. SO CUTE!

Kelly and Luke ended up coming home around 9ish (They're party animals like us!) and we enjoyed visiting for a few hours. Friends are a blessing and it's also a great blessing to be able to watch their children.

Our house project FINALLY moves forward!

After nearly 3 weeks of blizzards or sub-zero temps, Bryan was finally able to get some work done on our house over the last week. Our excavator was actually able to get his machines started and bring some sand for our basement and backfill around the house. This has already made working out there so much easier, as a ladder isn't needed to reach much anymore. Here are a few pictures I took this weekend. Bryan, Luke & Jon were able to work on Saturday (it was a high of -1) and get the 1/2 wall in the basement build. It sure is exciting to see some wood vs. that darn concrete!

Up next...floor joists and hopefully capping of the first floor soon!

Fun pictures from the 3 day MLK weekend

Carter's 2nd Birthday

Carter turned 2 on January 12th. It is hard to believe that 2 years of memories have been made with our little miracle.

Enjoy the pics.

Christmas Memories

Old man winter...I mean Bryan!

This picture tells it all. It was COLD and snowy yesterday and Bryan spent almost the entire day removing snow from our construction site and around our rental properties. Carter had fun watching him from the window. Over the last 2 weeks we've accumulated about 15 inches of snow. I would like to see it start melting around January 1st.

Finger Painting Fun

Carter got a cool finger painting kit from one of his friends from daycare and we cracked it open on Sunday as it was REALLY too cold outside to play in all of the new snow. Carter loved it and hardly made a mess. I think we might have a Picasso on our hands!

Sertoma WinderWonderland

Soft, white snow falling gently from the sky, drifting gracefully through the air, and landing in glistening billows on the ground . . . a beautiful sight. A sight that kindles that magical feeling of the holiday season and inspires us to partake in wonderful seasonal activities such as singing Christmas carols, sculpting snow forts, and stringing strands of bright holiday lights.
Breathtaking lights, reflecting off of the sparkling white snow and strung into captivating displays will delight visitors as they drive through the Sertoma Winter Wonderland. This spectacular, new holiday tradition includes over 50 colorfully lit, animated displays that are sure to add a sparkle of excitement to the eyes of families. (Excerpt taken from the Sertoma Winterwonderland website)

On Saturday night, amongst the blizzard, we loaded in the car (even Scout ) and headed for the Sertoma Winter Wonderland. Bryan and I had both been anticipating this night for weeks, as we couldn't wait to bring Carter. We went last year but he was just too little to really enjoy it. Once you arrive at the entrance, you turn off your headlights and slowly travel through a lighted Wonderland. The displays were amazing! Bryan's employer, Ascensus, had what I believe to be the best display. It was a 3 dimensional looking church, but once you got close, you could see that is was just 2 dimensional. Such thought went into every display, and Carter was so amazed and excited. It was all we had hoped for. We topped the night off with some custard from Culver's. We were all in bed by 9pm and we couldn't have asked for a better family night out.

Although the below pics of the lights don't do the experience justice, Carter's facial expressions should sum it up for you. And YES, he got to sit on my lap in the front seat.

"Dual" Technology

As I've mentioned in prior posts, Carter likes to impersonate his dad. Whatever Bryan does, Carter does. I snapped these pictures one night while Bryan was checking his email on his Blackberry. Carter insisted on getting a pillow, finding Bryan's cell phone, and "checking" his email too. I LOVE IT!

W-A-L-L-S

The post titles says it all. The day we've been waiting for has arrived and our concrete walls have been poured.

Bryan awoke at 5am today, got dressed and set out to pour the walls for our new home. Concrete was scheduled to arrive at 8am, and thanks to the help of many good friends (Luke, Jon, Blex and Ben), all preparations were made and the pouring of the walls began shortly after 8am.

Without going into too much construction detail, it's quite simple. You put together these foam forms that will serve as the mold for your exterior walls. The key word is "the mold". Without proper bracing, the weight of the wet concrete can easily blow out the foam mold at any weak seam. Bryan did a great job bracing and patching any seam with OSB (plywood) but the chance of a blowout always exists. I anxiously awaited to hear from Bryan this morning. It was the first time I had ever prayed this prayer "Dear God, thank you for all of the great blessings you give us, and by the way...please no blow outs, God!" Thanks to Bryan's great preparation, and I'm sure, some help from God, we had no blow outs.

God has continued to bless us with decent weather (most days) and very little snow. He knew we needed to get these walls poured. THANK YOU GOD! Tonight and tomorrow we are scheduled to get over 12 inches of snow. Walls, just in the nick of time.

Wood is good!

Yes, folks...take a look at the below picture. We had our FIRST load of lumber delivered to the job site last week! What an exciting thought to know that soon the hammers will be swinging and the walls will be erected. Boy, this post kind of went south with the references to wood and erected, didn't it? GET YOUR MIND out of the gutter people, we are talking about home construction here!

I've also included some pictures of the walls, as the foam forms are complete and ready for concrete. Bryan has done an amazing job thus far, and has not complained for one moment about having to go out and work on our house in 0 degree weather AFTER he finishes his day job. He works nearly every night of the week until 10-11pm.
Thank you Bryan. Carter and I love you very much.

Saturday, the cement trucks arrive at 8am to bring the concrete for our walls. I'm so excited, it's like I'm a child and its Christmas morning.