It Feels Like Fall

The stone work on the fireplace.

You can see the loft in the picture below.

Today James and I got to go out on a date to a Cardinal ballgame, complements of the hospital. We were actually cold. We were so glad we brought our fleeces, just in case. I don't think it was over 70 degrees. Anyways, I just got back from taking pictures of the house. I was disappointed to find that it is not ready for painting tomorrow like it was supposed to be. I just now found out they'll be painting the ceiling first while the walls are getting finished.

Jonathan celebrated his 11th birthday this past Thursday. Josh and Jonathan celebrated their birthdays with a campout on Friday night. They had three other boys join them. They had a blast playing in the dark in the backyard and sleeping in the tent. Joshua celebrated his birthday early because we'll be very busy in October.

We had a better week of school last week. Monday was difficult and then we changed out schedule and that seemed to make the rest of the week run more smoothly and we actually were getting finished school by 3:00 p.m., instead of much later.

I had more pictures, but I kept deleting them by accident and I'm too tired to go back and fix it. Sorry for the messy posting.

Back of the house. You can see the deck.

The Count Down is On

So here we are with 4+weeks until the baby comes and 6+ weeks until we move in to our house. Things are going well with me and the baby. I'm feeling good and I'm up for the wait of the next few weeks. I'm not at the point of just wanting to get on with it, yet. The brick on the house is done and the deck is partially finished. The drywall is all hung and the mud and taping has begun. The taping is going slower than I would expect. Hopefully it will move along fast this week. They only had two doing it on Friday.

I talked to the electrician and he is planning on returning to put lights up on Sept. 14th. Before then we should have some flooring in and cabinets in. It will be exciting to see these things come together and it will help with the wait of having the baby.

We did a bunch of cleanup around our house this weekend. There is still lots to do. We could let our contractor take care of it, but we decided we wanted to save him the trouble, especially when we have so many hands to help.

Here are some pictures of the house. James just went out there a few minutes ago and said the brick was done. They must have come today to finish it up. The fireplace still needs to be done, but they'll come back after the drywall is done. I took some inside pictures that I will put on dropshots. There is not much to look at, so I didn't post them here.

A Better Week of School

So another week has come and gone already. This was a much better week, although not any less busy. Sometimes I wish I had a maid to do all the cooking and cleaning (not that I really need one, it would just be a nice comfort). I'm ready to relax over the weekend with not much on the adjenda. James is taking Josh backpacking for the night. They'll be hiking over 8 miles tomorrow. Tonight I'm planning on doing a firepit with the boys. Hopefully the skies will be clear tonight and we'll be able to see the stars.

I went to the OB yesterday and everything is going well with the baby. I'm doing well too. It helps knowing I'm in the home stretch.

The house is seeing more changes this week, but not as quickly as we'd like. Drywall was delivered yesterday, so hopefully they started on it today. The brick is almost done. It should be done by next week for sure. It looks really nice. I will take pictures tonight and try to post them tomorrow. I also have some cute pictures of the kids to post.

We Made It!

Well, the first week of school is over and done with. Today we had a little school to do, but we got to do some other fun things, like go on a hike. I had lots of spare time, it was great. I've been keeping the kids out of the house, so I didn't really have to clean it. It is much easier to concentrate on one place (and the trailer is much smaller and easier to keep up with). The week got better as it went on and I'm sure we'll start to fall into a good routine at some point in the next few weeks.

Jonathan went to an overnight "science camp" at a friend's house. He got to do a lot of cool things including kyaking (sp.?), caving, making soap from pig's fat, learning about geology and more. Today he went shopping with Mawmaw for some despirately needed sneakers.

We just got back from our house and I forgot to take pictures. Maybe I'll take some early next week. The brickwork will probably take another week. The crew is not as big as it was when they started, so it is moving slowly. Yesterday and today the insulation has been going in. They will probably need a couple more days for that and then drywalling will begin. That will change the look of the inside dramatically.

Well, Jonathan is back from shopping. I better go see what goodies he got.

Day 2

Well, it is 9:30 p.m. and I'm done for the day. Jay and Josh just got finished eating dinner because they didn't get their school done until 9:00. They goofed off too much during the day, against my better judgement. They are determined to do better tomorrow because we aren't going to let them eat that late again. Once the food is put away it will be too late. Josh started out rough again today. He seems to do better in the afternoons. Maybe I shouldn't make him do school in the morning (or give him the choice). It is a thought I may pursue.

The others did fine. Jonathan is doing great as usual. I'm hoping Josh and Jay will catch on and start working more independently soon. and do their work with more integrity.

We are going to do school in the trailer for now. They just don't do so well in the house. It is hard for me to keep up with both the trailer and the house. Usually one suffers. We are going to try and concentrate our time outside or in the trailer and I'm hoping that will help.

James was a big help to me tonight. I told him I wish he were home with me everyday all day. It would be wonderful to have an extra person to keep everyone on task. I have to work on ways to do this better. It is always an adventure, this homeschooling.

143 Days to Go

Yeah, the first day of school was a bit rough. Hopefully it will only get better from here. I have to make some changes to my original schedule because one in particular didn't cooperate. If I didn't get on the treadmill, it would be much easier, but I'm not willing to give that up. I think if I did I'd gain way too much weight. I'm ready for bed and it is only 8:00 p.m. I guess I need to get the kids down first.

Home Work

Sorry I didn't take any pictures this week. The brick is coming along. It could be done by the end of the week, but because of the rain forcasted, it may carry into the following week. As far as inside, we are needing to have an open wall inspection. That should happen early this week and then the insulators do their job for a couple days, followed by the drywallers. Drywall should take a couple weeks.

This past week our tub was put in and that was fun to see. Yesterday we bought our appliances for the kitchen. We won't need them until the end of September, but we'll be a bit busy then, so it is nice to have that out of the way. We also picked out all our flooring this past week. That was a fun experience and I'm excited to see how it all comes together. The only thing left for us to decide is wall colors. That shouldn't be too hard since we already have an idea of what we'd like.

So far, we are really happy with everything. It is going to be interesting to see how this all goes down. I have less than eight weeks until this baby comes. I'm sure he (the baby) will be here before we move in, but it could be two or three weeks later that we move. I am ready! It is fine living in the trailer and living here, but it will be nice to have our own space and comfort again. It will be an exciting time, that is for sure.

We start school tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I'm looking forward to it, more than the kids are, except for Rachel, who seems to want to do a little "school" everyday. Should be fun. I'll try to take pictures at the end of this coming week and post them.