You can feel it in our bones

I daydream a lot about how it will be to spend our days in a larger space. I look forward to meal times without someone being squished against the wall and blinds. I imagine family night in a bigger living room to act out parts of our lessons or play a game

. I also expect there will be time outs in that space and as much as I try not to raise my voice, I'm sure there will be times where my frustrated yell will echo throughout it. But most of all I hope it will be filled with happy times where the Spirit abides. I know the walls that make up our home aren't nearly as important as the feeling that is there. But they are still a necessary part. Dallas and I decided to have a little family home evening activity where we would write some of the things that are important to us on the walls in our  new home. They will be covered up in the coming weeks but I like to think they will become part of the structure of our home and the structure of our lives, even if we can't see them.

Cameron wanted to write "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam."

Dallas wanted to write his favorite story from the Bible, Daniel in the lions den. I told him that would take a while but he was up for the task.

Preston chose the first article of faith.

Dallas still has a ways to go...

And the scripture I put on our stair railing bordering our main living space: Helaman 5:12.
I want so much for each of us to build our personal foundations upon Christ... "whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Moving right along

Last week the trusses were lifted by crane onto the house. And they used that crane to lift all sorts of things over. Pretty handy tool, that crane.

This is Carl. He's our framers' right hand man and he keeps me laughing through the stressful process.

Up go some trusses!

And the covered patio is starting to take shape and I'm loving it. Cody was originally not convinced we needed this space but he is very excited about it so that makes me happy.

The roof came off and the trusses are starting to give an idea of how large it will be.

 Dormers begin (and are already being changed, of course) That is a huge story in and of itself. Let's just say my awesome and talented sister, Lisa saved my bacon on this one.

Today they are finishing up on the roof framing and it is looking awesome!!!!! I think I'm going to love it. Cameron said he loves it, so we're good!

Isn't this a blog about building?

I realize that these pictures have more to do with my little guys than our house and you might be right. I happen to think pictures of wood are much more interesting when they have a cute toddler in them. I'm not a fan of people-less pictures. And if you want a good idea of what is really happening around here you should see the kids in them because I cannot keep them away from these piles of wood. 

But the real point is: trusses are here! They were delivered last week but have been sitting because the weather has not been on our side. Although 80 degree rain is usually my absolute favorite, it wasn't my favorite to see it pouring down on our unfinished house. We were putting up tarps like crazy because it was seeping into our kitchen! Now it was coming in at the bay window which is going to come out anyway so we weren't worried about the damage but who wants a wet kitchen? (You like that run on sentence?) So, then it rained so hard and for so long that we had inches of standing water on the subfloor and in the basement. 

Friday was a rough day for me. We had some engineering issues that had to be solved, there was confusion between the truss delivery and roof system delivery from the other lumber company and then the rain kept coming down. It was one of those days I felt like I was failing at this whole thing. My good friend, Adrianne has been through this before and knows the pains of it. She said to call her if we needed anything. That night when it appeared Cody and I were in over our heads with dealing with the water situation, I called her. She and Nate rushed over with their Shopvac (apparently they were on a date!) and got straight to work. We had a Shopvac from the Brimley's too and we were all working together to sweep water toward the vacuums till they filled, roll them to a window or window well and dump. Repeat about a million times. All while holding flashlights to light the way. Those Eldredge's know how to work. Thank you!!!

Okay where we? Oh yes, trusses sitting. Waiting. So Monday came and it was a zero chance of rain so the framers showed up and started preparing for the truss crane at 1PM. Well, the trusses were too short and they have to have a fix made for them and the cutting into the existing roof took much longer than expected so the crane had to be postponed. Wednesday is their earliest opening. So tomorrow that will happen... hopefully. In the mean time more of our roof is gone so we have to protect it. Today it rained a bit so I had to go out a get tarps over everything. Jeff came to help me. That guy deserves a medal at the end of this (or at least some really good brownies, well lemon squares since I'm better at those). He has saved the day so many times and always with a smile. He's taught us a lot. 

About building and about serving. 

And just in case you wonder what the little ones do while I have to go out back multiple times a day... Here you go.

And playing light sabers is much more fun on top of trusses.

I compare this stage in the game to the beginning of pregnancy when you are so sick it's hard to be excited. Things are so rough sometimes it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But in reality, I am excited. We are so anxious for more space for our family. Our little boys are getting bigger every day and their friends are too. Bedtime is getting harder with three in one room because some need to read quietly and others want to play in bed with "guys" and it isn't so quiet. My clothes are so tired of being neglected in unruly stacks on the chair because they didn't win a spot in our little closet. And my car is ready for it's prized spot in our garage even if it isn't going to be large or fancy.

Yes, we're excited. And very blessed.

Lumber makes me happy

I love the smell of new lumber, especially when it means walls for our home! 

I was giddy when it arrived!!!  Our framer is really cool. We have had some pretty awesome people helping us so far. Scott, the concrete guy was so nice to me and Bryant, the framer has been so patient with some (maybe a bunch) of glitches we had the first day. He and he and his crew are so great. They text me to come out whenever they have any sort of question and I love that! I am particular and they don't care a bit. The framing matters. A lot.

This is our access to the basement these days. And actually, this was my first time venturing into the "hole" so Cody just had to get a picture. I'm glad I had to do some measuring. It was pretty cool to be in it. Don't laugh at my makeshift outfit. I tend to get into my comfy bottoms early and leave whatever top I was wearing. I know I'm not the only one who does this...

Don't ask.

We have a wall! Cameron (4) looked out the window, clapped his hands together and said, "It makes me so happy to have walls!" I completely agree.

After we sorted out a ledger that has to tie into the old foundation, an incorrect joist size, and a miscommunication with the lumber company on wall height as well as using 2x6's instead of 2x4's on the exterior walls... THEN we had our joists and then a floor! (Man, I am learning so much about things I really don't care about but have no choice)

And what would any project be if we didn't have Jeff here helping. I told him I'm logging his service hours. He just stopped by to say hi and saw Cody desperately trying to tear off the soffit, facia, rain gutters and some roof and started right in on helping. I don't think he'll come say hi again.

More walls. So fun to see it take shape.

The beginnings of our stairs.

Can you imagine leaving for school and coming home to walls etc? They love it.

This is where we are now. The inside and downstairs are almost completely framed.

Office, hallway to master and pantry. (We're standing in the open eating area)

Family room. (Still standing in the eating area just turned left instead of right)

Stairs, obviously. But seriously I was pretty excited about these! They look narrow but we actually made them a bit sider than average. They are 3 1/2 feet wide.

The partially framed basement. We aren't finishing it yet, only the bathroom for the appraisal to come in higher. Kind of weird? Yes, I know. Ignore the gross pile off to the side. It rained a lot while the basement was open and we don't have a drain yet. And we need to haul out the lumber scraps.

This is the view from our new back door. Yeah, need some dirt? You know where to get it. There is more than you even realize looking at this picture. We did have the excavators dig a hole for the trampoline which I'm excited about. It isn't totally done and we clearly have a lot of work ahead of us but let's not think about that right now. Inhale. Exhale.

And there's the port o potty in all its' glory. I guess it's turquoise not blue. But whatever color it is, this kid seems to think it's pretty cool. Luckily they come clean it out every week so it hasn't been smelly or anything.

 Now we wait for trusses. That will take a week or so. In the meantime, we plumb! And what a project it is. Luckily this isn't our mess to take care of. That's the plumbers deal but we get to take care of the aftermath which will be some drywall and new flooring in here. (This is our existing basement bathroom which was clearly red before it was blue and white before that and I never took the time to move the toilet to paint. Hence the weird spot on the wall) This is where I have to remind myself to breathe again. Because seriously, our whole bathroom is full of dirt and smells like sewer. Okay, no one else thinks it smells bad but I think it does. In my head? Maybe.

By the way, I'm still not used to everyone calling me, "Boss". 

Concrete

In preparation for a crazy wall called single form that had to be poured against the dirt under the garage, since there is no basement there, we had to get the wall vertically level. And by we, I mean Cody. Luckily he had help from Dallas and then Preston joined in with neighbor Thomas Fetzer. Cameron hung around a bit and I'm confident he thinks he was helping.

 Our foundation guy that we first hired, Rocky (should have been our first clue), left us hanging for a week before finally quitting. We scrambled to find a replacement and finally found Scott who was super nice and extremely reliable. His crew moved in and worked like mad men. Here are the forms for the footings going in.

 Once those were poured and dried (that same afternoon!) they started building our basement wall forms.

 Here come the concrete trucks!

 Up, up and over the pump goes.

 And into the forms. It was fascinating to watch. You can't really see in the picture but there are a few cute little spectators watching from our kitchen window.

Here is a shot after footings, foundation, window well installation, waterproofing, backfill, compaction and basement floor. Whew!