Lots to update, still 3 months to go.

July started off with some sicknesses - we had to leave the July 4th slip n' slide early because Mo wasn't feeling well... and then she ended up throwing up when we got home. So only Isaac and I went to Elam's 2nd birthday party - he had a good time, though. Who wouldn't? Food, friends, toys.

The house changes every few hours. The walls went up quickly, which was exciting and strange. We were no longer visually walking through our home; it was becoming 3 dimensional!

Framing has thus far been the most interesting part to me, or at least has the most noticeable results!
We had to be super careful with the kids so as to not fall out of the window openings or through the framing down into the living room. Ugh. Be still my heart.

Feeling the size of the rooms and exploring the house was pretty fun. I found an attic I didn't know existed and one I did know about seemed way bigger than I envisioned. Prancing around in my future kitchen space was exciting and I admit I fall asleep visualizing what it's going to feel like when everything is complete and we're living there.

Here's pulling up to the house as framing began.

 Looking through the front door, dining room on the left and fireplace behind the boys in the back.

 Fireplace which will be siding on the outside, and stone on the inside up to the ceiling vault.

 I packed popsicles in a cooler for the kids one day - which was a nice surprise for them and kinda messy for us to deal with. One of them is better about not dropping the popsicle than the other.

 

 In the picture below, I'm standing in the kitchen, the boys are at the window which looks out to the eventual screened in porch, and further back is the living room.

 Little man, standing in my laundry room. You can see the pantry in the upper right corner of that photo (accessible through the kitchen).

 Lots of supports for the walls as they went up.

 Here is standing in the living room, looking into the kitchen and eating area (right side) and down the hallway (left side) that leads to the garage entryway door, the built in bench, a coat closet and the laundry room.

 Mara walking where the future stairs will be, Isaac in the front foyer with the dining room in the upper right.

 Front door spot! Isaac and Mo enjoy hunting for random nails and screws.

 Standing in the dining room corner.

 View out of the back "windows"

 Another view of the living room, fireplace, eating area and kitchen.

Does this bother you?

 Kids playing around in the garage while we look around.

 We do our best to keep them out of trouble.

 Standing in the garage, the doorway to the house is on the right, where you would walk into the bench. Coat closet and laundry room would be if you turned left.

 The front porch will eventually be brushed concrete, I believe.

  Side of the house and the backyard.

 Lots of lumber.

 Our next visit was a noticeable difference with the front and sides!

 No longer one big skylight! I'm standing in the garage while the framers are in the dining room. If they are there when we visit, we do our best to stay out of the way.

 Looking out of the garage - can you see our transformer back there on the left?

 No upstairs yet, but dining room windows are framed in (that's the front door to the right)

 Hanging out in the garage!

 Check out our back screened in porch! Just, not screened in yet.

 A better view of the back. The far left is the master bedroom two windows, the chimney sits between two windows in the living room, the wrapping has not been cut yet to show the eating area window or window above the kitchen sink. Mara's room is the second story framing you see there.

 Standing on our porch for the first time.

 Better view of it.

 Found a cricket, I think.

 Standing in the dining room, looking out the front windows and the door is on the left. The room beyond that is the guest room/future nursery.

 Yet another trip out to the house and it keeps coming together!

 You walk in and it feels massive! I think it's the vaulted ceiling combined with the fact we HAVE ceilings, and now a second story. Boys are standing in the living room. Behind Z is the Master bedroom. Above them is the bonus room (which we will leave unfinished).

 Turning slightly from my previous vantage point, this is the loft above the entryway.

 Turning still more, still looking at the loft and the hallway (currently no stairs are built).

 That's a 'plant shelf' on the left. Which we all know is a joke in my house. More like future graveyard.

 Standing in the living room and looking into the eating area and kitchen. Mara's room is above the eating area. It had rained a little, if you can't tell. We've had one of the rainiest summers in a lonnnng time.

 Upstairs view from the living room.

 

 Those two windows are Isaac's room.

 Still lots of lumber.

 Still no power out to the house... everything is being done on generators.

 Stupid Duke power. It's there... just not hooked up.

 Mara walking to the front door.

 Dining room windows and front door.

 Coming through the front door and we have stairs!

 Yay! Dining room on the left, stairs where Mara is.

 Awesome. We can finally explore the upstairs.

 Looking, again, at my plant death plot. And showing the bonus room and loft.

 Daddy taking the kids upstairs for the first time.

 Tall ceilings.

 When you come up the stairs, there is a big hallway. That's a linen closet on the left. Beyond it is the kids bathroom, and beyond that is Isaac's room.

 Looking back down from where we came. And that room in the back is the master bedroom.

 Here's the bonus room that we are leaving unfinished for now. It's 400 sq. ft.

 Looking out from the bonus room, the loft is on the left, the hallway straight ahead.

 Better view of the loft, where kids toys are intended to be stored.

 Looking back where I was standing in the doorway to the bonus room and Isaac/Z in the loft.

 Uhh, oh this is Isaac's room. That's his closet on the right.

 View of Isaac's room from the walk-in storage attic in his room. The room(s) straight ahead are Mara's closet and a storage area through her closet.

 Standing between Isaac's windows. Z is in Mara's room, you can see the hallway, and the room directly in front of me is the bathroom. Loft and bonus room are in the wayyyy back.

 Bathroom.

 Mara in her bedroom.

 Porch has a roof now.

 Can you see the extra tall ceiling over there in the loft?

 Loft and stairs.

 Garage. Huge beam.

 Side and back view of the house, where you can see our screened in porch roof. The stairs from the porch will come down this close side of the porch.

 Front porch view - the window on the right is the guest room/future nursery.

 Same spot, turned so the left is the garage and the storage area single window that you get to through Isaac's room.

 The other side of the house, which you will very rarely see. That's the window above the master tub, and the double window in the unfinished bonus room. The last window on the front face of the house is in the master closet.

 Mara and Daddy, hanging out of Isaac's window!

 Trip to the beach! I didn't resize any of those pictures for posting, but here are me and my little ones.

 We did find a snake while we were there. I think I identified it through Google as a Queen snake.

 Talk talk talking on the dock in the marsh. I guess he has a light birthmark there on the side of his face, and another on his chest.

 Sitting in the neighbor's gazebo.

 And eating breakfast in Paw Paw's chair. I have more pics, I'll just have to upload them. Sorry.

 Back from a week at the beach and here's what we come "home" to. Real windows!

We stopped off on the drive back, so the pups were with us.

 Dining room windows, transom windows, and a front door!

 HVAC people started working.

 This other air return is in the closet next to the master bedroom. The framers later frame it in.

 Master bath shower and shower bench (left) and frame in for the soaker tub (nothing fancy - no jets or air bubbles)

 Standing in the master, looking into the bathroom and the far left in the back with the window is the closet.

 Looks different with windows, eh?

 We opted for the grille on the top and nothing on the bottom. One of umpteen billion decisions.

 We finalized the kitchen layout (swapped a few things) and the cabinet guy had everything marked. That's the 36 inch cooktop there.

 Turning around from the cooktop, there's the center island and on the right are the double ovens and the fridge.

 Evaluating.

 Laundry room!

 HVAC.

 I hope this will allow plenty of light, considering we are back in the woods.

 Another view of the eating area and kitchen, with dog.

 Garage side door with my little gentleman opening it.

 View of the front porch with windows.

 Loft window, which is actually cracked and being replaced.

 Unfinished bonus area with window.

 Upstairs view with windows now installed.

 Hallway. The family computer will go on the wall on the right.

 Looking up.

 Upstairs vents. That's Mara's room and the vent is in the hallway above the future computer spot.

 Kid's bathroom vent and pooper fan.

 Isaac's room with windows.

 Isaac's vents.

 Storage area through Isaac's room, with the window.

 Same storage area.

 and again.

 Mara's room with windows.

 

 Mara's closet and little storage area.

 This is peeking into the storage area in Mara's closet.

 HVAC above Mara's room.

 Hallway coming from the kids rooms. Computer desk will be on the left eventually.

 Linen closet upstairs.

 Linen closet, and the area on the left between the closet and the loft will have shelves.

 Looking downstairs.

 Messing around outside in the dirt.

 Checking out the windows from the back porch.

 

 

 Mo bug protecting her Lincoln log tower from being obliterated.

This past Thursday, Zack and I spent 2.5 hours with the builders and the electrician, discussing lights, switches, outlets, and wiring. I was exhausted afterwards, and it wasn't a quiet day there. While the electrician was running around with us, the siding people were there installing our exterior boards, and the plumbers were there installing pipes and hose bibs and tubs. They were still using generators to power everything until RIGHT before we left when Duke Power FINALLY hooked up the temporary power. It's been like 3 months of requests and fights to get that done. It was a noisy noisy construction site while we were present... but it was productive. Some highlights from our walk-through and decisions:

• Can lights (recessed lights) are going in the kitchen (7 of them), the living room vaulted ceiling (4 of them), master shower and tub (2) and above the other tubs (2)
• Flood lights will be on all corners of the house and can be controlled from the master bedroom
• We changed the exit/stairs from the screened in porch to exit on the driveway side
• Bedrooms, loft and living room will have the TV/phone jacks
• We put an electrical outlet in the laundry room for my iron or steamer
• My freezer got its own outlet in the garage
• Hot/cold outdoor spigot installed to the left of the garage door
• Ceiling fans wired in all bedrooms, but will actually have fans present in the living room, loft, and screened in porch.
• AC Unit got upsized so it will eventually handle the finished bonus room
• Added a hot water heater (so total=2)

Siding (unpainted)

 Hose bib! One of 3.

 This one with hot and cold water got installed to the left of the garage door.

 Looking like a laundry room, right?

Shower and tub.

 Master double sinks. We will have cabinets below each sink, a line of drawers down each side and down the middle, right Z?

 Kids tub. We opted for the steel tubs and tile instead of the fiberglass drop in.

 Our builders discussing the siding.

 Builders and electrician. Ralph (left), electrician (center with tape measure) and our main builder contact, Carl, on the right. We were discussing where the light would go above the eating area.

 Framers framing in the fireplace. We decided to go with the ledge rather than have it on the floor.

 This will be river stone, I think?

 Here's a view of the master bedroom drop tray ceiling.

 More siding going up while we were there.

 I think there 7 vehicles present while we were there.

 Check out this handsome feller. He promptly broke the tiara after trying it on (stepped on it by accident).

 Claire and Cheryll stopped by this past Saturday to see the house.

 Between when we left on Thursday and when we visited again on Saturday, more plumbing installation happened, tubs are in.

 This is the downstairs hallway tub.

 Looks ready for next steps.

 Upstairs tub. The tubs will have the recessed lights above them in addition to the vanity lights.

 Another view of the unfinished bonus area. Ladder leads to the AC.

 Looking down from the view of my plant shelf.

 Door for the crawl space.

We had to choose exterior paint colors this weekend... and we settled on a Sherwin Williams color called "anonymous" which is a grey. The shutters and door will be black, and the shakes the same color as the siding, and the trim will be white. Sounds simple enough, but it really took like all weekend to come to that decision.

This week should progress with electricians and plumbers and painters. We shall see. Thanks for checking in! Oct. 30th is still our goal to have the keys.