You Don't See That Every Day

We're back at it. What day is it?! Yesterday we ordered windows! And yes, it was We this time, not just "We, meaning he." I actually was at the store also and put in my two-cents worth when ordering the windows. They were delivered this morning. A 6.45 delivery wake-up call was not exactly how I wanted to wake up, but at least the windows are here. Yesterday's work involved moving my kitchen stove, and putting a new hole in the wall. There is a reason for this I was reassured. And watching intently, yes, I saw the reason. To plug the stove in. A stud post would be in place of the spot where the first plug was. Yesterday also involved a big kind of hammer/ drill. The exact word for it escapes me now (not that it was ever in my brain to begin with.) Here our sweet dog models where the base of the stair landing was drilled into the concrete and fastened down. She got an extra bone tonight for her hard work. This is what I was left looking at last night. A beam

Just because there isn't much progress on the remodeling project doesn't mean I shouldn't be posting here; just because all the pictures these days are of the little cutie doesn't mean I shouldn't be writing about the other children in the household. I've been remiss about that - sorry. In our corner of the world this week: I've been able to spend a lot more time smooching on my littlest one. I read the book "Choosing to SEE" by Mary Beth Chapman, in one night. I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down. And since then I have been hugging my kids a little more and trying to listen to them a little better. I highly recommend it for everyone. G-man has been busy with The Project. Lately that involves cutting concrete and chiseling it out of where we don't want it. We are hoping to get some walls up this week. (We, once again, being a loosely-used term.) The vehicle I drive, a pickup, is beginning to give us problems. Stressful for me. I hate it when thing

Do you like our new patio? The al fresco dinners we have planned are going to be "a step above" all other. We'll be able to take my cooking to "new heights." Or maybe we'll just add some walls, and a roof instead. It's a toss-up. On another note ... did you know it would only cost me $1300 to go to Argentina next month? If I bought my ticket right now that is. Or I could go to Rome for $1100. Maybe add Athens in for another $1100. Not that I need to travel anywhere. I've got enough entertainment and activities going on right here. Not that I have a spare $3500 laying around. But just in case, I checked out the cost of these travels. Just in case I need a vacation. Or a daydream.

I've been busy doing other things - canning beans, getting the Boy ready for school, entertaining the troops, feeding the masses, changing diapers; But here is the latest for the last few days of construction: All the joists/ I-beams are up! The blinding white walls are not so ... blinding anymore. There's a bit of shade now in the garage The first floorboards have gone up. Here our local model demonstrates her sitting pretty skills Today the our friendly neighborhood builder, aka my husband, aka The Best Man I Know, aka My Sweet (oh but I won't bore you with nicknames) - put up and nailed in more floorboards. I even walked on the wild side - and climbed a ladder to stand up there. Hate to admit this, but it was a little scary for me, the Afraid of Heights girl. My kids are so much stronger than me in this area. Here's the view of the garage now. A few days ago it looked nothing like this. Heck, a few months ago it really looked nothing like this. We had a

There are a couple of I-beams up now, but most of the work focused on the doorways yesterday. We took out the door that has been there for 30 years and the window.  And then made the window into a doorway; he will eventually board up the doorway and make it part of the stair wall. G has a tradition tradition of pouring concrete on major holidays, usually New Year's Eve. This time he decided to deviate from tradition on pour concrete on my birthday. I feel so special. He had a number of good helpers - wearing appropriate ear protection while G cut concrete. And holding the water to keep Dad cool , er, I mean keep the dust and sparks down as the concrete was cut . It was a nice enough birthday, turning 39. I had a run in the morning with my son; breakfast - huckleberry pancakes from my daughters, and then shopping in the late morning with another daughter. I didn't have to make breakfast, lunch, or supper, and I got two special desserts - Jamba Juice and a DQ blizzard

Yesterday I learned how exciting it can be seeing lumber delivered to my front yard The building materials are here! Which means we -(again, a loosely translated form of we)- can start building the addition to our home. I thought there would be a lot more. Maybe there's more to come.. The garage door was torn off along with the window. (notice the leg? there is still a man attached to that.kind of a funny picture) And the laundry room was also ... altered.  And this morning while I was out picking beans -- I came home to find new beams!! across the top, with some other wood boards (of which there is a proper name, however I don't know it!) around the perimeter.  Happy Dance time - at least the beginning of one.

I went running this morning. I often write blog posts inside my head while I run. It helps the mile(s) go by easily, and keeps me distracted. In high school cross-country I would make up stories while I ran. If I could run with a keyboard attached somehow I would be cranking out the posts and stories. For now, I am technologically challenged, and don't have a smartphone, and just have to try and remember what is in my brain. At my age it's getting to be harder to do that. But that's not what I was thinking of this morning. Today as I ran I was thinking of my brothers. I often ran from them when I was little. But now they aren't so bad. I'm actually kind of beginning to like them. This weekend they are building a fence. 6 of the 7 boys, plus our bonus brother - the one who married into the family - are building a fence for my sister. That statement might not seem like much in and of itself. But it smacks of a great deal more than just building a fence. It says

We had quite a busy week. Between driving and working and just keeping the 5 kids from breaking any (more) bones ... I was pretty exhausted by this morning. But it's all downhill from here.In a good way. We did take a few hours off to go play at the beach. My sister called and said the weather was great and come on out. So we did! On the drive over I managed to capture the cool kids in the car, the other two did not want to participate. And the weather at the beach WAS gorgeous. Of course, this is Oregon, and even in August we wear sweatshirts at the beach.(ugh, spots on the lens - sand? moisture? sorry for the blurs) It didn't stop them from jumping into the waves though And we found a sea star hanging out in a small pool of water leftover from high tide Baby girl ran all over the sand, but thankfully didn't stray too far away from me. She occasionally would stop running, sit in the sand, feel it, and then lay down in it. I guess she likes it! And she'

It is looking more and more like ... like nothing. We're losing the trusses - on purpose. Down, down, down they come The view from the backyard by mid-day is even more exciting There's no roof! Are the walls going to fall in?! And now, there is nothing left above us. And a peek into the attic I'm not sure what the next day's surprise will be. The garage with no roof looks so much bigger, and yet all that light makes it seem smaller. It's just strange!