THANK-YOU! THANK-YOU! THANK-YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

Boy do I hope that I don't forget someone here. There's been so many people lend us their hands over the past few weeks! What a blessing you have been!



Ricky Kay-the best second mother there is!

Tish-the best first mother there is!

Stacy-my sis

Dorothy-sorry for making you sweat like that grandma!

Mike and Kristy-you're terrific neighbors, glad we're not moving out of the neighborhood.

Bill-thanks for all the encouragement and help with the stuff Jeff doesn't know about!

Kevin and Jerry-the concrete looks great, I'll get pictures up here one of these days.

The Petty chicks! (Vennia, Holly, Maria)-the fastest painters I know! That would not have gotten done without you!



If I forgot to mention you, please send me a note and you'll get you're own blog post!

Where were we? And Where are we going?

Hello all. Quite a bit has been happening since we last talked. Let's see if I can get us up to speed. The drywall is all hung and finished, and PAINTED!

Here's the dining room in a dark brown.

Here's the living room in a tan. (same color as the hall, stairwell, two front bedrooms, and master bath.



Yeah, Here's me in the master bedroom covered in paint. Just call me Grace.



The water lines and power lines have been buried with only some hooking up at the house left to do before we are ready to go with those.

Our neighbor Mike helped a lot with getting the water and power lines buried. Then he got to use his 4-wheeler to cover up the trenches. (Which only further confirms my theory that boys never grow out of playing in the dirt.)
Bill helped Jeff get the power box ready to go!



Well, I guess that about covers it in a nutshell. Things are progressing along little by little. If all goes well, we could move in at the end of October. Let's pray to that end! I'm really getting ready to be done with this project!

GLORY, GLORY, HALLELUJAH!

Sing it now! ok, just kidding about the singing. But seriously, I was doing some rejoicing, Praise the Lord, happy dance when we finally got the West side of the house done. This is the part where Jeff is teetering on the 3rd section of scaffolding and then climbing out onto a ladder and back to work. I'm so glad it is done, no more climbing to scary places! Mom Tish is especially glad for her kids' sake. :) Here's the pic of this part of the house looking all spiffy and nice and DONE!

No longer Naked

Check it out! I'm starting to get caught up here! Jeff took a week off to start the siding. Wow, what a chore and we aren't even done yet. It was quite a process of getting the soffit and Facia (SP?) on. We did that for a couple days, non-consecutive. Then there was the actual siding. I liked this part better. It's prettier and goes faster! A great THANK-YOU to Tim and Jim for their assistance during this week. We basically worked from the time we got up, to dark.

Some people are asking if I'm ready for school to start back up, well, yes and NO! I might get a brief reprieve from the manual labor, but then it's right back to it once I get home. And let me tell ya, dealing with kids all day is like torturing device from "The Princess Bride". You know, the one that sucks the life right out of you until you get a major dose of chocolate from the wizard. ;)

Anyways, while we were on the outside, the drywall folks were on the inside. So the house is looking a lot more like a house, inside and out. Here's the pics.Front view Walk-out view

Living room as seen from kitchenMaster Bedroom

SERIOUS Yardwork

Let me just say that boys must LOVE to play in the dirt. Some more than others. It certainly didn't take any explaining whatsoever for my nephew (5) to learn to love playing in the dirt and mud. When Stacy's house was under construction, Nathaniel was all about playing in the mud. I think he went through at least 2 pairs of mud boots. And not just growing out of them, he wore the suckers out! Ok, ok, all that to say that the only difference between Nathaniel and Mark, out excavator, is the size of the toys. Here are some before and after pics of the yard and one shot of the Earth Mover that was used to create the masterpiece.

Here's looking out the basement doorway.(Before)



Looking out the basement again, after some dirt was moved.



Front part of the house BEFORE.


Looking toward Walnut Hill Rd from garage side, AFTER



I bet this guy had lots of Tonka trucks as a kid, now look at him go!

Getting Ready!

Lots of stuff has been going on. It's going to take a couple of posts here to catch you all up. Please be patient, as we are on dial-up still (I often put off this task because it takes so long).

Jeff spent many hours working on plumbing. That's not exactly his area of expertise, so he called in Bill. Thanks so much, Bill, for all the help with the plumbing! You can see Jeff and Bill working in the basement. It's really nice to reach everything like this! There's also a picture of some sink pipes in the master bath.

While all this was going on, the drywall was delivered. That makes you think that we will have walls someday! It's all very exciting! And very laborious! Check back soon for more updates.

Don't you LOVE that Warm and Fuzzy feeling?

Like your favorite cozy blanket, or a Kerri Afghan! (That's a Keele family insider) Well, I can't say it feels like that...yet. But we have some insulation that will help us feel cozy all year long! This was done by someone else with fancy equipment and it was done in a day. :) I like those jobs.

The other day, I was putting insulation in the garage. It was a really nice day, especially for July, but I was still covered in tiny, invisible fiberglass fibers. Not a good feeling. I've got a little left to go on the garage and then I'll have to do the basement once it has walls.

PS. Here's the porch area with the front door on. And a belated thanks to Becky for helping caulk!