This Week's Building Progress (Nov. 22-26)

 It was a short work week this week for Thanksgiving, but there was still some marked progress.

The kitchen cabinets were delivered.

Drywall spackling has begun.

The front porch is pretty well finished.

As exciting as the progress is, there is still much to do and much more for US to do when the construction is complete. I may have spent one evening this week curled up in bed overwhelmed and crying. One step at a time and one day I'll realize that the house is settled and clean again.
 

The Fishing Adventures

 I decided that we were not having school on Wednesday. Dad decided that it was a good day to go fishing. And somehow I decided that I would go fishing too which led to all of the children also being excited to go fishing. I spent Tuesday evening trying to figure out how to get out of going fishing. lol. It was the fishing that I wasn't excited about. I actually like being on the water; however, I do not like being cold and it was a COLD day. 

And so I wore 4 layers on top, fleece lined leggings under jeans, 2 pairs of socks, 2 hats, gloves, mask and sunglasses. The children thought it was overkill, but once we got on the water they were happy for all of the extra clothes I had brought along. Somehow we managed to be short a pair of gloves so I gave up mine and had cold hands. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and beyond the cold it was really a beautiful day.

We were fishing for Rock fish in the bay. Grandad hannded Aliza the first pole. She immediately caught fish. This was her first time on the boat.

It was pretty exciting to catch 2 fish on the first drop!

After that, the rest of our time looked like this:

The rest of us did not even get a bite. Turns out we were about an hour too late. 

It's a terrible camera angle, but Isaiah was my fishing buddy. Mostly he was happy for me to hold the pole while he ate snacks. Grandad stocks up on Doritos, Oreos, doughnuts and soda which the children very much look forward to. lol. And, yes, Isaiah chattered away nonstop the entire time.

Josiah was pretty bummed. With a full boat, we kindof invaded his fishing space. Josiah was due for a fun, very successful fishing trip. 

I'm not sure if it was Josiah's idea or Grandad's idea, but that evening Jeremy got a text about going fishing the next day. Jeremy, Josiah and Grandad got on the water at 8:30 the next morning and they caught lots of fish!

They look a little less intimidated about being cold than I was!

They caught Rock fish nonstop for an hour. Josiah said they caught at least 40. The limit is one per person so they only brought 3 home.

They had FUN!

 

 

 Happy 11th Birthday Anna!

I love finding your selfies on my phone! I love watching you grow up. It's going to be a year full of lots of fun and adventures!

The Week's Building Progress (Nov 15-19)

 It's been a week with lots of visible progress! What I didn't get a picture of is the new front door. I bought it and Dad drove it up to our house. It is not quite the color I had imagined, but it still looks great. The door we bought is 6 inches wider than the previous door and we moved the whole door over 6 inches so that it is slightly more "centered". Then it was time for the porch floor. Ultimately, it was decided to reframe the floor so that it would be properly angled for water runoff. 

Inside, the drywall subcontractors were working. By Friday all of the drywall was hung. It has been really fun to walk through the real rooms this weekend. This week the drywall finisher, a separate subcotractor, will be here.

The porch posts have been changed and the floor framing finished.

This week looks to be another busy week here!
 

A Hard Good-bye

I don't even really know how to write about this because I still catch myself thinking almost every day "I can't believe she is gone." Jeremy's Aunt Betsy passed away October 30 from COVID pneumonia. She was 62 with no outstanding medical conditions (and not vaccinated since everyone asks). Her body simply fought the virus in a negative, self destructing way. Last weekend was her memorial service. There were hundreds of people that visited prior to the service and many stayed for the service. Almost all of the Freed nieces and nephews stood in the back.

Betsy was Karen's sister in law and her husband, Phil is Karen's brother. Many of Karen and Phil's aunts and uncles were in attendance. I had the chance to grab a picture with Karen and Jeremy of our shared relative. The man in the black suit, Marvin, is Jeremy's great uncle and Eunice, the lady in blue is my great aunt. Eunice is my Grandad's sister. She is 90 and it feels like this special gift to make that connection with her.

The processional to the cemetery was the longest I've ever seen. On the way, the wind picked up and it started raining and sleeting. As we drove in, I watched umbrellas turn inside out. Aliza and Jeremy went to the site, but the other children and I stayed in the car. Very wimpy, I know, but there were still A LOT of people at the graveside.

There was a meal at an event location. It was a restored barn and a really peaceful setting.

Isaiah wasn't thrilled about sandwiches but was quite proud of his chip plate. He and I had talked about 2 bags of chips. He wasn't sitting at the same table that I was and was quite proud that he got back to his table with 4 bags of chips and a Coke.

Jeremy's aunt and uncle from Oregon were there along with his brother from Texas and cousins from Montana and Indiana. It was really nice to see everyone.

This time we stayed with Jeremy's cousin and his wife. They have 8 month old twin boys. We had such a good time with them. Our children cannot wait to go back in the summer when they can really explore their yard.

Ashton crawled right up to Josiah and gave him no choice but to pick him up and then he sat contentedly on Josiah's lap for a long time.

Isaiah wasn't quite sure what to do when Rowan crawled up to him. Aliza and Anna couldn't get enough baby time.

After the service and the next morning the Freed family was together visiting, eating and playing with babies. It felt like a special time. Maybe we all felt a little more grateful and a little more fragile and family felt that much more important.

The children went to play Apples to Apples and so I took my chance to sit by Amanda. lol. One of the great aunts called Amanda "Carla" with me standing right beside Amanda. So so funny. And when Apples to Apples was over, Aliza made a bee line to Amanda and snuggled in.

I guess at some point my husband's family became my own. This has shook me as if Betsy was my aunt.
 

This Week's Building Progress (Nov 8-12)

 Insulation.

Back porch rail.

Small linen closet which was an unexpected addition at the recommendation of our Project Manager.

Some more siding was installed. We had a long meeting with Ryan and sorted out some more details. I walked away thinking that that might have been our last meeting. I can hope! 

Since we are already at the end of the next week as I'm writing this I can tell you that a lot has happened this week!
 

Ant Farm

One of the stories in Isaiah's school reading book was about a boy who was trying to find a pet that would not make him sneeze. In the end the boy settled on an ant farm. Isaiah was intrigued and thought that would be really neat.  And so Isaiah was given an ant farm for his birthday. The only problem was that the ants arrived dead. He waited very patiently for me to order a new batch. I ordered double the amount and they arrived very much alive! He was so excited.

We put the ants in and he sat and watched and carried it around for the next day.

Ultimately we decided it would be best if it lived at Grandma and Grandad's house for now since the temperature in our house is not consistent. Isaiah put it right beside him while he does school.

We all enjoy checking on the tunneling progress each day. Isaiah takes it over to show Great Grandad every couple days. Great Grandad enjoys seeing it and that Isaiah then grabs a huge handful of pretzels out of the his container. This is a week or so of work by the ants. The picture doesn't really show the itricacy of the tunneling i the left top corner.

 

This Week's Building Progress (Nov 1-5)

Siding is the big new this week! The addition is completely sided (is that a word?) and the floor and steps on the back porch are finished. I am getting very excited to see siding on the old house.

Back:

Side:

Front:

The framing inspection passes. 

We had a couple cold night which led to us begging for our heat to get finished. The official heat pump is running in the addition. Auxiliary heat is running in the old downstairs and we still have space heaters upstairs (where our bedrooms are). We are at least mostly comfortable now.
 

Joy Dare::October

 8479. Never would have bet that the windows would arrive on 10/1
8480. Showing the addition
8481. Watched The Jesus Music movie I wanted to see
8482. Sorted Anna's room
8483. Vacation prep
8484. Apple pie and ice cream to end the day
8485. All the vacation excitement
8486. Bonsai trees
8487. Getting to see Grandma and Grandpa this evening
8488. Celebrating Isaiah
8489. An afternoon at the zoo
8490. All the children talking about the day at bedtime
8491. Crossing paths with a friend from high school
8492. Aliza really enjoyed the day
8493. Parking spots where we needed them
8494. Vacation worthy morning
8495. Exploring Mt. Vernon
8496. Anna's relief when her camera was in lost and found
8497. Arriving for Changing of the Guard in the nick of time
8498. Windows in the addition
8499. Good to be home even when the house is turned upside down
8500. All the things my mom has time to do when she is on vacation
8501. A couple more new windows in
8502. A day just me and my mom
8503. Ending the evening visiting at Panera
8504. My aunt
8505. Spending the night at my cousin's house
8506. Sunday morning bagel
8507. Early bedtime
8508. Mom and Dad's house to go to for the day
8509. Isaiah made it through school without a meltdown
8510. Offering hospitality in my current season
8511. Visiting with Jay, Leeanne and Hannah
8512. My boys got along so well with Hannah's boys
8513. One day at a time
8514. Cousin time with Hannah
8515. Unexpected evening at home
8516. The new windows are beautiful
8517. Just enough strength for the day
8518. Watching the otters eat lunch
8519. The children have done so well doing school under different circumstances
8520. A fall beach afternoon

8521. Jeremy made supper
8522. Morning chai, afternoon apple cobbler ice cream
8523. Making quarantine porch deliveries
8524. Anna taking a big social step
8525. Mommy, Daddy and Isaiah supper
8526. An hour to be alone
8527. Got to be at Aliza's friend's baptism
8528. Sunday afternoon nap
8529. Mom and Dad are graciously sharing their space with us
8530. All the windows are in
8531. The bluest blue sky
8532. Hot water and hoodies
8533. Jeremy's eyes sparkling over proper cabling for his office
8534. The light of a full moon
8535. Finding a rhythm and routine
8536. Aliza's sweet  heart
8537. Isaiah telling us all about winning the game
8538. New roof
8539. Catching up with Karen
8540. Jeremy taking Josiah to Game Stop
8541. Fries on FRY-DAY!

8542. Baking cookies
8543. Making supper with Jeremy
8544. All the brush burned
8545. Josiah and Jeremy working together
8546. Chatting with Brian
8547. Sleeping in
8548. First time sitting on the back porch
8549. Aliza and Anna had the best afternoon together
8550. Sitting on the grass with Isaiah on my lap to do spelling
8551. Clean bathroom floor
8552. Evening at home
8553. Laughing at the children playing
8554. Pumpkin muffin
8555. Catching up with Maria
8556. Beautiful flowers delivered

8557. Snickerdoodle cookies made for us
8558. I keep saying yes
8559. Not as much dust created today
8560. Anna so excited for Aliza to watch her dance class
8561. End of the week feeling
8562. Decision made
8563. Afternoon chai
8564. Mom listens to all my ideas
8565. Feeling the sadness
8566. Taking a walk
8567. An aunt to talk to
8568. Church
8569. Friends
8570. Making plans
 

This Week's Building Progress (Oct. 25-29)

 

The original doorway to the dining room is now as wide as the new hallway. (The 2 boards in the middle are supports that have since been removed.)

This is what you see upon entering from the back door. We use the back door as our primary entrance for us and for company.

It was Wednesday that the doorway was cut open, I got back to my parents from taking Aliza to dance and there was this gorgeous bouquet on the counter for me from Jeremy. These flowers have been such a bright, pretty spot in my days. I brought them home for the weekend, but otherwise they have lived at my parents' house.

During the day on Wednesday, I found out that HVAC needed us to clear out a closet. I didn't understand until late evening that we also needed to move all the boxes from one side of the toy room to the other. Added to that, when I got home Wednesday afternoon everything was SO VERY dusty. Way more than normal. Turns out the plastic didn't stay secure as planned. I cleaned up only enough to make supper because we had to eat and head out for youth group and club. 

I felt discouraged and very tired, but I had gotten flowers so I couldn't be too down. Jeremy and I sat down together for our Wednesday night class. I made eye contact with a friend across the room and she came over to us with a huge bag of homemade snickerdoodle cookies. She was apologizing because she has wanted to make them and it had taken longer that she hoped. I told her it was just the perfect day for cookies. 

And then I had forgotten that Aliza needed to stay after youth group to practice for a thing on Sunday so it was even later than we normally get home. Now I had received flowers and been given cookies so I really couldn't complain about ANYTHING!

Jeremy and I moved the shelves of food and then emptied the closet under the stairs. I didn't add a picture of the toy room after we moved everything to the other side.

Thursday the return was installed in the closet, downstairs vents were cut and the new thermostat installed.

Yes, plenty of dust on Thursday too. 

Electric and plumbing passed inspection.

I *think* all of the soffit is finished. 

When the children and I come home every day, it is almost a scavenger hunt to find what has changed.