Halt!

Just a quick update on the house... they have completely stopped everything with the house until the roads are finished. My question is this, "Why didn't they just start with the roads?" I don't have an answer for that.
All I know is that I am learning patience. Just this week at Bible Study the question was asked, "When will you be content and relaxed?" My answer was, "When our new house is finished and we move in." I said it sort of jokingly, but there is some truth to my answer. I look around this teeny tiny house and think about the new house. This will go there. That can fit in this room. I want that room decorated that way. My list goes on.
Bible Study was Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon I found out our pre-dry wall appointment that was to be on Thursday was getting postponed until October 9. No work is to be done on the houses until the roads are done. I began to think, "Maybe there is a lesson here. Maybe I just need to be content and relaxed where I am, in my present circumstances. I shouldn't always be looking to the *someday...* I need to enjoy this time in this place." Hmmm...

Confession

Truth be told, I do not like forwarded emails. In fact, there are many that I don't even read, especially since so many are urban legends. I really don't like it when (I do read them) they say "pass along to 10 people or else...". It really gets me when God is brought into it. "pass along to everyone you know and God will bless you." Where is that in the Bible? I automatically hit the delete button. I have not had my life impacted at all from the lack of forwarding to everyone I know. I know that my blessings in life are from the grace of God and not from emails.
That said, occasionally there is one that catches my eye. When a friend (who also doesn't forward very often), sends me one, I am curious. I got an email from such a friend today. I was curious, so I clicked on the link. It was a link to a video on youtube. This video had me laughing. It is a great one for moms to watch, since it is about mothering. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlY8STkhopc
Weather or not you see it, you will not have good luck or bad luck. Your day will not be more blessed or less blessed. You are not obligated to look. But if you do choose to take a peek, you just might get a chuckle.

In Other News...

Brankle Farm

Anna going for a little tractor ride in the barn.

Big Wheeler!

There is more to our life than the house. I promise! :-)

Today Anna's preschool went to visit a farm. The kids had a great time. They were able to see soybeans and corn - up close and personal. Everyone went for a ride on a wagon pulled by a tractor. They saw two horses and two cows. The kids were even able to climb up in a combine and pretend to drive it. It seemed the most entertaining part for them though was sitting on the wheel of the combine. Anna's highlight was the wheel. It doesn't take much to entertain a bunch of four year olds!

It is really taking shape!

Here it is. This is our house! It is amazing how fast they can put it up! On Thursday they were beginning to frame the second story... By Friday it was framed, the roof was put on (along with the tar paper), the windows were installed, and two doors were installed (the front door and the door from the garage to the house). It is really taking shape! Dave and I kept looking at it yesterday saying, "This is OUR house!" It is feeling a little surreal at this point. Oh, and next week we will make our appointment for the "pre-drywall meeting". The tunnel is getting a little brighter... I think there is a light (or a nice big house!) at the end of it. :-)

My parents had their "pre-construction meeting" this week. They now have the footprint marked on their lot. So they should see the footers poured soon. :-) We are all a little excited!

Now, about those roads.... :-)

They're Working...

It has been a week since the framing started and there has been very little activity on our house. Finally today, we saw the crew working on it. We found out two reasons why nothing has been done for the past week. 1.) They didn't have all the supplies they needed. 2.) They didn't have the supplies because the roads were too bad for the trucks to make any deliveries.

So, if the roads could only get done...

Today they did finally start the second floor. When were there, they had the ceiling/floor layed down.. The crews were getting ready to start the framing. The pieces for the roof are there too. Maybe by Monday it will all be framed?... That is if it doesn't rain tomorrow... which it might. Ugh!!! I know Emma says we need the rain and that I should be patient, but I want my new house and I want it NOW! :-)

A Good Talking To

They (Arbor Homes) say it takes three days to frame a house. So, by now ours should be framed, right? Well, it would be if it the rain wouldn't get in the way. So far our house still looks like it did last Thursday. It rained on Friday. It poured on Saturday - which made for really muddy roads! Nothing was done yesterday even though it didn't rain. I am guessing the roads were still too muddy. There were a bunch of "mini lakes" visible from the bypass. I heard rain was in the forecast for today. Hmmm.....

We were driving in the car on Sunday and had an interesting conversation with Emma. Actually, it was more of a "talking to" form her. It went something like this...

E: (pretty much out of the blue), "Would you rather have rain or the house?"
I was thinking... "What are you talking about?!"
Dave: "What do you mean, Emma?"
E: "Well, would you rather have the water we need to live or have the new house?"
D: "Do you mean we could live with the rain, but be dead in the new house?"
E: "Yeah. We need the rain to live. We don't need the house to live."
E: "We need to be patient with the new house. I know it is hard. Sometimes, I don't like to be patient. But we need to try. This rain is a good thing. The house will still be built. We just have to wait."

How is that for a lecture from a 6 1/2 year old?

What a Difference a Day Makes

Yesterday we had concrete, today we have the first floor framed!

The front: the garage is on the left. The window on the right is the office window. The front door is hidden between the garage wall and the office wall.

Anna and me in front of the office window.

Anna looking out the living room window into the backyard.

A Little Progress

Here is what we saw today. Yipee!!!! If you look closely you will see an inset in the cement. This is the stoop for the front door. It faces west which will always remind us of our family and friends to the west of Indiana. :-)

This second picture shows all the 2 x 4's and materials needed to frame the house. Many of the pieces are pre-cut so as to save time.

Here's a picture Dave took standing atop a pile of gravel. (The gravel is used as a base for the concrete slab. ) You can clearly see both the materials and the slab.

This last photo shows our "Sunrise patio" (it faces east). We plan to one day have it covered and screened in... but that come later... much later! :-)

So, that's our house as of 4:30PM today. Once the slab dries, they can start framing. I have noticed from the other 6 houses going up, that things move quickly once the framing starts.

They've started...

Here is the start of our new house...