Construction Update - Day 8

No pictures today as the rain started about 11:00 and ended most of the activity. They got the air conditioning unit moved and hooked back up. With the temperatures in the 70's it could have been a better day to be without the air conditioner. They also framed in the wall where the garage door is.

Tomorrow, they will lay in all of the "stuff" that needs to be there for the concrete to be poured. After it is inspected, then they will pour - hopefully Monday. Then to framing! Lots of pictures then!!!

Construction Update - Day 7

Today, the plumber worked to get all our plumbing ready. Using the backhoe, they dug into the chat and laid the piping.

Looking at this pictures, you can see where the laundry room and bathroom is. The pipes closest to the edge are the utility sink and washer. In the middle is the toilet, sink, and tub piping.

While the men worked today, Kaylee and Chad worked on their own projects. I pulled the tool bench into the garage and they sawed and hammered. Mr. C brought Chad a nail bag to hold all of his tools. Chad thinks he should be able to help do everything!

Tomorrow, they are moving our cooling unit. Thankfully the weather is to be unseasonably cool. They are also going to start framing in the garage which will start by taking out the garage door. I also found out that we will be without a washer and dryer for quite a while. I have a little while to enjoy the luxury but it won't be long. Thankfully, my sister-in-law and mother-in-law have offered theirs! I am also having to learn to deal with the dirt. The chat has made a mess in the house with the kids tracking it in. I guess I better get use to it as this is just the tip of the iceberg!

I have started on our kitchen cabinets. I have had them on my to-do list for this summer even before we knew we were adding on. The stain is on the outside of the doors and drawers. I will work on inside of the doors tomorrow. At least I have more time now that I don't have to clean much. Kind of pointless!

Chad's Birthday

I know that these pictures are late but these are from Chad's 5th birthday parties.

Aunt Jennifer made Chad the cake.
Papa had to show Chad how to hold his chain saw properly.

Chad cut a kleenex in half with his new chain saw.


Chad found this Lightening McQueen watch and really wanted it. It would have been a great surprise if he wouldn't have found it before his birthday!

Construction Update - Day 6

Chad really wanted to help spread out the crushed rock. Our builder thought he would tire very quickly so gave Chad his tool to use. Finally, I got Chad a rake so that Mr. C could get back to work. Chad have to be redirected to the area to work but he worked almost as long as the builders did!



Today was another big day of construction. The noise was a bigger factor today as they took off the bricks - one by one. Secondly they spread crushed rock - chat up to the top of the bricks.

Tomorrow the plumber is coming and if the rain holds off during the day, they will pour cement this week.

On another note, we sold our old garage door!!! Totally an act of God as our builder said that he has trouble giving them away. Loving craig's list!

BTW - You can click on the pictures to make them bigger

Construction Update - Day 5

Today, the blocks were laid for the foundation. We are really starting to see the outline. Unless the rain keeps them out, the bricks will be taken off of the side of the house tomorrow and the plumber is coming Wednesday!



You can see the back porch outline is going to change a little as we are extending out the porch to meet the new back stairs.

Chad's Big News

Chad: "I have to tell you a special thing. I asked Jesus into my heart. Because I believe in Him. I want Jesus to help me."

Chad was talking to Daddy tonight and told him that he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart. He said he needed to have Jesus help him make good choices and forgive him for all of the bad choices that he has made. He believes Jesus died on the cross for his sins and arose again! Jesus is in Heaven waiting for Chad.

Cruise - Our Room

Our beloved "travel agent" Sammei was able to find us a free upgrade to some great rooms. On the 4th floor, we had balcony doors that opened to lifeboats. You wonder why we were thrilled with this?? Because instead of having no window whatsoever, we could see around the lifeboats and see the ocean or land. It was a great surprise.

The rooms were visited literally five times a day by the staff to clean the room, make the bed, fill the ice bucket, pull down the bed, and leave us fun towel animals.

In our room we had a couch and little table -another huge bonus! We also were able to check on our kiddos through the internet in our room. This was WONDERFUL and helped Mommy stay sane!

Cruise - Eating

With the average weight gain of 8 lbs on a cruise, the philosophy of many is to "eat until it hurts". Our group took it a step further. Lead by Julie's comment, "the hurt eventually goes away." Amazingly enough, I was by far the smallest eater. Besides me, almost everyone ordered two appetizers, two entrees followed by two desserts every evening. A few had five icecream cones a day! Amazing!



The food was 5 Star and so beautifully presented. By far the favorite was the Warm Chocolate Dessert. It was basically a bowl of brownie batter that had been cooked just enough to have a brownie top.
Our waiters were great. Antara and Mudi were there every evening meal.

We sat close to the window in the formal dining lounge and could see the ocean.

Each night about middle through our 2 hour meals, an announcer would come on the loud speaker and announce "It's SHOWTIME!" That meant that the waiters would prefer a song/dance. Some of them were well known like YMCA but others were created by the ship crew. The last night they sang a song about how sad they were to see use leave. The funny thing is that our waiters had NO beat and couldn't sing either! As soon as our waiter, Mudi, heard the "all call", he would put a napkin around his head. We surprised him one evening by joining him!
For breakfast and lunch we ate at the buffet lounge. There were approx 10 buffet lines to chose from each meal. Some were standard while others changed.

The magician has to be one of the funniest memories of the cruise. One of the first nights he came over to our table to show us some tricks. Moss figured them all out and Nikki ruined one of his magic balls by having it land in Jon's coffee. He never came back to our table!

Construction Update - Day 4

Our builders helped Chad draw his name in the cement.

Today was an exciting day with the cement truck here. It took two trucks to pour 16 yards of concrete into the footings. On Monday, they will start laying the blocks. Our builder plans to start framing next week!!

Cruise - July 4th

It was kind of a bummer being on a boat on July 4th without any fireworks. But at least we were with friends! This was our final day on the boat and was a "Sea Day" so we sat at the pool most of the day.

Michael and Jon got bored at the pool sometimes and so they had to prove their manhood by "strongman contests".


This was the sunrise on our final evening.

Construction Update - Day 3

Today they removed the rest of the dirt needed to level off the ground and dug footings. The rebar is laid and tied ready for cement tomorrow after the inspection! Chad is so excited to see the cement truck. The past few weeks, we have taken a closer look at them as we pass them on the road. Chad has a lot of questions about how they work. Hopefully tomorrow will answer some more "why's".

Construction Update - Day 2

Throughout the construction process, I will try to have Chad do an update. No promises though.

Our Coming Addition

If you guessed that our new addition is a baby - nope. We are adding on to our home. This has been a long time in the making but we are finally starting.

View looking north as the house has been...

Day 1 - New septic tank - we had to move the tank and put in a bigger one.

Donnie - our neighbor - and Chad looking over the process

Day 2 - The driveway & sidewalk was removed. Now trying to level the dirt rock.

Cruise - Kids

The days were never boring at Papa and Grams. The days were filled with fishing, playing with Uncle Heath's toys, and feeding the cat.


Grams' biggest challenge was keeping up with Cole. Thankfully, a friend loaned her a safety gate for the stairs.

Cruise - Isle of Roaton - Day 6

The 3rd stop was Belize but Michael and I stayed on the boat that day since we didn't want to do any excursions.

The final stop on Day 6 was the Isle of Roaton - an island off of Honduras. There was thought that we would not be able to stop due to the coup in Honduras. But the issues were limited to the mainland. Went took a taxi to the West Beach and bought a day pass at a resort. We were able to use their umbrellas and chairs along with the GORGEOUS pool. Michael found some incredible snorkeling but unfortunately didn't find it until we were about to leave and didn't have time to come and get me!

Here is a lookout spot that we went by on the way to the West Beach.

Michael and Jon enjoyed a five mile run along the beach in the incredibly soft sand.

Cruise - Kids Day 4

Day 4 was a big day for the kids.

They ate corn on the cob from the garden.


They played with Cullen and Isaac at the park.


They road or sat on the tractor with Papa.


But the biggest adventure was combining the wheat. We were so proud of Chad who voluntarily got into the tractor with Mr. Todd. He even climbed the ladder to look at a load of grain.