Shutters and a Porch

Take a look at our latest finishing touches!Shutters!
A cute front porch!

We Passed!!!

Okay, I have never been a fan of tests, and inspections have an even more nasty connotation to them as far as I am concerned. So, needless to say, I was approaching today's FINAL inspection with the city on our house with some serious trepidation.

The inspector arrived, more or less on time, took a relaxed stroll through the new part of our house...checked some outlets, checked the smoke detectors, scribbled a few scribbles on his important pad of something something, and next thing I know, I am reading the word...

"PASSED"

I could hardly believe it. I didn't expect any major problems, but to PASS?! Too good to be true.

The only negative thing to come out of the experience, was that all of our smoke detectors are wired together, so when one goes off, they all go off. By the time he finished testing each one, they were all chirping like an aviary because of low batteries. So I changed all of the batteries...no small feat but that would take too long to explain why that is...anyways...continuing on...after all that, two lonely co detectors were chirping. I decided to ignore them. That worked for about 10 minutes, until the kids started getting irritated. When your kids are irritated, it is a short road to your own irritation. TWO HOURS later, and lots of undercover swear words, I silenced the chipper beasts. Nothing is broken, no one is worse for wear, but it definately has me rethinking the logic behind this modern day marvel.

A Roof Over Our Heads

Lookie Lookie!

It is hard to believe that a few short days ago, this was just a big cement hole. Three of the four walls and the chimney are now up. Paul works so fast...he's amazing. Even more amazing because every two seconds I find Aeden out there crouched next to him trying to help. He screams "I elp Paul! I elp Paul!" as I carry him away :)

For kicks, I thought I'd give you a quick rundown of everything we've gotten done in the past few days:

• take out chimney
• take out old plumbing
• rough in new plumbing
• take out moldy bathroom linoleum
• take out old old windows from future dining room. I got both windows out, and only broke one pane....not great, but not bad.
• start taking out the banister
• haul off wood on the north of the yard
• and so much more (at least I think there should be more...I just can't think right now).
  

Walls!

The Chimney and The Floor: Or How Bryan and Alex Threw Their Backs Out For A Week

What an eventful last couple of days it has been. Yesterday, I met with our plumber and our heating guy. The plumber got a lot started, and he said that he will have pretty much everything finished other than the finish work (putting on the new toilet, sinks, etc.) by Tuesday night. Crazy! Then the heating guy said he could be finished with everything in the existing part of the house by Thursday or Friday. More craziness! One little catch though...we have to have the following done by Monday morning:

• Take out the tub
• Take out the tile and 1st layer of paneling on all the walls in the bathroom
• Take out the toilet
• Take out the sink in the bathroom
• Take out the tile in the bathroom and the wonderboard
• Take out the last remaining kitchen cabinet
• Oh yeah...and take out this HUGE chimney...the whole thing...like from up on the roof...in the attic, and into the basement.

That's cool. No big deal...but add 4 beautiful yet slightly needy children into the mix and it's a happy thought in the making.

So...Alex and Danelle came to our rescue and helped us get a lot done tonight. Danelle, in her delicate state, was sentenced to hanging out with Asher. That was no small task considering how pukey she feels right now, and Asher has volitile bowel movements. Alex took on the task of helping Bryan take down the chimney. They started on the roof with a methodical brick-by-brick plan of action. Then, Bryan went to work in the attic while Alex went to town on the kitchen. He probably won't be able to walk tomorrow...but he gotterdone! We'll work on the attic and the basement tomorrow. Where to put all the brick???? Hmmmm.....

Also today, Paul (our contractor) was able to saw off the top part of that wall of the foundation that tried to fall down, replace those rebar screw things, and get the floor on...all today! Incredible. It's getting easier to imagine it turning into a place we can actually live. That funky looking floor piece is actually where our future chimney will go. We were going to put it in right now, but figured we'll hang loose and maybe put it in when we do the garage in a year or two.

Here are some pics of the floor going on. It was too dark to take a pic of it totally covered...but you get the idea.

So what if one wall is an inch higher!

Well, we found out from the engineer, that we'll have to saw off that inch on the west wall of the foundation and redo the rebar things. I was hoping that would get done today, but no such luck :( I am not sure how far this is going to set us back, but I can't complain...things moved so quickly for a while there. A set back or two was pretty much inevitable. The plumber and the heating guy are coming out later this week to start working on the existing part of the house. I am very happy about that, and I'm hoping their part of things will move quickly. We can move into the house without the addition done, but we can't move in without a toilet or stove :)

Just a quick note...

We heard from Dr. Oka a couple days ago, and it looks like we may be back to square one...again :) The blood tests came back "inconclusive"---I don't know if that means negative or really confusing. His one doctor wanted a couple days to pour over his medical books and Bryan's chart, and then he'll go from there. I think I jinxed us, being so sure it was lupus. I'm secretly (well, I'm writing it on a blog...that's not such a big secret now is it hahaha) hoping that they come back and say it really is lupus, but I don't know how likely that is.

Pumping Pandemonium!

Today's adventure comes courtesy of the cement pump truck. I had never watched one of these up close and personal, it was really quite fascinating!

I'm not great at explaining, but here's my best effort :) On the west wall...the old laundry room just has a cinderblock foundation, and it doesn't go all the way down to the existing basement...it's more of a slab. So when the foundation guy dug the hole, he had to dig a little under that slab...it was kind of weird to see it look like the house was hanging.

So anyways, there is not enough room between the house and where the new wall has to be for the normal supports, so instead, they braced the forms up with 2x4's. I think if it had been a normal cement truck, there wouldn't have been a problem...cement comes out of those kind of like lava. With the pump truck, it's more like water out of a fire hose! With all that pressure, the cement on the footings where the rebar was started popping off like shrapnel (sp?). So they stopped, braced it up some more, and went for it again. This time, those big 2x4's started shimmying and shaking, and even bowing! Everyone was really nervous it was going to break out, and we'd have 80 tons of cement to clean up...not to mention how badly someone could have been hurt, so things were a little tense. Reed, our cement guy was so cute...he's been careful not to smoke when he's at our house because I usually have the kids with me, but he couldn't help himself... he was so nervous I think he went through a whole pack of smokes while they were doing that one wall :) Poor guy! But it ended well, the wall held, and it looks like it's going to be straight, so he's happy.

Cruising Right Along!

Here is how the hole looks today...can you see one of my big windows in our new family room?!? Crazy huh! The cement guy was stressing out because he had to move a window over 6 inches or so to make room for the stairs. I guess he thought we would be upset about it, and I was like, are you kidding me??? I am going to have huge windows in my basement...why would I care where they are? Apparently he must get yelled at a lot or something, poor guy :) He seemed to relax after that. They got the wall forms all in today. One of the city inspectors stopped by today while I was there...that was a lot less of a big deal than I thought it would be...phew!

The cement truck with the big long pump will come in the morning to do the walls. Wednesday they will take off the forms. Thursday we will paint the foundation with this moisture block stuff, Friday the guy is coming to backfill it, and then Monday, he will do the basement floor. As of right now, that means framing will start next week! I am a little in awe of how quickly things are finally moving...actual progress...it's nuts!

The hole in the ground...

The kids holding perfectly still so they can watch the "digger" in action!

Right here where they are digging will be the new family room (in the basement) and 2 new bedrooms on the main floor. We told Liah and Zerin they could have the new bedrooms if they would like. Liah told us yesterday, she didn't want the new room anymore, because she doesn't like sleeping on dirt :)

I found out today that our appraisal came in right where we needed it to. The good news is it came in right where we needed it to. The in-between good news is that we don't really have a buffer to leave the basement or bedrooms unfinished like we were hoping to save money, but hey, we'll have a whole house :)

Bryan's tests are all done, so we are now just waiting.

That's all folks....

Moving forward!

It looks like things really are moving forward! With any luck (or rather miracle) we are hoping to close on our new home by around the 18th. The appraiser is coming out in the morning, so things are moving right along.

I went to Lumber Liquidators today....wow do I love that place! We are going to get almost twice the floor for the same price as a cheap floor there...and it's gorgeous...I can't wait to show ya'll! It looks so pretty with the cabinets and the counters we picked out...I am having a hard time believing that this all might actually come together. Bryan's Dad has been working tirelessly, and not only has he helped us patch the walls where the brick was disintegrating, but he also has over half of the basement cleaned out. It is so humbling, knowing how he is feeling, that he would work so hard for us.

More Progress!

Guess what?!? We are inching ever so much closer to our goal of finishing our house...or at least starting it :) Today, we got all the paperwork to the bank and are waiting to see what they say. Since we no longer have buyers for our current home, we have to find out if we can move forward now, or if we have to rent it out in order to qualify. We should know that in a couple days. You would think that with that kind of prospect, I would be stressing over all this uncertainty, but I have had the most peaceful feeling all day. It is wonderful :)

Our sweetheart of a contractor even showed up this morning with all of our bids and everything else we need for the city (we are just waiting on one last thing before we can send that in....I'm hoping to take it tomorrow). He has been going through a very difficult time in his family, so it has been even more humbling that he has been willing to help us. He is so honest and humble and kind... he has really helped me realize how important it is to be that way even when your life is in chaos.

Then to add a cherry to my dessert of a day, I took the van in to get inspected and registered (can I just tell you I love one stop shopping!), and I was in and out within 5 minutes!!! It passed, no problems!!!! Miracle of miracles :)

The Saga Continues...

Good news for the day:
-We are having a cousin party...11 kids including my own at one point (2 babies, a 2 year old, a three year old, two 4 year olds, three 6 year olds, a 9 year old and a ten year old). I love having a full house. We watched Mr. Magorium and Bridge to Terabithia on the projector with some fabulous microwave popcorn.

-My cousins' 91 year old grandma went through the temple today for the first time...how cool is that?!?

-We got our structural engineering stuff back. Not really sure what that means, but I know we need it, so woo hoo!

-Bryan got into the doctor, and the doctor is cool! He wears hawaiian shirts, drives an old, beat up truck and saw Bryan for over an hour!!! Hoe-Lee Cow!

-I successfully got all 8 children to sleep before midnight...my house is now silent!

-Bryan's doctor says that all the other doctors Bryan has gone to in the past took it upon themselves to tell him what he didn't have, but that his job is to figure out what Bryan does have.

-On his to do list, the doctor even wrote "follow this through to the end." Kind of sweet :)

-The doctor says that since he has had these problems for 3 years, it most likely isn't something scary.

Optimistically-challenged news for the day:
-I didn't get pictures of today with all the kids because...did I mention I had 11 kids here?!? I will try again tomorrow.

-It looks like the sale fell through on our house...again. Kind of a bummer, they are really nice people.

-Our house project has become a circle....see below.

In order to get our loan, we have to rent out our house

To rent out our house, we have to move to our new house

To move to our new house, we have to finish the kitchen and bathroom (at least)

To finish the kitchen and bathroom, we need a loan

Repeat.

-Bryan's doctor says that since Bryan has had his problems for 3 years, they are probably here to stay. He will have a bunch of tests in a couple weeks, so we'll see what that brings, but just having someone validate Bryan that there really is a problem was a great step for him.

Tough as a pioneer...

So today, it was all about the fireplace. No small task considering that we know the person that originally made it...Bryan's Dad! Let me just take a minute to tell you about his dad. You will never meet a tougher man. I am nearly convinced that he was one of the original pioneers...just sent down 100 years too late. He can make ANYTHING out of pretty much nothing. Camp with him was an adventure in and of itself...no other camping trip have I cooked stew with a blow torch, used a cammode as a toilet, or had a tarp big enough to cover half of the uintahs!

So this fireplace he made was as well made as anything I have ever seen. Completely level...bricks spaced perfectly...fans built in...I marveled all day as it slowly came down. It was sturdy enough to outlast the house...and probably the neighborhood :) It has been heartwrenching to decide to take it out, but we kind of have to...so sad (it is so heavy, that in spite of steel reinforcements in the crawlspace, the floor is sinking).

We chipped away a little at it yesterday...making it about halfway down one side of the right hand wall. So today we went crazy...taking out nearly all of it. We even found 2 skeletons buried in the rubble...they were only mice... but STILL ...SKELETONS! The other noteworty item we found was a half-melted golf ball. I didn't know they could melt, but yep.

We even uncovered the original window...it is the only original window in the whole house. We were sad because it lasted this long, but one faulty swing with a sledgehammer, and the glass was gone :(

But still...it is amazing to look at. In the frame above the window, you can see the notches from when it was hand tooled. Fascinating stuff. Aeden, Zerin and Liah even got in on the action. They chipped away a good chunk of the lower part of the brickw0rk. A bunch of hard little workers to be sure.

Who needs a gym membership when you can take out a fireplace??? Seriously though...I think I'd rather go to the gym...I am so sore!

Progress...Part 1 (AKA...The Tile Floor)

At long last we are finally making some noticable headway on our house. Today, thanks to Bryan's dad's plethora of tools and some really well behaved kids, we got the tile floor up pretty quickly, and even made some good headway on the walls. Bryan and I really got in a groove after a while, it was fun. We don't get to do projects together very often, so this was an unexpected treat. The kids were all helping Grandpa move rocks (no this wasn't a punishment...they loved it!) and Asher took a really long nap, so we got tons done...it felt amazing. The best part was Bryan's sweaty hugs throughout the day. I used to think sweaty boys were so gross, but now that I have one, there's nothing better (unless of course it's a clean boy hahaha).

We uncovered about 4 layers of wallpaper underneath the paneling. Wow this house has history :) I kept scraps so I could scrapbook them, along with a playing card that came from Wendy's...all sorts of treasures. One other really fun thing was uncovering the old chimney that used to be for the kitchen stove when the home was originally built. It is in remarkable shape, and it's just fun to literally peel back the history of this house.

Our only "bummer" of the day was uncovering some mold :( Not too excited about cleaning that up, but it's only in one small spot...so here's hoping cleanup goes well. And only 2 injuries...Bry got a blister from using this 10 foot long crow bar, and Aeden was pushing Asher around in the stroller and accidentally dumped him. Luckily, he was belted in so all he did was scuff his little nose. It was soooo sad, but kind of cute at the same time.

We also ripped up the carpet in the master bedroom. The floors are actually really nice...the floor is just sinking so we'll still have to take them up unfortunately. When you look in the heat registers, it is awesome because you can see the original wood plank floor...it is so neat. It was the best July 5th I can remember :)

Anticipation...

Many (or at least some) of you know that we are in the process....the very very L O N G process of getting a new home. This started back in February and here we are, inching our way along. This home is an amazing 130+ year old home, built by one of the original families here in our area. We will be updating and adding onto it, and wow...if it turns out half as nice as I'm imagining, I will be so happy. It may not look like much now, but it is going to be our home...the place where Asher will learn to walk, where Aeden will learn to ride a bike, and where Zerin and Liah will embark on hundreds of adventures together.

Our construction plans are nearly finished, and then comes the fun part....CONSTRUCTION!!! I've made no secret of the fact that I never wanted to build (or majorly overhaul), mostly because I am an instant gratification kind of girl, and this waiting business just isn't my cup o' kool-aid. But look at me, here we are...moving forward and I haven't died from impatience yet, so yea me :)

Right now, I'm crossing my fingers to be in it by Christmas, but we'll see. I can almost say I am ready for anything, but if I have learned anything over the last 2 years, it's that you NEVER say you are ready for anything, unless of course you want "anything" to happen.

I also have to tell you about my very very favorite painting. A few years ago, I was helping my roommate with some kids she nannied, and hanging in their home was this painting. I just stared at it for the longest time. It had such a powerful message...wow. Then, I forgot about it for a while, only to stumble on it again not too long ago while looking for something else on the internet. I was immediately drawn to it again, so now I want to put this in my new dining room where me and my family can look at it every day. The title of it is "Ten Lepers Healed" by Brian Kreshisnik. He describes it as kind of a "you are here." map. He says he always wants to identify with the one leper that returned in thanksgiving to the Savior, but realistically, he more often than not falls into the larger category. I feel the exact same way. I want to think that I am fairly grateful...but often my gratitude is compelled by difficulty, frustration, or a lack of getting what I want. I just love love love it.