PartyTime!

The insulation is in and we have passed inspection. Time to start closing up the walls!  

We have gone from drab...

...to fab!

Well...it feels like it anyway. 

Here is a glimpse if things to come. We have put up a few of our wood walls already. 

Perhaps we are in the home stretch!

Looking for the Beautiful

I feel like these flowers capture the essence of our 2014 winter so far.  I bought them at Trader Joe's the other day while they were still closed up: the hope of beauty hidden, but possible.  So over the last couple days, they have struggled to open, made it about halfway and are now shriveling back up.

Depressing, I know.

That's how I've felt over the last couple months.  Just being honest, here.  We will get hopeful news from a contractor and then wait, and wait, and wait some more for something beautiful to happen.  And when it doesn't happen, it's like my hope shrivels up inside.

Last week, I realized I've come to the absolute end of my strength when it comes to waiting.

But, I had a great cry with Scott over it and then got some wonderful encouragement from friends.  A couple lines from a Sara Groves song keep going through my head:

"In the trial, in the trial

I learned to hold on

to the heart of God."

I'm so thankful that I can throw all my emotions "at God" in these times and He is solid and strong and His heart is good.  He brings deliverance when we put our hope in Him.

So...I am confident that this winter will end and Spring will arrive and we will be able to be honest when we are at the end of our own strength and will carry on in the Lord's.

And hiking in the sunshine helps, too.

New kit

Of course we will support whatever she chooses to play, but we are hoping that her desire to sleep in these is a sign of her future in futbol! 

Beauty in the Everyday

Snow

We have had a lot more snow this winter compared to last year. Keep it coming!

Little Old Man

The 100th day of kindergarten was last week.  Here's our little old man...so cute, isn't he??

He completed his outfit with the pocket watch he got for Christmas!

A little more progress

We had some help yesterday and got a lot accomplished as a result.  In addition to some work in the crawlspace (much needed, but never providing much "wow" effect), we cleaned up, laid some hardwood floor AND the guys finished another interior wall with "shiplap."  After they were finished, I realized that for the first time in more than a year, I couldn't walk in between the studs to get to the master bedroom.  I actually had to walk down the hall and go through the doorway!

Once we finish the flooring, we hope that the HVAC guys will return and finish their work so we can turn on the heat.  If we have heat, the plumber will come and repair the pipes that have broken during the MD deep freeze and we won't have to worry about them cracking again.  After the plumber, then the insulation...to keep the heat in and to satisfy the inspector and move on to the next phase of our permitting.  Approval on the insulation would be a huge step because then we could start closing up all the walls.  Talk about wow effect; that would be awesome!  I can't even imagine.

Here are a few pictures of the new wall.  It starts behind the front door, goes up over the entry to the dining room, moves up the stairs and then continues down one side of the upstairs hall, running up and around both the guest bathroom and master bedroom doors.  Compared to the studs we've been looking at for so long, it looks warm and inviting doesn't it?

Here are a few of the pictures of the hardwood floor.  It's only about 45 sq ft, but at least it covers the hole we've had for the last month or so.  A while back we had to rip out a significant portion of the dining room floor because so many of the boards were damaged in one way or another.  We cut out the bad, saved the good, re-laid the good and now that we're out of the original have started laying the new.  I don't know how many months we have had a big hole there (a hole that a forgetful bidder fell through yesterday!) so it's nice to have the walkway from the hall to the dining room covered up.  If we tried to refinish the floors the new, white pine would not match up with the old, heart pine so my God-given, brilliant idea is to just paint the entire dining room / kitchen floor.  Problem solved.  Now on to the kitchen floor (which has been missing for more than a year)!

Progress!  It's starting to feel a little more like a home...sort of.

Winter Games

After a few weeks of freezing temps here, the ponds behind Mom and Dad's house have finally frozen solid.  Yesterday we went out for some winter playtime. 

Gus cleared off the snow and we did some speed skating races.  

Fun memories were made! 

I say if it's gotta be winter, it might as well be super cold and snowy like this winter has been.

Pre-Snow Dinner

Been to the store. Played outside while it's still warm. Dinner on the stove.

Now hoping for a big one!

Yummy!

Tooth Two!

Gus lost his second tooth just now. This one he removed by himself! The little man is growing up. 

Just a Glimpse

Slowly making some progress. Here is a glimpse of what our walls will look like. We have taken 8 1/4 inch wide wood flooring and run it horizontally, leaving a small gap in between each board to create the feel of old ship lap. It's fun to imagine what it will all look like when all the walls are covered. We're still a ways off though. Pray for us!