New house as of 12/11/10

The framers are out working in subfreezing weather. That has to be one of the coldest jobs, brrr! But I appreciate it. They have framed the second story now and are framing the roof this week. Here's a view out the library from the upstairs.
a look at the front. You can see they started the roof rafters somewhat. It's going to be a 12 pitch roof so it will be pretty tall and steep.

Sam was out there freezing with me. Here's the upstairs landing or playroom according to the plans.

A look out the two story foyer window.

Race photos--finally

So I recently was emailed these pics of us in our half marathon in October. It's kind of fun to see action shots:) Now that it's cold and running has become much harder, I can't even imagine running that far. We'll have to get back in shape next spring.

Although it looks like I'm leading in this photo don't be misled. I was tailing behind trying to keep up with my husband.

Christmas Cousins

Ashton was ice fishing at the children's museum with his cousins, Emma and Ava. Lucas love playing in the christmas kitchen.

Ava Lee with Santa.

Emma wasn't too sure about him.

And that's the closest that Ashton would get to Santa. One can never be too cautious.

First story framed

Here's a good view from the second story out the library window; I think? and you can see the insulated panels we're using instead of traditional framing. The SIPS company cut them to our specifications at their plant and the framers fit them together on site. They are pretty heavy so they needed a crane to start on the second story.

A view from the back. The windows starting closest to you are the master bedroom, the great room and dining room accordingly.

Air band

Building and more

This weekend we visited the building site and saw the improvements being made. Here is the view out the back of the house overlooking the woods and the septic field. A view of the newly poured basement. The framing crew came and framed the whole basement and put the floor on the main level in one day. Pretty fast!

The view of the backside where we can walk out of the basement.

From the front. The garage is on the left and you can see the beginnings of the stair case on the main level when you walk in the front door from the nonexistent porch.

And, here's us. We attended the hospital gala and had a kid free night out. Just to let you know how small and close his hometown is, at the table we were seated he went to church growing up with one girls ex-high school boyfriend, and the couple at our left went to high school with Cinnamon (his older sister). The other couple is in charge of finding couples who want to be the nights entertainment and do dancing with the stars to raise money for the hospital. I think we're on her list now. Overall, it was a fun night of dancing and eating.

Ashton sings the ABC's

Construction Update

Here are the first pics of our ICF basement. The blue you see are the styrofoam forms that are filled with cement which will make for a very insulated house. The black area will be the front porch. Here is the side shot of the garage.

Now we're down in the basement looking out the backside of the house towards the woods. The septic system is already put in and the only approved place by the soil engineer and the health dept. is in the woods. A couple friends cleared the trees and now we have a ten person capacity septic system. Why so big? Well, they count bedrooms and multiply by two not the actual number of people going to be there. "And what's that room over there?" "um, another study" " and that room over there?" "an exercise room?" Sure, we'll go with it or we would have had a septic system the size of the entire woods:) Rest assured that when you all come to visit there will be plenty of room for...whatever.
The other corner of the garage.

The garage straight on. You can see the pond and pier in the background which will be our view from the front porch.

After 8 months of planning, a couple builders, dozens of different plans, we're finally starting! It's been a whirlwind of architects, engineers, and government offices, but it will be worth it in about 6 months. To come: the SIPS on the main and upstairs levels. Those are also very high energy 6 in. thick solid foam panels that are precut for the house. It's like putting together a puzzle and gluing all the seams.

Trunk or Treat

We missed our ward's Trunk or Treat because we went to see our dug out basement (pics of the home construction coming soon). On Sat. we arrived home at five and needed to leave at 5:30. We actually weren't planning on going until friends from this ward invited us to go. Oh, and it's a chili cookoff. Right, we need a pot of chili, four kids dressed in costumes, and the dirt and grime from being out in the country overnight off in the next 25 mins. Luckily, the church is 5 mins. away. Well, I ended up making vegetarian chili since meat would take too long to defrost. I threw in some zucchini and corn, etc. When my back was turned Ashton dumped in some ginger. I tried to scoop it out; add a little tabasco sauce and some more cumin. Done, call it good. The boys had a great time and we got to see friends that we don't normally see and their candy I will say was much bigger and better than our wards. Also, the funniest part is I ended up winning the chili contest. I didn't see that one coming:)

Our Races

Indianapolis Half-Marathon: 1:53:19
This is Kelley, the only smart one among us, although Marie was smart enough to climb in with her later.

Isn't it convenient how the race ended in our driveway? Immediately after getting home Marie wanted to go garage sale shopping down the street... so we raced to it.

The Mighty Mississinewa Triathlon- Sept. 11, '10
I whooped him in the water (by 4 minutes), but since he had a head start, we got out together and enjoyed a brisk 17 miles in the 45 degree, gale force wind, pouring rain, beautiful day. Luckily the rain let up for the run, and our toes thawed out by mile 3.

Lucas and his hat

He just played and played with this hat. It was sooo cute. Here he's talking on the phone.

Now he's eating it.

Not wanting to wear it.

Let's share.

A boy and his grandpa

The boys had a great time catching fish last weekend with grandpa. It seemed like a line went in and a fish came out. It was amazing.

Taylor's Baptism

Birthday Suprise

I remember when I was younger, my sisters and I making secret potions. We would go through my mom's herbs and spices and make nasty smelling and tasting potions and try to get people to taste them. Well, for my birthday Devin and Ashton were insistent that I needed a cake. Since my DH was working a 24 hr. shift I wasn't going to mess with it until he came home the next day. The boys started mixing and stirring and made me a garlic, pickled, basil cake. Yummy!

Ashton wanted to cook it in the firepit.

My first Triathalon

Well, I survived and have a shirt to prove it. Here I am in my stunning helmet with my nice borrowed bike. I love nice friends (thanks Sharon & Co.). It was lightning and thunder all night beforehand; I kept waking up thinking, they're not having it. It cleared up though and the weather was great. Besides some small equipment problems--goggles leaking, sunglasses steaming, etc.--I think it went well. My transition times were great and I got 10th in my 25-29yr. old bracket. I will complain that they had me down as 29 when I am still 28 for another two weeks. I've got to keep it while I can. I felt like I couldn't move going to each event until the old muscles turned off and the new ones turned on; a very different feeling then just running. Now what should I do next?

Taylor's Eighth Birthday

Taylor finally had a birthday party at home on Friday since he's been gone at grandma's over his official birthday. He's excited with a handmade cake from dad. You can tell which side is for the parents and which side is for the kids. Hmmm, let me see--fresh raspberries with chocolate or nerds and sour worms? That's a toughy. Lucas is enjoying the celebration and loving the cake. I think he'll never want his bland oatmeal again.

My he's getting so big. We spent all day at the water park so I hadn't even had time to change (hence the birthday cake made by dad; we swam, then grocery shopped to kill time to pick up my triathalon packet which wasn't available until 5pm since the race was the next day--fun times). I'm still taller, but he keeps measuring. I'm sure it won't be long until I'm looking up at him.

They were doing little poses over his presents after he opened them. He was so excited and grateful. It makes me think of Harry Potter's cousin who threw a fit because there were only 37 presents at his party instead of 38 like the year before. I'm so happy Taylor is happy with what he gets and not the number. One of our quotes we learned from grandma and use often is, "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit". How true!

He feels pretty mighty. We've been playing games since he opened his presents, and yes gramsy's gift has 570 pieces. Thanks mom:)