Walls!

The framers arrived last Friday and by Friday afternoon, we had this:

Today is Wednesday and they are already starting on the outside walls of the upper floor!

Decisions, Decisions

Someone not too long ago asked me why, when a person builds a new house, do they paint every room the same color? Simple. By the time you get to the pick-out-the-paint-color discussion, you're done with making decisions. DONE.

Because up to that point, you've had hundreds of conversations like this. (Excuse the incorrect punctuation.)

"Let's pick out your front door. I'll narrow it down to one company to get your started. Here's the catalog.

Do you want steel or fiberglass? (fiberglass)
Do you want mahogany grain, oak grain, or smooth? (mahogany)
Do you want glass in the door? (yes)
How much glass--a sliver (in several different configurations), half, 2/3, or whole? (whole)
Do you want privacy glass or a pattern? (pattern)
What pattern--there are 17 different ones to choose from? (Saratoga)
What size of door? (3' x 6'8" is what the blueprint says)
How about sidelites? (yes)
On both sides or just one? (both)
How wide? (blueprint says 16")
These only come in 10", 12", and 14" widths. (ok, 14" then)
Half glass, 2/3, or full length? (full length)
Clear glass, privacy glass, or the Saratoga pattern? (Saratoga)
How about a transom window above the door? (yes, the blueprint shows a curved transom window)
That pattern doesn't come in a curved option but you could do clear or privacy glass instead if you really wanted a curved one. (no, let's stick with the Saratoga pattern and we'll just do the rectangle)
If you do a transom window the sidelites can only be 12" wide rather than 14". (fine 12" it is)
What color of handles and hinges--8 options. (Black Nickel)
What style of handle--5 choices? (Venture)
What color of sill--4 choices. (Bronze)
Do you want a multi-point locking system? (yes)
Do you want the composite sill and trim so it never rots. (absolutely)
Do you want it to come with a stain kit? (no)
Ok, that's it."

And that's just the front door.

Last week, in addition to the front door, we also picked out the fireplace, started wading through the garage door options, chose the other exterior doors, the front porch concrete color, decided on insulation, and met with the cabinet people. And that's just what I can remember...

So if my family asks me if I want butter with my roll or sugar in my tea at Thanksgiving this week, I might just crawl up in a fetal position in the corner.

Brrrrrrrr!!

The week started out with beautiful weather that Monday night turned COLD. Really cold. Wanting to make our newly poured concrete nice and comfy in our new house, we (the Binder family) tucked it into these insulating blankets...in 25 mph wind. No joke. A 3-ring circus has nothing on us. 

Now to wait for this cold weather to GO AWAY.

Concrete, Sweet Concrete

Our backyard has seen significant changes since this... (click on photos for larger view)

We have finished hauling in and grading the dirt...


...formed the footings...


...poured the footings... (Clark Concrete, St. Joe)


...formed the cement walls (only the walls against the dirt will be cement)...




...poured the cement walls...




....all under the watchful eye of some pretty mean supervisors.


Then they took the forms off.


Placed drain plumbing and filled in floor with rock.


Laid down foam sheets and ran orange water lines for floor heat...


...and placed rebar on top of that.


Then they poured the concrete floor...at 6am! (Advantage Concrete, Hiawatha--best crew in the business!)



The kids loved watching the power trowel...and wanted to try it out!


These guys are top-notch.


With the exception of the piece of lint in my camera lens...doesn't it look sweet?



And now...we're ready for just about anything.



I've finally figured out how to email pictures to this blog, so maybe I can get things posted in a more timely manner!!

Stay tuned, pouring the suspended cement garage floor is next!

The Mountain, Mudballs, Mosquitoes, and the Man

...and MUD. August has proven to be the wettest August anyone can remember around here. Ever. With 600+ loads of dirt in our backyard, I think it is safe to say we have the biggest mud pile in the county.

MOSQUITOES...I also think it is safe to say we have the biggest mosquitoes in the country. Anyone who has visited us in the last month can attest to that fact. Seriously, I took these photos today at 1:45pm, temp around 75ish, full sun, and got bit 3 times. The worker crews are going to love us.

THE MOUNTAIN...Many of you have asked for an update. There's not much to tell, other than this stage of the dirt work is done. I'm anxious for the cement work to begin because, let's be honest, it looks a little crazy around here.

View from the garage door

View from the southwest

View from the end of the driveway

View from the top of the mountain

Most people think we are building on TOP of the mountain. Now THAT would be crazy. No, we are building in FRONT of it. And right against it. The purpose of the dirt is so our garage can be on our main floor, which is technically the upper level. Think of it this way--we are building a one story house with a walkout basement. Except we built the hill first. That's ok if you don't get it. Stick around and I'll keep posting photos.

MUDBALLS...The dirt for our mountain came from a hill we own about 5 miles away. This is some unique dirt. It has ZERO organic matter in it, which is terrible for growing things. (I mean really, we've had 10+ inches of rain in the last month and do you see a SINGLE WEED growing??)  But it is fabulous for drainage and foundation. Wonder how we're going to grow grass? Don't worry, Dustin will lay a foot of good dirt on top when we are done. Anyway, this dirt has another weird feature...

 ...petrified mudballs. These things are everywhere. I could go out and collect 100 of them in probably 5 minutes. But you don't find them unless it rains and then they wash out of the dirt like little treasures. I have no idea what they are, and no one else does either. At first you think they are round rocks, but if you throw them against the cement REALLY hard, they will break and reveal...

Someone did tell us the indians used to collect them and make necklaces out of them. Guess what my family members will be getting for Christmas this year...

THE MAN...More specifically, the UPS man. And the Fed Ex guy. They don't even know where to start with us. This is our driveway.

You just can't get much past the blue box before the dirt begins. And the grass to the left has had an inch or more of water for most of the month of August. So it's sort of like the bear hunt song..."You can't go over it, you can't go under it, you can't go around it..." except the song, for us, ends, "You just can't. Sorry."

PROGRESS...Things are progressing but only on paper at the moment. I'll update again when cement work starts, hopefully in a few weeks!

The Building of a Mountain

I've come to the realization that blogging must be a stress-reliever for me. In 2011 when we were threatened with massive flooding on every level, I blogged about it. Now in 2014 I have a new self-inflicted source of stress: building a new home. In our back yard. If you'd like to follow along on our little adventure, this is the place to find updates.

We have known for about 10 years that we would eventually build. Although our current home looks nice on a surface level, it has some significant structural problems--foundation, mold in the crawl space, rotting wood everywhere, and I do mean everywhere...not to mention FREEZING COLD floors in the winter. Oh yes, and the skunks. But basically, the house is just worn out, from the inside out.

We have been meeting with an architect and builder to design a house that will fit our specific needs. Search as I might, I was unable to find an online house plan that remotely worked for us. For one, we live in the river bottom, and although our home has never flooded (we live 5 miles from the river bank with several levees between) we cannot guarantee how the Army Corp of  Engineers will manage (or mis-manage) the river. We had to prepare for the possibility. (That and the fact that there are rules about new construction in the river bottom...which is a different story all to itself...) Secondly, no house plan I've ever seen includes a master bedroom, an office, and a school room all on the main floor. And try as I might to tweak anything that was remotely close, it just wasn't happening.

After a couple of months of working on the plan, our architect is finishing the final version this week. While we have been working on the paper side of things, we've also been hauling in dirt. Around 600 loads of dirt, to be exact.

Doesn't look too daunting from this view. (To see what it originally looked like, view the previous post.)

This is the view from the garden. You can barely see the roof of our house on the other side.

And this is the view from the barn. Which looks kinda crazy. It IS kinda crazy, although this angle does make it look worse than it is.

Cement work should begin in a couple of weeks. One stark realization we made recently is that our sewer line from our existing house runs right under this mountain. Apparently it has not been crushed under the weight of 600 loads of dirt, but we are worried they might cut through it when they trench the frost footings.

Let's hope my next post is not a picture of an outhouse recently moved into my back yard...

The Beginning

I am in awe as I look at our back yard. Let me show you why.

July 12, 2014

This is the view diagonally across our back yard, shooting from about 10 feet behind the house towards the garden. This (above) was the day we started removing the asphalt behind the garage.

THIS (below) is the exact same shot but taken today, August 3. After several hundred loads of dirt. And this isn't even the best angle. I will try to get some photos that show it a little better. Needless to say, our yard is under some major transformation. More later, but I wanted to get these up for you all to see!

Here is slow transition from one to the other.

2014

The last 6 weeks of 2013 seemed like a literal whirlwind. Worse than our normal whirlwind. There was our homeschool play the end of November, then getting caught up on all of the things that got neglected for the play...workbooks that didn't get checked, lessons that didn't get done, logs that didn't get recorded... Then it was mid-December (!!!!!!) with Christmas preparations, packing, ordering, packing, wrapping, packing...a trip to Colorado for skiing and family Christmas time. PHEW. Then end-of-the-year financial bookkeeping that had been neglected....well...let's just say all year long for a while.

And now it is January 1, 2014. All of that stuff is over, and I'm wondering what to do next. (Dripping with sarcasm!) But the coming of a new year is a good time to reflect on the past and make plans for the future. So, these are my somewhat-lofty thoughts for the next year...

1. Slow Down. When I don't have time to minister to others on a spur-of-the-moment basis, I'm too busy. This is hard for me because apparently I love to pack my schedule full-to-the-brim-full. And I often forget that there are seasons to life, and I am no longer a foot-loose 25-year-old with no children.

2. Read a book. Yes, just one. But one that is not geared for ages 8 and under. Some of you will think this is hilarious because you read ALL::THE::TIME. Well, so do I. But mostly I read my Bible, blog posts, Fox News, and my kids' assignments. I research the best vacuum cleaner to buy and what devotionals I could teach to my Sparks group. I read instruction manuals and put-it-together booklets. And I read tons partial books. You know, like the first 3-4 chapters? I just want to finish ONE book, beginning to end. (Last year I read The Insanity of God by Nik Ripkin, which is excellent and you should absolutely read it if you haven't!) I already know what my 2014 book is: Good and Angry. (See point #3.)

3. Yell less. Don't get the wrong impression. I'm not one of those hysterical angry-eyed Moms that you avoid in the mall. But I do spend almost every day, all day, with all of my children and I get frustrated from time to time. Often that frustration vents in the form of yelling. "I TOLD YOU GUYS WE HAD TO LEAVE AT 3:00 AN HOUR AGO AND NOW IT IS TIME TO WALK OUT THE DOOR AND NO ONE IS REMOTELY READY??? THIS IS VERY DISRESPECTFUL AND WE'RE GOING TO YOUR THING, NOT MINE, AND NEXT TIME I'M GOING TO WALK OUT THE DOOR AND LEAVE YOU ALL HERE AND YOU CAN JUST CLEAN HOUSE WHILE I GO TO YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY." (Don't we say the dumbest things when we're angry?) Don't judge me. I'm just being honest. Yelling doesn't work very well anyway. A sweet friend recommended the book Good and Angry: Exchanging Frustration for Character in You and Your Kids by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller. I'm through the first few chapters and it has been EXCELLENT so far. So if I can accomplish #2 and read this to the end, maybe I can accomplish yelling less!

4. Simplify. I read a blog post recently about getting rid of 2014 things in 2014. That's like 5.5 things a day! It got me to thinking with 6 in our family, if each person "purged" 1 thing a day we'd have this thing almost licked by December! But I want to be realistic. Not that we don't have 2014 things to purge, but I thought we'd start small and see how it goes. So we are getting rid of 6 things a day (1 per person) for the month of January. We'll evaluate after that.

5. Document more. My goal is to scrapbook one simple layout a week (digital scrapbooking, of course!) Did I just write that? One every week?? This will be a challenge. I've done tons of project in the last year, but actual family documentation in the form of scrapbooking has been almost non-existent. So, this is the year to get my booty back in gear!

6. Grow. As a Believer, this goes without saying but I'm going to say it anyway. Every week God pricks me to know Him better, and share Him more. To forgive, to think of others more than myself, have patience, prioritize, be a peacemaker, root out bitterness, not replace Him with other things, practice self-control, not be distracted by the cares of this world. Just to name a few. I'm incredibly thankful for a church that challenges me every week to be more like Jesus, and for friends and family who hold me accountable. I am a work in progress.

Are these resolutions? Not really. Just things to strive for. What are you striving for in 2014?