Owner Building a Home - Day 40 & 41 - So Much Accomplished!

DAY 40

My husband is amazing.  He really is.  He gets up almost everyday at around 5:30am so he can go work on the house in the cool of the morning.  This day was no different.  When I woke up sometime around 8:30, it was raining.  When I called Jay to see what the plan was for the day, he was still working.  Did he and Mr.W stop for the rain?  Nope.  They just carried on.  He suggested that I come at 1pm instead of around 10am like I usually do.  So I spent the morning making one casserole for supper and one for the freezer, did some laundry and dishes and tried to catch up on life around here.  When Mr.E and I arrived around 1pm, it was another beautifully hot and humid day.  Jay and Mr.W had already framed both exterior garage walls.

Shortly after we arrived, Mr.W started setting up the rails so they could make the garage roof on the ground as well.  Actually, the garage roof is also the entire bonus room (our office) in one. The trusses are attic trusses so they are the ceiling, walls and floors all framed together.  It makes the creation of the room really simple but those trusses are much heavier.  Once again, the guys carried them to the rails and laid them down like dominoes then started standing them up.  That room is huge!  Our office will be monstrous.  The ceiling is high enough that Jay could play volleyball!  It is the same size as our living room and dining room in this house combined.  Eventually we can see it becoming a youth hangout room as the kids grow older.  But for now, it will be one fantastically huge and organized office.  It seems huge is easy and organized is the challenge!

 

While the guys were busy carrying trusses, Mr.W got me to make a few overhangs for the various locations on the roof.  They look like giant ladders which attach to the last common truss and overhang the gable truss.  They are actually quite easy to make.  I ended up making 4 of them.

Jay had other work he needed to do throughout the day so he was in and out but helping here and there when he could.  After supper, we went back to the house and continued to work.  The kids scooted around on the garage pad while I continued to work on the overhangs and Jay nailed all the sheeting on the one side of the roof solid.  He had to be sure to avoid the area spray-painted orange, though.  That is where the roof will be separated to crane it up.  If we nail it solid now, we won't be able to separate them later.  When we crane it up, we slide the roof apart, lift it up, place it on the walls and slide it back together.  Easy peasy.  That is also the reason we are not sheeting up to the peak of the roof.  The crane will need to grab onto the roof somewhere so the straps will wrap around the trusses at the top of the roof.  It will be filled in after the roof is on the house.  The top of the roof is the easier section to work with since you are not hanging over the edge as you would be if you were trying to shingle the bottom 4-feet of the roof.

We ended up working until it was too dark to see what we were doing, somewhere around 10:30pm and fell into bed around 11pm.  But it was a day full of progress and the bonus was that we were finally informed that our mortgage was registered at land titles and we can actually access the money.  Kinda necessary when the building keeps progressing and the bills keep coming!

DAY 41

Today was hot and sunny yet again.  That is the story of the summer - hot and sunny.  But what a busy day!  When I arrived around 10:30 the plumber was on site cutting out openings for pipes and ducts and ventilation. 

Jay and Mr.W finished setting up the remaining few trusses over the lounge (the vaulted ceiling) and installed all the overhangs I made yesterday.  Mr.W told me they looked great and they did! 

Sometimes at the end of Mr.W's day, he gives me a bunch of instructions if he knows we will be working without him.  I don't always write everything down since I rely on my memory and it has served me really well.  What can happen is that I may misunderstand something he has said since this is all fairly new to me or he may miss giving me one particular piece of instruction just because sometimes it is hard to explain every little detail to someone when it is second nature to you.  It kinda makes me nervous and I am always unsure when I arrive back on site with him to see if everything is as it should be.  One of the overhangs was just one of those things.  It was a short one that was in a different spot and it required some special instructions.  I was hoping I got it all correct and I did.  It gives me such a thrill to know that I can do things well even if I don't always understand what I am doing (on the flip side, I get really frustrated when I cannot get things to go the way I want and Mr.W just laughs when he hears me vocalizing my frustrations in a loud manner!)!  The guys continued to set up the remaining attic trusses and finished those.  Though right now the top of the attic trusses look flat, there is actually small little piggy-back trusses that sit on top to give it that peak.  Those trusses are easily moved by a 7 & 9-year old boy so that is what they did!

Mr.W had me build 2 more overhangs for the garage roof today. 

Then they started shingling the roof in the afternoon.  I was busy making an overhang and they were busy working so when I came around to the other side of the roof and saw those beautiful dual black architectural shingles, I cheered!  They look so great!  I was so pleased with the color. 

Before coming to the site yesterday, I was supposed to go to the local hardware store to pick out the color I wanted.  I was undecided between the Harvard Slate and the Charcoal and the Dual Black but I finally went with the black and I am so glad I did!  They are beautiful!  So they worked on the roof and I finished the overhangs and then we almost finished sheeting one gable end and started sheeting the other side of the roof.

It was a full and productive day!  Now it is time to hop into bed and watch a movie - after all, it is Friday night and that's what we do!  Night all!

Day 8 - Window Bucks & Inspection #1

At the end of the day today it was hard to see much difference from the end of the day yesterday.  But since we had worked all day we knew we did something.  One of my first jobs on this gorgeously sunshine-filled day was to vacuum.  Yes, I know, the house isn't even built and I am already vacuuming.  The guys were trying not to make quips about the woman doing the woman's work but somehow they slipped out anyway.  But instead of vacuuming the floors, I was vacuuming the walls. Inside the walls.  Since we had to trim some of the ICF blocks down to size, a bunch of shredded Styrofoam was sitting on the footings inside the walls.  That has the potential to cause seal issues between the footings and the walls and allow moisture through.  We want a good seal with no moisture seepage so I got to vacuum inside most of those blocks.  You remember the picture I showed of the inside of one of the blocks after it was filled with rebar?  Well, that leaves little room to vacuum but I made it work.

Since the walls stand 9'4" tall I first inserted an 8' piece of central vac pipe into the wall.  I attached the shop vac to the end of the pipe and sucked up all the Styrofoam garbage and other litter.  I removed the vac, removed the pipe and moved over 8" to do it all again.  Over and over and over again.  About 125' worth of it (since some of it stayed remarkably free of debris, I didn't have to do all the walls).  Needless to say, I was glad to be done!

While I was vacuuming, Mr.W and Jay were making these bizarre torture devices.  Or what appeared to be torture devices.  Actually they are the insides of the window buck.  A window buck is the framing that goes around the inside of the window openings.  The nails help the concrete to adhere to the window bucks better.  Isn't Mr.W so smart?  He should be, he is an award-winning carpenter!

Once those window bucks were installed, we needed to add bracing to the window openings.  When the concrete is added to the walls, the pressure on the walls and the window openings is huge.  We want the openings to stay the correct size so extra bracing is needed to ensure they are the perfect size for our windows.  (And, yes, it takes me about 2x as long to brace a window as it takes Mr.W but that is okay!)

While we were bracing the windows, the boys were chatting it up, discussing their new rooms and the window seats they would like to have.  Little do they know, it is already in the plans!

Though the kids spend a lot of time running around, climbing hills, digging holes and getting extremely dirty, the boys, especially, are incredibly helpful.  They often ask if there is anything they can do to help so we send them for drinks or for wood or tools or anything else they can do to help (and don't forget all the pictures they take while I am busy working).  We love that they want to help and they love that they can help.

Finally, we also needed to reinforce spots in the ICF walls.  There are certain areas where the blocks had to be cut to size and those areas are most prone to blow-outs (along with a few other areas) when the concrete is being poured in the wall.  Mr.W went around and sprayed those areas red - Jay commented that he felt like we had written a test and those were all the red pen markings saying it was all wrong!  Mr.W just smiled and said they weren't mistakes, just vulnerabilities!  So, Jay reinforced those vulnerabilities now while we are not panicking over blow-outs. 

So, after a productive day today, we only have a little more to do to be all ready to pour the concrete in the walls tomorrow afternoon.  And we even got the go-ahead from the inspector today - our first inspection and we passed!  Woot!  Woot!

Partying over here:

  

Baseball Season 2012

Life may be busy with house building but we still decided to put the kids in sports for the summer anyway.  The oldest 3 play baseball and really love it.  RJ is still in the Rally Cap program, which is an introductory program teaching the kids the basics of hitting, catching, throwing, running the bases, etc.  RJ has been in the program for 2 years already and this is her last year before she moves up a level.  She is the only girl in her age bracket so she is a little disappointed with that.  But, in typical RJ fashion, being with only boys on her team, she is pushed to hit harder and throw farther, showing the boys she can keep up with them.  It is what she does with her brothers all the time!

The boys are in one level up from Rally Cap, called the Rookies.  They are both on the same team, at our request, so we wouldn't have to drive around to too many different places since all 3 kids play baseball on the same night.  This is AJ's first year at this level and Pepe's second year.  Being one of the oldest on his team and the biggest in size, Payton is showing leadership and excelling at the game.  He is an excellent batter and can catch and throw with accuracy.  He enjoys playing various positions on the field but seems to like batcatcher the best!  Though most other kids struggle with keeping that equipment on (it is a little large in size for most of the kids, Adlai especially), it fits Payton perfectly!  He seldom lets a ball get past him and can return them to the pitcher with ease!  I love watching him play with excitement and passion out there. 

Since this is Adlai's first year at this level, this is his first year playing a game setting so he is still getting used to the basics, like running after he hits the ball.  At the Rally Cap level, he had a hitting station so he never ran after he hit the ball.  Now in Rookies, he actually has to run!  He is getting used to it and will do just fine.  He also has to get used to hitting from pitches instead of just from the tee.  But it is fun to watch him enjoying himself rather than playing begrudgingly, as he did with soccer.  He is not an athlete like his brother but being the youngest on the team, he will be pushed to rise to a higher level, which is good for him. 

I love to see our kids involved in some sort of sport and to play with a team, meeting new people, listening to other adults, and learning a new skill.  We don't have them in activities all year round since it would make us far too busy.  But, for now, the soccer and baseball season is just 2 months long and is very affordable, so this is the route we have taken for our kids.   This year RJ is playing both baseball and soccer, each only 1 day a week.  AJ and Pepe are only playing baseball which is twice a week.  Though we have had the boys in soccer in the past, AJ really did NOT like it so he is not continuing.  Pepe would enjoy soccer but it has conflicted with baseball in the past and with his sport-induced asthma, running for soccer caused a lot of coughing attacks.  Baseball is better for him physically and, though he complains about not being able to do both, once the season has started, he enjoys baseball thoroughly and doesn't miss soccer at all.  I am one of those noisy moms that yells out encouragements to the kids and insists on being at every game possible.  I want them to know I support them and am there for them every step along the way! 

Did you play sports as a kid?  How was that experience for you?  Maybe someday I will share about the one and only year I played basketball as a grade 8 girl!  Memorable, for sure!  :)

PS:  1 WEEK!!!!!

School. Is. Out!!

Yes, the Falk Academy of Learning is official out for the year! Yippee (insert happy dance here)!! Well, to be truthful, AJ has a couple of pages left in his math workbook but none of it is new information and therefore very independent work. Both boys have been finished with their Language and Phonics for about 3 weeks and geography was finished about 2 weeks ago. Science was completed today as we finished the last couple of pages in Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day (which we all loved - next year it is Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day!). These are the two lap books they made that accompany that study.

I bought them through knowledgeboxcentral (I think) and though it was great for me as it was the first lap book we did, I won't buy the pre-made ones again. I have a specific way I like to do the lap books utilizing the space the best way possible and as many different fonts as necessary to make it artistically fun to look at. I also cannot stand when the text box has been left around the text or when all cutting lines and folding lines appear the same as a solid black line (for me, solid lines are cutting lines, dotted lines are folding lines).

Back to the point! Though I am glad that school is done for now, I really enjoyed teaching the kids this year. It is certainly a stretching experience, mostly in my character development, but I am so thankful yet again that I have the freedom to teach my family throughout the day about more than just school subjects! We are able to have great talks, lots of laughs (admittedly, some tears), fun activities and a whole lot of together time. I always say that we will take this homeschooling journey one year at a time but I am positive we will be embarking on this journey yet again come September. After all, I received their geography curriculum for the next couple of years this week and I am excited to start prepping it!

So, what now? Well! Let's see, there is major organizing/decluttering/cleaning that needs to happen, some painting, a few beds need to be built, a bunch of sewing to complete to name just a few summer projects. I MUST learn to manage my time better. I am a terrible time manager and yet I still manage to accomplish a good deal. Not as much as I would like but enough. Imagine all I could accomplish if I would manage my time better. A few things I would like to see happen that are seriously lacking right now - quiet time for me each morning, a time to workout each day and time to craft/create each week plus a better cleaning routine. Those are things that are of utmost importance to me so this summer I must learn to manage my time! I some tools to help with that so we shall see how that goes. But, for the remainder of this week, I will just marvel at what we accomplished this year and do a bit of cleaning. Maybe we will take a day to spend in the country doing some more tree-clearing there. That is, if it stops raining!

Any plans for your summer?

Easter at Nana & Papa's

Easter is such an important celebration around here as we remember the death and sacrifice of Jesus, the Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer. That redemption, of course, is only possible because of his resurrection and I look forward to tomorrow when I can say with utmost certainty (well, I can say it all the time, not just tomorrow) that HE'S ALIVE and I'm forgiven!! Amen and amen!

Part of the celebrations of this weekend included a trip to Nana & Papa's place, who happen to be my parents. They live about 40 minutes away so we don't get over there all that often but it is always a whole lot of fun when we do! That Papa sure loves to tease our kids and they sure love to play with him!

After a wonderful meal, Papa hid the Easter bags and the kids went hunting!

Maybe next time Papa should hide AJ's bag in a slightly lower location :)

After the treats were found, eggs were decorated! I don't have any photos since I was busy helping the boys to make tie-dye eggs and the girls to make sparkle eggs (Papa sure picked some great decorating kits and was helping out the whole time!). Then after the eggs, the kids needed a play break so Papa's motorcycle became the jungle gym for a bit! I am sure there will need to be a bit of polishing after all those little fingers were all over it!

Then the Easter bread (Paska) had to be decorated. Traditionally, when my dad was a little boy, the paska was baked in tin cans instead of bread pans. That way each child received their own round mushroom-shaped paska. This year my mom indulged the memories of my dad's childhood and baked him and each of the grandkids their own paska in a tin can. They each iced the bread and sprinkled it full of sprinkles. I must say that eating it is the best part!

After everyone else had gone home, out came the water and the kids chased Papa (or Papa chased the kids) in a water fight! So much laughing and running! Papa is such a big kid at heart and it makes the kids love him even more! The memories they will take with them through life will always be of a Nana and Papa that loved them very much and showed it in such fun and memorable ways. Thanks, mom and dad, for showing the love of that Risen Savior to our children each and every time we see you! I love you!