Day 21 - Finally Framed!

It is hard to believe we have been at this for 3 weeks already!  It is hard to believe that 3 weeks ago we still had a flat and bare country property.  It is hard to believe all that I have learned about myself, my hubby and building a house over these past 21 days.  It has been joyful and challenging and wonderful and full of frustrations and really unbelievable.  I never imagined I would have been an integral part of each and every step of building our house.  It has been thrilling!

Today it was just Jay and I (and the kids) for the majority of the day.  Mr.B and Mr.W had other appointments so it was up to Jay and I to frame and lift the last 2 exterior walls.  It was another hot and humid day and working hard like that makes it seem even more hot.  I was sweating a ridiculous amount!  But we finished framing both of those walls.  When it came time to lift the first wall (about 15' long), we enlisted the help of a young, strapping, and strong 9 year-old we knew.  It was heavy work but we managed!  (Next 4 photos courtesy of our 7 year-old son)

As we were framing the second wall, it was fun to watch the kids have a Pepsi break in the wee bit of shade now afforded by the exterior walls!  Water and milk are the normal beverages around our home so offering them Pepsi is a treat!

When it came time to lift the second wall, a 29' wall, we knew we would either need the help of a few more adults or we could use the wall jack.  Remember, I talked about how wonderful it was yesterday?  Well, it helps if you know how to set it up.  Jay couldn't figure it out and it was getting hotter by the moment as the frustrations grew so we just decided to leave that last wall down.  It would have been nice to lift the wall and see it all complete but we will lift it tomorrow when we have renewed energy.  Besides, we had promised the kids we would take the rest of the afternoon off and head out for some family-friendly entertainment in a near-by town (which had absolutely nothing to do with house-building).  It was good for all of us!  Especially the mini-donuts.  In fact, a certain yellow trailer, called Dexter, makes some incredibly delicious donuts and red raspberry slushies!  I should try to convince the owners to set up at our job site (though we might go broke if they did!).  After a nice long sleep in a cool house we will be ready to lift that final exterior wall tomorrow (for the main floor, anyway) and start working on the interior walls!