House update

Wow it's been a long time since you've seen any updated house pictures huh?

Well, the main reason for this is the the last 3+ weeks, the stuff that has been going on doesn't make a big visual impact. I'm happy to now say that the electrician and plumber are done and the HVAC is almost done. Time for insulation and drywall!

Oh and I guess the roof went on since the last pictures you've seen as well! That's pretty important eh? Garage door too. I'll try and post a better picture of both later. I don't have the best pictures so far.

For the last week however, there has been something picture worthy going on. Siding, soffits and facia!






Lots of other little things have been going on as well.
The footings for the porch were poured.


Drywall between house and garage, garage door and landing/steps.


For now the inside of the house looks pretty much as it has for the last three weeks. With the addition of some very important wires/pipes/ductwork of course.


In other news, despite an ear infection, Lauren had lots of fun at Christmas!


I'll try to post more Christmas pics tomorrow.

(In case anyone tries to google real world pictures of products they want to put on their house like I did, I'll start including specs here so hopefully the search engine will pick up my blog.)
-Ash Gray Premium Pro-Snap metal roofing from Menards
-Fiber cement siding purchased from and installed by Millard Lumber.
-Gerkin casement windows with prairie grill purchased from Builders Supply.
-The front door is Therma-Tru Classic-Craft American Style Collection. 3 light stain-able fiberglass with 4-block dentil shelf. Builders Supply.
-Garage door: North Central Door Company, Northwoods Prestige Collection: Aspen Ridge. White.

Lauren was scared of Santa

Well, we tried. We went to see Santa. Lauren was already cranky and in need of a nap. Not to mention she's been sick and clingy this week.

She didn't like him at all. Pretty much every kid in the place wasn't happy to be seeing Santa. Poor guy. Hopefully he still likes them though!



After she calmed down:


You can kind of see how unhappy she is here:


Clinging to mommy:

Laurens head is on hinges

She thinks this is so funny. (which it is of course)

Lauren hulking out

This is Lauren doing what we call "hulking out". She does this when she gets excited and then people laugh at her and she just keeps on going.

Windows and doors are in!

Lauren supervising daddy.





The front door will be stained at some point to match all the woodwork inside.

As you can see, we pretty much live at Menards these days


Lauren chillin at home

House is wrapped

The house wrap is on and the tar paper is on the roof. The windows are supposed to come tomorrow and hopefully we can get this house enclosed! Adam and his dad have also been moving a lot of dirt up and around the house.



Lauren got to ride in the big tractor today and even had her own seat!

Day 54

The garage is up, the roof is on, all plywood is on and the water and sewer lines are run to the house! Major changes are happening!










As always, Lauren in on the action. Dirt and freezing fingers don't faze her.

Lauren in leaves

For some reason I'm having trouble getting images to upload so I can't show you the progress being made on the house. The garage walls are up, the sewer line is going in and it's possible that the roof work will start today.

Here's some cute Lauren to hold you over.



Did you know that Daddy's closet isn't a place to hold shoes? It's a place for little girls to play!

Day 48

The walls are finally up! It went really fast and everything is in place except the garage. There were only a few Oops moments -- like when the realization hit that they had just trapped a few walls inside a room where they weren't supposed to be and when a few walls that had been mislabeled were discovered to have been placed in the wrong spot. All in all it went really smoothly.

Wall Progress

The walls have finally arrived

Now we can get to moving on this house!



P.S. The supporting walls in the basement were built last weekend.

Adam the lumberjack

We had to cut down the second pine tree in our back yard this past week. We thought that it might bounce back after we took down the first one because they seemed to be killing each other. By the end of the summer this tree was all the way dead also.

Walmart Score!

I just got back from the North Lincoln Walmart and if you need outdoor stuff, back to school stuff or Halloween stuff GO NOW. Halloween stuff is 75% off and all the clearance stuff is an additional 50% off of the already clearance price!


I got Britney Spears perfume, Kenneth Cole cologne, 2 9x13 Wilton cake pans(they're stuck together so I only paid for 1 - hopefully I can get them separated pretty easy), 2 75 foot flat soaker hoses, 4 window box planters, paper, hanging folders, push pins, Halloween baking stuff, Light up plastic pumpkin, couple skirts to start Laurens dress up bin, Halloween socks and gloves to send my nieces next year, makeup (we'll see if it lasts until next year) and a scary mask and blood for Adam so he can scare trick or treaters next year :)

I just looked up the pans, perfume, cologne, and hoses and those alone cost double what I paid for everything!

The total should have been at least (estimating everything that was already on clearance) $250. I got it all for $83.83. Much more than I went in expecting to spend but still awesome :)

AND I easily got my cake pans separated!

Day 36

Trusses are up and the floor is mostly installed.







Feels like a basement instead of a cement pit!


View from living room window:


View from kitchen window: