Muddy Football Game

I think the pictures say it all. They won the game. Avritt got some tackles and a couple of carries as the running back.

Big Changes

Over the course of the last week we have decided, with our builder's strong recommendation, to temporarily move out of our house for the next 6 to 8 weeks. We are moving to a house 2 doors down which is sitting empty right now. It is up for sale, but the with the tough market, the owners aren't optimistic about it selling anytime soon. They have agreed to let us stay there (we're paying them rent) until our house is done. Our builder tells us that by moving out and allowing them to start on the upstairs this next week, we can shave at least 2 weeks off the finish time of the project overall.

This all came about because of a fiasco with the staining that happened on Monday. We were very unhappy with the job the crew did (our builder brought in a sub that he uses). We decided, in conjunction with our builder, to dismiss the staining crew, and bring in another one, which we found through a friend who works for a staining/painting crew (thanks, Jeff!). We are waiting to find out if the bid from the new crew will be within our budget. They will need to do some fixing of the sloppy job the first crew did, and then they will be able to do the staining from scratch upstairs. Due to this situation, we would have been 3 weeks behind schedule on the basement because the new crew couldn't start work for another 3 weeks. However, if the work commences upstairs during that time, and catches up with where the basement is, then we will save money overall by bringing in the remaining crews all at once time instead of twice, and we save about 2 to 3 weeks overall. We are now hoping for a finish date of early November instead of late November.

So.....we are frantically packing up and will be moving over the next few days. Thankfully, I don't have to go into work tomorrow (classes are cancelled from 10 to 1 due to inaugural ceremonies for the new president) so I can work at home all day. Mike is taking a half day, and we will begin to empty our bathroom and bedroom on the main floor. Our builder wants to start the demolition process in the bathroom upstairs (it's being gutted and totally redone) and our bedroom (the closets get removed and the room changes to a TV room). Then the crew will begin to catch up the upstairs to where the basement is right now (trim, casing, and baseboards are finished, cabinets installed, built-ins are constructed) by bringing back the finish carpenter right away. Then he will bring in the staining and painting crew, then the tile guys, then the finish plumbers, then the wood flooring and carpeting guy to do the whole house instead of doing it in parts.

We'll keep you updated, but assume for the next 6 to 8 weeks that you should call our cell phones. We will have internet access at the new place. We are bringing minimal furniture, bedding (air matresses), bathroom, and kitchen supplies. The nice thing about this whole situation is that we will have a space that isn't going to be disrupted every day by workers arriving at 7:00 am, dust and fumes flying around, and the chaos of a remodel.

Play Room

The carpenter has his tools set up in the play room. This is the last room that he will work on. He will put a railing on the loft (bottom picture) and build a window seat in the front window (not pictured here). I'll post those pictures as soon as he finishes.

Carpenter at Work

Shower Tile

The porcelein tile in the shower turned out really well. They are waiting for a mosaic to come in, and then they can finish.

View of Hallway

This is the view from the playroom looking down the hallway toward the boys' room. The carpenter installed the shelving between the cabinets, which will be stained to match.

Emily's Window Seat

The carpenter finished Emily's window seat today. It is made out of maple and will be left a natural color and finished. We will get some pillows for leaning on the sides - that's why the shelves start up higher. One of the cabinet doors isn't hung yet because KraftMaid didn't send hinges for those doors when we ordered them. We found 3 kitchen doors that had been replaced that still had hinges on them, so we used those and then ordered one more hinge, which will hopefully be here soon. I love this seat - it looks so nice even though it's not varnished yet.

More Detail for the Interested

This picture shows the trim detail. The bottom board is thicker than the side boards, which creates some interest, but also makes the butt joint look better than if the boards were the same thickness. There will be no miter joints anywhere in the trim or cupboards. The trim is poplar which will be stained the color of our kitchen cabinets.

This picture of the door leading down into the lower basement shows the panel design better. We're really happy with the doors - they are solid and substantial feeling compared to the hollow-core flush doors we've always had previously.

Construction Pictures

It's hard to take pictures right now because the progress is less dramatic, and until the painting is done, the drywall is not very photogenic. The top picture is of a closet door in the lower entryway. You can also see the baseboard. The bottom picture is the window in the playroom looking toward our neighbors' house. The top and bottom of the window are trimmed the same as the top of the door.

Birthday Party at Go-Kart, Mini-Golf Fun Park

Birthday Boy

This cake was designed by Isaac and decorated by Mom.

Spencer, Eliot, Isaac, and Dylan

Birthday Boy Post-Haircut and Burn

Birthday Boy Pre-Haircut

Avritt's Baptism

Pictures from the Weekend of Avritt's Baptism

Mike was the captain of the pontoon boat (and speed boat) for the weekend that we stayed at a house on a lake where Avritt was baptized. My parents and sisters came to stay with us at the house, which is owned by our good friend, Jason's, parents.

Emily enjoying the ride.

My dad and younger sister.

House Details

For the few who are interested, these are samples of:
(Top picture) the porcelein tile in the kids' bathroom
(Middle picture) the porcelein tile and slate accent in the upstairs bathroom shower
(Bottom picture) the wood floor in the kitchen, hallway, and office upstairs

Update

Lots has happened since the camping posts. Emily started band camp, Avritt started football, Isaac signed up for soccer and is waiting for the first practice, the drywall was finished in the basement, the finish carpenter started working in the basement (the doors are hung, the window casing is almost done, and the baseboard is half done), I started teaching again, I accidentally ran into Isaac's eyelid with a hot cookie sheet and burned him (he turned around and I turned around with the cookie sheet and we collided), a skunk was hit in the road right in front of our house, sprayed the stinky stuff, and crawled under our pine tree and died, I had to move the said skunk back beside the road (so that the local road commission would pick it up) after it was dragged behind our shed by a neighborhood dog, Avritt was baptized, and Isaac had a birthday.

The kids finally start back next Tuesday. All of us would have loved another month off, but since I'm back to teaching, it will be good for the kids to be in school. I don't want to repeat this last week again for awhile (I guess a year, actually). My classes did go well this week despite everything. I have two sections (25 students each) of the core math class, and one section of remedial algebra with 6 students.

The house has kept me busy all summer. I have been making decisions about paint colors, how the trim will look, the design of the bathroom upstairs (we're gutting it and redoing everything in there), the design of the kids' windowseats, the tile designs in the both bathrooms, the new front door, the design of the french doors upstairs, and the cabinet and door hardware, among other things. I have discovered that I really enjoy all the work that goes into a major remodel. The design work and coordination of all the details is interesting and challenging. I like the intricacy of how everything fits together. It has been rewarding. We are finishing the basement (except the Master Bedroom area) and then we will move in down there while the upstairs is being finished. We have a lot of work to do, and many times over the last few weeks I have been frustrated to my limits with the dust, mess, and chaos of it all, but progress is exciting and enough to overcome the struggles.

Isaac Skimboarding

Avritt Skimboarding

Summer

Beach Fun