ELECTRICITY!!!

A crane came Monday morning and set the trusses on the second story for installation later.  Lee our framer called to say the crane guy had a small opening that morning.  I quick went to school and picked up all three kids.  Unfortunately, we missed the crane, but we had lunch together at our house.   

I don't even want to know how Pete took this picture.  

The trench with gas and electric!

Getting power to our house was no easy task.  We started working with Consumers Energy in May trying to make sure we had power onsite for the framers.  Well, the first guy that gave us the quote no longer works for Consumers and the information we received about bringing power back 650 ft. was incorrect.  So, to make a long story short, it took way longer and way more $$$ to get the gas and electric to our site.  Our framer has framed this entire house thus far off a generator.  The last I knew it was costing us approximately $75 per week in gas to run the generator.  I didn't budget that in!  

They had to bring a primary power-line down our driveway and into this tranformer  box.  I wanted to be on site when they set the box to insure it was hidden behind this pine tree.  Tomorrow, our framer should be able to plug into the outlet in the garage!!!

I stopped on Centre Street and took this picture.  

Look what the excavator dug up!

Here is Lee, Jacob 

and Jerry up very high!

I get sick to my stomach just watching them way up there!  I wonder if Lee is wishing he never took this job?

The Framing Continues...

This was Wednesday's progress!  Almost all of the upstairs was framed in.  

The house is set on an angle with the best view facing the corner of our property and the neighbors very LARGE farm.  We saw coyote running through the farm yesterday when we looked out our master bedroom window.

When I arrived at the jobsite on Thursday afternoon they were setting the trusses on the roof of the garage.   

Last night we had dinner in the "SOMEDAY" Great Room! It was such a fun night!  When we pulled in my former boss from National City Bank was there checking out our job.  He helped encourage us to be our own general contractor.  He told me if I could build a bank branch I could "project manage" the building of our own home.  We are very fortunate to  know so many people in the construction trade that can help guide us when we need it.

Our friends Scott and Leone stopped by for a quick tour and our friends the Schillaci's!  So, fun to share with our friends the progress we are making.  Stop by anytime and check things out, as Pete and I get working more on the interior stuff, we might give you a hammer or a paint brush!

Max loves his neighbor Drake!

 This is one BIG sandbox!  These little guys play for hours.  I'm so glad we have a shower off the mudroom, we might want to consider an outdoor shower soon!

 Tori and Lexy eating dinner last night!

Things move along so fast during the framing process!  I might take Max out of school for a few hours while they set roof trusses with a crane next week.  

September 11th

 This post isn't necessarily about the actual building process, but about what I learned about building a home with your heart.  Ya see, today would have been my mom's 72 birthday before cancer took her.  I think part of the reason why moving out of our home on Mackinaw Cove was so tough is because it stirred up so many memories of my mom.  I can't tell ya how many drawers I went through or boxes I moved that had a card from my mom or a special something she gave me.  

Every bit of my creativeness came directly from my mom.  I always felt like "My Mom Can Do Anything".  She made these valances with matching roller shades that hung for 11 years in our eating area and living room.  I never learned to sew because my mom was so good and I would just ask her, "would you make ________ for me?"  and the answer was always yes.  

My mom could upholster anything, 12 years ago she reupholstered this sofa for me.  She finished it right before Pete was transferred with his job to Kalamazoo. So the wing back and the sofa and the valances were all suppose to go in our 80 year old home in Grand Rapids.  With a little "Rita" magic, she changed the panels to fit our slider and altered the valances to a perfect fit.  This sofa is in sad shape, the fabric is almost worn through to the cushions.  I've taken many a nap on this couch and really don't know what I will do with it in our new house.  Thankfully my good friend Leone Kirklin is letting me store it in her basement.  There just isn't room for it at our rental.  The red wing back chair wasn't finished by my mom, she had started it and had it all apart when she started not feeling well.  All the fabric was off and the chair was in my parent's basement for over a year.  I remember the day when she said to me, "honey, I don't believe I'll be able to finish your chair for you, you better have someone else finish it for you."

Something else I treasure from my mom is this blanket she was making for Tori when she passed away.  This is her last stitch.  I remember many times she would be napping, wake up and finish a few stitches and fall back to sleep.  About a year after she died I took the blanket, her scissors, some embroidery floss all to Hobby Lobby.  I decided to have it placed in a shadow box.  I thought I was ready and could hold myself together while I placed the order...not so much.  I stood  in the framing department and sobbed, you know the ugly cry.  

I've decided that I will hang this blanket in my laundry room in our new home and design the room around it. September 11th means many things to Americans, but to me it's a reminder of my mom and her birthday. The crazy thing about it is, my birthday is December 7th, both dates our country was attacked.  How I wish my mom was here to be apart of this house building process with us, but I know there will be a little bit of Rita in this home too!

Ugh! I'm already behind on this blog!

We are cruising along.  A ton of pictures to follow and I hope to do a little better at keeping this updated.

  

Again, we had dinner n our "Someday Dining Room"

My friend Lindsey is our neighbor and is letting Pete store his tractor in her barn.  The kids have entertained themselves for hours driving around our property.  Now, you should see Pete mow our lawn at our rental.  He just bought a $20 electric mower off Craig's List.  I'll have to take a picture and post it because it's too funny not to share.

Max and I did a little color rendering of our house!  I can't seem to figure out our exterior colors.  

This is the side of our house, the bump-out is our great room.  The windows to the left is Pete's office and the windows to the right is the dining room.

The deck is on for the second floor!  

That is a little too close to the edge Mr. Hoffman!!!

Max took a picture of Pete and I!  We are sitting in our "someday" bedroom.

After dance class tonight I brought the girls over to check-out their bedrooms.  They are so excited to have their own rooms.   We have a wonderful framer, Lee McDonald.  He and his crew are doing a fabulous job and we feel very blessed to have them working on our home.  We should have walls upstairs tomorrow.   That brings us completely up-to-date, I'll try and post more pictures tomorrow night.

The Foundation!

We've moved a little dirt and now the fun is beginning!  I've worked in the construction world for over 15 years and I'm still amazed at the process.  Pete and I decided to be our own general contractor.  Pete has a degree in construction management from WMU and also has his builders licenses, so together we are going to tackle this project.

Dug up a little treasure

 We chose Johnson Poured Walls, right here in Mattawan to do our excavating and concrete.  We definitely feel we made the right decision.  They exceeded our expectation and followed through on all the dates they promised us.  We had a rather aggressive schedule and they worked right with us.

No need for these guys to go to the gym!

 Max woke me up early to make sure he was at the jobsite when concrete was being poured.  I have a feeling he will work on construction someday.  

Footings for the basement

Izzy needed a nap!

What a dirty boy!  

The forms are in place and ready for concrete!  

End of Summer Fun

We decided to head to Michigan City for a little back school shopping this past Saturday.  The outlet mall was packed so, we cut our shopping short and headed to Redamaks  for dinner, after dinner we went to Warren Dunes State Park.  I grew up approximately 10 miles from Warren Dunes.  You just don't realize when you grow up on the big lake how much apart of your life it is.  

 It was a great way to end this crazy summer watching the kids swim!

Here We GOOOOO!

On a rainy August 9th, our fun began!

Max and Tori watched as Mr. Johnson popped tree stumps out of our driveway.  

 This was a ton of fun to watch so the kiddos got chairs to continue watching.

 My general contractor discussed the plan for the driveway!

 Wow, that looks a ton better!

 Mr. Johnson cleared the topsoil and pushed it into big hills.  We had 14" of topsoil in some places!

 Tori showed her excitement that the project was finally starting!