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!

Blessing Our Land

On July 28th our friends and family gathered at our land for a blessing before we broke ground!  I thought this would be happening in late August, but thanks to our awesome banker Mary Hoag things progressed much faster than we anticipated.

 We shared that this has been a 22 year dream for Pete and I.

 I was able to share about Pete's persistence in finding land with my very stringent criteria.   

 Each of our kids shared a scripture verse.  Max's was from Matthew 7:24.

 Tori shared from Proverbs 3:5

 My very tender hearted Izzy shared from Ecclesiastes 3 and had a hard time getting through it.  This move has been the toughest on her.

 My dear friend and pastor Becky Ringler gave us the official blessing and shared how many times I was in her office over the disappointment of another land deal that fell through.

 Our friends and family that were able to join us on short notice!

 My crazy sister!

 Peter and Margaret

 Mary and Rachel chatting it up!

 Ballard Designs has these really cool Sunburst mirrors in their catalog.  I decided to steal their idea and I asked everyone to write a blessing or wish or scripture on a shim and I'm going to make a sunburst mirror and hang it in our home once we move in.  If we missed you for the land blessing, I'm truly sorry.  It wasn't our intent to leave anyone out and our hope is this land and home is a place where the door is always open.

A Lot of Changes in 1 month!

So much has changed in one month.  Texas Township let us put up our mailbox on 8th Street before we even started construction.  This is fantastic, and we have forwarded our mail directly to our forever house.  At least I hope this is forever house because I hope to NEVER move again.

The move out of our Mackinaw Cove house was...HELL.  I thought I had purged before we even listed our house.  Wow, do we have a ton of stuff!!!  That doesn't even include all of Pete's Stuff.  I had no idea how much $@$# he had in our attic.  It was like Yin and Yang, the X chromosome vs. the Y chromosome during the move.  It was was ugly at times.  I thought we should sort and purge as we go, he thought the stuff just needed to get moved.  I told him he might want to label the boxes he was packing and he didn't think it was important.  Now, he can't locate any of his shorts outside of the ones he was wearing when we moved, I'm sure he'll find them when we move again in February.  All is well on the marriage front, I still think he is SUPERMAN, just SUPERMAN with a ton of stuff.

We are somewhat settled in our new home.  It is very cozy, but we are so thankful for a place to stay while we are building.  We are right around the corner from the school the kiddos attend.  Outside of one bathroom, I have no complaints.  

This past weekend we cleared trees for our power lines.  It was hot and a ton of work, but we were a Hoffman team and got it done.  

We enjoyed a meal in our SOMEDAY dining room and it made it all worth it.

Last Day Of School!

My kiddos were blessed by three amazing teachers this year.  All three kids were placed with the perfect fit for them to blossom, I couldn't be more proud.

Izzy is now almost as tall as I am and we are were the same shoe size.  She is headed to Middle School next year.  

Tori is my little artist and will be in 5th grade next year.  Her only request in our new house is an art station in her bedroom.

Crazy Max will be in 2nd grade next year.  During breakfast he said, "this is the last day of school ever in this house."  Like I needed to be reminded!

As we headed to the bus stop this morning I bit my lip holding back the tears!  This is the last time I put my kids on the bus at this stop.  We have had the same bus driver since Izzy was in kindergarten.  When they say, IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD, I firmly believe that statement is true.  Our bus driver, Ms. Bates has safely transported my children for 6 years, counseled the kids through "bus drama", cleaned up puke and called me to discuss issues that needed to be discussed.  I so appreciate when she told be me she wished she had a bus full of kids like mine.  

This friendly face has seen me in my pajamas, with no makeup and a coffee in-hand. 

A huge Thank You to Sandy Bates!