Day Forty One

Fresh, clean floors! This is the first of another three cement pours. Once again we had great helpers yesterday. I didn't know they were going to show up so I didn't go out to take pictures till this morning.

Here is the infamous stairwell that they tried to pour also. Unfortunately it blew out. They had to break up all the concrete and dig it all out to start over.
Pretty, little window well. Concrete appeals to me for some reason.
This finished floor is where the basement living/school room will be. Yes, we are planning on homeschooling our kids. I'm going to have to find a way to light up this room as it is seriously lacking in windows.
Thanks to Uncle Dave and our buddy Paul for helping. Great people.

A Load of . . .

We went after a load of wood on Labor Day. I haven't been up the mountain much this year so I was excited. Kendi had fun exploring the creek while we worked.

Aydri was not used to wearing shoes or jeans or long sleeved shirts or walking on uneven ground or having bugs buzzing everywhere. At first she was excited to go explore too.

She became very frustrated. She tried to sit on a log like everyone else was doing and missed. That was the end of it for her. She was miserable and sat in the truck the rest of the time. Poor thing, she'll get used to it.

Grandpa Bulloch, the lumber-jack.

Felling a tree. Saying that sounds so funny to me.

Cari got the coveted job of stacking wood. I was always envious as a kid because my oldest sister always got this job. I thought that some day it would be my turn. Now my younger sister is doing it and somehow I got skipped.

On the drive up to our camp spot to have dinner the kids fell asleep. We were hoping for a nice dinner with dutch oven cobbler. When we got there some bees had made a hive in the fire pit. My mom decided to burn them out. Bad idea. They were not happy with us. They would not let us eat our food. They were swarming around us and landing on the kids. We couldn't eat and get out of their fast enough.

So, I figured out that my stock lens was super crappy. I always thought that I just didn't know how to take pictures very well. I switched to my long range lens and it takes better pictures, I just can't get very close. Sure glad I figured that out.

Day Thirty Six

Today is the second day we've spent back filling around the foundation. I wanted to get a picture of Jared using what we have nicknamed "the thumper." I don't like the kids being around the backhoe unless they are on it so I gave up and took them home.
My mom and I took turns spraying the dirt. It has to have the right water consistency to compact just right.

I'm usually slow and methodical about the way I do things. Some people think I'm timid because of this. If I'm not careful bad things happen. Today, after spraying brainlessly for hours I got careless. It didn't help that I was wearing over sized insulated gloves that were hard to work in. I picked up the nozzle of the hose, not realizing that I had it facing the wrong way. Yes. . . I sprayed myself point blank in the face with full water pressure. At first I didn't know what had happened. It certainly didn't feel like being splashed with water. I'm surprised my contacts were still in my eyes. And then I heard my dad say in a confused tone, "What are you doing?"

Frost Bite?

Today was day Thirty One. Jared and I tarred the foundation. It wasn't as easy-peasy as I thought it would be, but we had fun together. I had to use old gloves that could be thrown away when I was done. These gloves didn't help much and they ended up glued to the handle.

Kendi was there to cheer us on. She would pick up the pieces of stip-ties that we would break off and bury them like treasure.

I let Kendi take as many pictures as she wanted.

There were a dozen more of the exact same thing.

Day Twenty Nine

The guys couldn't wait to see the walls. They went out early this morning to strip the forms. They were worried that if they used these free forms the walls would have an ugly texture, but they actually turned out really smooth.

The basement is raised up out of the ground a little so that we can have daylight windows and protection from flooding. It was fun to see the windows and door appear underneath the forms.

Kendi likes to come when I take them lunch. She inspects what they are working on and searches for horny-toads. My dad is like the old-timers. After eating lunch in the shade, he laid down and took a short nap.

Day Twenty Eight

We were finally able to pour the foundation today. I wanted to help, but my dad said he would pour my foundation if I would mow his lawns. Sounded like a deal to me. I had six lawns to mow. I tried to get out to the house before all the helpers left, but I didn't make it in time to get pictures. We had three generous guys help pour today. Thanks guys!

Everything seemed to turn out well. The cement trucks only broke the part of the sidewalk that will be taken out for the driveway. haha. Hopefully things will move along faster now.

Life Between Building

I'm trying to keep life as normal as possible for the kids so that they don't hate the house building process. Kendi has a "Summer Chart" that gives her a checklist of things she has to finish everyday. When she completes the whole chart she gets to pick an activity. She's been begging to make gingerbread houses for a while. I don't know where she got the idea. She finally completed her chart the other day so we found some grahm crackers and frosting. As I was getting everything ready, Kendi looked at me and gasped. Then she dramatically exclaimed, "My dreams just came true."

After I took some pictures the gingerbread house started to collapse. This was her face.

Her dream was crushed and she was close to tears so I suggested that we keep building on top of it. She decided that was okay.

Aydri has located every mud puddle on the premises.

We were waiting for our car to get fixed so we got slushies at a nearby gas station and found some shade. The lawn was covered in clovers so I told Kendi to look for a four-leaf-clover. She found one. She thought that was pretty special. I've looked my whole life and have never found one. The lawn-mower had gotten some of it, but you could tell it had four leaves.

Aydri likes to pull out Kendi's clothes and put them on.
By the way, we stopped by Auto Zone to buy parts to fix our car ourselves and they wanted $160 for the part. We knew that was a bad deal. Tunex replaced the part and fixed it for us for $65. WOW!

Day Twenty Four

I hadn't been out to the house for a while so when Kendi suggested we drive out there after her soccer game we decided it would be a fun ride. There hadn't been much change because they've just been working on plumbing and grading and figuring things out.

The forms make it feel more like a house. haha. It was fun to walk around inside and get a feel for where the basement rooms will be.

This picture is for those who think our house is in Enoch. It's not. I don't want to give details because this is a public blog so you can tell by the mountains where we're at if you're familiar with the area. This is looking at the back of the house and facing east.

Cowgirl

At this moment Kendi wants to be Jessie, from Toy Story, for Halloween. She wanted to be a cowgirl last year, but changed her mind several times and ended up being Cinderella. We've moved in with my parents while the house is being built and there is a horse pasture in front of their house so the kids watch and play horses a lot. Today, Kendi looked out the window and said, "Hey, that horse has tipped over." Then she ran to the door and yelled out, "Hey, that's not how you're supposed to treat yourself!"

Kendi's First Soccer Game

Kendi and her good friend, Emma, ended up on the same team. They have a lot of fun.

It's so cute to see the little girls try so hard. Kendi does well at practice, but had a hard time being aggressive during the game. I had to have a talk with her about not crying when she would get bumped. We had her sit out the first part and watch so she would know what to expect. She didn't cry during the game and we're practicing with her at home now.

Kendi was good at throwing the ball. Another girl was good at defending the goal and another girl was good at scoring. They make a great team.

It was good entertainment for us. We laughed the whole time.

Kendi stuck her tongue out the whole time. I think its a concentration thing.

I'm not sure they really keep score, but I think Kendi's team won, 3 - 2.

Kendi's First Ballet Review

Some friends of mine started a ballet class with a bunch of little girls in our neighborhood. The whole thing was completely volunteer. I loved how it worked out. We all tried to chip in somehow and everything seemed to get taken care of.

It was so fun to watch these little girls learn the dances. They took it very seriously and were so cute in their little outfits every week.

They were able to perform four dances for their review. I knew some of the kids would just stand there when it came time to perform so I bribed Kendi. I told her we'd get snow cones if she danced her very best. She did really well. I'm so proud of her. I wish I knew how to upload videos, but I don't have time to figure that out right now.

Just to remember, the dances they performed were Run, Run, Run, Beauty and the Beast, Tapioca and an Irish Dance.

A special thanks to Cheryl and Chalise. I don't think they realize the impact they've had on these little girls. They are such beautiful dancers and the girls want to be just like them.

Day Seventeen

I'm sure this is getting old and boring to everyone if you're still even reading this blog anymore. You will certainly know how to build your own house by the time we are done.

We poured the footings today. We got a couple extra hours to get ready for the concrete. Seems like we're always scrambling on days we pour cement. I like to get pictures of everyone that helps. This guy is a new neighbor and the inspector. He has also become a good friend. He just showed up to help right as we were getting ready to pour. What a nice guy.

My job was to make sure none of the rebar fell. Two ties broke right off the bat and I was tying them back together under their feet while the concrete was coming. Every time I help pour cement I always end up getting it dumped on my head.
Poor Aydri came with me. I thought we were pouring at 1:00, but it didn't end up being till 2:00 so she sat tied up in the wagon for about three hours. She was great about it, but I still felt awful and hope that I never have to do it again. If someone would like to swap babysitting with me one or twice a week for an afternoon please call or text me.

Day Sixteen

All of a sudden the days seem to be going by faster. Which is good.

Jared vs. Rebar. Jared had to get stitches and a tetanus shot.

They dug footings today and are scheduled to pour them tomorrow. Apparently, they're nervous about being done in time to pour.

Jared has been getting up at 4 am every morning to get computer work in and then working from noon until 9 pm every night on the house. I feel like a single mom sometimes and I don't know how they do it. Especially being sick and moving out of our old house. Thanks to all my neighbors who have adopted Kendi this last week.

Day Thirteen

My mom and I take turns working on the house and bringing meals out. This day I took dinner out and ran the back-hoe while the guys ate. It was the last six inch lift.

Day Twelve

Still pushing dirt back into the hole. I couldn't believe how much we compacted. More dirt went in than came out.

A friend lent us a skid-loader. This has definitely been a community project. It will be so fun to see all the people that helped when its done. Jared got really good at running it. They roll compacted all the dirt.