Fun in October.

The kids pan for gold on the deck. They found a few pieces!The boys made a paper mache pig together. Messy and fun project.

Ryan enjoys getting slimy when he carves his pumpkin.

Grandpa Ron and Carolyn were here for a visit. Grandpa got in on the pumpkin carving action with Rachel.

While we carved pumpkins, John and David were out hunting. John brought in his first buck, satisfying his goal for this hunting season.

What October would be complete without a hunter who had just walked out of the woods to trick or treat, a fairy, Minnie Mouse and Superman?

Ava turns two!

Ava had a big party to celebrate her birthday in October.We had a lot of family here for her party, including my grandmother who is 89. We are so glad that she could be here with us.

Ava gets her first haircut!

Ava got her first haircut at 23 months in September.

This is her before...... and after
She wouldn't smile for the second shot, but she looked really cute.

Pictures of the house!

This is the main floor or new second story of the house, looking from the dining room to the living room. It is all very open. The two bedrooms and bath are just beyond the living room.Looking into the kitchen. The doors go to the laundry, mud room and pantry from left to right.

This is the basement. My kitchen was previously where the stairs are now. I have so much more kitchen space now. Beyond the stairs is the "man room", where only man things are allowed. ;)

Labor Day Fun!

John and Ryan really love the tube!
Rachel and Ryan take in some tube fun together.

Lauren works on getting up on skis for the first time.

Eric was able to water ski. This was his first time to water ski.

John was a little nervous, but he did a great job with the trainer skis.

Every year since we have owned our home, David and I have stained the cedar siding on Labor Day weekend. Well, this year we don't have cedar siding and we vowed to have fun on Labor Day. David's sister Elizabeth and her family joined us for the weekend, which was a great time. On Monday, we met up with Barbara and Dennis' family on Long Branch Lake. You can see from the pictures that we had a great time.

The House Is Finished!

The house is officially completed. At least from the standpoint of the contractors. The contractors have done their part and put the last nail in on Friday. We have many projects left to complete, but they mostly involve cleaning, unpacking and hanging shelves, etc. Soon there will be order in this house?! I will take some pictures and post them soon. The pictures here are old and need updated.

House update

Well, I don't have any house pictures to share, because I've been too busy doing projects to take any pictures. We have carpet in the basement and the basement is completed. The kitchen is completed upstairs! We have doors now! We are hoping to have the trim completed in the upstairs in the next week. The plan is to get carpet upstairs on Monday. We are moving into the basement this weekend, since we are coming up on another month of rent due. We have a kitchen and plenty of finished space to live in, so we look forward to living in one house! My neighbor told me yesterday that we were furrowing out the road driving by so much! The running back and forth is wearing us out, so we welcome having everything in one place. The end of this project is very near!

Green bean time!

The green beans are plentiful all of the sudden. My little Rachel has been quite the garden helper and just loves to snap beans! I love that she loves it. Little Ava is an expert at dumping out the beans and the ends all over the floor. She is a helper in her own way. The boys are totally not interested.

The siding is on!

This is the front of the house. The guys were finishing the siding on the porch and north end of the addition this morning. I just couldn't wait to share a picture though.

This is the back of the house. We just love the deck.
The front door. We need to add a step up to it, but that will come.

Kitchen Cabinets are in!

The cabinets were set last friday. We are very pleased with them. They are hickory. The cabinet that doesn't have doors, will have them after they are made. The cabinet maker made a mistake in the size he cut for these doors, so he had to make more. The doors weren't ready when he came to install. My kitchen countertops should be in next Thursday.

We've painted!

This is what David looked like after running the sprayer all day Saturday!
Bold dining room color!

Living Room.

Dennis worked so hard to help us this weekend. Thanks Dennis!

Michael came and made his roller smoke he was working so hard. A rare break. The background has the trench lines for the ground source heat pump.

Doing a little detail work.

Swim Fun!

John poses for the camera!
Rachel LOVES her swim lessons.

It was a little cool, so Ryan and Ava warm up poolside.

So sweet.

Camping and Canoe Trip

Here are a few pictures of our family camping and float trip at Montauk State Park. This is a picture of the Ancell cousins (minus Rachel and Ava) gathered around the campfire to roast marshmellows. The temperature was quite warm, but we had a great time and stayed cool in the spring fed Current River. Children and adults alike had a great time. Rachel and Ava got to spend some special time with Grandma and Grandpa Thies and Aunt Julie.

Windows and Doors!

Ava and I take a break at the bottom of the stairs.

The stairs come down into where my kitchen was, hence the paint on the walls.

We have windows and doors now! They were put in on Friday the 12th. Every little step makes it feel more like our home again. We will be getting insulation blown in tomorrow. Hopefully by the first of next week we will be getting drywall. This picture isn't the best because the windows were all open, but they had just been put in. I will have a picture of the front side of the house when it isn't such a swamp on that side. This rain can stop at any time.

Birthday Party!

We love a birthday party! This one was very special, because it was my grandfather Raymond Kimmel's 88th birthday. We enjoyed some great food at my parent's (Mom's a great cook!) and enjoyed spending the day together as a family. Rachel helped to blow out the candles.

Windows please

The windows were supposed to come in on Wednesday, but they weren't on the truck. We were very disappointed. This has brought things to a near halt. We expect them next Wednesday. In the mean time, David and I are doing projects that we can do. We are picking out carpet and working on paint colors, etc. We will probably start building a small retaining wall with Windsor bricks to hold the steep grade outside the new garage. This will allow for dirt work to be done, including placing fill in this area. There is plenty to do, so we won't get bored!

Shingles and a porch!

This picture shows what the house looks like with shingles. We now have a sliding glass door in! I'm glad not to have to worry about someone falling out of that hole anymore! The front porch is on and looks great. I have three exterior doors to paint or stain this weekend. They will be put in this week, along with the windows. The windows won't be in until Wednesday.

Gone Fishing!

David and the boys decided that we had been working enough lately and went fishing. They had a very successful trip at an undisclosed farm pond. David's bass was 5 lbs 1 oz! He now lives in our pond for someone else to enjoy catching at another time. They each caught a nice bass and brought home a five gallon bucket of very nice crappie.

Ava and Leah

Ava and her cousin Leah were out for a drive this past Wednesday. Ava is 19 months and Leah is 14 months. They are so cute together!

Current Progress

I don't have any pictures today, but there has been progress inside the house this week. The electrical is nearly all roughed in. It should be finished today. The plumbing is in. The plumber said that he is done until it is time to set the sink, faucets, etc. The stairway to the basement is being cut and will probably be finished today. The electric cooperative is working on the ground source heat pump and duct work this week. I'm thinking that they will probably still be with us the first part of next week. The remainder of the shingles will go on today. Oh... I have a front porch! The decisions have been flying around like crazy this week and things are really getting done. Hopefully, we will be ready for insulation in the next week. The ball just keeps on rolling!

Weekend Photos

Here's an updated photo of the house! The shingles were supposed to go on today, but it is raining this morning. Ava was hot and tired. She was sacked out in the stroller after a walk.

Weathered In!!!

God has been good to us. We have had incredible weather this week for building our home. As of tonight, the house is considered weathered in. The sheeting is on the roof, with felt on it. The exterior walls are all house wrapped. Monday morning, the roofers will be there to shingle the house. Our framing crew will be back on Tuesday to put the front porch on and redo the roof on the existing part of the earth contact. They will also put the stairs in sometime next week. They plan to be there all next week with a smaller crew to finish up things, including putting in windows and a few doors. We can breathe easy this weekend and thank God for allowing us to get this done.

More Concrete!

The concrete truck driver/owner is really great and encouraged all the kids to ride up and down on the seat and blow the air horn. They had fun letting that horn rip!

The concrete that was poured today was for the front porch and for a pad out in front of the garage. Everyone left their mark in the concrete to commemorate the event!
Rachel needed help to get her hand pressed in far enough.

Ava had watched the others put their prints in and did great. She spread her fingers out wide and was ready to be big like everyone else.

What's this on my hand?

The girls had fun driving the tractor! They must have turned the key on for Daddy, because the battery was dead by late afternoon! Oops! Sorry Daddy!