Beau and Belle

Windows and Wrapped

The windows and doors have been in since mid November, but just hadn't had a chance to take a picture. Yesterday Scott sided the side of the house that faces the alley. He will put the electric panel up outside and he should have electricity inside. He has been using extension cords from an outlet outside. Last weeks progress was electrical. I don't know how he does it in this cold. We have had some brutal winter days already.

Jenna

I tried something new this year and took Jenna's 3 year pictures myself. Not an easy task...

Halloween

It was a busy day once again. We had 3 parties and trick or treating! The 1st grade class had a Halloween party at school the last hour of class. After school the boys' invited 8 boys to their "monster truck" birthday party. We don't have room in our house, so we used the Nemont Friendship Room and set up for the day. After the class party ended...we invited our family for pizza. After pizza we set off for trick or treating. Weather was great and the kids got lots of candy. Just thinking about it is exhausting...can't wait 'til next year :o)

School Pictures

Colter's 7

Colter was Optimas Prime! If the picture looks a little smoky...it was from the fog machine.

Dakota's 7

Dakota was a dark commando!

It looks like a house!

It took several volunteers and in one day we have a roof! It was a long day for the guys, but it looks great! Keep your fingers crossed...we are suppose to get high winds! The weather has been kind so far. We just need it to hold on a little longer :o)

Walls

We have walls!! I can't remember the exact day Scott started framing, but I believe it was last week. We were warned it would go fast and it did! He put the interior walls up this week. The boys have picked which room they want. It is very exciting to see where everything will be.

Deer opener

Eric, his Dad and the boys went hunting yesterday. Eric got a deer by 10:30 am. The boys had to get up at the crack of dawn and didn't get home until 8 pm last night. It sounds like they kept up with the big boys and had a good time. The guns that Dakota and Colter are holding are their toy guns...thought I should mention that.

The Floor

The floor is almost ready. By the end of the week we should start framing. The first picture is a look underneath the floor which will be our crawl space. The kids had fun running around under there.

Eric's Garage

One project complete :o) Eric's garage is set in place and filled with all our outside toys, mowers, patio table etc... Our rental yard doesn't look like white trash anymore. It feels good to have storage.

Foundation

Last Thursday we poured the foundation walls. It was again a family affair. Eric took a comp day and helped for the day. We had lots of family come help when the two cement trucks came. I was actually able to help a little the night before and that morning getting things ready.

Footings

We are getting closer. Yesterday they poured cement for the footings. Eric took the day off to help. It took 4 of them to get the job done. The wind blew like only it does in North Eastern Montana all day. Eric had a nice dirt tan going on. Next Scott will put Styrofoam forms along these footings. He will fill the forms with cement to create the wall where the floor joyces will sit. Basically what this means we have one more cement pour. The cement is what we need the weather to cooperate for. Scott says he can work in the cold as long as his tools work. He has two solid days left to finish Cromwell's house (the house he started last spring) and than he will be able to work solely on ours. His goal is to pour the walls next Monday.

Crawl space

Yesterday Scott poured the cement for our crawl space. The area framed in will be a deeper than the rest of the crawl space (approximately 6 foot). This will be where we put the furnace, hot water heater, etc. Typically without a basement you have a dirt 4 ft. crawl space under your house. We decided to include an area that will be a little deeper for storage and utility units. This is holding things up a little, but will be worth it when changing furnace filters. Today Scott is getting the forms ready for the foundation, so next week we should be pouring the forms for the foundation and after that the floor will go on. I have been told that it goes fast once he starts framing.

Cement Slab for Eric's Garage

Last week the cement for Eric's garage was poured. We are waiting for the go ahead to set the garage on top. It has to cure for a certain amount of time. It should be soon.

Eric's Garage

We bought 3 lots on the southwest of town. The previous owners tore down the existing house, but left the garage. Eric decided he wanted to keep the garage, but he would move it and flip it around so the doors face the alley. It has been quite the process. Cleaning the garage out and tearing off the shed that was attached. Our new neighbor helped lift the garage and set on a trailer to move it. It is sitting on the trailer as we speak and we are waiting on the cement slab to be poured. This will become very handy for storing all our outside belongings that until now have sat out in the sun and snow.

Broke ground

On September 8, 2007 we broke ground for our new house. It is a family affair. My younger brother, Scott will be building our house. He is not licensed to run a backhoe, but never fear my Step-dad and older brother are. My older brother Chad ran the backhoe and dug the hole where our house will be. We are not going to have a basement, but we will have a crawlspace for the house to sit on. The entire process took 11 hours, which I am told is quite fast. Eric and Scott helped speed the process up by moving dirt out of Chad's way with a tractor and bobcat. The mom's and Grandma were down the street at Scott's house hosting a garage sale, so the kids had a fun going back and forth.