Hi

It's finally just too nice out to be inside here playing on the computer. Heading outside for some vitamin D - and some jumping on the trampoline with my kiddos.

Bye :)

Cruise and Cozumel

Here are some pictures from our cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. We got home yesterday and I still feel like we are on the boat :) We had a very nice time relaxing and celebrating 10 years of marriage. While in Cozumel, we did a beach buggy excursion where we snorkeled, climbed a lighthouse, saw some crocodiles and a small Mayan ruin, and enjoyed lunch on the beach. The return trip was pretty rough and stormy, but overall we had a very nice time.

 

First sunset on the water.

In port at Cozumel.

Beach buggy, and picture of police (for Heidi).

Beautiful water, building with our color scheme.

Don’t particularly like this shot of me, but I do like the reflection of John in my glasses :)

 

Awwww – beautiful water, relaxing lunch.

     

Shots of the lighthouse. I like the window framing the ocean.

From the top of the lighthouse – 133 steps. Our buggy is the white one in the middle of the picture.

At the crocodile viewing, Mayan ruin and artist at the shopping center.

 

Musicians serenading as we returned to the ship.

Quick update

Sorry - no pictures this time. We have discovered that we are lacking in the furniture area, so we went to IKEA in Atlanta over the weekend and picked up a few items for the homeschool area. Once we have those assembled, I will post pictures. We were also looking for beds for the kids, but didn't find just the right thing. Right now, they are sleeping on the mattresses from the camper :) When we left PA, Hadden was just a little guy in a little bed (that we got rid of before we moved).

The closing went fairly smoothly last week - we were able to convert from the construction loan to a conventional mortgage. Thankful for that. Now, the time crunch pressure is off. We have a few items that still need attention - I am working on staining the corner posts and railings of the stairs to give the stairs some depth. We don't really like the monochrome palette with walls, ceilings, floors and treads all a similar color. Adding some color to the posts and railings is working to break it up and give some dimension. However, it is somewhat tricky and tedious because the treads are already in place and we don't want the treads stained.

John will be focusing on some additional exterior tasks - front porch, caps for the parapet walls and the tower roof deck. He has some furniture to assemble first :)

All of these tasks will have to wait because John is taking me on a cruise to Cozumel for our 10th Anniversary!!!! We are excited and thankful to be able to get away for a few days and just relax in hopefully warmer weather (it is still unusually cold here). I love you and Happy Anniversary, Honey! Looking forward to as many more as the Lord allows! We are also thankful for friends being willing to watch our treasures (kids) while we are away. They are looking forward to playing with friends, also.

Baseball season has started and is in full swing! Hadden played in a tournament the weekend before last and his team won 1st place for their age group.

Savannah is playing Upward Soccer this spring. This is our first time trying it and after one practice we are both looking forward to a fun season. Upward is a Christian-based soccer program and I am coaching Savannah's team.

Also - please pray for my Mom. She is having some health troubles and is undergoing some tests to determine the source. Please pray for peace of mind for both her and my Dad.

Stair progress

The current major task at the house is stairs – treads, railings, Jefferson stairs (alternating treads), etc.

Here are John and the stair guy attaching the final stringers. Doesn’t look that bad until you consider they are about 35 feet off the ground (in the middle of the stairwell).

 
Look who is up helping – this is the highest landing and she just likes to be with us :)

Stringers installed.

View from the bottom looking up with the treads in place.

 

View looking down from the very top (some rail and posts still need installed near the bottom).

Hard to see, but the railings are installed here, too. John and the stair guy decided to make the railings go tread to ceiling to make someone feel more secure when climbing up or down.

Down at the basement level, we are covering the final concrete with brick. It is looking really good, but it is messy! Can’t wait for this to all be finished in here because we currently are without stairs and have to use the ladder between these two floors. Soon …

Want to hear a cute doggie story? At bedtime, we have been lifting the dogs from the entryway to the basement level. They don’t really like it because it pushes them out of their comfort zone. However, after 2 times practically dragging them over the abyss, Lilly has decided that she can trust me. It’s really rather sweet. When she knows it is time to come down, she walks off onto my shoulders and I lower her down. I should have John video it :)

All hands on deck …

Update: I can't believe I forgot to tell you (except that I had a child hovering waiting for me to finish the post so they could use the pc :) ... about the railings. It was a very big blessing and I want to give credit where it is due. While at HD last week trying to order the balusters for the deck, I was waiting at the pro desk while another customer was being waited on. Another HD person walked up and asked if she could help me and I explained that I was waiting to order balusters as I showed her the one in my hand. To make a long story short, she told me they had some on clearance that had been returned and proceeded to show them to me. After talking with John on the phone and agreeing to purchase them, I told her that I didn't need as many as she had. In order to get rid of them, she reduced the price even more and I was able to get the whole bunch for less than half of the original cost!! Thank you, Lord, for this serendipity!

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Jeff was back down this past week to help us on our big deck – he was a huge help! Here are some pictures from the week.

Jeff and John securing the floor joists. It was COLD!!

Working on finishing up the deck boards.

The kids helped with putting the “doo-hickeys” together – these were for the rail balusters top and bottom.

Jeff finishing up the deck boards and John starting on the railings.

The sun is starting to come back around – whoo hoo!

Ta-da! It’s completed. They ran the deck boards on a diagonal for strength and also to minimize the number of seams. It turned out great!

Here is a shot of the deck and the house together. At night, it looks like a nice outdoor eating space. We are looking forward to a little warmer weather to be able to enjoy it.

Next up: final stair treads. Here are the bottom sides while they are drying.

A couple of house pictures …

Kids bathroom – finished. Mirror was installed last week, other minor details completed. Whoo hoo!

Painting – finished!!!!! Well, at least walls and ceilings. Still need to work on window surrounds, trim, touch-ups. This is a close-up of the entryway tower – I LOVE this paint!! It is Sherwin Williams Soft Suede – if you can tell from the picture, the end result has a suede appearance. It’s super easy to do and I love how it turned out. In retrospect, I am really glad we chose this particular paint because it is pretty “forgiving” – I could do sections at a time and it still looks just fine. That was a necessity when doing some parts from scaffolding.

Stairs are still a work in progress – John has contacted a local specialty contractor to work on the stairs and railings, so they are moving forward. I am looking forward to seeing them finished. This shot is to show you the light playing on the walls through the stairs. The soft suede paint adds an extra dimension that you can’t really see in the photo. Did I say how much I love it :) I am absolutely thrilled to be done painting, too. I still like to paint, but a break will be very nice!

John’s brother is on his way down from PA again to help with decks and other tasks. Looking forward to catching up with him.

I was just thinking earlier about what on earth I will blog about after the house is finished :)

More snow shots …

This is of our back “deck” off the master bedroom – well, for right now, just the frame. So, for AL, we had a good bit of snow.

  

And … if you guessed “old wok” for a sled, you were right! Hee! I was really stretching to find something for them to use for a sled. I thought of bucket lids from the paint buckets of which we have several laying around outside. However, I couldn’t find them in the snow! And then I spied the old wok. Perfect (well, at least for kid sized backsides, anyway)!