Lotsa Sticks!

At least that's what Mrs. Everything said their oldest, Miss Priss called the progress at our house.  We visited the frame on Sun evening... and plan to return tonight!

They were just starting on the 2nd floor (but had to stop over the weekend because of all the rain!)

Here's the living room:

And in case you're having a hard time visualizing it.... here's the last living room! 

We're building the same floorplan, but it won't be the same house!  We're adding a bedroom (yea for 5 BR!), we've added sqft, and lots of the house will have a diff look.  For example, I LOVED my last kitchen... but we're going to try something new this time - black distressed cabinets.  I'm meeting mr. fix-it later today (yea for having a Tues off!) to make our selections!

Here's the front of the double staircase.... this is the entryway of the house!

And here it was at the last house....

Off to talk tiles, countertops, flooring, etc!  

Beautiful Concrete

Have you ever seen more beautiful concrete?  OMG, I could just break out in song!  Tonight we visited our slab.  Our 12.hour.old slab.  

Which was just the kinda progress we needed to have after a typical day in the Summer House.  (You know, the kind where you come home from work to find a love note from the office.  About how your satellite dish - the one that's been there for 4 months now - is not installed to code.  Mr. Apartment Mgr, you sooo do not want to get into a pissing contest with me.  Let's start with the dishwasher that could wake a person 2 suburbs away.  Or what about how the people upstairs flooded our master bath last wk.  And you sent someone to fix the ceiling in the 2 spots where we had DOWNPOURS.  But that painter that was supposed to come take care of what looks like war damage?  Yep, still waiting.  And don't get me started on the smell.  That bomb you set off only kept the odors at bay for a wk.)

Anyway....  ;)  Check out how cute Sissy and G-man are, sitting in my soon.to.be master shower.  It'll be a beautiful, walk-in shower.... and I'm picking tile a week from today!

Check out my rockin' dance floor!

mr. fix-it is already hanging out in the new bar...

And Big Sis posted up at the front porch.  Can you tell how comfy we are here already?!

And to show you just how ready we are to actually LIVE here... This pic is from Fri.  Here's mr. fix-it with his green tag.  We passed an inspection Fri and another one yesterday, so we could have Slab Day today!

Here you can see some of the cables and such... what goes on under the floor!

And G-man?  Still obsessed.  with dirt.

Stay tuned!!  The frame goes up THURSDAY!

xoxo,

The Summer House List: #21

So, most of the items on the Summer House List are family activities.  In fact, I think only 2 are specific to just one person.  One of them?  Take a photography class with Mrs. Everything.

Those of y'all that have read this blog for awhile, know that's been on my to do list... longer than I've been blogging.  But we finally did it!  Mrs. Everything found a local photog Jenna (of That Wife) to help us learn a few things. 

Our main objective:  To learn enough to take (slightly) better everyday pics of our families and the events of our lives. 

Objective met?  Yep!  Jenna was so wonderful to work with.  Totally laid back and didn't laugh at the fact that we knew absolutely nothing.  She even brought a beautiful model.  I only wish I'd taken some notes (the class was on a Fri evening after a particularly long work week), but now I just need to spend some time (what's that, right?) playing around.

And so... a few shots I took that night in Aug.   You can see (hopefully!) all the playing around we were doing... focusing on the subject, on the background, etc.  We were in this beautiful area near where I live.  It's modeled after a Croatian village and no detail has been left undone.  This is the church - it's gorgeous!

More Summer House List activities to come!

And maybe now I can breathe...

Because we have dirt!

(Um, can you imagine what my laundry looked like this weekend?  After visiting the land to check progress both days?  Small price to pay though for PROGRESS!)

Saturday morning, Mr. Fix-It heads to the land to work on a few things and I follow later with the kiddos.  Mr. Fix-It promised I wouldn't be disappointed... and woo hoo! 

We have forms! 

Trenches have been dug! 

I am (finally!) happy to have progress.

Sissy helps Daddy measure, by throwing off the tape measure after each measurement.  In a dress.  Because that's how Big Sis rolls.

And G-man pulls himself away from the dirt long enough to help measure, too.

Oh, and to tell our new neighbor that he is TWOOOOOO. I was thrilled to meet one of our neighbors.  She and the other neigbhors have been chatting about how excited they are that we're building across the street. There are lots of kids in the area (which we knew.  Duh, haven't we been stalking the land every weekend?) and they like to get together and have neighborly shindigs. Perfect.

On Sunday, we go to church. 

Kids nap (okay, G-man naps and Sissy watches Hello Kitty). 

Mr. Fix-It and I switch up our workout routines and do the C25K (prob more on this later... I've been too.bored.to.believe with my current running and treadmill location in the Summer House!)

Then we head to the land.  We can see the orange netting from down the block - MORE changes!!  I kiss Mr. Fix-It.  ;)

Plumbing work has been done.  Here, Mr. Fix-It is standing in the master bathroom.  I have to say, since we're building the same floor plan as our last house (with a few modifications and more sqft), it is MUCH easier to visualize than any of our previous houses!

Um, this is one way to meet your new neighbors!  Think they'll mind?  They have a couple dogs and Sis was trying to get a closer look! 

Next up:  we've gotta pass a few inspections before we can pour the foundation.  Keep your fingers crossed for green tags, perfect scheduling and NO RAIN!

xoxo

Put 'Em Up or Tee Up?

So, I'll tell you this..... I haven't run any of these ideas by G-man yet.... But.  Here is MY Top 5 list for G-man's Halloween Costumes.  I plan on getting his opinion tomorrow.  But, of course, I want to hear what you think, too!

1.  A boxer - lately it is NOT unusual for me to get a call at work from the kiddos' school.  And it's almost always an 'incident report' about G.  That kid is all boy, a total bruiser.  Depending on the day, we might not even have to add the fake shiner.  Love this one!

2.  A Golfer - it's almost the anti-costume of #1 and I love it equally.  ;)  Mr. Fix-It lit up when I showed him this costume, complete with the set of golf clubs and bag.

3.  Lil Frankenstein - I don't know what it is about this one, but I can totally see G-man as a Lil Frank.  (Mr. Fix-It brought up a good point.... G prob will NOT wear anything on his head.  Which seriously takes out 92% of all boy costumes.  Geez.)

4.  Woody (or Buzz Lightyear) - this boy is OBSESSED with the Toy Story movies.  He'll stay glued for the.entire.movie.  (Moms of 2 yr old boys know how amazing that is!)  He's got Woody and Buzz toys, cars, movies, even a hooded towel!

5.  A Lil Devil - I couldn't resist this one!  For all those days he's being insanely onery.  ;)

Now... to figure out what I'm going to be! :)  Last year, I was a semi-homemade witch.  I bought a witch hat, spiced it up with some purple and green tulle, and wore my black dress.  This year?  Maybe... the Queen of Hearts.  Same black dress with some heart accessories?  I heart Halloween!

My New Favorite Thing

Ain't that the truth?  So why do we all keep tryin'??
By last night, I was really wondering if having Monday off was worth it.... when I worked 25 hrs Tues/Wed to make up for it.  But tomorrow is Friday - we can make it! :)

xoxo,

What are YOU gonna be?

I LOVE OCTOBER!  Those of you who know me well, know that it's probably my fav month!  What's not to love about the pumpkin patch, homecoming (with its parade, walkaround, sea of orange, and the big game!), and Halloween!  I have never outgrown my obsession with dressing up!  When else do I get to abandon my real life persona (thirty-something, full-time working, momma of 2) and be WHATEVER I want? 

Sis and I have been brainstorming our costumes for a few weeks now..... and over the holiday weekend, she put together HER Top 5:

1.  Batgirl (but not just any Batgirl... the PINK one!)

And G-man would just have to be her Batman (I like the one with the muscles, lol!)

2.  Cat - she's never mentioned wanting to be a cat before, but after seeing this cute costume, I can't really blame her for picking it!

3.  Southern Belle - I have to say, a part of me (the same part that loves her Southern drawl!) is just lovin' that she picked this in her top 5!  I don't really love the mermaid-like color combo, but I could def see her in a hoop skirt!

4.  Hannah Montana - the choice she mentions the most often, but that I often don't quite hear.  ;)

5.  Alice in Wonderland - there's the sassy version and the sweet version.  And while I usually go for tradition and know that Sissy would make a sweet, traditional Alice... I'm liking the sass!

Now that Sis has narrowed it down, I've gotta spend some time with G-man and see what he likes!  And I have a few ideas for myself.... but since we can't throw a Halloween party at our house this year, I've gotta find somewhere to go and dress up!

xoxo