Summer

The start of summer means I haven't really gotten into a schedule yet. Thus, the delay in posting anything lately. The kids are all out of school now. Summer is in full swing and it's been either very cold and rainy or very hot. Where's the happy medium?! Here's a little of what's been keeping us busy~

Anderson completed his first year of preschool. He made some great little friends. The picture of the four of them above, Sybil, Luke and Julia (twins) with Anderson between the two. I have so enjoyed seeing Anderson have his own friends. And even more than that, I have made two great friends out of the deal as well, Gretchen and Sarah, their mothers.  

We have been doing park play dates. Cedar Falls has quite a few nice parks. I  think there are even some that I've never been to, we'll fix that! 

Work on the house is never-ending. But, the garage is mostly done now. We still need to get a few windows in the upstairs, but it's so nice to have that additional space to work in.

Hailey discovered it was flag day. Her and the kids threw an impromptu Flag Day Parade. They made flags using paper, bamboo skewers and masking tape. They gave us all invitations to the parade and even provided seating (as noted on the invitation). It was all very cute. They are so creative! 

We just finished VBS. The theme this year was Super Heroes. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it.

They look pretty strong don't they?! 

We went golfing with Hailey and Jackson for Father's Day. Hailey wanted to wear matching shirts. We did it as a best shot and had a lot of fun. It's hard to beat golfing with the kids. After finishing golf, we picked up the other kids at home and went to the Brown Bottle for a late dinner.

 Brad said it was the best Father's Day ever. It's hard to argue with that. 

~ Misty

Second Story

The second story went up yesterday. This is all they were able to finish before the rain started. I snapped it quick before I hustled all the kids home. They were a little frightened with the storms. Unfortunately, they called a rain day today so it's looking more like Friday before it will be done. The two open spots are where the dormers go. There will be two on the other side as well. I'm hoping the stairs get done sooner than later so we can start storing some things up there. I almost took a picture from the upstairs so you could see the view, but it was pouring this morning and there's currently no roof, so that will have to wait.
We chose to put this room above the garage because we had to fill in our basement. And looking at it now, if we were able to have a basement, I don't think we would have this room. This is our "basement" with a view!

~ Misty

May Update

I think I delay updating until I have something substantial to share. I/we do have a lot going on, but I keep thinking well, when this gets done, then I'll post. Or, when we finish this, I'll post. You know how it goes. So, this is an abbreviated update of the last couple weeks. And yes, I do have something big to share - literally BIG!!!

Foot Pedals!

I have been catching a lot of grief over these. But, I love them!!! I originally read about them in a Food Network Magazine. They were in Guy Fieri's home kitchen, I thought, "Those are awesome!" After some research online and talking to Brad, he agreed that they would work for the island sink. I absolutely love them! It's just another touch that makes our house unique.

 

I made this picture a little larger so you could see Piper's expression. She clearly doesn't like this cage/kennel as some call it. Technically, it's a "gate" but I bought it for the front steps. It makes into a kind of pen that also works to keep her contained. But, she's not a fan. 

Our yard is far from being landscaped. However, I did plant some flowers around our mailbox. At least we can have one little bright spot until we get everything else done.

I wrote about this on facebook, but didn't post here. The shakes have been a nightmare for me. We decided on one color and after I had painted a double coat on quite a few of them, we decided to put them up. Only to discover the coloring wasn't right. So, Brad picked another color. I double coated those and after putting them up, it's the right color. BUT! The ones that were already up have to be painted while I'm up on the ladder. That's a long way up! I was able to get these painted (on the left) but that was as far as I could get without moving the ladder. Round two should happen this coming weekend.

We received a playset from our good friends, the Dekoster's. We took it down and carted it to our house earlier this week. We plan to attach it to the current playset in the background. Eventually, it will all end up in our enclosed back yard. In the meantime it will be in the open part of the back yard. Thanks to John and Ange!

The garage is getting built! That's the big news! They think they will be done by Wednesday. I think the second floor goes up tomorrow. There will be a "man cave" above the garage. It will totally change the look of the house. I can't wait to see it all done!

~ Misty

New Growth

Last summer I transplanted a bunch of hostas from our front yard to a side yard fence. I was hoping to save them even though it wasn't the ideal time to transplant. Here is what they looked like after I transplanted them last summer.

                          

 I have been holding my breath this spring waiting to see if they made it. Everyone else's hostas have been coming up and even have some small blooms already. I checked and checked on mine and nothing. Then,

finally, we have new growth! 

I know there are some obvious parallels to my life right now - these hostas made it through the flood, being transplanted, and are growing strong again.

********

 In other house news, the garage trusses were delivered today. The windows are being delivered on Friday and the doors will be here next week. After the garage rebar is tied together (I think that's my job?) the floor will be poured and they can frame the first floor of the garage. We are having Steve do the trusses and second floor. It's really going the change the look of the house - in a good way, trust me. I don't have a timeline for that yet, just sometime in May. Stay Tuned!

~ Misty

Update & Easter

It's been a few days or so since I last posted. Besides my guilt reminding me, I was on a friend's blog that shows mine as one she follows, and if that wasn't a reminder enough - it also lists when I had my last update. Eek! (Thanks Johnni!)

So, here's a quick update. It's not the one I intended as I had hoped to have more to report today, but that seems the way it goes lately.

We celebrated Annaliese's birthday as a family and ended up with this pic of me and girls

Last Sunday we had the Gerdes and Junker families over for a grill out. It was a little chilly! We moved the party inside and with all fourteen kids and six adults, it stilled turned out to be a fabulous get together!

Fast Forward to Easter... We celebrated with Brad's family in Sumner and then headed back to our house. This is Piper in her new wagon. Brad found a great deal at Scheel's on this Trek Trailster. It is the best wagon EVER! Piper absolutely loves it and I think we're renaming it "The Pipester"

We tried a few times to get a good shot of all the kids together. This one is just with ours. Totally impossible to get all the kids to look at the camera at the same time. The one of Anderson on the go is one of my new favorites. I think it's something about the angle?

After heading back to our house, we told the kids there were no eggs at Grandma and Grandpa's because Aunt Michelle wasn't able to be there with us. As we drove up, I thought for sure they would see all the eggs, but they were clueless for far too long! Several encouragements later for them to look around and they got the idea. They were soooo excited! This is Hailey and Jackson after the hunt - what a great sister/brother combo :)

This is where the part that I had hoped I had more to show would be. We did work on the house all weekend, besides the Easter things. However, it takes so much longer than we think and every step requires thought, more rethought, and then final action but only after second guessing the previous thought process?

The upside was this stump that has been in the way. Our friend Bugs offered to bring over his equipment and remove it for us. Look at how small it seems - in comparison...

Yeah - now we have this!!!! That thing was HUGE! We lost the stump, but also half the driveway. So now instead of hitting or driving over the stump, I can just drive into this hole the size of Big Woods Lake. Thanks Bugs!!! (No really, thank you so much!) We are very fortunate to have good friends willing to help out. I will try to get more done to show progress on the actual house.

 But don't hold me to that, in case it's a while until my next post?!

~ Misty

Windy Day

It's finally starting to get nice out, albeit sporadically. I have been trying to get the little ones outside more during the day, usually around lunch time. Early last week we went to the park and were nearly blown away! Holy Wind Gusts! We did get some time on the swings and I even let Anderson take Piper down the slide. It was a short trip, but so nice to get out in the sun again.

Action Shots!

Look for us this Spring -  we love Seerley and Look Out Park!

~ Misty

Birthday Princess Annaliese!

Annaliese will be 6 years old on the 19th. We have celebrated her birthday twice already this week. She had her friend party on Wednesday. They did a princess party complete with hair styling and makeup. It was such a neat experience for Annaliese. All the girls looked great and had a lot of fun. Happy Birthday Annaliese!

 All the girls posing after their styling.

Dee Dee, Katelyn, Ella, Jordan, Annaliese and Madison

~ Misty

So, How is the House Coming?

That has got to be the most frequently asked question. I guess it's better than talking about the weather, but, it does get a little old. I say this not because I don't like talking about the house, but because I/we thought we would be done by now. When you think about it, June will be three years since the flood. That is a looooong time to be living the way we have, without a house. Granted, lots has happened in these past three years, some good, some great and some not so great. Regardless, we're not in our house yet and I really have no idea when we will be. I am hoping before the kids get out of school, but even that might be a stretch.
As you all know, Brad is doing this pretty much by himself, nights and weekends while working full time. It hasn't been easy, I know that's an understatement. Which brings me to the second most frequently asked question, "It will all be worth it." Well, yes and no. While trying to stay positive, I'll just comment on the "yes" part. Yes, we will have a nicer house than we had ever imagined. Yes, we will have a ton of equity in our home. Yes, it is completely custom to our needs. Yes, we can say we built it ourselves. The part that's hard is trying to remember that on a day to day basis when we're still living out of totes, don't have our home done yet and still have so much left to do.
One thing that keeps Brad going, besides the obvious, is the continual moral support we have received from our friends and family. He thrives on the compliments and encouragement. He needs to know that he's being validated by the decisions he has made. I can tell him and I do, but hearing it from others helps him to know he's not totally crazy for doing this the way we have. For that reason, and in response to "frequently asked questions" I continue to post updates, pictures, etc. And because a blog post can be a little boring without pictures, here are a few of what we've been working on lately.

We are trying to get the island mapped out for size and placement. The fine piece of equipment on the end is my wine fridge. I'm currently accepting donations~

Brad marked the rest of the kitchen out to make sure we have the placement correct for the cabinets we have. All this has to be done before he starts the electric, which hopefully will be in the next week or two.

My cooktop - nuf said!

Lighting for above the island. I think we may darken the metal just a little to match the color of the other lights, but the style on all the lights is the same.

The back side of the island, if you were looking from the garage door.This will be a two-tiered island and I'm hoping we can fit six chairs around it. The facing on the bottom and other side will all be stone to match the surround of the stove.

Brad bought this machine from one of his customers probably two years ago. It has sat in the garage and I figured, why not put it at the house? I don't have much candy in it yet, but it's enough to keep the kids asking for quarters.

So, that's my update. If I knew how to add this to the Block House tab at the top, I would. Until then, you'll have to look for the updates on the main page. And please do keep asking about the house. I might not have much for an update, but Brad is still there every night and on the weekends. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by, he'd love to tell you all about the house and I'm sure it would be a welcome distraction.

~ Misty

Happy Birthday Piper!

 My littlest child has now turned ONE! I can't believe how much time has passed. She is a true joy for all of us. I'm particularly glad that I did the photo blog last year. I have so many more pictures of her first year than any of the other kids. I love every little thing about her. I have found that I'm so much more patient with her than I was before. I'm not sure if it's my age or just the fact that I've done all this before. Either way, it's definitely a good thing. Much love to my little girl!

Of course, I have to put in a few pictures of her first birthday cake. For the record, she didn't like it at all! Everyone else did though, so I know it wasn't my cooking. I don't think it will be long before she figures out about all the yummy goodness that comes with cake!

~ Misty

Hailey's Party

We celebrated Hailey's 10th birthday with her friends on Tuesday night. Although it was a week early, having it during Spring Break was the easiest way to get all of her friends there. I rented a room at Comfort Suites and Hailey invited five of her friends to spend the night. The girls all had a great time swimming and doing typical 4th grade girl things. I love listening to them talk. They even played truth or dare - I so remember doing that!


Annaliese was able to come swim too!



All the girls enjoying their Scratch cupcakes - Yum!