We Have Started!

The building process has begun!  We broke ground on March 20 and the most recent pictures here are from March 23.  A lot was accomplished in just a few days.  However, the weather has been a bit rainy for the past few days, so I'm not sure what else has been completed.  Nick drove out to our site on Tuesday this week, but I don't think he's been back since.  I think most of the forms were up for the basement walls, but I'm not sure if they were able to pour concrete because of the rain yesterday.  Hopefully we'll get a little bit of dry weather so they can get back at it.

Day 1: excavation

Day 1: Driveway

Since then, rock has been put down so the big equipment doesn't get stuck in the mud when it rains.

Day 1:  Digging the basement

Day 2: Basement is dug

Standing in the basement

Still Day 2

Gracie and Owen seem happy with starting

Looking into the basement from the front of the house.

Day 3:  Getting ready to pour footings.  

Day 3:  Digging out the lagoon (aka our nice water feature)

Sunday, March 26, 2017

After a weekend in Iowa, Nick drove down to Ashland to check out the progress.  

They had started to put forms up for basement walls.

The wall is the front of the house and we will have a walk out in the back.  Hopefully by now, all of the forms are up and they have been able to pour the basement walls.  I'm not sure what they've been able to do though, because of the weather.

The lagoon is also completely dug out and ready to connect to the house.

I think the builder had hoped to get framing started by the end of this week, but not sure if that's possible with all the rain that we've had.  I think Nick has a few more pictures on his phone that I can upload later, and I'm sure we'll get out there again soon.  I will keep updating as much as possible.

Last basketball game!

Gracie had her last basketball game on March 18.  The team looked so much better than they did 2 months ago.  Gracie had a lot of fun and will probably play again next winter.

Playing defense

Gracie's team after their last game

Gracie and Coach Bonnie

A trip to Iowa

Last Friday, we left after school and headed to Iowa to see my Grandma.  As always, we tried to cram in as much as possible while we were there.  On Saturday we had lunch with Grandma and then went to the mall for a couple hours to kill some time.  That evening we met one of our friends in Grimes for dinner.  We hadn't seen Courtney or her kids forever.  Later that evening, we also got to see her sister, Traci.  She stopped by after she had gone out for dinner with some of her friends.

Gracie, Owen, and Court's kids learning to play flip cup.  

Quality education.

The next morning we had brunch at Grandma's, and my aunt, uncle, and cousins came to join us.  We got to meet Clara and spend some time with family.

Grandma Jeanne, Alison, Gracie, Clara, and Owen

On our way back to Missouri, we stopped through Newton to visit Julie and Sawyer.  Josh was in Las Vegas, but Julie showed us their gym and Nick and the kids played for a while before we continued our journey back south.  It was good to see everyone and the kids and I will be back in mid-May when I run in a relay race with some friends.  That should be a fun time!

Gracie and Owen playing with Sawyer in her baby jail.

Owen playing on the equipment at Josh and Julie's gym

Nick gave the rings a try.  He almost could do a muscle up. He was reminded that it works out better when you're in shape. Sawyer is just chilling on the floor behind him.  

Gracie and Owen giving it a try.

Owen climbing the rope.  He hasn't done it for awhile and didn't make it all the way up.  I think we were all in better shape when we had access to Ballard's weight room and wrestling room.

Gracie has had six weeks of hitting lessons from a former Mizzou softball player and last night was their final night.  These are a few of the girls that have been attending every Wednesday.  I think Gracie has learned a lot.  Any time Emily asks for player participation, Gracie is the first to volunteer and answer any questions that are asked.  It shocks me sometimes, that she can listen so well and verbalize what she has learned.  Gracie was also the only girl who knew who the players are on the Mizzou softball team when the girls were asked who their favorite players are.  

Next week softball and baseball will be in full swing.  Both Gracie and Owen will start practices twice a week.  Gracie will be pretty busy with doing both rec league and trying competitive league this spring.  They have a tournament already on April 8.  Nick will be assistant coaching Owen's machine pitch team this spring and will have the same head coach that he did last year.  They will both have practices on Tuesday evenings throughout April and start rec league games the first week in May. In May, Gracie will have double headers every Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  I think we might be at the ball park almost every night.  Should keep us busy!

Earlier this week, Gracie and Owen spent some time at Grandma Kate's house.  I have started trying to pack some stuff away and Gracie was eager to help when she returned from the lake.  We have two big boxes full of toys and other stuff from their room so far.  They really have way too much stuff in their room, considering how small it is for them both to be in there.  Gracie, especially, is SO excited to have her own room again.  However, I have a feeling that they will end up sleeping with each other pretty often still.  They get along pretty well most of the time.

Owen is also starting Spanish Club on Tuesdays after break.  I think this will go on for about 6 weeks.  He is so excited to learn Spanish!  We tried to get Gracie into it last fall, but turned in the permission form too late.  It fills up really quickly.  Owen and Gracie are still going to the New Haven Elementary choir once weekly, too.  They will perform on April 20 at multicultural night at their school.  This was a fun night last year, and I'm looking forward to it again.  I love that they celebrate so many different nationalities at their school.  

Well, I think that's about all for now.  There are five weeks left of the semester at Mizzou, then three weeks off before the summer session starts.  The kids are done with school May 20 and start summer school on June 5.  I'm sure a lot will be happening in the next couple months and I'll try to post the progress on the house as much as I can.