Week Ten of Construction of House #2

I don't have many pictures of construction this week. The garage door was installed. Insulation was blown into the attic and Victor spent all day Saturday on the Bobcat removing construction debris and leveling the yard in preparation for the driveway and the sidewalk to be poured. He also dug trenches for water and electrical lines and then installed these lines.

This is a pic of the front yard sans foundation form boards, excess drywall material, and piles of masonry sand and stone. Victor moved the big stuff with the power equipment and this pregnant lady and her little men handled the smaller junk. We made quite a picture I'm sure.
Nevertheless, we got the job done.

The wearin' o' the green......

We now interrupt the continuous stream of construction updates to say Happy St. Paddy's Day!!















Thanks Pappaw and Jan for the cute buttons!
As we drove to school today I heard B say to R, "Okay, I will surprise my friends w/ my shamrock button and you can surprise your friends w/ your green smiley face button!"
They were so proud and funny!!

Week Nine of Construction of House #2

The tile is in! This is Victor's master bath shower.



















This is the boy's bath. I would show you the tiled areas of the floors, but they are currently covered w/paper for protection.















The cabinets are also in.















The whole house is painted! (Sorry for the dim afternoon light.)















This is one of my favorite features in this house!! I am very excited to see it with the countertops and tile backsplash!

Week Eight of Construction On House #2

The masons finished the stonework.
We are happy w/ it and once it has had some time to cure they will come back and wash it. Washing will accentuate the natural color variations in the stone and I think that we will like the overall look even more.

































Check back soon and I will post this past weeks events. That's right, we will actually be up to speed and as a teaser I will say this things are really shaping up inside!! You'll have to check back to see what I mean!! ;)

Week Seven of Construction on House #2

Well the past few weeks have been rough. First, Victor's step grandfather past away unexpectedly in Washington state. I am no longer allowed to travel (b/c baby #3 has decided to take up residence horizontally.) So, Victor made the trip for the funeral w/o me. He and his Dad sang This World is not My Home at the funeral as the angels rejoiced in heaven!

Towards the end of that same week hospice was called in for my grandmother who has been suffering from Alzheimer's for about five years. I still can't travel so we all called and waited as she slept peacefully for several days w/ my mother by her side. My mother and my aunt assured my grandmother one afternoon that they would take care of each other and that it would be alright for her to rest and let go if she was tired......just moments later she slipped away.

In the days following (as my mother worked to make the necessary arrangements) my Dad began having severe pain. He was in and out of the emergency room three times in four days before it was finally determined that he had kidney stones which had to be removed. Once, that procedure was accomplished he was feeling much better and everyone was breathing much easier.

Though the memorial service was held only a few hours from our home Victor and my family once again made the trip w/o myself and the boys. Victor sang and Stephen prayed and read scripture and my Mom said everything was nice. The boys and I had a restful afternoon of naps and reading books. I think that Grandmother would have wanted it that way.

Shortly after my grandmother past away we learned that our college friend Brad Wims had also past from his earthly life. Once again, we were rejoicing for a heavenly victory and mourning the loss of someone so cherished by so many. His service was held the same day as my grandmother's so we were unable to honor him in that way but his family was and is in our thoughts and prayers.

So, there you have it..... the reasons behind my posting drought. I have been fielding lots of questions about heaven, sickness, and death from two very concerned and inquisitive little boys.

But just to show that live does go on I will post a few pics of the house progress as of week seven. ( The boys are spring breakin' at Gran & Papa's as we speak. R caught a 4lb bass and B caught a 3 pounder. Good times!)

The masons began the stone work!















The inside of the house was textured.















Our septic system went in. Aren't you so glad that I don't shy away from mentioning these important details. :)















Lastly, our well was dug. ( It feels like there is something grammatically incorrect about that last sentence. ".....was dug." Is there a better way to word that? Anyone? Kim are you out there?)




















That's all for now folks. Tomorrow I will post the construction events as of week eight. We hope that everyone is having a great week and really feeling God's presence in your lives.

Week Six of Construction on House #2

First came the insulation. This type of insulation is called bib.
A very thin layer of this material is tacked to the studs along all of the outer walls.



















Then this cotton-like stuff is blown into the cavity that is created.



















This is the end result.















Next came the drywall.





























By Saturday, the inside was all taped and floated.















..........and on the outside? They were painting!














They completely painted all of the siding and the fascia. Hurray!!

Week Five of Construction on House #2

Well I am very behind on posting last week's progress, but better late than never.
The week began with shingles on the roof.














Then the electrician's arrived and began wiring for lights, switches, and outlets. This is a pic of all the recessed cans (lighting) in my kitchen.














Next, came the plumbers and water lines were run for the baths and the kitchen.




























Last, but not least, this is R modeling what Daddy (apparently) does on the job site. :)

Week Four of Construction on House #2

The week began with T-ply (moisture barrier) going up all around the the exterior of the house. Next came the solar board (for efficient heating and cooling) and roof felt.















This is the view from the back of the house by the middle of the week. The roof felt, siding, windows, door, and trim are all in place.














The shop is also progressing well.



















By the end of the week the duct-work and air conditioner/furnace unit are all in place.















This is the view from the front of the house. There is no hardi-siding , because we will have limestone exterior here.















Another busy week!!

Week Three of Construction on House #2

Well, this was the week for framing! The week began like this... walls in place and rafters beginning to go up.














This is the start of the shop.














This is how it looks now!! Walls and rafters up and ready for decking and sheet rock!!















This is the back of the house.















This is another look at the slab on the north side of the house. See, I wasn't kidding! Eight feet tall!



















Victor wanted me to include a photo of the eyebrow arch from the living room leading into the kitchen.














Finally, this is what the shop looked like at the end of the week.














Well, that's all for now! Come back next week to see what happens next!!

Also, my boys (the two little ones) would like for you to notice how clean the work site is. Construction workers can leave behind a great deal of garbage. The nice folks that have been toiling away on our home aren't particularly messy. However, every afternoon my boys can't wait to come out to the site a race around picking up as much garbage as possible!!

Works for me!!

Week Two of Construction on House # 2

Week two began w/ bagging. Which basically means filling this black plastic looking material w/ the backfill you saw in those large mounds from last week's pictures. These "bags" holding backfill are stacked as shown and are amazingly level considering they are full of sand.















These "bags" are stacked to create large rectangular sections, topped with more of the black plastic like material, and the then the post tension cables ( all the blue cables) are run in a grid pattern spanning the entire slab.















This picture demonstrates why the slab is called a post tension slab. Each of the blue cables in the picture above is securely fastened to form boards on one side of the slab and then tensioned
(as shown below) on the form boards on the opposite side of the slab.
















Here, the foundation is being poured. Yippee!! A mixer truck empties fresh cement into the pump truck with the boom (shown below.) The wet cement is deposited within the form boards via the boom which a man carefully guides along.














This picture demonstrates the height of the slab on the north side of the house. Tall!!!




















So.....that's it for week two! Now on to the framing!!!!

New house update finally!!!

So for those of you who have been asking, behold the house construction progress!!! Yes, there is progress finally ( after a bunch of crazy paperwork and licensing chaos) there is definitely progress!! :)

On January 13th the construction process officially began. We had the brush (that Victor had pushed over back in July......deep sigh) removed and the began forming up the slab.















Next, came the plumbing and electrical rough in ( that would be all the PVC snaking around.)















We rounded out the week with the delivery of these large piles of backfill (basically sand.)















Thus ended week one of official construction on House #2.
Now, you might be thinking that this doesn't seem like much for one week, but stick w/ me things will speed up from this point on.

Christmas 2008 w/ the Elrods

How do you celebrate the Holiday season in South Texas?
You go dove huntin'. Everybody knows that.




















Don't worry...R's gun is just a toy. It doesn't even make a bang, but he sure does!!




















Sorry, I don't have pictures of B hunting. He sat with Papa on the other side of the tank and that was just way too far for this out-of-breath pregnant lady to walk. We did hear them shooting at dirt clods when they had decided no more doves were flying!















Along w/ Christmas, hunting, fishing, New Years, and hunting we also celebrated Victor's birthday.

Here he is showing off gifts carefully selected by his two best buddies (a box of Magic Tricks from R and a container of bolts and nuts from B.) Not sure if there is some hidden message there, but they just knew he needed both.






























I don't have the pictures of our Christmas celebration w/ Pappaw, Jan, and Nana. Those pics are currently in New Zealand w/Pappaw (my camera was misplaced during their visit) but when he returns I will post a few.

Hey, look at it this way by posting Christmas pics in February I will be doing my part to keep Christmas in our hearts all year. You are welcome. :)