Springtime brings mud. 

I was looking for a recent photo of the house, and didn't have one! So much is happening so fast. The "taper" is there this week, getting the walls in shape for Tim to paint. My job this week is to settle on paint colors, order lighting from homedepot.com, pick carpet, bathroom counters and hardware for the doors and cabinets.  Tim is to get our granite countertop put on "reserve", and Kevin (our builder) is ordering stone for fireplace and columns out front, wood floor, and all the other things I decide on. Yikes!! It's hard to believe it should be done May 1!

Here are Tim and Ashlyn, off to the Fireproof Ball in Mankato. We had a great time with some people we didn't know too well, and one couple we just met. We are hoping to continue the fun this summer with a "grilling club". We found a common interest!

I am thrilled with this photo here, as it tells me we aren't getting overwhelmed, or at least we are taking a break, from the house a bit. We had a great time, stayed overnight in a hotel, and feel renewed to one another.

If you haven't had a chance to see the movie, Fireproof is a good reminder of what marriage is all about!

Wow! What a difference from the last post of our house. Even today it looks much different than this, as the front porch roof went on today! Almost all the windows are in now, as well as the front door. I did have a bit of a crisis yesterday when I realized that the window  of opportunity for changes is quickly closing, and simultaneously the realization of how everything will look is coming clear. We are not disappointed in much. A few things, but truly it is just that we wish we had spent a bit more time thinking about those things.

I am also becoming aware of how much work there is ahead of us. Not only before we close on the house (choosing paint, tile, carpet, backsplash, lighting), but after we move in (hanging shelves and art and window treatments). I love all this, but somehow I am having a hard time moving forward on some of it. I am waiting for that one catalyst. Fabric. Then, I feel like it will all come together! 

One thing I have so enjoyed about our season of renting is how much family time we seem to have together. Of course, the ample and regular amount of snow we have had helps as well! We have gone skiing, skating and sledding in the last 5 days!  It was a beautiful night skiing on Friday, with the lights on and quiet swish of skis on fresh snow. Gretl was ready to ski all on her own down the "Sleepy Hollow" slope. She even tried the jumps at the top. (Very, very slowly!) Tim took Lottie on those jumps as well, between his legs.

These pictures are taken at Centennial Lakes, which is really a long canal of sorts, maintained for skating in the winter. They have a gorgeous warming house, with two large wood-burning fireplaces on either end. People can rent skates, sleds for pushing/riding on the ice and these big metal contraptions which help the not-so-stable skater to stay upright. They pipe classical music to outdoor speakers, and it is all a whimsical, romantic time. Like a Currier and Ives postcard. 

The sledding took place on our day off school this week: Snow day! The hill is at the local elementary school, and is getting to be known for its near disasters. I exaggerate a bit, maybe, but I can tell at least 3 stories of wild rides, one ending with a ride in an ambulance! Those happened under different conditions than we had this week. The fresh and deep snow makes for a soft, fun ride, not like the icy hill in years gone by. 

I keep reminding myself...You cannot do this in the Caribbean!

Fun in the Sun...

I mean SNOW...

 

Welcome to our Home!

Amazing what a few days and 25 degrees does! Here is the doorway, and on the left, the dining room window, and the "away room" to the right. The back wall shows the doorway out the back and the living room windows.

We are all very excited to have the builder close in and heat the basement soon. This will melt the piles of snow in there and thaw the ground. Sometime, the insulation and the flooring will go in.

Pretty soon, Tim will become very busy. His first job is to paint the wood for the window jambs. He'll then be putting in the insulation on the house, and eventually laying tubing for the in-floor heat. It must be

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wow!
Snow, snow, and MORE snow!! The ground hasn't had a chance to look dirty yet, since before Christmas. It is really beautiful, but amazingly it can still come down, even when temperatures hover around or below zero. I thought that couldn't happen?

Here is a photo of an almost updated view of the house! See the "walkout" basement windows, the door being further to the left and out of the shot. We run over there whenever we can to get more photos, but really lately there hasn't been much change. Too cold to be out there nailing boards!

We are, meanwhile, hitting the "slopes"! What a blast. Lottie says, "Whee!" and Gretl gets mad at me because we get tangled. She is really better off going down the hill by herself! Makenna and Elizabeth just take off and meet up with us later. Come join us if you can!