Stairs! Walls! Cement! Heating!

We've made some big progress since our basement floor was poured ten days ago!!!

Rich, Jas and Jordyn built this little roof piece above where the scaffolding is set up.  It ties the roofline together nicely, but the real reason was for eavestroughs.  Imagine all the water that would be coming down in that front corner when it rained.  Now we can spread the water around via eavestroughs.  Rich is pretty smart eh?

Let's see what's happening on that beautiful smooth, clean basement floor!

Okay, not so clean anymore, but still smooth!  Rich is building the stairs.

Cutting the stringers - three per staircase.

And trying them on for size!  They fit!!!

Now he's smart and tracing the ones he made for the bottom stairs, only he's making them one stair shorter for the top flight.

This is our future playhouse under the stairs!  See the doorway on the left and the little window on the right.  Katia is pretty excited about this - so am I!!!

We woke up the next morning to this view out the window.

Beautiful, yes!  But needless to say it turned our yard into a mud pit again - just when it was finally drying out.  This was all melted by the next day, and then it's been snowing again all weekend!  Crazy!

So while the outside was snow covered, that didn't stop our Richie from finishing the stairs inside.  And there he is standing on the lovely sturdy staircase.  We've all enjoyed running up and down the stairs - it's like a real house now - almost!!!

That piece of wood he's leaning against won't be staying there for us to bump our heads on!

So this is Friday - see, no snow!  Feast your eyes over to the garage.

Tarps covering the garage door openings.  

That could only mean . . .

. . .  we got our garage floor poured!!!  That's Heath out there smoothing it all down nicely.  He's kneeling on some big pads.  I always wondered how they smoothed out cement without getting their footprints on it!!!

On that snowday, Rich also started framing up the basement walls.  He and I chalked the lines early one morning before school so I'd have a big girl home to watch the two little girls.

Looking good!  It's fun for the girls to finally start seeing where they will be sleeping one of these days.

Staircase view from the family room and the hallway leading to bedrooms.

Rich and Kevin framing a bathroom wall.  That's a laminated blueprint there posted on the wall.

Ya just gotta love power tools!!!

Twice Kevin had perfect timing this week - because it saved me!!!  Rich called me to come over and help lift the top stairs in place.  Right after I hung up the phone with him, Kevin called and he was able to go and help rather than poor little old me!!!  (I'm certain Rich was much happier to have strong Kevin lifting stairs rather than weak me!  I know I was!!!)  And the other time, I was coming to take the tamping machine back to Home Depot.  Rich and I were gonna lift that heavy baby into the back of the Suburban.  And who should drive up just seconds after I'd backed the Suburban in place - yup, Kevin again.  He's watching my back!!!

Oh, now this is exciting!!!

Looks like a furnace to me!!!  We'll have heat - always a good thing!

And I wanted to capture a picture of me, so . . .

. . . there I am admiring a hole in the floor!!!

This is the third house we've built.  It's always been amazing to Rich and I how things fall into place, and how people show up right when we need them.  We've experienced many miracles and tender mercies in these building journeys.  It's delightful to know the Lord is aware of us and our needs.  I love that!!! (and so does Richie!)

Mackenzie's Mischief

It's Sunday morning and we have church at 1:00 pm.  I really enjoy trying to sleep in for awhile on these mornings, because there really is no chance of a Sunday afternoon nap when you get home at 4:00 pm.  But Miss Mackenzie decided that she was wide awake and wasn't going back to sleep.  So I got up with her and decided to blog about her while everyone else slumbers on for a few more hours.

A few days ago I had some time in the afternoon to work on a little project I was doing.  I left for a moment and came back to find that Miss Mackenzie decided to rearrange the pieces that I had carefully arranged.

Good thing I have a little photograph I can refer to to see my original arrangement.  And then she was climbing on my lap while I tried to sew.  And while I was ironing, she was on the chair by the sewing machine turning knobs and pulling thread out.

I decided it was pretty much pointless to try to sew until . . .

. . . nap time!!!

So while she slept I was able to do some sewing and make some cookies as well.  A few hours later when she was awake and recharged, I turned from my sewing to find . . .

. . . she had found the cookies!!!  And of course I didn't leave a chair there for her to climb on - that was all her doing! 

See that tight little purple hoodie she's wearing?  I put it away because it's too small, but she keeps bringing it to me to put on her, and just wearing it isn't enough!  It must be zipped too.  If I don't zip it, she squawks and squawks and tries to do it herself while following me around the house.  It's so snug on her chubby little belly, with too short arms!

Mmmm!!!  At least she took a well-done one!!!  (Yeah, I was distracted by sewing.)  Imagine if you will, what the kitchen must look like when cookies are being made and it's my sewing/ironing room too.  Obviously I'm not posting pictures of that!!!

A few days later, Miss Mackenzie had apple sauce with her breakfast.  She really is a good little eater and handles the spoon very well.  She had finished the majority of the apple sauce, but decided to use her fingers to completely clean the bowl out.  And then she was rubbing her fingers all through her hair - ugh!!! 

Her hair turned into this stiff mass of dried apple sauce.  It doesn't look too bad in the picture, but it sure turned stiff and clumpy.  This is the girl who screams in the bathtub and is terrified of having her hair washed.  It's still in her hair - I wasn't ready for the battle yet (and I was hoping it would dry out over time and flake out - but it didn't).  We'll tackle it this morning so she's clean for church!!!

Mackenzie is 19 months now.  I just searched through 6 year old Katia's box of hand-me-downs for some summer clothes for Kenz (not that we'll need them anytime soon if this snow keeps up!).  This t-shirt was size 18 months and it fits her nicely, but it seemed to me like Katia had just barely finished wearing it (she's pretty petite!).  Anyway, Katia proved my thoughts true.  She came in and saw Mackenzie in the green shirt and said, "Hey, she's wearing my shirt!  I was just looking in my drawer for it to wear on St. Patrick's Day."

What a little monkey in her green shirt, apple sauced hair with two different shoes on (she's always bringing me mismatched sets of shoes to wear - along with a hoodie!!!)

I delight in recording these little memories of the life of my baby.  And I delight everytime I pick her up - she snuggles into my neck and gently pats my back, saying a gentle "Ahhhh!"  Such a delightful feeling!!!

Clogging Time

There was a Trade Show in town today with an entertainment stage off to one side.  Cloggers were part of the entertainment.  I have a Jordyn and a Carlee on the stage there - can you find them?

I can't either!!!  Well, you can see half of Jordyn.

There they are - much easier to spot when it's their turn at the front of the stage!  Jordyn is front right and Carlee is front left with the two braids.

And a fuzzy zoom in on Jordyn!!!

The song they're clogging to here is by Trevor Panzcak "She's Everything You Want".

These girls are really good cloggers.  They've been clogging together for about seven years and have gone to competition in Utah and Idaho for the last two years.  It's so fun to watch them clog!

Other beginner classes of clogging danced next and then these older girls came back on for the final number "Bring the House Down".

Can you find them again in the second row?  Jordyn is to the left of center and Carlee is on the right.

And a zoom in on Carlee.

Some more fabulous moves and then . . .

. . . the finale!!!

I delight in being able to give my children opportunities to develop their talents.  It's so wonderful for them to have those feelings of success as they perform and feel good about the things they've done.

We've Got Cement!!!

Okay - it's finally time for another house update - which means I have some pictures of something more exciting than electrical wires or rough-in plumbing!!!  Those things are good and need to happen, but not very exciting for a picture!  So here Rich and his helper are laying the red hose for the in-floor heating.  Let me just say that in-floor heating is the best!  I always have cold feet and it's so nice to walk on a warm floor and keep those footsies toasty!

Jenna (in the pink sweater) is dropping all the plastic zip ties where we need them to be, and then Jas, Jordyn and I are attaching the hose to the rebar with those little zip ties.  Our fingers were aching at the end of the day!  Carlee was helping too - she was back at the house babysitting the two little ones and scrubbing potatoes for our supper. 

Jordyn shows us how it's done.  She also went around with snips and cut off all the tall plastic ends - we didn't want them sticking out of the cement floor.  The shiny stuff under the rebar is bubble wrap!  An extra insulation under the cement and it reflects the heat back into the floor, not into the ground.  It sure makes it a nicer surface to work on, rather than kneeling right on gravel (which is under the bubble wrap).

And I'm tying down the hose under a temporary propane heater we have suspended from the floor joists.  It was such a cold winter and the frost went down pretty deep.  We had to heat the basement to make sure the ground was good and thawed before pouring the floor.

We did all this on Wednesday afternoon.  And then on Friday our floor was poured.  Don't have any pictures of that - they did it early in the morning.  But today, Saturday, this is what we see . . .

. . . Richie and a basement floor!!!  woot woot!!!  This is taken from the mechanical room, looking out across the whole basement.  Very soon there will be stairs below the missing floor joists (where his head is) - can't wait to have stairs attaching the levels!!!

This is our future family room and it's finally looking a decent size.  It seemed so small before!!!  There will be two more windows - one on each side of the bigger center window.  But right now one is an outlet for that temporary propane heater hanging there.  And that is a doorway in the corner too - and it will have a windowed door - the kind with blinds inside the glass!  I think those are so cool!!!

We put the girls down through the window to play in the basement for the first time.  Mackenzie stood there and cried at first until more of us made it through the hole.  They did enjoy playing - racing from one end to the other, and Katia kept screaming - she enjoyed hearing her echoey voice.  Next time we'll have to bring bikes and scooters and the little battery powered jeep - it's tradition!!!

Six of us in the family room - lots of room for more people - yay!!!  Loving having a floor - it suddenly makes the house seem more real.  You could lay carpet on it and have a room now!!!  Almost!!!

And in the last little while Richie has done a few more things on the house - like putting these little roof parts above the garage doors.  We needed something for eavestroughs.  Otherwise, when it rained or snow melted, the driveway would have extra water by the doors, and that wouldn't be great, especially in the winter when that water would freeze and make it very slippery.  It looks great eh?

He's also got the room above the garage all framed in - it's a sweet bonus room!!!

There's another view of the new roof pieces on the garage.  And look at that driveway!!!  It actually goes somewhat up and into the garage now.  And the garage is not a hole anymore - it's full of gravel.  It will get it's floor poured pretty soon too - Friday I think!

And there is the shop with new brickmold around the door.  It's chocolate brown coloured.  We're doing all the soffit and fascia and smart board in chocolate brown.  The shingles are dual black.  The stone will be a blend of brown and blacks and the stucco will be some colour that is yet to be determined.  I also want the shakes up in the gables - love those!!!  But what colour???

As for my delight?  Progress of any kind is absolutely delightful - and I'm not just talking about house building!!!



Provincials

Basketball season has been over for a few weeks now, and Jas has been enjoying having some spare time - and I'm enjoying having her around more!!!  Don't get me wrong, she really loves basketball, but it was a long, busy season for her.  Being in grade 11 she was able to play on both the Junior Varsity team and the Varsity team, which usually meant about four hours of practice each day, unless it was a game day.  And there were also many weekend tournaments too.

Here's Jas after her very last game of the year - wearing the Varsity uniform for the last time this season.  (Hey - less laundry for me!!!)

It was a great learning season for Jas.  She got lots of playing time on the JV team as she was one of the older and more experienced players, and she actually got more time playing on the Varsity team than we expected.  Unfortunately for Jas, she had a mild flu the week of playoffs.  She had a constant headache for about 4 days.  We actually took her to the hospital to be checked out because the coaches suggested she might have a concussion from some head bangs in one of the games.  It was flu though and we gave her painkillers, but still she wasn't feeling great during the final games. 

The JV team ended the season at number 3 in the league.  During playoffs they were able to finish in Second place, losing only to the undefeated Cardston team.  Great job team - they really improved and grew together as a team! 

Varsity is a little different.  In league play we finished 5th, but we play a lot of teams with a higher ranking than us.   We're 2A by size but choose to play up a level to 3A.  During league, a lot of the teams we play are 4A ranked teams (bigger schools).  So we don't see most of those teams in playoffs.  In Zone playoffs we finished second, losing to the #1 ranked 3A team in the province - McCoy (we're ranked #3).  But both 1st and 2nd place in Zones get to head to Provincials. 

So the Panda's headed to Provincials in Chestermere!!!

The first game was a huge disappointment.  We played the #6 ranked team, McDougall, on their home court in Airdrie.  That was a huge home court advantage as the game was during school time and they let their student body get out of class to watch the game.  Don't get me started on what a zoo that was - and dangerous as "fans" were throwing pennies on the floor!!!  Very frustrating and so loud!!!  So we lost that game by 9 which put us on the Consolation side of the tournament.

Our second game was against Chestermere (ranked #10) - again playing on home court for the other team.  But this one was after school and we had more fans than they did!  Beat them by 43 so it wasn't much of a game!

Our final game, for the Consolation Title, was against Edmonton Christian (ranked #4) and it was played in a neutral gym (finally!!!) at SAIT.

We're the Home team (white uniforms) and this is what the score looked like at half time . . .

. . . do that math:  we're down by 8!  Not looking good.  My niece Jaime rolled her ankle in the first quarter and couldn't play and she's one of our tall girls!  Some others were in foul trouble.  But that was good news for Jas because she got to play a lot in the third quarter!!!  And did she ever play hard!!!

There's our #5 Jas guarding her gal.

And there she is going up for the rebound!

Who's gonna get it . . . ?

. . . JAZZY comes down with it and goes up for the shot again!  And she made the basket - Yay!!!  Too bad the camera wasn't keeping up with the action!

And here's another view - Jazzy on the floor under the net!  I imagine that would be a scary view from down there with people jumping all around you.

And there's Jas taking the foul shot.  That's Jaime in the background walking off her rolled ankle.

Jas got six points in about two minutes.  Coach was so pleased with her!  He told us after the game that those points came at a crucial time.  We were slightly ahead but in a slump, and those baskets brought back the enthusiasm and momentum.

The score at the end of the third quarter was . . .

. . . do the math:  we're up 12 points.  That was a great quarter for us - from down 8 to up 12 - whoot! whoot!!!

She mostly watched the 4th quarter from this position! 

And the final score was . . .

. . . do the math:  we won by 11.  We WON!!!

And there's the Panda team with the Provincial Consolation Plaque!  A great game to end the season with!!!

There's our champ in her lovely new Provincials shirt by the Provincial Banner.  Jas had a great time at Provincials.  There was a banquet and team photos and two nights in a hotel with water slides.  She even won a door prize!!!  A great experience for her.  Hopefully they'll be back next year!

And there's the proud parents - with me in my Panda shirt!!!  We brought the three youngest girls up too, but they stayed and played with cousins at my sisters house - much more fun for them, and us!!!

I delighted in basketball season this year!  It was so wonderful to watch my daughter learn and grow at a sport she loves.  I delight in the coaches who sacrifice so much time and effort and expense to help our children.  I delight in watching kids working hard at something and pushing their bodies to the limit in real life - not on a computer screen!  And I delight in the support and enthusiasm from the whole town during this season.

What's That Sound?

I was in the kitchen making dinner yesterday when the beautiful mellow sounds of the clarinet came floating over to me.  It was wonderful to listen to Jordyn work on one of her band pieces for festival, "The Song of the Hebrides". 

I'm listening and thinking, "Wow she sounds really good - like she's part of a whole orchestra!"  So my camera and I had to go investigate.  And there she was, sitting in the computer chair, playing her little heart out.  But then, as I went closer, I noticed that . . .

. . . she WAS part of a whole orchestra!!!  They were on the computer and she was playing along with them!  Now that makes practicing a whole lot more fun!!!  And it sounded SO good!!!

And a little while later, I was back in the kitchen, and the lovely high notes of the flute came drifting into the kitchen.  Jas was practicing music from "The Phantom of the Opera" for Festival next week.

As I was listening I realized that she too, was part of a whole orchestra!

I guess it's pretty easy to practice with an orchestra these days - just gotta type in the name of the song you're playing and voila - they're all there, dressed in tuxes and ready to play along with you.

Back in the kitchen again, I was wondering if soon I would hear Carlee and her trombone playing along with an orchestra.  But alas, it was not to be!  Her trombone is almost bigger than she is and she doesn't lug it home very often!!!

Good wholesome music is such a delightful thing!  I delight in being able to enjoy the beautiful sounds around me, and yet in not having an ear that is so fine tuned that I can tell when things are slightly off (I can tell what sounds bad!!!).  And I delight in listening to my children develop their talents - although I must admit, the more experienced they are, the easier it is to listen to!!!