Today is the day I will post about the Remodel

My family has threatened to disown me for not doing this earlier.
But today is the day.
The sky is blue.
The earth is green and glistening from the recent rainfall.
Everything smells fresh.
Today is a beautiful day in Boise.

The journey of the house...

Untouched- Sept 2010

Demolition Day- Oct 18, 2010

Goodbye roof

This was such a strange feeling- to be standing in my house that was open to the sky

The kids loved watching all the trucks and cranes.


2nd story added and the rebuilding of the roof:

Trying to weather-proof.

Alas, that did not go well, resulting in damaged carpet and hardwood floors everywhere in the house.

Stupid dark, menacing clouds. Stupid rain.

Some inside shots:

Front door and staircase

Upstairs bedroom. Actually this is our guest bedroom with a cute dormer window.

Enticing eh?

Well, get your bums up here then.

Working through the winter.

This was a cold day in January.

I felt so bad for the builders.

I didn't even mind that they built themselves a fire right there on my front lawn.

The kids didn't mind so much either.

Now to the details. This is where is gets fun.

Cedar shingles
Mmmm- I love the smell of cedar.

Barrel-roll ceiling over the entry

Rock and front steps

Front door.

Confession: I am a little obsessed with my front door.

I found the piece of leaded glass on ebay.

The moment I saw it I knew it had to be in my front door.

To me, the design looks like paper dolls holding hands.

It says:

"Come on in.

In this house you are always welcome.

You are always a friend."

Can you hear it?

The "M"- a little joke from our builders

It stayed up there for a couple days until they were able to come back.

I'm sure the neighbors thought we were total weirdos.

The herringbone brick inlays

A couple shots of the inside.

Disclaimer: it still needs paint, trim, light fixtures, decor, etc.

But at least you can get a sense of some of our living space.

Main living area

Front entry and staircase

Pictures from this morning.

Unfortunately, they aren't "after" pictures.

We aren't there quite yet.

(The cedar shingles will be stained charcoal gray. Trim will be white.)

The view as you drive up to the house.

My favorite.

We may just ask the builders to leave the port-a-potty when they're done.

What would the kids do without their outdoor bathroom?

They don't even have to interrupt their play long enough to come inside.

Such a sweet set-up.

From the BLM land next to our house:

Tree-lined

Excuse me- the kids just walked into the house carrying 2 dogs that I have never seen before.

Okay, I'm back.

One of the benefits of living out on a secluded ridge in Idaho is that there are animals everywhere.

Bunnies, squirrels, deer, hawks, dogs, cats.

The kids are in heaven.

I don't mind so much except for the mice.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.


From the carport:
Now on to the views:

A little peak from our corner of the world.

Columbia Village neighborhood

The view a mere 30 feet from our front door.

Same spot. Different angle.

Oh and incidentally, Nate and I had our weekly lunch date today and found a quaint little restaurant with the same name (Fork) as my favorite little restaurant in Philly.

It's like we were meant to find each other.

And the food was spectacular.

It's on the corner of 8th and Idaho.
Fam- when you come to Boise we will definitely have to hit 8th street.
Far and away our favorite little slice of Bo-Do (Boise Downtown).
Sidewalk cafes, boutiques, a farmer's market on the weekends.
So so charming.

Whoa- this may just be the longest post ever.
But now you can all get off my back :)

Making Me Laugh

Last night before bed, I was reading the Book of Mormon with the kids.

(Nate is out of town on a biking trip.)

We were in the book of Alma where Captain Moroni’s army has the Lamanites surrounded and Moroni stops the fighting to give them a chance to surrender peacefully. We stopped abruptly at this point and I told them it was getting late and they would have to see what happens tomorrow.

(We try to end each reading session with a cliffhanger in hopes that the kids will be excited to get back to it the next day. That’s good parenting right there.)

David: But Mom, we have to keep going. I want to see if the Lamanites all get dead.
Me: Well, I’ll read you the end of the story tomorrow. Won’t that be exciting?
David: But what if a robber gets into our house tonight and kills you?
I was laughing too hard to respond.

Nora: Mom, how do know what it is saying?
Me: Well, I’ve read the Book of Mormon enough to understand the language of the scriptures.
Nora: But Mom, those words don’t make sense…Anyways, are they real words?

Then on to prayers…

Will: Please bless Wyatt and Chelsea’s babies that they won’t have any weakness…only strongness.

Tess: Please bless Dad on his bike trip. Help him to not get any more scrapes, because those pictures with all the blood are gross. And help him to not break any bones. But if he does, please help him to choose a tie-dye cast.

Some totally random pictures that also make me laugh:

Snaggle-tooth Tess


Will refusing to wear his baseball hat any way but normal.

Winter hot-tubbing with cousin Tate

Notice how pleased Tess is with her creation and how unenthused Nora is about it.

:

A normal interaction between Nate and David.

(We are at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.)