we see light at the end of the tunnel!

work progresses, very slowly here, but we are almost done! dave and the boys have been working very hard at this long running project, and as of tonight, all the walls and foundation are closed up! no more of that frosty morning air whisping through the house! following are some pictures of the work in progress. this is the back wall, with about 1/2 of the new foundation laid.

here G and D are working at house wrapping the addition. only one more side to go.

my house says LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S LOWE'S

dave is mixing the cement to lay some more of the foundation blocks.

this picture accidentally slipped in- but A sure loves B, and gives her lots of kisses!

this is the back wall, and the foundation is finished. it just needs the band joist. (extra points if you know what that is!)

this is the other side of the foundation- around back of the house. the foundation is almost done, and dave just has a few more joists to replace.

here it's done, and dave and G are putting in the band joist, as well as some insulation.

the back foundation, and the sill is done a little differently, as the addition is 3" off level from corner to corner back here.

here's the front. tomorrow the boys will begin painting the foundation with foundation coating, and then we can begin backfilling the trenches around the house. YAY! i'm weary of the dirt piles all around, and will be glad to get my yard back.

in other news, we've purchased the siding to do the house. it was on sale at LOWE'S, and with our discount we got a good price on it. the house will be white, with green shutters. everyone is anxious to get that started, as it will make a big difference in how the house looks. as in, the house will actually look nice from the outside! when we have visitors, they are usually intrigued by the house, and will comment on how nice it will look when we're done. we all know that 's code for - "you're all kinds of crazy, and it looks really crappy now!" but we just nod politely, and smile. we also got the new roof shingles delivered today. we got a good deal on them, too, but not from LOWE'S. they are green architectural shingles, and will really look nice with the green shutters. very colonial. and for those of you who know anything about construction, it will take 30 squares to do the roof of our house. i told you our house was big!

so the plan is to wrap up this portion of the house, and then dave has his next big project all cut out for him. more on that later. and somewhere in there, we need to start school. i kind of forgot about that!