Mountain tops and valleys

The last three weeks have flown by.  And some of these things seem like they happened ages ago. Much has happened in three weeks, both joyful and hard.   
Our last trip to this particular pumpkin patch... they are not going to be open next year, sad news. 

The animals are a favorite- they thought it was so fun to feed the chickens grass.  ha.

They got the sub-floor on top of the basement. (How many times do you think I said, 'stay far away from the hole!'?)

Sand piles to play in and Cecily is standing there with a book.  😋

They finished framing up the load bearing basement walls and the kids declared that 'the floor is lava!' and made pathways with all of the off cuts.  

You can't see it, but Cecily was staying out of the wind... with a book.

They got so covered in sawdust. 

When the first few walls went up it really started to look like a house.  So exciting! 

The long awaited weekend finally arrived and we headed to Leo for Kacie and Jon's wedding!  Late supper because they are in a different time zone... Perrin was mostly patient waiting for fries.  

The kids were excited to swim with cousins at the hotel.  The pool was pretty cold though.  I knew it wasn't going to be the nicest place based on reviews, but the price was right and it fit all of us in one room.  It was fine... a little grimy, but fine.  

I have forgotten how to travel.  I forgot to double check that Miri had pajamas packed, and then I forgot a tank top and all of my hair pins.  Thankfully Meijer was close by so I made an emergency early morning run.
It was a big wedding. Perrin did surprisingly well all day; the older girls went to Sunday school with cousins but we didn't try and send him.  I don't even know if they do nursery class in Leo. 😋 We got ushered pretty far up in the morning, but he stayed pretty quiet and only started singing one not-church song. 
The wedding was lovely.  I got all emotional, of course.   😏

There were so many people there that we didn't hardly get to see anyone, let alone talk to them, but we did get to talk to Joanna and Will!  So fun to see them, it had been waaaay to long!     

The reception was downtown Fort Wayne in a cool old building with banquet room, bowling, indoor golf, arcades. 😋  Lines are hard, thankfully this one was pretty short. 

Perrin ate shredded cheese.  

 

Cadence has been looking forward to this wedding so much.  She was excited to see Parker, and she really wanted to ask Kacie if she would trek to Everest base camp with her. 😁  

Bowling!

They did not want to get changed to leave...

Thankfully we gained an hour coming home because we were all tired out from our whirlwind trip.  It was good though, I'm so glad we were able to go.  
Back to everydayness... I usually wait until after school to go see what's going on at the house.  They are usually finishing up for the day so the kids are not underfoot for very long.    

It is so crazy cool to see the blue print coming to life.  I've thought and obsessed about it for so long, and suddenly it's 3D and I can walk through it. 

That's a real house.  😳

We took our lunch to the woods one of the days they had off school for parent teacher conferences.

They played while the guys were on their lunch break, then we got out of the way.  

Bob had that Friday off so we went out early and cleaned up the basement.  The kids picked up all the off cuts and I swept up sawdust.  The stairway hole was blocked off so we were going in and out through the egress window- they all ("the workers" according to Perrin) and some sightseers were standing around chatting while I hauled shopvac, brooms, and myself up out of the window well, I'm sure that was a sight. 😝

The kids have too little fear and too much excitement. And too little elastic in their pants.  

We spent a Saturday afternoon doing outside work in town.  I cleaned off the porch and inside the garage some, the kids and Bob cleared off the garden and rolled up the fence and mowed.  Emmy had friends over so she missed out or something.  

 
I am very glad the carpentry crew is used to kids.  

Garage trusses arrived!  They are going to stick frame the attic for me, so the house doesn't get trusses.  I'm so excited about that, btw.... a real attic with real stairs.  😁

It's so fun to watch them work.  

Progress is very obvious right now, which makes it really fun.  All of the flat work has been poured now, Ron's swan song or something. ha.  

With the 2nd floor joists in, it feels so much more like real rooms. I might spend most of my time out there trying not to squeal like a kid in a candy store.

I finished my periodic table sweater and blocked it this week.  Just needs buttons yet, and then I will be too self conscious to wear it.  

They have been begging to carve pumpkins and I have been putting it off.  It was finally time.

Mr. Perrin wanted a tractor, just like last year ("yesterday").

Miriel pretty much cleaned and carved her whole pumpkin by herself!  

Emmy doesn't like the smell or feel of raw pumpkin so she painted jellyfish on hers.

Cecily got a late start because she was busy doing homework, like always.  🙄

Lighting candles and watching them glow is the best part.

Perrin is a great help when he wants to be and he likes to use the magnet.  He refuses to wear shoes and makes all the adults nervous about splinters and nails.   We did some cleanup in between meeting with the HVAC guy and the fireplace guy. 

This is going to be the view when you're standing in the kitchen and looking through the office to the road.  😁

So many happy, fun things, and some hard valleys... some friends' Dad went on hospice, then someone I knew in the ICC YG went on hospice, and our favorite Betty is in the ICU with serious heart issues. (...the person the younger girls beg to sit with in church every Sunday...)  I was a bit of an emotional wreck over the weekend.  

Life doesn't stop for those of us on the fringes of sorrow, though, so we got dressed up and went trick or treating.  Emmy went with a friend this year.  She's been learning about Greek mythology and is reading a book series based on mythology; so here we have Athena.  We made a semi-authentic Chiton out of a twin sheet and some large buttons. 😋

The rest of the kids were Legend of Zelda characters.  Link, Zelda, a Bokoblin, and the Sheikah. All cobbled together from our dress up stash, the rag bag, and a few boughten accessories.  

I think if you've ever played Zelda they are recognizable, if not.... not so much. :) It wasn't too hot or too cold so they all had fun trick or treating.  

We have a second story subfloor!  This terrifies me. Also, the ladder situation is sketch and I went up once and could barely get down.

Perrin is thankfully more cautious than the girls are up on the 'roof.'

We had some visitors to climb our dirt piles. 

And eat snacks on our front porch. :) 

Sunday was a full day. There were baptisms at church and then Cecily and I went to the hospital for a short visit.  So hard and so good at the same time.  We spent the evening with the Beutels... Perrin thinks we need a little dog like Milly now too.  
It gets dark so early now *insert rant about not liking to change the clocks*. We were out at the house in time to see them raise the front wall on Monday afternoon.  Bob even got to help lift- I got a great video.

Don't mind me over here squealing... and check out that almost full moon! 

Such exuberant scrap picker-uppers. 

Perrin refused to come out on the ledge over the door 😆(smart boy), and Dan better watch out or he will end up on our Christmas card. 😂

These two need a bit more fear...

Bob wanted me to make pumpkin pie for him to take to work, and Perrin happily played with the dough scraps. 

They have most of the walls on the second floor of the four square framed up.  Have I mentioned how cool it is to watch a blueprint become life size?  It. Is. So. Cool.  😁  Also my Dad is done with tillage and he came to help. 😁

As the house gets taller, I get more nervous for them all.  We are getting a lift delivered tomorrow, but still. I will feel better when they finish the roof and are safely back closer to the ground.  
Blessings.