Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Foundation is in!

I have pictures of the foundation but my computer/camera are not cooperating!  It looks like a big concrete hole!  The next step is framing.  This will begin late next week or early the following week.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Forms are in place


It was just Emma and me at the lot today.  Kevin got home earlier than expected and Ellie chose to stay home.  It was COLD!!!!

The forms are in place.  The foundation is scheduled to be poured tomorrow morning.  We plan to be there!




Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Perfect timing

Ellie didn't want to leave the lot today, she was having too much fun exploring.  Her stubborn, 2 year old nature ended up making our trip great!  Just as I was about to pick Ellie up and carry her to the van, the cement truck pulled up!  We watched as it backed up to the hole and the mixer began making all kinds of noise and turning around and around, mixing the cement.
We loved watching the men work together to guide the truck, maneuver the chute (we learned that this person is called the chuteman) and spread the cement out .
Soon after the cement truck showed up the concrete forms arrived!  

It wasn't too much longer before our neighbor Phil (pictured) came over and soon after another neighbor, John came over.  They have both lived on the street for many years and raised their children here.  They were so friendly and told us a lot about the street.  Not long after one of our friends from the Clayton Family Center, Carrie and her daughter Abbey, came down the street (Carrie's mother and father in law live on this street) and invited us to meet her mother in law, then out came Jen, another neighbor.  Emma and Ellie loved meeting everyone.  On the way home Emma said "we already know more people on Yale than we do on Rosebury".   

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Tons of rock



The hole is much deeper than yesterday.  The rock came in this morning.  The weather is great--let's hope it continues!

  This picture of the girls and me was taken by Judy our neighbor across the street.  We met her for the first time today.  She was so excited...honestly I think she is nearly as excited as me to finally see progress!  She told us she has lived here for 30 years and raised her kids here.  I think that's a good sign. 

Monday, November 17, 2008

Excavation!



We have officially broken ground!  Overall things went well.  Some debris (concrete mostly) did have to be trucked out.  Since this was previously the site of a home this was expected.  Also, as expected, 175 tons of rock will be brought in tomorrow.  Our neighbors to the South, who are about a month ahead of us, went through this already so we were anticipating the same kind of news.  If you look in the left corner of the pictures you can see some of the framing for the house next door, that went up today as well.  Yale Avenue is a busy, busy place!  

No more mountain of dirt!



The mountain of dirt has been moved!  The wall has also been removed at the back of our lot.  Today the surveyors are going to stake out the house.  Excavating should begin later in the day or tomorrow!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Seasons out our window

Fall in front of our window!  
This is a very common scene at our home!  There is always something going on that's fun to watch.  There is often a moving truck, a trash truck or a street sweeper rolling down the street.  Each day we see many of the same people walk up and down the street going to work, school and so forth and the girls get so excited to see them, Ellie will say "We see dem ebrey single day!!".  I've even heard them talk about making sure to be at the window at the same time the next day so they can see a certain dog on a walk, or to check and see if the "mommy's tummy is any bigger " (they have befriended a woman who is pregnant).  They wave at "Mr. Ralph" the mailman, and yell and shout when they see Oliver, Krystina or Rachael, our neighbors!  
Summer at the window!

This picture was taken in early April.  Emma and I found this apartment and one of the things we liked was the big tree outside of the front window.  We were already looking forward to watching it change on the day we moved in.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Hooray!!

The dirt pile still remains! Much of the dirt will be used to fill in our back yard.  

We visited the lot this morning after voting!  The girls had a lot of fun watching the plumbers do their work.  




Work on the storm sewer has started!  The wall behind the plumbers is going to be removed.  The lot will be filled in and leveled.  The inlet shown must be raised to the level of the "new" yard.   This work will make our back yard so much bigger and more kid friendly!