Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We wore green today to celebrate!  We've also been eating an assortment of green foods.  What beautiful weather for this fun day!

Things are moving at a seriously slow rate right now so there isn't too much to share.  The counters were installed this afternoon.  They look really good!

They are made from soapstone.  We were so excited to get this piece from my dad.  Last month when we were deciding on our counter material we were talking about it with my dad.  We were telling him how much we wanted to have soapstone but how outrageous the cost seemed.  He said "you mean soapstone, like the stuff that chemistry lab tables are made of?" we answered "yes".  He told us he had a piece at work that needed to be gotten rid of and we were welcome to take a look at it.  We went and looked at it and now it's in our kitchen!  It's been in a lab for years so it's beat up in a few places, which make us love it even more!  Kevin and my dad worked on sprucing it up one Sunday and then Hallmark Stone fabricated and installed the pieces.   

The HVAC system has been installed.  Next week the electrician will come back to hook up the wires.  

Tomorrow grading of the yard should begin (although it looks like it may rain).  Once that is complete the cement (driveway, sidewalk, stairs, patio) will be poured.  Kim hopes to have all of this finished by Saturday.

The plumber should begin his work tomorrow.

Hopefully Kurt is well tomorrow and can finish up the tile work.

Five AND a half!

Emma turned five and a half yesterday and our little family of four devoured half of a delicious cake.

Emma requested a strawberry cake, a white cake with strawberry frosting to be exact.  Schnucks had the most beautiful, sweet berries.

The cake required 450 stirs!  Ellie took the strawberry tops off and I cut the berries.  

Yum!

Kurt started on the bathroom tile yesterday.   It looks excellent, what a difference it makes!  The furnace and air conditioner were also installed yesterday and should be started up over the weekend.

Well our hopes were set on the house being complete a week from today and our closing was scheduled for the 23rd.  This is not looking possible now.  Here's a rundown of what still needs to be done-

-Tile completed

-Plumbing completed

-HVAC start up

-Grading of yard completed

-Driveway, walk, and patio poured

-Front porch finished

-Entire house (trim and doors too) painted

-Kitchen counters installed

-Stairs stained

-Stair runner installed

-Closets installed

-Appliances installed

-Bathroom mirrors installed and trimmed

-A few electrical odds and ends

-A whole list of "minor" things that will need to be done once all of the above are finished

I am disappointed but not surprised.  The house will be finished soon, I know that!  We signed our lease on Rosebury on April 4th, 2008.  It's looking very likely that we'll have movers here on April 4th, 2009.  A year ago I never would have believed it would take a year --although people who have built homes before seemed to delight in telling us how hard the process would be and we'd be lucky to be in within a year.  I am happy to report it has been far from hard (apart from the apartment--and even that has been quite a fun --yea I said it fun experience) and we aren't just lucky, we're blessed!  I know that for sure and one more--or even two more weeks doesn't change that!

Lights on!

We are so excited by how the kitchen is coming together.  Kevin has been worried about this for months! He has put many hours into this layout and into the cabinet selection.  The hard work is really paying off--it is turning out just right! The tile work for the backsplash should begin on Friday.  Then next week the casing around the windows will be finished. 

The dishwasher!!!  Originally we were going to put another glass fronted cabinet under the one that is there now.  The night after they started installing the cabinets we decided that we didn't want the cabinet there. We thought that was a really good spot for the coffee pot.  So, Dave and Larry (the carpenters) are going to build a shelf there for our coffee mugs!  

We found a home for the other glass fronted cabinet!  There will also be shelves added here to finish this little office area.  I love it!  

We really like this ceiling fan.  In fact we purchased 3 (office, living room, bedroom).  It hangs really low though and may not work for us!  We may have to say good bye to our lovely fans and look for some different ones this weekend!

The fixture in the staircase. 

The guest room closet doors.

The girls bathroom light fixtures.  We have the same fixtures in the half bath and in our bathroom.  

Master bathroom cabinets.

The baseboard was finished today.

Emma and Ellie's fan.  They love it!

Emma's closet, Ellie's closet.

The first of many Uno games!

I'm a day behind!

Can you tell who took this photo at Home Depot as we were loading up on light bulbs?

We're ready to light up the house!

Truly her mother's daughter.  Upon entering the house Emma picks up a broom and begins singing "I think I'm gonna like it here" ...from Annie for those of you who haven't seen the movie in the past 2o or so years!  

There is so much happening this week!  These pictures are from yesterday.  I was at the house twice today bringing needed items but never had time to take any photos!  I'll rectify that tomorrow because there are so many neat things to share!  

And with that I went back to sugar.....

Here is where the oven and microwave will go.  Things had to be moved around slightly because of an outlet issue.  This changes the counter tops slightly.  So the template will have to be redone.  Of course that can't be done until next week which pushes back the installation of the counters a week.  The tile for the backsplash can't be put in until the counters are in.  Are you feeling my agony?!!  So, after 10 days without sweets they're back in my life! Really, what WAS I thinking?  The final stretch and I thought I could give up sweets! 

Ellie and I walked over this afternoon and Ameren was there!

The wiring is finished and now the plates are being placed on the wall.  Fixtures will go up next week!

 We wanted simple but substantial trim work.  

Ellie collected lots of rocks in the front yard while I did some measuring.  This beautiful weather has me excited to work in the yard!

Beautiful weather, beautiful progress!

Things are moving along very nicely.  Bates Electric was back yesterday pulling all the wires through and attaching the switches.  They have 2 more days of work to complete.  Ameren still hasn't put the meter in.  They have been promising to do it for the last few days.

The cabinets look so nice.  They have all been installed, a few doors still need to be put on along with the handles.  Kevin, Jim and Gordon were at the house until 11 on Wednesday putting them on.  The bottom doors had to be on before the countertop template could be made.  The soapstone counters will be installed next week.

Here is the desk area.  

The island.  The butcher block top is perfect!

Our front door.

Master bedroom door.  

Cabinet Progress!

Day 1 of the cabinet install and things are already looking great!  Kevin and Emma are standing next to where the refrigerator will go.

The open spaces are for the dishwasher (WOOHOOO!!!) and oven.

Hard at work!

The girls bathroom.  So much space!  The pink sticker says "I'm expensive, do not use me as a workbench"  I'm thinking maybe we should keep it there...nice reminder for the girls as they get older...I have memories of loading up our sink when I was a kid with rocks to try to clean them for my rock polisher.  Hoping to avoid that in this lovely white bathroom.  We'll see!  

Just for a little comparison here is where we currently brush our teeth and when I say "we" I mean we all at the same time.  At least 3 of us, standing here in front of the sink (Ellie on that blue stool) brushing our teeth.  Good times!