Things have changed slightly at our house since August 1. Our son, daughter-in-law, and their family have moved in with us. Kevin and I are building onto our house and will be moving into the new addition. Our oldest son's family will be living in the main house.
Right now they're waiting for their house in the suburbs of Minneapolis to sell and are trying to stay out of it while the realtors have showings and (hopefully) get it sold. Yes, our son is a systems analyst and so is able to work from anywhere that has internet - which is really a wonderful thing.
Getting Started...
Right now in his free time, my husband and sons along with the rest of his small crew are working on remodeling part of the basement for an office and laundry room, a kitchen, a spare bedroom and bathroom. Then we're putting on the addition with a living room and master bedroom - after the excavation for that has been done.
The trees on the right are coming out to open the view. Our son has already opened up that view quite a bit more.
(Don't worry, they're weeds: Box Elder trees. They mostly grow up at a diagonal and then fall over.)
We're going with ICF block for the addition. We'll keep our southeast view, our son's family will have the south view from the deck along with the NE and SE view from the [soon-to-be-built] front porch.
The New Parking Lot
I'm hoping the days somehow have extra hours and that they're full of cool weather and sunshine! There's so much to be done, and at the end of it we'll be moving all our stuff out of the house. At that time we'll also be downsizing considerably (except for the books) and some of our favorite items (cookstove, hutch, piano, etc.) I can't tell you how much stuff we have accumulated in 24 years and must sort through once that addition is built.
We'll even have a gas station!
And of course, as anyone who has ever been involved in construction knows, everything done is dependent upon everyone else's schedule, i.e. all the various contractors involved and all the possible delays that inevitably occur. E.g. 'Where are our rafters??' 'Oh, didn't we tell you - the rafters are backordered until March.' or 'No, we have no record of your order.' (No, that's not an actual conversation, but it is the type of thing that can, and often does, happen during any construction project.)
BUT...
At the end of it all, we will have family nearby. And that's a wonderful thing!
Who wouldn't love this!
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