::: the girls are back in town! :::

At first, I was afraid I wouldn't be ready with everything I wanted to accomplish by the time they got home, but it didn't matter anyway, because I was so busy looking out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of my mother-in-law's car cresting the hill of the lane that I didn't get much done, anyway. Bo came home for an extended lunch, my dad, who the kids call "Pop" or "Papa," was asking about them every five minutes, and I was looking into the last details of their big surprise, a renovated room, a room with a few fresh coats of paint, beds that were brought back from the dead--or at least from the barn and livened up with a few coats of white--, a vase full of clear candy lollipops in room-matching color animal shapes, and a dish of chocolates from the chocolate factory where Bo works.

When I finally did hear the crunch of gravel, and that car finally did crest the hill of our lane, I could barely contain myself. Three weeks! It had been three weeks since I'd seen my little girls! While Pop and Bo made their way downstairs to greet them, I stayed in the house, in the kitchen, behind the door just waiting, waiting, waiting for my prey, and when The Baby giddily climbed the stairs and rounded the corner--RAWR!--out I jumped, with my arms opened wide. She flew into them and I lifted her high as we spun and laughed and hugged and giggled and interjected and punctuated it all with I-missed-yous and I-love-yous and it's-good-to-be-homes.

Then came Sweetheart, toting her heavy bag up the stairs, steadfast and faithful, and waiting for her to come to the top seemed a lifetime, but then there she was, also in my arms, laughing and hugging tightly. Oh, it was so good to see them again. So down we sat to look at their treasures and creations--The Baby's rock collection and garage sale finds (she's a thrifter, like her mama), Sweetheart's scrapbooks and photos, and The Baby's favorite find, a pink ("Yes! It's pink!" I thought as Grandmas pulled it from the bag) garage-saled lava lamp that survived the trip from Illinois to Ohio. Chatter and chatter, giggles and giggles, one girl talking over another, and then, it was time for Bo and I to reveal our surprise. Up the stairs they ran, and I hurried behind them, trying to get there in time to see the reaction. Would they like it? Would they be surprised?

They loved it so much they didn't want to leave it, and so, they didn't. A fashion show ensued, with me taking pictures of each outfit they donned, and then, after dinner, they asked me to cuddle with them in their room, so we turned off all of the lights, save the PINK lava lamp, and all climbed in to one freshly painted twin bed and cuddled and talked and cuddled and talked until I fell asleep.

This morning, when I peaked in on them, I found that The Baby's bed was empty.

I guess more cuddling was in order, as I found her curled up next to Sweetheart in the other bed.

I'm so glad they're home.

::: i'll be coming home :::

One of my favorite memories as a child is returning home from camp to find that my mother had lovingly redecorated my home, removing the beloved but outgrown Scooby Doo wallpaper, cleaning and organizing, and installing a new corkboard wall to see me into my teen years. The Baby and Sweetheart have spent the last three weeks away with their grandparents, aunts and uncles in far-off Illinois, and while they were gone, spurred on by this contest, Bo and I played remodeling fairies, painting, cleaning, organizing and redecorating. Using paint we already had, elements from around the house, some bed frames we'd had in storage that we put a fresh coat of paint on, a gallon of floor paint from Lowe's, an inexpensive area rug, some fun finds from My Favorite Thrift Store, and a whole lot of elbow grease, we spent those three weeks creating a new, cleaner, less cluttered environment for the girls. All said and done, the whole project cost less than $75. I'm expecting them to pull into the driveway with Grandma and Grandpa any minute. I can't wait to see what they think!

A Date with a Bohemian

Here I am, blogging along, minding my own business, when who should darken my door but...my HUSBAND! What on earth is HE doing here?

I mean, yeah, he lives here and all, but he's home two hours early and I haven't...well, I haven't done much of anything, really.

Okay, that's actually not true. I Freecycled for an almost-new set of box springs so that I don't have to sleep six inches lower than Bo. And, will wonders never cease, this amazing man of mine is home not just on time, but EARLY so we can take a trip to the Big City to pick up my new find.

Here's the truth: sometimes you get really crappy stuff on Freecycle. I'm not even exaggerating. I seriously mean that it's crappy. As in, covered in crap. I freecycled for a recliner and my dad swore someone must have died in it. It took him three hours to hose it down. Yes, I did say hose it down. Now it's a nice chair. It just had a crappy job.

So when you're heading to some stranger's house to pick up something for free without even seeing it first, yes, of course, there's risk involved. But it's FREE, see. So, if it's truly beyond-repair-crappy, it can go to the landfill. Some would argue that you could Freecycle it again, but that's just cruel.

I've picked up some great thing through Freecycle! Really! I LOVE my Freecycled couch. It's the same couch that's in the banner above. We have a way-cool piano that we Freecycled. I have an awesome working second refrigerator. Freecycled. Lewis, our black lab brat (also in the banner above)--Freecycled.

My Awesome, Comfy, Freecycled Sofa

So it's a hit and miss thing, really. And I think you can get a vibe from someone's post, too. Okay, my prejudice is showing, but I do appreciate an attempt at good grammar and at least a modicum of properly spelled words (don't check my entries for grammar errors--they're all stream of consciousness, so cut me some slack. And did I spell "modicum" right?).

Since we're on the budget dating system, leaving the kids with Papa and Bard, a hop in the pickup truck to freecycle a set of box springs (box springs...is/are that/they plural??) and a shared dinner out is about it for the budget. That, and a 69 cent DVD rental.

That was the plan.

Don't you just love it when the plan actually works?

The box spring/s was/were awesome, I was able to talk Bohemian into a stop at the pet shop where I only broke down enough to buy crickets for One-Eyed Wilma my free-range chameleon and a hermit crab for Sweetheart. Don't ask me why little miss Tu-Tu wants a hermit crab. She just does.

And then we actually ate dinner together. The only interruption was the Red Sox/Yankees game and a very attentive server.

Then home for unloading the box spring/s, blogging, playing with Hermit (what else would a five-year-old name her hermit crab?), prayers for the kids, and, finally, at 1:00 AM, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Actually, that wasn't the final part of the date. After the movie, we both lay in bed talking until I could no longer keep my eyes open. When the time between Bo's questions and my answers grew to 45 seconds, and my answers began to have nothing to do with his questions, he let me sleep.

That was my date with Bohemian, the love of my life.

Panorama of our Roof in the Fall

::: sweetheart's room :::

Yesterday Bohemian put a few more coats of paint on Sweetheart's twin beds that I found at a secondhand furniture store. After he was finished, I dragged him into town to peruse the very coolest shop in the county. My friend Stefanie has the shop I only need to dream of owning, and I think she's the only one who could pull of such a totally hip place. Stefanie finds stuff, either in salvage yards, yard sales, resale shops, whatever, and spruces them up and makes groupings that are SO cool. I bought a hot pink plant stand, a little end table full of drawers and two matching tables for the feet of Sweetheart and Baby's beds. I stole a lot of inspiration, too. :-)

Bohemian perused the music store while I was salivating at Stefanie's place. He really wants a nice acoustic guitar or a new pickup for the guitar he has. I'd love to find a way to get these things for him. I'll have to think on it. I suppose the best way would be to stop spending money on other things. :-/

Before I came up with that revelation, I also stopped at the store and bought a quilt for Sweetheart's bed, not a pricey one, just a Wal*Mart one. I picked up some greenery for the kitchen, too.

When we got home, I dry-brushed a cream color on top of the pink on the headboard and footboards, and some pink and cream on the end tables I got from Stefanie's. Bard used Handi-Tack to stick five little vintage dollies on the top shelf of Sweetheart's very cute Ethan Allen dresser/hutch that I found at a different used furniture place.

The final product (which actually isn't quite done yet) is so cute. I still need to find some vintage or vintage-style curtains, a few little rag rugs, and some artwork for the walls. There was a way cute vanity at Stefanie's that would fit in Sweetheart's room, too. It has a huge vintage mirror on the back. I'm not sure if I'll get it, but it's definitely appropriate.

We've been playing a lot of Phase 10 as a family, and on Friday night, we played Scatagories. Monet, who is 9, really likes to play and we let him look at the clues before we start the timer so he can get a head start. Bard is the one who really loves to play. :-) Edison isn't into it at all.

But Edison has been very into magic tricks. He, Monet and Sweetheart put on a show for us on Friday night, complete with dancing, magic tricks, juggling and public speaking. :-) It was a lot of fun.

Edison and Monet have been spending a lot of time playing Star Wars Gallactic Battlegrounds. Monet thinks it's a good game to play. Find out more on the next post. Also, they've been spending a lot of time playing Uno, and even including Sweetheart.

Until next time!

::: a room for sweetheart :::

Yesterday, Bohemian and I got up early (early for us on a Saturday, anyway) and went to breakfast. The goal was to hit the used furniture store in a neighboring town and to hit a couple of yard sales that started Saturday morning. Also, Bard and I had seen a used four-string electric bass that Bohemian had wanted to check out.

After breakfast, we headed toward where I thought the furniture store would be, but I hadn't been there so I was counting on seeing a sign, but as we approached the center of town, we still hadn't seen the store. We stopped at the general store and asked an Amish teenager there, but he didn't know of anywhere. I went inside and asked the Amish cashier , but she didn't know of the place, either. I was about to give up, but an Amish customer knew right where it was, just a mile up the road on the main state route! I thought it was funny that the other two locals didn't know it, but I was glad that we were able to get directions.

The sign outside the shop said "Quality Used Furniture," and it was, indeed. Many of the items in there would have been considered antiques, and her prices were that of an antique store, too. Since I was there looking for a bargain, I was a bit disappointed. There were some great things there, but the prices were so strange. A single bookcase could be $195, while a whole bedroom suite was $350. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason.

And then, as I turned down the last aisle, there it was. The sweetest chest of drawers with a hutch on the top. It was painted a cheery yellow, looked to be original paint and original knobs, and had white beadboard behind the hutch. The hutch had two cupboard doors and a shelf, and inside the cupboard doors were another shelf and a mirror on the door. Perfect for Sweetheart's room! It was a vintage Ethan Allen piece, and it was marked...$85! There was a sign above it that said "All hutches 15% off" and since this looked like a hutch as much as it looked like a chest or drawers, I asked. "Sure, I'll give you 15% off of that," the Amish woman said.

I wrote my check while Bohemian prepared to load the piece into the Jeep. He took out each of the mortised drawers and carried the HEAVY thing, which was in two pieces, out to the vehicle. I was already putting it into her room and decorating it with goodies in my mind before we even got it home!

But before we went home, we headed to the yard sales. At the second sale, I found five gorgeous little vintage dolls decked-out in crocheted dresses and hats. Mentally, I lined them up on top of Sweetheart's new hutch. I also found sweet hand-embroidered tea towels, a set of hand-embroidered "his" and "hers" pillowcases, two nice rag rugs in good colors, and a green bowl from a Prak-T-Kal vaporizer.

Saturday evening, we primed and painted Sweetheart's floor, a sweet, light pink called "Kissed by Juliet." Tonight, we primed the two twin beds I found at a different used furniture store and a long pegged shelf we've had for ages. They'll be painted pink and then cream and rubbed through to give an antiqued look.

I'm already mentally shopping for bedding at Target. :-)

 

::: a day with bard :::

Today seemed like a good day to go yard-salin'. So I woke Bard, got dressed, said goodbye to my dad and the kids, and headed off to find some bargains.

My main goals were to look for a sofa, some end tables, a couple of night stands, some bookcases and a set of beds for Sweetheart and Baby.

The first stop was a Mennonite woman's home who homeschools. She had a lot of boxed curricula and I wasn't really interested in most of it. I did, however, find some good dress-up clothes and a train set which I think is called a Whittle Train or something like that. The tracks are a base that are in the shapes of large squares that hook together like puzzle pieces. There are also little pieces that are used to create little shops and buildings. Cute!

The other thing I found was something called Learning Seeds, which is a file box filled with all kinds of activity cards in different subject areas. The goal is to provide a springboard for learning when children can't think of anything to do, so that they can turn to this creative outlet as opposed to turning on the TV. I haven't given this a very in-depth look, but I'm going to check it out further. I do know that I found a source for it online, and while I paid $4.00 for a brand new box, the site lists the price at $39.95!

Bard found six hockey pucks, which they'll use for ice hockey this winter. Up until now, they've been using a street hockey ball. The woman who was having this sale forgot to ring up my Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing book by Sheila Kipley, so she gave it to me for free. :-)

I found an unused Wilson's black leather vest, with tags, for $2.00. A perfect accessory for Edison's magic shows. I need to find him a nice top hat and a pair of black dress pants.

Bard and I spent a lot of time laughing about Homestar Runner today. I have to admit that I now think it's pretty funny. I had to swallow my pride and admit that to Bard, which was good, because we then spent the rest of the afternoon making silly Homestar Runner references and cracking ourselves up.

I couldn't find any beds or other furniture at any of the sales, so I headed for one of the local used furniture stores, where I found a set of twin beds for Sweetheart and Baby. They'll need to be sanded, painted and gussied up, but they'll be really fun when they're done. We decided to spend this weekend finishing up Sweetheart's bedroom, which means painting the floor and possibly creating a fun pattern with the paint. I'll try to post photos.

Bard was a joy with whom to share a day. She's clever, witty, and just generally funny. I'm really glad we got to spend the time together. We talked about books, what makes a book a classic, why some classics are so stupid (she recently read Catcher in the Rye and hated it) and whether or not her favorite books will be stupid when she's an adult.

Tonight, we filled the cracks in Sweetheart's floor and will prime and paint it in the morning, after I hit a couple more yard sales. The kids watched South Pacific on DVD and then watched a bunch of Homestar Runner shorts. Monet, of course, made a book of drawings of all of the characters. He's a very motivated artist! I'd love to get him plugged into a good class, if I could find a good teacher who would be willing to come to our home and wouldn't charge an arm and a leg. I know it's worth it, but I don't have it!

Tonight, Bohemian is teaching Bard and Edison how to play an electric bass. Edison started fiddle lessons about a year ago, but his teacher, who was also homeschooled, went to college at age 16, so we kinda lost out. Bummer. Bard seems to be picking up the bass very well, and has learned to tune using harmonics, which Bohemian taught using a short physics lesson. They're using a video called Ultimate Beginner's Series: Bass Basics. Bohemian is going through it with them step by step. They all seem to be enjoying it. :-)

I was able to contact a few local homeschoolers and find out about a support group here. There will be an informational meeting in about two weeks, and I think I'll attend, since it sounds like there are about 60 families who belong. I've been e-mailing with these ladies and hope to make some contacts that will lead to new friendships for the kids and me!

For now, I think it's time for bed. I'm hoping to get up early tomorrow morning, get breakfast down the street, and head for a couple more sales.

Thanks for a fun day, Bard!

::: finally in the new house :::

After a long hiatis, I was able to recover access to my blog. So, here I am. :-)
 
We are now in the new house. Amazing. At last writing, we had just broken ground, and I don't think our basement foundation had even been begun at that point. And now we're here, in this house, with all of its necessary maintenance, cleaning, and, most of all, house payments. We've never in our lives had a house payment. It's been over 15 years since I've had to pay rent! When that house payment statement comes, it's a shock. I still can't believe I write a check that big every month.
 
The lessons that building a house taught the family were and continue to be priceless. Many phases of the housebuilding, from the groundbreaking to the final coat of paint, were very hands-on. On any given day on the job site, you could see one of the kids helping out or showing magic tricks or climbing around on the roof. It was an exciting and amazing process. 
  
 

 
We're still not done, even though we've been moved in since Christmas Eve, which was completely by accident. That's a completely different story.
 
Bohemian's on the phone,  so I'm going to come back to this later!

Three Stories Up.

The second floor and roof is on. I can't believe how those guys climbed around up there like monkeys. The guy in the picture walked around the edge of the house, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth while he worked, grabbing trusses off the huge hook that dangled above his head. In this picture, he's three stories off the ground. I watched from the ground, absolutely amazed. Has anyone noticed how often I use the word "amazed?"

I can't really describe what it feels like to walk into the house with the first floor finished. It's an amazing thing. Where there was nothing before, nothing but a big hole in the ground, there is now a structure with floors and ceilings and stairs. I can begin to visualize where rooms will be, how they will look. I go back and forth between thinking the house is way too big and way too small. Every change seems monumental. Things seem to be going so quickly now, but Bohemian keeps reminding me that it will be months before we move in. I just can't wait that long!

Steve building our back wall...

It's so exciting to see the brick go on. The first aesthetic addition to the building process!

Acorn

I found this acorn near the trash. I don't know how it got here, as the closest oak tree is pretty far from the trash pile.

For many years, I have held onto the dream of building a house in the country, a place for the gathering of family, friends, good food and fine music. We've had many hopeful signs, and many devastating heartbreaks, but we held fast to our dream. Years of prayer often felt worthless. After all, many people have no home at all. How could I be so myopic as to believe that God would grant me a big house on a hill in the country somewhere? Yet it was a desire of my heart, and I continued to pray for God's will in my life. If there were a place for us, I would be willing to go, whether that was in the city or in the country. And then, a piece of inspiration came that I could not ignore...
During a concert in Wheaton, IL in July of 2001, one of my favorite musicians, David Wilcox, David shared this bit of inspiration:

"Imagine an acorn planted in a paper cup. It's a seedling. You say to yourself, "It's an oak tree. It's the strongest of trees. It's an oak tree." And somebody looks at it and says, "Oh, come on! That's no oak tree! Look at that! That's an acorn with a sprout!" And you say, "Yeah, well. I'm...I'm taking care of it. It's gonna grow." "Oh, yeah. Where you gonna plant it? It's nothing but parking lot and broken glass! Have you looked outside? Have you seen this world?" And you say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." You don't show it to everybody. Sometimes you keep the dream tucked inside your coat when it's cold. But's it there. And it's growing close to your heart. You find yourself a little garden. You call it a garden. It's a square foot of ground. It's a place to call home. The dream's gotta be planted. It's gotta have a place to dig in. And you clear a little more as you have time. A lot of time goes by and sure enough, the dream can grow. Grow right where you are. Right in your little town, in your little street, in your little home. And it grows. In those scorching hot summer days that used to feel like there was nothin' but pavement and broken glass, you got shade. What is that shade from? What is that great, green shade from? Oh, that's an acorn, in a paper cup. Well, and...time. Yeah. Take care of that dream. "

You have to understand...I'm a gardener. I love anything that grows. Even as we speak, I'm trying to nurture a couple of hormworms that I found devouring my tomato plants. Most people kill them, but I learned that they turn into very cool and very interesting hummingbird moths, creatures that amaze me as they flutter from one brightly colored herb to another, helping to pollinate my garden.

You also have to understand that I'm a treehugger. I don't love all trees more than I love all people, but there are SOME trees that I love more than SOME people.

Finally, you have to understand that I have some family members who are *not* gardeners, or tree-lovers, or dreamers. As a matter of fact, a particular family member can be downright discouraging. If I didn't have people like my husband, and David, and other musicians, I would be pretty discouraged a lot of the time.

Usually, when some exciting dream comes into my life, it just bubbles out of me. I share it with those I love. Including my discouraging family member. And most often, this person fills my ears and my heart with discouragement.

But as David spoke that night in Wheaton, I closed my eyes and I saw...I mean it, I *saw* our house on the hill. I saw it as clearly as if it were right there, right there in front of me! I could *see* a room full of people, loving and enjoying music, in my home, up on my hill, in a beautiful country community. Music is a big part of my life (my husband and children are musicians...I'm just the groupie) and a coffeehouse is something I had dreamed of for a very long time, but never, NEVER before had I been given a true vision of it. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever had a clear vision about anything. I was smitten. And inspired.

That was the beginning of a realization of a dream.

After the house concert, I was able to speak with David for just a few minutes. I told him about my dream of a paramusic career, how his story inspired me, how clearly that vision of our future home came to my mind, and I handed him my journal to sign. Here's what he wrote:

To Denice:

It's an Oak Tree
(all it needs is a place to grow and time--
because all it needs to know is inside)
It's inevitable.

David Wilcox

I've held that dream, that little tree in a cup, close to my heart and shielded it from those who would discourage me and laugh at my fragile sprouted acorn. I've shared it with those, including my husband, who could say, "Yes! Let me help you water that! I know a place where you can plant it!"

Shortly thereafter, we were able to purchase a beautiful piece of property which included a gorgeous hilltop that commands quite a view. And, indeed, our little acorn has begun to grow. That's not to say there haven't been times of drought along the way, but all the roots grow deeper when it's dry, don't they?

The Sprouted Acorn has been my working title. I have even found the most amazing photograph by photographer Dan Suzio, of a sprouting acorn. It will hang in my living room as a reminder of that little dream and how it grew.

And the house on the hill...we are building it JUST as I envisioned it that night in Wheaton.

Sweetheart after walking around in the coal from the excavation

I'm anxiously awaiting the next phase of the building process, which is the building of our basement. It was actually supposed to start on Monday, but it looks like it won't be until the NEXT week. Sigh. But I'm glad that we're further ahead than we were!

Wow. It has been quite a long time since I've written in the blog. Like Bard would say, "Bad Blogger! Bad! Bad!"

We have taken a break from school in order to work on building our house. I'm excited...and quite scared. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this, even though I've been waiting for it forever. For the past thirteen and a half years, I've dreamed of the day when we could build a house of our own, and now the time is here. I don't know if I'm prepared for all of the decisions, but I'm trying not to get too hung up about it.

We'll begin lessons again on August 1st, which is a Friday.

About the house:

We had gone back and forth between having a house build and contracting it ourselves. Finally, Bohemian (dear husband) and I decided to sit down and draw out the elements of our "dream house." After much consideration and visiting several builders, we decided to have our "dream house" drawn up by an architect and see what would happen. The plan came out *great* and we decided to go for it.

The bank thing was amazing. We didn't think we were prepared at all to go into a bank and ask for money to build our own house, but we decided just to walk through open doors and God gave us the courage to just ask! And it worked!

So now we're in the process of actually building! The excavator, who is also our neighbor, finished his portion on Friday, and our dear friend JT came on Saturday to build the forms for the footers. Tomorrow, the footer forms will be finished and the concrete will be poured. Wow. I'm kind of in shock.

And to prove that I'm in shock, it's 2:00 AM and I've been spending the past two hours trying to find a virtual exterior design site so I can decide what colors of siding, shutters, brick, trim and doors to choose. I've all along wanted a white house with dark green shingles and dark green shutters. I also thought a classic red door would be good as well as red brick. I like simple as a kettle, and I think that does it. I hope I don't screw this up. I wish I had a mother-figure to help me!!

Photos soon to come...

There's still a hole on the hill. Kenny, our neighbor and excavator, finished most of it on Friday morning and then took the weekend off. He still has to dig the footer trenches and some other minor things. Our dear friend John will be pouring the footers and building the basement. He's supposed to come on Friday and spend the weekend, bringing his little boy Joey with him. Sweetheart LOVES Joey, so it will be a good weekend. John's a great guy. I think Bohemian said it will take him a week to get the foundation finished. After that...well...we're still looking for a framer.

We have actually started the process of building our house. Wow. It's kinda wild. The hill has this great big hole in it. I won't believe it until I see it done. I just keep thinking that *something* is going to happen. Like Bohemian's going to fall out of the treehouse, or lose his job, or a meteor's going to hit the earth (this may sound hilarious, but I actually *worry* about this!), or something else catastrophic. Aren't I selfish? I've just wanted this for SO long, and I just can't believe it's going to happen! We've wanted a bigger house, so we can have house concerts, raise service dogs, maybe even adopt or have more children. I just keep thinking that *something* isn't going to go right, and it will all go down the drain. But so far, so good.We drew the plan ourselves. I really wanted to go solar, or at least all natural gas (we have free gas here) but we just couldn't make it work financially. There are currently 8 of us living in a 16 x 24 cabin with no indoor bath or toilet. I have a teenaged daughter and a preteen son, and they really are in need of their own space, as am I. We've lived in a small house for 13 years. We've been living in the cabin for two years. It's a wonderful life, it truly is. But it will be so much more wonderful when I can do what I've always wanted to do...invite people into my home. When this is all done, we'll have FIVE bedrooms, a walkout basement, a country kitchen, a living room AND family room AND a homelearning room! I'm so very jazzed about that. The homelearning room has a set of French doors that open onto the wraparound porch. I just imagine doing lessons with the doors wide open, letting in the sun...IF a meteorite doesn't destroy the earth, that is. ;-) 

Groundbreaking

On June 28th, 2003, we held a groundbreaking for our new home. We wouldn't officially start the excavation until Monday morning, but Bard would be in Italy, so we did it on Saturday. We had a cool little cake that had Tonka trucks on it, one for each member of the family to keep. Each of us dug a shovelful of dirt and put it in a glass jar to keep, starting with the oldest member of the family and working down to the youngest. The kids then gave pony rides to our guests and we had a cookout on the hill in the evening.

Bo's trying to find some subs for our septic system and for our framing. Ack. The framer (our neighbor Aden, actually) who was *going* to do our house now says he doesn't have the time. Ugh. So we either have to find another one or wait for him. That was one of the things I thought was "all wrapped up." Ah, well. It all happens for a reason. We closed on the home loan on Wednesday afternoon. We are supposed to start digging on Monday, or at least sometime next week.

We have an appointment at the bank tomorrow to sign our closing papers. We hope to start digging next week.

Hoping for some more good news about our soon-to-be built house, "Habitat for the *****" or "The House that Music Built." We met with our cabinet maker on Saturday and he gave us very great news about our cabinets. He'll be able to make them for about $1,000 less than we have in the budget. Yes! The big challenge we're facing now is flooring. We're planning to install the wood floors ourselves, and we're putting in quite a bit of wood. So we'll be looking for material and attempting to decide which rooms will be wood, tile, carpet and linoleum. It's a tough decision, and it's all about MONEY, baby! Ah, well. Soon (in about nine months) it will be all over but the crying. Oh, and the house payment. ;-)