Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers

I haven't posted about books I've read lately but I've got to take time to say how much I LOVED Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers. Maybe it's my fondness of being with older adults...maybe it's because I come from a dysfunctional family myself...maybe it's because I love all of Francine Rivers books, but this was a REALLY good book. I thought it was very well written and captured all of the characters' feelings so well. In addition to the story that is told, there is a comparison made to all of the references made in the Bible of gardens. This family is "resurrected" around a garden and the parallels drawn are very neat.

Granite countertops

Kim and I went to the granite place yesterday to look at slabs. I had decided on solid surface countertops but luckily Kim thought I should go and take a look at the granite slabs before making a decision. I'm so glad that we did because I picked out several that I absolutely loved.

I narrowed my favorites down to siena bordeaux, gobi pearl, and crema bordeaux. The couple helping us got a sample of a cabinet that is similar to what mine will look like and we put it up with a light to see what the countertop would look like. The gobi pearl was kind of neat because the mine recently fell in so there will be no more of this available in this area. It would have worked with my cabinets but it just blended in. Both the siena bordeaux and the crema bordeaux would look wonderful with my cabinets and I had a REALLY hard time deciding what I wanted to pick for the kitchen countertops. I finally went with the crema bordeaux because I think with the amount of light in my kitchen it will be SO beautiful. Here is a picture although it is different from the slab that I saw and does not do it justice.

The siena bordeaux I was originally going to put in the master bathroom because I wanted to use it too. But then he told us that we could go out back and pick remnants for the bathrooms. SO, we spent a LOT of time going around looking at remnants. Undoubtedly I would pick out a piece and say, I'd like to use this in the boys' bathroom, and then they'd say it's not big enough. I finally did find three different remnants for the bathrooms. I don't remember the name of the one that I picked for the 1/2 bath but I chose madura gold for the boys' bathroom. Then I picked a piece that I loved for the master bath - guess what it was??? Crema bordeaux...it just has a different pattern in it! Below is a picture of the madura gold for the boys' bathroom.

I am so excited now about the kitchen! Between the beautiful countertops and the baskets that I love, it is going to be perfect!!

Half-round window, anyone?

I stated in my previous post that the carpenters kind-of finished the windows. Well, the half round for the back of the house in the living room.....it's WAY TOO BIG. That's one of the more expensive windows that we purchased. We're not sure if they will take it back or not but I'm thinking that they won't. Well, other than the aggravation that Lowe's has caused, that's about the only issue we've had so I don't think we should complain!

House Progress

So we are now in month 3 of house building and things are still moving along quite nicely. I haven't taken any pictures this week but I promise that I will this weekend and post them. Brent and Kevin have been working hard on the electrical rough-in. The HVAC guys came out and got their part started. The plumber came yesterday and said he will be through with the plumbing rough-in today or Monday. The carpenters came back out yesterday and finished installing the windows (kind-of) and did some other cool stuff. They framed out the master shower and bathtub and they put up the framing for the kitchen island. The guy from Kitchen Vision came on Wednesday and measured for the cabinets. Hopefully I'll have some sketches and a final quote today. Brent has a week or two left to get the electric and alarm done. Then it will be time for the sheet rock. The paint lady called yesterday and will come out to give an estimate on the painting after the sheet rock is up. Once we sign for the cabinets, it will take 4-6 weeks for them to arrive. Also, the brick masons should be out any day to start bricking the house - I think that will take 3 weeks or more. We have picked out a few carpet samples but we haven't decided for sure. We have looked at some pictures of hardwoods but we haven't gone to the store to pick them out for sure yet. We also still need to get flooring for the bathrooms. The tile for the kitchen, laundry room, and hallway area should come in sometime next week. We still need to look at light fixtures and get them ordered. Anyhow...things are progressing nicely and it is looking very likely that we will be in before Christmas!!

2 things Elijah said this past Sunday

1. "I think that Uncle Michael got a gun and went to the woods to kill a deer and then somebody shot him."

2. Upon turning in the back drive to the church building (by the cemetary), "When I get big and learn how to play the drums, can I get a heart like Michael? I think I'm going to get shot too."

Oh.......the things he says and he doesn't realize how it it so gut-wrenching to me.

To him talking about getting shot is a normal thing to talk about. It shouldn't be that way for an innocent child!

Roofing completed and Almost all windows in

Framing completed...roofing started.

View from breakfast room towards hallway and pantry.

View of kitchen from morning room.

Michael, Karen, and Brent looking out the windows of the morning room.

These columns separate the entryway at the front door from the living room.

View of living room from the top of the stairs that go to the basement.

Front of house with roof complete. Shingles have been started today.

View from back yard of what will be the screened porch.

The shingles were unloaded today on the top of the house. The guys showed up right after they were delivered to begin doing the roofing. We are so blessed that things are moving along so nicely just as we hoped they would.

View of the back of the house.

Odessa

A couple of you might get the pertinence of this:

Brent and I went last week to Lowe's (our new favorite store) and picked out ceramic tile for the kitchen/laundry room/pantry/hallway area. The name of the tile that I picked is Odessa. Yesterday I was looking at something...maybe cabinets...and picked out something else that was called Odessa! How funny!

Now, who get's this??

Where should the receptacles go?

Pictures from today

Framing pretty much complete...

Roofing paper started

Lots of burgundy bricks!

Side of garage and back of house.

Pictures from Friday July 3

Back of the house

Front of the house...the porch is coming along.

The roof is started.

Peter is making himself at home already!!

The boys like our current entryway!!

A rare shot of my sweet husband!!

Nolan and Elijah being silly in Nolan's room

I think this is Nolan in Elijah's room but I'm not quite sure

This is the cathedral ceiling in the master bedroom

This is the view of the living room from the stairs.

This is the view from the front door to the back of the house. The middle opening there in the back will be double doors and then there will be windows on either side of them.

View from the front porch to the garage

Nolan, Elijah, and Brent went up to the bonus room and this is the boys looking down at me. We are still waiting for the stairs to be built to the bonus room so they haven't been back up there and I haven't been up there at all.