Making Dirt

I usually keep this blog rather impersonal. You typically won't guess what has been going on at our house from reading here, though you may know what we've been eating.:-) I figure there isn't many that really care what we did this weekend.

But I'm going to make an exception with our latest project since I would like a record of the process.

After four or five years of planning and saving, we are building an addition to our house. Above is the back of our house - the "before" picture.


Even though we've talked about it for years, it was almost a shock two weeks ago when Ed ripped the back deck off our house. I couldn't believe that it was actually happening.

But the real changes started happening this week.


On Thursday, they started to dig.


It soon became apparent that the small equipment that they had was not going to be heavy enough for our rock. Around here, you can hardly plant a flower without hitting rock!


Thankfully Ed has a friend with a huge excavator. This machine was absolutely amazing!


The children had a great view and camped out here for the entire day. It was a great deal safer (and warmer) for them inside. My boys have the typical fondness for anything with wheels and now they talk of nothing but construction equipment!


On Friday they poured the footers.


Nothing looks messier than a construction site, but these huge piles of dirt are an obvious delight to our boys. I'm threatening to designate a pair of pants each as their outside pants and not wash them until this job is over!


Saturday, the men began laying the block for the foundation. I'm learning a ton about the construction process. I have two brothers that have a construction business that are doing the main part of the work. Ed is helping out as much as he can to save labor costs. The children love having dad home. Okay, I love having daddy at home! I probably have as much fun as the children watching the men work!

So, that is the excitement around here - far more thrilling than baking bread!