Day 2 of Construction Excitement...

We have hoped that once they broke ground on the house, each day we would see more getting done. That was the case yesterday as our hole got bigger and started to take shape:

View from the street from inside the car (I didn't want to get Alex out).

Better view from on the lot thanks to Matt.

Matt's view from his "basement". This is looking toward the street and the area to the right will be our storage area in the basement.

Our official sign at the site! And of course I noticed right off that our address is misspelled - ShepHerds Trace.

Lounging on the Ride Home...

Just a quick post with a picture of Alex in the car on the way home yesterday. Makes me laugh at how his leg is crossed and he is holding his drink. he is watching Dora the Explorer on the iPad and is totally content. Debbie hit the nail on the head when she said he looked like an old man drinking his coffee, reading the paper.

Sandy's Playhouse Update...

I mention Alex going to Sandy's a lot but yesterday she sent a picture of the full group so I had to share:

Going clockwise from Alex is Kenna (sort of hidden behind him), with Knox beside her, Riley beside him, Cole in the bouncer and Jonah in the front.

And yes Sandy has a baby named Cole. How funny is that. I thought it would help or totally confuse Alex about his name except he calls him Cold and argues if you try to correct him. One day he will figure it out!

Rental House Funnies...

We have said all along our stay in the rental house would be a fun little adventure. So far, it has really not been bad. It has been nice to have somewhere peaceful to do our morning runs in preparation for the Chase, the kids love seeing the horses and of course the short term lease and low rent helps too.

But as we suspected, there are some little quirks we have had to get used to. The first one we came across was the fun with the water pressure. Doug had warned us that it wasn't great so we were somewhat prepared. It is weak. Very weak. But we have figured out how to deal with it. It is fine for a shower for us, nothing spectacular but washes the soap off and gets the job done. When it is time for a bath for the kids, we have to start the water about 20 minutes before they get in so there is enough water in the tub. We actually started running Reagan's bath during dinner one night this week and it was ready by the time she finished eating. We also know we can't do more than one thing at a time that requires water, i.e. wash dishes, wash clothes, bathe, flush the toilet, etc. So we have a nice routine. Clothes get washed after the kids baths and the dishwasher is set on delay to run during the night while we are asleep. So far so good.

Cell phone service has been another thing to get used to. In parts of the house I can get a couple of bars but for the most part I don't have service. With wi-fi this won't be a problem when I need to check the internet but since Windstream messed up and still has not gotten our service hooked up we have been without internet. That hadn't been a big deal until last night when we had a fantasy football draft online. So Matt set up his phone to be a wireless hotspot (had to put it on the front porch to get a strong enough signal) and then connected the laptop to it. And we were all set! Internet is supposed to be hooked up tomorrow. Fingers crossed it actually happens. Of course that won't help with phone calls but now we know that we get really good service out in the driveway so as long as the weather is nice, we can go out there for calls. :) Once again making me think I need a pole to climb to use the phone like Green Acres.

We found another quirk last night when trying to fix the hall lights. I noticed the hall lights weren't working earlier this week. At first I thought it was a bad bulb but realized it was all 3 fixtures in the hall. Matt checked the fuse but it wasn't flipped. He tested a few just to be sure, but no solution there. So we thought maybe it was just an odd coincidence that they all went bad at the same time and he changed all 3 bulbs. Still no good. Matt then thought about maybe the wiring was messed up and one of the switches had to be one before they all worked, and low and behold a switch by our bedroom (one I had never noticed) has to be flipped before the other 2 switches work. And once again we have lights in our hall!

But my favorite quirk of all is the leaky dishwasher. The first time Matt tested the dishwasher he could tell it worked fine but it leaked like crazy at the bottom. So he figured the seal was bad and ordered a new one. In the meantime, I was closing it and noticed it didn't make a sound when I completely shut it, leading me to discover it had no latch, or rather the latch was broken. Being the detective that he is, Matt then put 2 and 2 together to finally solve the mystery of the giant black bungee cord that was hanging on the cabinet beside the dishwasher. It is the "latch" and once it is in place (stretched from one cabinet knob to another) the dishwasher only leaks a little bit. We took it a step further, adding a 4x4, creating more pressure and less leak. A disposable pan catches the small amount of water that manages to escape. How is this for funny:

But regardless of the quirks, you can't complain when you get to see sights like this every day:

One of our groups of horses on the farm with their babies.

Ground Has Been Broken!

Ever since we started the house building process on June 22 with signing a contract and reserving our lot, we have waited for the day when we could say the building has officially started. After each step it would be said, about 2 weeks until ground breaking. Each time those 2 weeks turned into 3 or something caused a delay. At one point we were told we could possibly see ground breaking around the middle to end of July. Not long into the process we realized things never went that smoothly or quickly with Ball Homes. On August 27th (yesterday) we finally had that monumental "Ground Breaking" day.

Now I feel like it is really real. Things are happening. My excitement is indescribable. Even my husband, who is notorious for being patient, not getting excited until the day of something, and staying so calm is even excited. We talk about the new house at least once every day. We visit the lot so often it is nuts considering up until yesterday it was just grass and nothing had changed at all.

We are even so crazy that we go visit and hang out in another McCormick II that is being built in another neighborhood. Comparing the differences in what they are doing to what we chose to do. Planning out our house while walking around someone else's house.

But very soon it will be our house that we will be walking around. Once the excavators get done moving dirt I am sure we will see the frames for the basement walls, then the rough in plumbing, then framing, roof, etc. Excitement, excitement, excitement!!

Funny story: I posted a picture of the hole that was dug yesterday on Facebook a very good family friend, Benny Turner, asked for our new address and he works for Harrods concrete. Turns out Harrods is helping with our house. Harrods does the concrete and rock for Ball and he told me that he was sending rock to our house today as a matter of fact. Fun stuff!

Here is a picture of the hole and you can see the area where the driveway will be. The sidewalk used to go straight across the lot in the front but they broke it up yesterday and dug up the grass where the driveway will go. Already excited to drive by after work and see if any more progress has been made today!

You can see 2 bright orange stakes in the picture as well. Those got put in late last week and was the first hint that something was about to happen.

A Beautiful Day at the Park(s)...

Saturday was a gorgeous day so I decided it would be nice to go down to the Farmer's Market and to the playground. Alex of course agreed so off we went. He loves playing outside but the park is at the top of his list.

Here he is at the top of a big slide at Big Spring Park:

Since daddy missed out on the park fun that morning due to a soccer meeting, he suggested going to another park after nap in Lexington. So off we went to Shilito Park for some more fun. This playground is much bigger, mostly wooden and has lots of good options for him. As to be expected, he had a blast.

After the park we attempted dinner at P.F. Changs. It wasn't one of his best outings because he wanted to play with the noodles more than eat them but I had to laugh when he tried to use chopsticks at first because daddy was using them.

He was concentrating so hard but never could quite get them figured out. Finally he gave up and just moved on with his hands and a fork for the chicken.

Good Manners...

Alex is without a doubt mischievous and some times just straight up mean but the one good trait he has developed is good manners. He is quick to say please and thank you and it is noticed by a lot of people. So that makes a momma and daddy happy and proud.

One day Sandy sent us a message saying that Alex was the first to finish his lunch and without being prompted said, "Sanny, scuse peas" which is his way of asking if he could please be excused. 

Sandy is without a doubt one of the main reasons he has such good manners. She does a great job teaching the kids manners and patience for which I am very grateful!

Another day she said they were sitting down to eat and Alex climbed into his chair, took a look at his plate full of food and popped a grape into his mouth (one of his favorite foods). Sandy quickly said, "Alex I need you to fold your hands for our prayer" and without missing a beat he took the grape back out of his mouth, laid it on his plate and folded his hands.

It's moments like those that give me hope he might turn out to be a good boy after all. Or when he runs up to Matt or I for a hug or kiss without being asked, it just melts your heart.

Yesterday we got to Sandy's and he was excited to go show Knox his ball so he started toward the playroom and before I could say anything he came back and said, "kiss mommy" so I got my hug and kiss before he went to play. He can be the sweetest little boy sometimes.