Step 11 & 12...Dry wall and connect the new part with the old part

This is the hole that they cut going from the kids room into the two new rooms. Window was removed & placed in Alexis' new room.

Dry wall is up. Nolen's closet & doorway.

Walk in closet for Alexis. I figure she will have a lot more clothes being a girl & all.

Various Summer Photos

We have been busy this summer. Thought I'd post some pictures of what we have been doing besides adding onto the house.

I think these two could pass for sisters. They are only a few months apart in age. Katie visited us several times while she was here visiting her grandma. We just love her Alabama accent.

I had another birthday & Pete took me to Evansville for 1 night WITHOUT KIDS. I normally have a DQ ice cream cake for my birthday, but decided to just have my favorite M&M Blizzard since we were on the road.

Pete's brother, Dave, has been here for a few weeks. His daughter Courtnie caught a fish while fishing at East Fork Lake. (Love the boots girl!)

I'm really not for sure what to say about this photo, just that Pete probably won't like it. I'm saving this to show Nolen's first girlfriend.

Something happened to our garden this year. I think the chicken poop made everything go crazy. (Thanks Doug) Pete planted 8 tomato plants and we found out he planted them way too close. They have grown together and are as tall as Pete. It's impossible to get to the middle of them. We have been eating corn from the garden, though the coon ate the first of it. Pete took care of him, if you know what I mean. We still have plenty more & some that hasn't tasseled yet. We also planted giant sunflowers for Alexis. I'll have to get a good photo soon since they just started blooming.

Fourth of July in their red, white & blue. These two just love the tire swing. I can stand and push Nolen for over an hour & he doesn't get tired of it. He just loves it when I push him high enough to hit the tree.


VBS started this week. We have an Egyptian theme and Alexis fell in love with this hair piece.

Dave & his son Ethan caught 50 blue gill in one morning! They cut them all up and I guess a fish fry is in the future.

Pete caught several bass on the lake & they were cut up as well.

Step 9 & 10....Inside walls & insulation

The inside walls have been studded up & now it is looking like two rooms. This shot was taken while standing in Alexis's room looking into Nolen's room.

Alexis posing in her future bedroom.

Alexis stands in the doorway of her walk in closet. We decided to give her a big closet for all her stuff & future stuff. Note: The window in the back of the closet will soon be moved to the south end of the house.

I think it was 90 some degrees when Pete & his dad installed the insulation. I went to get a fan for them because there was hardly any air flow in the rooms.

They have left out one window in order to gain access into the rooms for now. They haven't cut the door into the rest of the house yet. Next week the south end will be sealed up & dry wall will begin to go up. Painting day seems to be getting closer & closer. I still need to pick out carpet for the bedrooms.

Step 8...Shingles, off with the old & on with the new

Since it was going to be a big job to tear off the shingles, Pete called in some extra help. It just so happened that his brother is visiting for a few weeks and helped us out. We also had help from a neighbor & Pete's dad.

The new shingles were delivered by this neat truck. Nolen enjoyed watching the unloading process.

On go the new shingles. Did we pick the right color honey? Why yes we did because I picked my choice & didn't tell Pete which ones I picked and asked him to pick. He picked the same ones I did. So yes we picked the right ones!

After day 2, only a few more need to be put on the north side before they are finished.

Katie brought over her slip & slide and the kids had fun playing in the water. This kept them away from the construction for a while.

Step 7...Roof

We now have a roof on our addition. The house is looking so much longer now. Monday they will start tearing off the shingles on the other part of the house. The whole house will get new shingles so it will all match.

This is a piece of our gas line they replaced because a tree root grew around it. I think we will keep this.

Step 5 & 6....sub floor & walls

The day started with blocks and ended with walls. These guys work FAST!

Trying to keep the kids out of the way wore me out! At one point Alexis had her chair pulled up right by the blocks watching the guys work. She is so ready to get into her new room. Not for sure if Nolen understands what all is going on. The roof will be next and then they get to re-roof the whole house. Trying to pick out shingles now.

Weekend at the river

We'll I was hoping to have updated pictures of the house progress, but we are at a stand still for a few weeks while the workers finish up other projects. Here's some pictures of our weekend at the river. We borrowed my parents motor home for two nights at the river. I don't camp in a tent, must have a bathroom. Ya I roughed it, no Internet for a few days. Ha Ha!

Took the kids on a 4 wheeler ride & this turtle was in the road and Alexis just had to take it back to camp. She put it in a crate and called it her pet. Other kids in camp decided the turtle didn't look that good after a few hours, so they let it go. She wasn't happy, but dad found her a baby snapping turtle later. Guess I didn't get a photo quick enough cause Nolen stomped on it and it didn't last long.

Nolen driving Stella around camp. Glad we took the truck & charger as well.

Around 50 fish were caught on bank poles. This was the most they had caught at once. Alexis wanted to hold this fish up for a photo.

This fish had to come back still attached to the line because it swallowed the hook.

Since we were just a few miles from the drive in at Newton, we decided to take the kids to see Shrek 4. It was fun to get out of camp for a while.

Two black snakes made their way through camp. Pete decided to get up & close with this one.


Sand toys a must! Nolen playing & getting dirty. I'm very thankful for the tub in the motor home cause both kids got very dirty. Alexis slept on the top bunk in the motor home & fell out of bed the second night. She didn't get hurt or have one bruise from her fall. I think a bag of clothes on the floor broke her fall. She was very lucky. Oh ya did I mention we had air conditioning. I just love camping! LOL