Good, Better, Best?

Okay, so "everything might be better with Blue Bonnet on it," but how are things or even people if they are near Bluebonnets? Beside Bluebonnets? Is there a marked improvement? Inquiring minds want to know.

The Bluebonnet is the state flower of the Lone Star State, and it's in its FULL glory right now.


Our two "testers" went out for a bike ride. (Thankfully, they had the camera along purely for research purposes.) While they were out enjoying the lovely spring weather, they conducted a field survey. See what you think their research reveals.

Good?

Better?

These two Smithlings look pretty good to me, but are they really BETTER? Hmmm.... I dunno.

BEST!

Califoreigners no more...

The third time's a charm, or so it has been said.

It only took three visits to the Department of Public Safety before the drivers in the Smith family had the correct documentation to be able to apply for a Texas driver's license.

M. had to have the following items to be able to get his license:

1. A current/valid driver license to surrender

2. Completion certificate for the classroom segment of driver's ed.

3. Proof of completion of behind-the-wheel instruction

4. Social Security card

5. Birth certificate

6. Official grade transcript

7. Additional documentation that he is currently a student

8. Application filled out in black ink only

9. Ca$h (No credit cards -- checks are okay)

10. A nice cheesy smile for the photo shoot

11. Lots of patience!

Fewer items were required to prove that Mr. Smith & I were legit., but the process for all of us was akin to obtaining high level security clearance. :-) We will have to wait three to five weeks to see the finished laminated ID, but in the meantime, M., Mr. Smith, and I have temporary licenses that are printed on 8.5" X 11" sheets of paper. What a perfect fit for billfolds & wallets, eh?

More arches than Mc Donald's

The name given to our house's floorplan is Riley, but perhaps a better name would be Archie. There are 6 arches outside, 5 arched windows, 7 arched niches &/or pass-through openings, and 14 arched doorways. I think I've counted them all, but I may have missed an arch somewhere.




The brick work is complete outside.
By Monday, the drywall will be complete.
On Tuesday, the wood floor will be installed.
On Wednesday, the cabinetry will be put into place.
The flooring and cabinets will be sanded, stained, and finished at a later date. In about a week, they will be getting ready to pour the driveway and sidewalks.

It's going to take a lot o' mud to texture the walls.

Oh, here are some ceiling arches that I forgot to add to the arch tally. This is the ceiling in our master bathroom. There is a mini version of this design in another part of the bathroom, so that would add 8 ceiling arches.

Arches -- I just had to state the obvious.

As you look from the family room into the kitchen, yes, 

there is another archway, but it's already been counted. 

6+5+7+14+8=FORTY?

The outdoor fireplace is not blue... it's stainless steel. There is a protective coating on the insert that gives it the blue hue. The mantle is a hand hewn big chunk of wood that will eventually be stained and finished. The plastic wrap does give the mantle an artsy look, so maybe we should keep it as a decorative feature.

Rear view

The wood trim on the house will be painted soon, so we will no longer have to look at the goldish colored primer. The gold doesn't blend very well with the brick color, but our real color selection should look nice. It is called "chamois," and it is a brownish/taupe color.

The Smithlings and Zach had to go check out the pond that is across the street from our house. The ducks were hiding today, but we found scads of tadpoles. FYI, there are no arches here, but I might talk to our builder about adding one. ;-)

Brick outside -- Rock inside

On Wednesday afternoon, we drove by our lot and found masons busily bricking.

Our soon-to-be neighbor girls (and their mom) came over to say hi and get a tour of our house. They agreed to pose on the staircase, even if they risked getting their clothes dirty. I have a feeling this adorable trio will be frequent visitors at the Smith house. They are certainly welcome.

We went to Oklahoma on Thursday and Friday, so we missed getting photo updates of the building project on those days. We visited G-ma Smith in Enid, and then accompanied Mr. Smith to Stillwater, as he had a business meeting on Friday. The Smithlings and I toured the Oklahoma State University campus while business was being taken care of. I am certain that we had more fun than Mr. Smith had.
The kids purchased OSU tee shirts; however, we now need to get tees for them from Colorado State and Purdue, just to be fair and balanced.

Back to the building project...

The following photos were taken on Sunday morning after we visited yet another church. (The church hunt goes on. We still have not found a place to call home.) The bricks are being slathered with mortar and being laid straight on the exterior of the house, and on the inside, the "rock" (sheetrock) is going up. The landscape is certainly changing on Everest Drive. See for yourself:


Our brick exterior has tooled joints, but an uncleaned finish. Right now, it just looks messy!

The metal arches in the yard will be used on the openings on the back patio. Our yard is certainly cluttered with construction debris, but it's a good kind of clutter. I think...

The interior walls are taking shape. More arches! There is certainly a lot of construction debris inside. Where's my broom?

Millie is in the kitchen and Liesey is in the wine grotto.

I am sure things will look different in another week, but there have been some dramatic changes in the past three days, so I just had to share these most recent photos. We are still anticipating a mid to late June completion date. It won't be long until we will be ready for visitors. Book your reservations now!