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!

Our brick was delivered today!

See, everything IS bigger in Texas!

Well... it wasn't just one brick that was delivered to the job site, there are LOTS of 'em; too many to count. It won't be long until the sticks and bricks come together.

Here's a close-up view of a bundle o' bricks.

Our brick is called "Lancaster" and it has brown, red, and taupe colors in the mix.

It only seems fitting that Mr. Smith's house should be built with bricks that are made in his home state, doesn't it?! I guess that's an added extra bonus. :-)

I realized that I had not yet included any photos of the backside of the abode, so here you go. The rear of the house faces northeast, so we should enjoy nice morning sunshine and shade in the afternoon. As you can see, we will be washing a lot of windows.

Hi, Millie! High Millie?

My girlie-girl is peeking out the 2nd story window.

Sooooo, things are progressing nicely on the construction project. There is a lot of activity every day. The framers are finishing up a few items, and the plumbers and electricians are busily working. There are not many BIG changes in how things look, but the mechanical elements of the house are being put into place. This is all the stuff that will be hidden behind the sheetrock.

I should have taken a photo of the carpenters/framers as they loaded up in their truck tonight. It was quite comical, but apparently a very cost effective carpool arrangement. There were at least a dozen guys piled into one extended cab pickup truck. Five were in the cab, and the remainder of them were in the covered bed of the truck. Illegal? Maybe in more ways than one...

Little House on the Prairie Progress Report -- Day 8

These guys are putting in yet another window that I will have to keep clean. I hope they didn't get any fingerprints on the glass... ;-) We were really surprised to see how much headway was made in one day. It would have been interesting to have gone inside to see what work had been done on the interior, but we didn't want to be in the way. We'll make a trip back over the weekend to take the inside tour.

The sky was beautiful today, with no rain in the immediate forecast. Word is that there will be shingles on the roof by Saturday. That's a good thing, as there is a chance of rain late Saturday night.

All of the windows are installed in Millie's bedroom, Mr. Smith's office/study, and M's upper room.

Things have really shaped up over the past eight days. These sticks are beginning to look like a house, but there is still a lot of work to complete. There are about 14 weeks left in the construction schedule, so we are looking at a mid to late June completion date. Stay tuned!

Weekend Wanderings

It is quite alarming to have the alarm clock ring at 5:15 AM on a Saturday morning; however, all Smiths and Smithlings happily got out of bed to get ready for a road trip to Houston. There were no complaints from anyone, except for the cats who realized that they were going to be home alone for the weekend. (They survived.)

This was our first trip to Katy, TX, to visit my brother Dwight and his family, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We will, no doubt, make a return visit in the not-too-distant future. (M. recalls making a trip to Katy about 13-1/2 years ago with G-ma and G-pa T. He had just turned four, and was really intrigued by water towers. As they drove from Tulsa to Katy, my mom and dad entertained M. by looking for and counting water towers. What fun, eh?! We did NOT count water towers on this trip. Maybe next time. Or maybe not.)

The purpose of the trip was to visit with family, and we certainly accomplished that goal. Mom and Dad are currently staying with the Texas Thompsons, so our group totaled eleven.

Shortly after we arrived, we were treated to a most excellent Turkish lunch/early dinner. I am not sure I can name everything we ate, but all of the dishes were yummy. The rest of the day was spent hanging out around the pool, as we enjoyed 70 degree temps.

Our Host and Hostess

Poolside Waltz

Hula Hooping Grandpa?!

"Two-la Hoop"
Aunt Jean is a good sport.

More bang for your buck? I have no idea what I am doing, but it all turned out okay. I think! I was doing a little damage control after Mom had someone in a Houston salon "trim" her hair in an uneven manner. No big TX hairstyles for Mom this time around.

On Sunday morning we were treated to two hot air balloons flying right over my brother's house.

The girls helped harvest a few carrots -- yum! They also learned how to prepare a few new recipes as they hung out in Aunt Jean's kitchen. We now know how to make several tasty treats with tofu. The girlie-girls also learned how to make banana "ice cream" using only frozen bananas.

It was impossible to get the cousins to pose for a photo without one of them making a silly face or laughing. I tried to get a good picture, really I did. In this pose all three Smithlings are apparently tickled at something one of their older cousins said. I wish I knew was was so amusing, but no one is tellin'.

It took adding Grandma and Grandpa to the mix to get a decent shot. What well-mannered grandchildren. I certainly love those smiles. ;-)

We've been framed!

Well, partially framed... Work on framing the "Smith Haus" began yesterday and will continue for several days. The word from our builder is that the structure should have shingles by late next week. I'm thinking Extreme Makeover Home Edition. ;-)

The Smithlings and I stopped by the construction site at 5:30 in the evening and found eight carpenters still busily working on our house. We were surprised at how much they had accomplished in one day. Not only did we get to watch the workmen, we met another new neighbor, so it was a fruitful visit. I am not sure that we will be making daily visits to "our" house, but there seems to be a lot going on right now. We don't want to miss out on anything exciting.

We just HAD to share the latest developments with Mr. Smith. The kids thought that their dad needed to see things in person, even if there wasn't any daylight left. We grabbed a couple of flashlights and the camera (of course!) and returned to the scene of the building project.

Liesey is positioned at the front door ready to receive visitors.

Our resident engineer and his apprentice carefully inspect the craftsmanship. Nerds! (Thankfully, my boys are not sporting pocket protectors.)

Millie's room seems to have a few obstacles in the way.

I have received a comment, or two, or three, that I am never in any of the photos, so here I am! I guess I prefer to be on the backside of the camera. Here I am posing in the wine grotto, which will somewhat resemble a jail cell once the wrought iron is installed on the window and door.

Sticks!

Our ballerina girl is always looking for places to dance. Construction sites work just fine. The Everest Road pavement and the glow of the streetlamp provided the perfect conditions for shadow ballet.