The Plan

"The Plan."  We knew from the beginning that we wouldn't find a plan to suit our needs perfectly.  I still poured over design websites and took pieces of plans that we could look to for inspiration.  We wanted a house to suit our family and how we live, just like everyone else.

This is us.  Morgan (15), Isaac (5), my husband, Michael, me holding Kate (2), Ethan (13), Molly Claire (9) and Aaron (17).

You can see that we have quite a few kids.  6 to be exact.  3 boys and 3 girls- ages 2-17.  We knew that we wanted them to share rooms- we even offered the older ones their own rooms.  Only our oldest boy liked that idea!  We decided in the end to keep them together and have two bedroom suites.  They are large bedrooms, and they each have walk-in closets and attached bathrooms.  So three bedrooms with room to add one in the basement in the future.  We wanted a hearth room, an extra large "eat-in" area off the kitchen and a formal dining room.  We also wanted a separate room for the baby grand piano, because it's quite loud in our current home.  A good sized mudroom, separate laundry, and high on my list.....a walk-in pantry.

So we came up with a plan.  We changed the plan several times, and we think that we have it just about perfect.  We love it.  I love it so much on paper, I can't even imagine how in love I will be once it is built!

My husband, Michael, is the General Contractor.  This is definitely not the norm, since he is an attorney by trade.  Five years ago, he general contracted the building that houses his office, and it turned out perfectly!  It was a lot of work, so he knew what he was getting into, and he has poured many hours into it thus far.   I think that it is amazing how he knows so much from research and contractors about the building process.

So even after the plan was finished and bids were in, there were still permits to obtain before we could break ground.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  It will, I am sure, be many months of waiting and more waiting--so we better get used to it.  Finally, the 2nd week of June, they started clearing our 6 acres.  It is just a short drive outside of town, only seven minutes from where we live now.  Just off of a little country road, a small subdivision and we are the first to be building there.   Each lot is 3 acres, but most people bought two and have 6 acres to build on.  This will be great, to have neighbors, but for everyone to have some space.



Here are some pictures taken from last week.  The whole excavation process is set to be finished by this Friday, June 21st.  Since there is a large hole in the earth we finally feel like this is really going to happen!

 A real live digger!!

                                      

                                      

My girls and I in our Hunter boots!

This has been a very exciting part of the process.  Now that there is a hole, I can't wait until there is a basement and then walls.  It makes me very anxious for the next phase.  In the mean time, we took a couple of trips up to Madison to the Parade of Homes.  It was helpful to see different exterior products and flooring.  I can try to work on some interior choices while we are waiting for more progress to come!

The Great Adventure

We made a hard decision.  We made a decision that it was time for a move.  This normally would be an  "all excitement" kind of decision, but this one came with costs.  It's not that we love our house so much that we didn't want to leave it, it was that we love our neighbors so much that we didn't want to leave THEM!  For the last 5 years, my sister-in-law Annette, and her family have lived behind us.  Straight behind us.  It's like we have an extended yard, another family room to hang out in, another pantry for ingredients that you are missing.  Best of all, family right where you need them most- close to you.  So, it was a hard decision to make.  Our family of 8 was getting cramped around the table, the food to feed growing teenagers was yearning for a walk in pantry and we were looking for some more outdoor space for the kids to run.

We looked for a house in our area, but were not finding what we were looking for.  We were too specific, too picky.  So here we are.  We happen to have a nephew who is an architect, and we had a partial plan from a house that we had toured tucked into our heads.  Jeffrey came over and we got to work.  That was months ago-  and after many changes that I won't go into- we have a completed plan!

That takes us to today.  Today I am starting this blog not to entertain or to get feedback, but to document this next year and our building process.  I want something to be able to look back on with our kids on making this house a home.  Please feel free to join us in this adventure!

My husband Michael, nephew Jeffrey and son Aaron discussing the plans.

The majority of this plan is the same, but we have swung the garage to a 90 degree angle.