One week since ground breaking

Today is one week since we first broke ground on our house building project. We are all very exhausted, but also very happy that the project is coming along faster than we had anticipated, since we are learning as we go. We had hoped to finish the basement forms today and pour the cement, but we will only finish the forms, and we can start pouring the cement into the styrofoam wall forms tomorrow morning, and also the basement floor. What a project this is turning out to be, but we are very fortunate to have so many friends and relatives with carpenter knowledge. By the first part of next week, we should be able to start building above ground. I think the styrofoam wall forms are so neat. You pour the cement in the middle, and the 2 inch styrofoam on each side of the cement stays in place to insulate the basement. Makes it much easier and quicker to build. The cement guy did this with his house and he doesn't heat his basement at all and says it never gets below 50 degrees down there, even when it's 30 below outside.

Just thought I'd give you an update on what we are up to these days. LOL! Busy, tired and learning a lot!! I'm still working on my gardens every chance I get too. Dave and I both have full time jobs too, so this makes it pretty tough. Dave has taken part of his vacation time now, and will take more later on. I will take all of mine when we get to the point of doing the inside. For now, I'm just helping evenings and weekends. The kids are helping when they aren't working too. We hope to be in the house by the time snow flies this fall, which could be October. We are hoping for a late fall, since we had such a late spring and didn't get started as soon as we would have liked.

Wow, that is a lot of progress! It will be so nice when you are in it, and you will know your house and its systems so well. Most people have no idea what went into the building of the house they call home, and when a problem arises, they have to call in outsiders to deal with it. You will have a real advantage in that sense.

Joan, Joan, Joan!!!!! You will have a foundation before you know it! I am so glad this is finally coming true for you. Don't forget the guest wing so I can come help with the drywall and shingles and tile and painting..........or whatever else. :)

Wow!! Y'all are movin' on with it, aren't ya'! Looks great so far!!!

wow!!! How very cool and you guys are doing a great job. I will definately have to come and paint something for you when you're done :o)

We did the same thing in '93. We had a good friend frame up our home and he showed us what to do at each step after that.It was a very educational experience for sure.I love my home even more because our sweat and blood(actual blood) went into it.

Joan....that is going to be a BIG house!! Big enough for lots of DGs to drop by!! LOL Jo'

Joan, we're all so tickled for you. It's going to be finished before you know it!!!

I posted my first post while I was waiting for the barbeque sandwiches to get done for supper. We are now back in the house and I'm still looking at dishes and laundry, plus working at my real job tomorrow. Thank you all for your support. It helps me keep going to share with you once in a while. I miss being able to read the posts like I became accustomed to, and now while I'm doing something, I'm wondering what you all are talking about. I feel like I'm being weaned before I'm ready. LOL

This house is going to be pretty good sized. There's four bedrooms, and only two will be used as far as I can see. The only one's that will be left living here full time after this fall are Dave and I and Jaden. Michele and Jo, there will be plenty of room when you decide to come visit/help. LOL!

We discovered tonight that there's an outfit in Mandan, which is about 100 miles away that will come in and drywall the entire house in one day for around $800. That's only labor, not materials. We need to sit down and figure out whether that is something we should consider. I think maybe we will make that decision later on, and it will depend on how crunched we are for time. Things are going real well so far, but I know we will hit some snags somewhere that will slow us down.

You know what I could really use? If any of you have quick, and I mean quick, meal ideas, or crockpot ideas, or ideas for something quick to cook on the grill, that would really be appreciated. I have to work during the day and like to have something either in the crockpot for them to eat, or something in the fridge that they can microwave fast. They don't want to take much time to eat, as they are trying to keep going while the going is good. They are already tired of sandwiches, and I don't blame them. Right now, I can only help in the evenings and weekends, and I don't want to spend all my time cooking either.

Thank you all for your encouragement. It means a lot and keeps me going. Right now we're thinking like the little engine that could....we think we can...We think we can! I can't wait until we can say We knew we could...We knew we could.

Melody - I would love to hear how you made it through building your house yourselves. Any tips and ideas? We are only one week into this and everyone is already exhausted. I *really* think we need to take Sunday afternoons and play golf or fish, or picnic, or something just to keep our sanity and keep our family all pulling in the same direction. If we all knew we had Sunday afternoon off, or even just one evening a week, and we could take turns picking what we would do each week, it would give us all some free time to look forward to. And, if all is going well and everyone wants to keep going, we could do that too, but if there's one of us that needs a break, I think all of us should do it together.

It's gonna be a long summer, and I thank you all for letting me show you our progress and vent. I'm afraid I'm using you all as my stress reliever, I don't mean to do that.

I do roast all the time in mine. I just put the roast in the crock pot(don't even brown it)put in a packet of dry soup mix(I like golden onion)quarter potatoes and baby carrots that are already peeled and ready to use. Put enough water to come up part way of the roast. Cook it on low for 8 or 9 hours and it falls apart. If there's leftovers I make stew by just breaking up the meat and adding cans of green beans and corn. Cut up the potatoes and carrots to bite sizes and add more if necessary. I also add some beef boullion(sp?) My girlfriend cooks a roast then shreds it and makes a packet gravy and puts the beef on top of cooked egg noodles and pours the gravy over it, I like it but dh doesn't like beef with noodles.
They have those big pans of frozen lazagna at the store, you could get that and have it thawed and ready to throw in the oven when you got home...just make garlic bread and maybe a salad? You could even have the bread ready, just take a loaf of Italian bread slice in half lengthwise put butter, garlic and parmesan cheese on both halves put the halves back together and refrigerate, then you can just pop it in the oven when you're ready for it. You could even freeze it like that for later. One of my fav things to cook is pork on the grill. Take boneless pork loin chops season them with whatever you like to use and throw them on a hot grill. Only cook till fluids run clear or they'll be dry. We love pork on the grill and I make it all the time, they are soooo tender and juicy. Hope this helps a little. Congrats on the house, you're going to have so much room when it's done!

Lana

Joan, one my favorite easy dishes are fajitas and there are so many easy ways to do them. Marinate skirt steak or tenderized round steak in zesty Italian salad dressing overnight and cook on low in that crock pot. By the time you get home, they'll be falling apart and ready to be wrapped in tortillas and topped with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and/or onions. You can do the same with chicken or pork. Or slice up a couple of sweet bell peppers (the red, yellow or orange ones) and a big onion and stew them in a soup pot 'til they're soft ~ add the chicken and cook 'til chicken's done. Then wrap with the tortillas. Yum!

Also, that McCormick beef stew seasoning in those envelopes aren't bad. Make it just like the package says on the back.

I second the lasagne ~ Stouffer's is the best!

Good luck!

Thanks Lana, I love the idea of the roast in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots, then using the leftovers, (yeah right, with this crew? LOL) for stew or on top of noodles. My crew would love the leftover roast with gravy on noodles!

I've never tried to cook pork on the grill, but I will try your suggestion. We have lots of pork chops and pork steak.

Your idea of frozen lasagna from the store made me think that I could make a huge batch on a weekend and put it in those tin pans you can buy, and then freeze them. That would be enough to feed a 4 man crew along with a salad that I could have ready in the fridge. I could make several of them ahead and freeze them and put them in the oven frozen before I leave for work, set the timer on the oven to start baking about an hour before lunch and it would have enough time to thaw before starting to bake. Cool idea. Thanks. I could even throw some potatoes in to start baking if I needed them to go with another dish I could fix that way.

Great ideas, thanks! I'm thinking now. I'm going to stock up on paper plates too, they can eat off them for the summer to save me dishwashing time. Anything in order to give me more time to help with the house and keep my gardens going. By August we should have lots of fresh veggies to eat too, and that will help lots. We all like the fresh zuchinni in cheese sauce, corn on the cob, and cucumber salads. All are easy and quick too. I really wish we weren't out of grilling steaks. I might have to check into buying some. We won't butcher again until we've used up most of what we have left, as we don't have enough freezer room. The grilling steaks are always the first thing we run out of too.

We are already going through 2 gallons of iced tea a day! I gotta hit up a restaurant and see about getting a couple more gallon jars from them so I have more.

Isn't this fun? It will be very rewarding in the end to have the house that WE built, and the kids are learning lots of things that they will remember and will help them later on in life. That's probably the most rewarding part.