Earnhardt Rite of Passage

Today was the day...the Puyallup Earnhardts have officially earned their stripes in the Finnestad household, successfully maneuvering through our sacred dining room window.
Stephanie and Mikayla even ventured up the ladder to check out the 2nd floor.


Next it was time to put the kids to work, followed by a little trampoline fun!

This day was exactly what the Dr. ordered. It was so refreshing spending the day together just hanging out. Stephanie & I even got to sneak out for a few hours to enjoy Michelle and Madelynn's baby shower. What a perfect end to an already wonderful weekend!

Raising the Roof...I Mean the Floor

We now have a "roof" over our heads...downstairs at least. I guess you would really call it a ceiling if you're downstairs or a floor if you're up. No matter which you choose, our kids simply call it "awesome!"

Dishes, Dining Room and Delivery

OK Erin, this post is for you.

DISHES: Here's a glimpse at my new "kitchen" sink - look familiar? Believe me, we use as many paper plates as we can...and for the record last night was the first night I actually put dishes on the (towel covered) toilet seat. I don't foresee that becoming a habit :) I am trying to allow God to renew my thinking each time I wash dishes. Rather than grumbling about the inconvenience, I praise him that we even have running water, dishes to use, money to buy dish soap and that this is only a season...



DINING ROOM: Here's the primary entry/exit point in our house. At a minimum, every Sunday and three times a day Monday through Friday you will find us all crawling in and out of this dining room window. Notice the lovely dishwasher we use to brace ourselves on the way in and out.

Even Jonathan enjoys heading out the window. I love that he's holding his little hammer...ready to get to work!

DELIVERY: That window has seen it's share of deliveries lately...from people in and out, to palates of wood being delivered. It was pretty cool to see this load delivered to the 2nd floor of the house!

And you thought your house was dusty...

Jimmy got to cut into the kitchen ceiling last night in preparation for setting the 2nd steel beam today. I have a feeling that next time we will wear a mask. The dust was as beautiful as freshly fallen snow all over the inside of our house, but left quite the chalky aftertaste. cough cough
At one point Jimmy sneezed and it was like Charlie Brown's friend Pig Pen - dust went flying everywhere. It was so funny!
Here's a look at my kitchen after the section of ceiling was removed and things were most of the way cleaned back up.

All dust aside, it was well worth the effort as the beam was put in place today!

Movin' on Up

We're movin' on up with this house project...literally! This weekend Jimmy and Kevin put up the 2nd story floor joists. Things are really starting to take shape. They did such a great job!

It was pretty strange standing upstairs looking out Jonathan's bedroom window and being eye to eye with Jimmy!

Making Progress

Wow - alot has happened in the past couple of weeks on our house project!

September 4th - Our first framed walls went up


September 5th - We further demo'd the shed. James quite enjoyed busting up the sheetrock.


September 8th & 9th - We began tearing our kitchen apart. We no longer have a dishwasher or a kitchen sink. Several cupboards and quite a bit of counter space disappeared, in addition to our sliding glass door and working outlets. I am learning how to wash dishes in a small bathroom sink and make toast in the middle of our family room. It's also quite comical watching my family line up at the dining room window everyday to walk to church or school. I can't imagine there are too many families using their dining room window as their primary entry/exit point.




September 11th - Crane day! 4 large trees were craned out of our backyard, including our beloved "Fire Tree". This was almost more sad for me than losing my dishwasher and sink. Our family loved the "Fire Tree". I think it just might deserve a blog of it's own...





After the trees came out, two very large beams were craned in.



September 17th - Time to drill holes in the beam.