Colby Takes a Look & I Varnish a Lot!

Yesterday afternoon Colby & I went over to the house & studied rooms as I try & try to decide what colors to paint all those walls... She hadn't been in the house for several days so was excited to see what all had changed!
She has decided that her favorite place will be in the west cubby-hole that is in her bedroom closet! She fits quite comfortably in the little nook & thinks it will be a great place to be cozy!
Then we went down the basement where you can see some of the trim boards & the doors that are in the process of getting done!
Here is a closer up of the bi-fold doors that I got stained on Friday. That is all the farther I got with anything until today as we were gone all weekend. BUT, today I got back at things & got 160 boards varnished!!! I only have 26 more to put 1 coat of varnish on & then all the trim boards will have been stained & have 2 coats of varnish on them! I am so excited!!! Tomorrow I plan to get those last 26 boards done & we'll see what else! But I have to go to town after dinner for the afternoon.
Deb

Philip Girls Won the Belle Fourche Volleyball Tourney!

What a happy volleyball team we have here! The Philip girls won the tourney in Belle on Sat. - which I've been hearing said now, that this has not happened in a very many years - not since Mr. West coached - and that was in the 90's or so! So they were all pretty pumped - holding up the t-shirts they got for winning this! Colby is #3 on the team.
Here is Colby getting down low to get a dig in one of the games on Sat. in Belle.
During one of the games an opposing player lost a contact - so the Philip Scotties did their part in trying to help find it!!!
Kieth & I both attended the games all day in Belle on Sat. - after going to the Football game in Newell on Friday night - a very good exciting game on which the Scotties came out on top, by the way! - then took Chancie & Aaron to supper & got to visit with them & spent the night in Spearfish to be there for the Sat. volleyball! Another busy weekend!!! Lincoln's team didn't fair as well, he called & said they lost yet another game on Sat. & that wasn't being very fun for him! The starter that was injured was back, but Lincoln still got to play in a few plays in the game.

Deb

Look at What Has Changed!!!

We have our front door where it belongs now!!! I do like it so much better this way!!!
Here it is close up - they even put the door handles on! Now we just need the 2 outdoor sconces put up & the front will look all finished!
And here we have the front door from the inside - we could even lock the doors now if we wanted to!
How about the nice looking arches? You see they have been busy taping the house the past while - a job Brock especially loves!!! You never think about how many nail holes there are to mud in or all those seams, etc. till you see all that mud spackled everywhere! The stairway is even sheet-rocked now so you really get the feel of the place when you walk around!
This is where I have been for several hours lately - the basement... There are 211 trim boards - I have them all stained, and as of this afternoon, I have 70 of them varnished 2 times & 48 more varnished once. So I am making progress! That is 118 of them that I put a coat of varnish on today! I feel like I probably have a little arthritis coming on in my hands!!! I am really glad that we bought lots of metal shelving to store things on in the basement, as we set up several sets of those for me to lay my boards on & that works great! That taller set of saw horses also works great as I don't have to bend over to do the work. And most of the time our Ginger comes down there & keeps me company while I work! What a good dog!!! I still haven't touched the many doors & their frames, or any of the windows, we still don't even have all the spindles for the stairway... so there is definitely much left to do!
But I had to share the pics of the doors put in the right spots!

Deb

Tucker Shares His Produce!

Here is some of the wonderful produce that Tucker grew in his garden - he brought this to our house so I made stuffed peppers & fried eggplant for dinner today! YUMMY! It was delicious! He usually has quite a garden, this year he says it is not so great, but we have enjoyed several meals out of it already!

Just a Quick Update...

Not even a pic to go with it but just updating that I did indeed go to the basement this afternoon & stain for 3 hours - in which time I finished staining ALL the trim boards!!! Hooray!!!

So now that leaves all 211 of those boards to varnish - twice I guess... and all 13 of the 6 panel doors & 3 sets of bi-fold doors for closets to stain & varnish. Plus all the windows... Oh dear... I try to feel good about each little accomplishment, but when I type it all out it seems quite a mountain left to climb!!! But, oh well, I will climb it - one step at a time!!!

Deb

We Went To Lincoln's 2nd Game as an NSU Wolf!

On Friday night after the Philip Homecoming football game (which we won - it was an awesome game!) Kieth & I left for Pierre where Cassidy was singing back-up in a band that was playing there. They are out of Sioux Falls & called 'Solera' & they are really a good band! We really enjoyed all their songs & it was so fun to watch Cass, as she was really in her element up there performing! It was great!
Then we spent the night there & hung out with Cass Sat. morning till mid afternoon when Kieth & I headed to Aberdeen to watch Lincoln's 2nd game of being on the actual playing team of the NSU Wolves. We got there in time to watch all the pre-game warm-ups, etc. It was a gorgeous night for a football game - NSU ended up losing 12-17 but it was a good game!
This pic is of the 104 or so NSU football players as they run out onto the field! (Lincoln is in there somewhere! The Redshirt players are in the blue jeans - there are about 45 of them - we counted about 8 true freshmen that are on the active roster - Lincoln being one of them).

Here comes the D Line out onto the field for warm-ups. That #91 is a senior D-End starter who is really good)
Just our little guy getting ready for the big game! Pretty exciting for us to be able to be there to watch all of this!
Here you can see the size of the guys he is up against out there! These 2 he is up against were 6'4" & 6'6" and 275# & 314#!!! So, you see? He really IS our 'little' guy compared to these guys!!!
After the game we went down on the field to talk to him & he graciously let me take a few more pics! Of course, I'm sure he knew that was coming after all the years I have been his Mom!!! He doesn't look bad in his new school colors does he?!?

We plan to go back up there for their Homecoming on Oct. 4th too. We don't know how much he will be playing by then as the starter who is injured will be back by then, but we will go watch anyway. He has played in several plays the past 2 weeks now & has done a fine job. It is amazing how much faster paced college ball is than high school ball. Even I could pick right up on that!!!

Oh, and on Thursday I got 81 more boards stained - worked on them for 6 & 1/2 hours that day!!! Then Friday I was busy with Homecoming activities all day so have not been back to them yet after that - hopefully tomorrow I can get back at it at some point. So there are only 60 left to stain - along with the doors and then all the varnishing, but I am taking each little step one at a time & being happy for each step!!!

Have a wonderful week!

Deb

Dormers Are Sided!!!

Front of the house with the dormers finished & the 6 pillars are up!!!
Another angle of the front of the house - things are coming together aren't they?!?
The north side of the house - the back - the dormer & the bay window are sided!!! The guys might get pie tomorrow for dinner.
Another sunset picture thru the pillars on the front porch... many a pretty picture will be taken here!
Here are some of the 1st trim boards that I started staining yesterday - I'm using Minwax Early American stain on the oak boards - they will be the same color as my kitchen cabinets, as that is what the cabinet makers are using on those. We have a few sets of metal shelving set up in the basement & I am staining the boards on saw horses & then putting them on the shelving to dry. It is working quite well! I have 69 boards stained so far (have had a couple of busy days with other things) but plan to be able to work at that most of the day tomorrow, so we'll see how far I get!!! I have way more left to do than I have done of course! Then all the varnishing... But it will be worth it in the end I am sure!
I picked up a whole new set of paint samples today too... I thought I had some ideas pretty firmed - but then I found a whole other set of colors to look at first!!! Oh dear!!! These are quite pretty though - I plan to go with pretty earthy tones most everywhere... we'll see what actually comes about when I am done!!!

Deb

Maybe it's a FairyTale?!?

Just thought I should share with you the fairytale-like creatures we have swimming around close to home here! Kieth & Tucker have noticed these 2 swans (Tucker has looked them up & says they are Tundra Swans) that have been making the dam up the creek their home lately! Yesterday I was along with Kieth, and had my camera (if you can imagine!!!) so I got some pictures of them peacefully swimming around in the dam - looks like they had some company in ducks too!

Deb

Closer to Being Done

Colby & I took a quick walk thru the house after we got home from church today as she had not been in it in several days & I hadn't seen the latest sheet rocking yet (it's been a very busy week around here!!!). So here is Colby (and Ginger! These animals are in for a rude awakening when they can no longer come into that house!) standing in the cool archway between the dining room and the family room is the next room over. Mel has already begun the taping in some areas & the family room you can see has been taped. Didn't he do a nice job designing & shaping the archway corners?!? I love them!
So then Colby took a pic of me standing in my kitchen right where the sink will be below the window. You can really see where all the outlets will be now & the canned lights in the ceiling, etc. in the all whiteness of the sheet rock!
Here Colby is upstairs & I am standing in the entryway taking the picture (these stairway walls still need the sheet rock as you can see)
Here she is at the bottom of the stairs & I am up where she was - this will be the view from up there (still have to switch those front doors though...)
This is the other archway - into the 'parlor' room right off of the entryway here at the front door.
The doors & trimwork was delivered on Friday - so tomorrow I plan to go to town & get the stain & varnish & get to work in the basement. Everyone tells me it is an overwhelming job... I know there is a lot to do but I am starting it with a good attitude, so I hope I get through it all!!!

Oh, & Lincoln got to play for about a quarter of the time defense was in the NSU football game yesterday! Kieth & I got to watch it on the computer up at the school as we were watching Colby play volleyball at the Philip tourney - which Philip won the championship, by the way!!! Lincoln said it was just awesome playing in that game! He was pumped! He got an assist on a tackle even. Kieth & I plan to go to Aberdeen next Sat. as they play at home again that evening. Should be fun!

Well, that's all for now! Talk to you later!

Deb

Lincoln's Been Put on the Active Roster!

As some of you have heard, Lincoln got a call from the defensive line coach on Sunday, telling him to report to the Monday morning workout with the traveling team! (A starting defensive end got hurt in the game on Sat.) At first that is all he knew - didn't really know what all that meant - then heard the injury was not too severe, so would probably not actually see the game field. Last night when he called, he said he thinks there is a good chance he will actually play some in the game this coming weekend! Tonight when he called he said he is 2nd string defensive end, 2nd string on punt receive & on the punt team & maybe the kick-off team also. All 2nd string - so that is pretty high up for a freshman! We're kinda proud of our little guy!
This photo is the one that is on the NSU website at the top of the roster. It's not crystal clear, but we think Lincoln is kind of in the middle, about the 3rd row up in the white jerseys. His actual football number is #57.
Just thought I'd keep everybody in the loop here! It's been rather exciting!

Deb

Family BBQ at Mom & Dad's

Mom & Dad hosted an early fall BBQ for the family at their house on Saturday afternoon & evening this weekend. Here us ladies are in the kitchen visiting while the guys were outside playing yard games.
Kieth & Aaron took on Lincoln & his college roommate - Korey - in some lawn golf - don't know for sure how it turned out, but they did have fun! A bunch of others played bocce ball.
Dad was the official pork chop griller - and oh my, does he do a fine job at that! Grills the best pork chops around if you want my opinion!!!!
Chancie had some fun following cute little Bradi around for part of the afternoon! What a little sweetheart!
Lincoln was home for the weekend which was great! He brought his roommate - Korey (also a freshman NSU football player) - home with him & they got to go to the football game on Friday & we got to spend quite a bit of time with them & it was great!

We got some more sheet rock on the walls in the house this week - much of the main floor has walls now - it sure is making it seem more homey & like a real house! Kind of hard to get pictures of this step though - although I have taken them! I will maybe post some later, but they are just all those white walls that are hard to get a good angle for!

Deb

We Now Have a Front Door!

Looky Here!!! We have a front door as of today!!! How exciting! I think we are going to switch the walk-thru garage door with the window in it with the solid door that is in the main door now.
Here is a close-up of the front door.
And here it is from the inside - it's amazing how much more homey it feels inside just by putting that door in!
This is a close-up of the walk thru door that we are pretty sure will will switch to the main door.
We also have garage walls on 3 sides after today. Every day is a little closer...

Deb

September Starts & it FEELS like FALL!

I just thought this was pretty as I walked into the new house this evening...
See? We are getting actual walls put inside the house today! This is in Colby's bedroom - the first of the real walls...
They are insulating like mad - I can hardly imagine how an insulated home will feel! We have a good fresh air supply flow going thru this house at all times ya know!!!
This is my button making process... I've been working on them all day today - I got the football ones done Friday, & today I did the High School & JH Volleyball & Cross Country... plus the Sports pages that I do also... I have quite a process while I am at it!
This is Colby's Sportspage - it didn't photograph quite as clearly as I would have liked, but you get the idea!

Deb