Snow!

 The last few days we received a huge amount of snow. 17" is what we measured by the end of it all. The kids loved every minute of it and I loved how beautiful it made everything. I could have done without all the shoveling but I'll take it. 

I shoveled the deck the afternoon when it started. 

 And then had to shovel again the next morning. 

 Sean has been begging for us to be able to dye his hair blue. I'm not sure why he wants to dye it blue but he really really wants to. Grandam bought some of the spray hair color on clearance after Halloween and since the kids didn't have school on Friday she tried it on their hair. They were out of blue color so she got orange and pink instead. The kids hair is so dark it didn't show up in their hair. So they decided to use it to paint the snow. 

 I'm out of shape but did my best to pull them down the driveway on the sled. Maybe next year we'll be prepared and have a 4-wheeler or something that can do a better job of pulling them. It will also help us clear out he driveway. Ethan and I were able to make it out of the driveway but we decided if anyone else wanted to get to us to better have it plowed. Since our focus has been on the basement and people told us we didn't get much snow out here we were not prepared for this much snow. We were able to get a company to come out and clear it out for us. 

 We had some visitors enjoy our shelter and feed after the snow ended. 

 When it started. 

 When we woke up the next morning. 

 By mid-day. 

 Late afternoon, big flakes and fun.

 The poor chickens even had to be dug out. The snow was up above the bottom of the door. 

House Progress

We continue to plug along on the basement finish project. Ethan has had to redo every part of the plumbing in the house so we could get the pipes moved up into the joists and not have soffits that lower the ceiling clearance. The final part of the plumbing meant redoing the laundry room.

 We had an extra window from our bathroom remodel project so we decided to add a window to the space. The natural light flows into the hallway and is a nice addition to the space. 

 Once we hooked the washer back up we did one load of laundry and it stopped working. We researched what could be wrong and discovered there is a lint trap that is supposed to be emptied regularly. Well, obviously the previous owners were as oblivious as us because when we opened the trap it was the most disgusting thing ever! We did find about $8.00 in change however. 

 After cleaning out the trap we tried another load of laundry but it still didn't work. We ordered a new motor pump which worked for two loads before the computer or timer went out of it. After having to go the laundry mat 3 times I decided it was time to just junk the old machine and get a new one. I stressed for a week over what kind to get and finally just went to the store. When the salesman showed me a model that had an easy to access door for the lint trap I was sold. We put the laundry room back together for now as neither Ethan or I like to do sheet rock work. We'll have it done at the same time as the basement. But it works great for now and the storage is wonderful. I can't wait until we have the full storage cabinets in there. 

 Other items include the beauty of the radiant flooring system. It's a work of art on our wall. 

 Ethan and his dad spent a day wiring all the lights in the basement. We decided on recessed lights in every room and may have got a little over zealous with the number but I think we will love it when finished. Ethan also is finishing up the wiring, plumbing for the bathrooms and starting to insulate. I know there is a lot of work still to do but we are getting so close!

New Family Member

Sean had a good time setting up the cage for his lizard. After a week of waiting the pet stores finally got in some leopard geckos. 

 Meet Lizzy the Lizard. We aren't sure if it's a he or she yet but it's a cute little thing and he's even grown on me. The part I don't like is that we also have "pet" crickets to feed to Lizzy. I wish he was a vegetarian instead. 

 Sean is so happy and enjoys his new friend.