Toys and stuff

Hot wheels are definitely the most used toys in our house, both kids usually have one in their hand at all times. We have buckets, boxes, socks, hats, tubs, and purses stuffed with them.

Do not feel obligated to read this, just some thoughts on building a house.

We decided to build a "not so big" house. Our original plan was a lot roomier and when we turned the plans into the engineers we felt a little uneasy about it. We decided to go back to the drawing board and were able to cut out a lot of space and make the overall floorplan much more efficient. When we first started thinking about building a dream house I was sure that we were going to have a large laundry room, a spacious pantry and an awesome mudroom, you know, so that I could be so much more efficient at doing all my Mom duties. But its funny how your ideas change along the way. Those rooms were the first to go when we were creating a more efficient space, and to be honest, I didn't really want to pay to build the space, then pay to heat and cool the space, pay to maintain that space, and to have to always clean that space, so out they went. We ended up combining the laundry, mudroom and pantry into one room that shares walking space which allowed us to use more space in the rooms that we are actually going to be "living" in, like the kitchen, dining, and family rooms.

I will be honest, sometimes it sounds nice to have a giant house with giant rooms and giant storage, but is that really what I want? Do I really want to pay to build a giant house to store all of my junk that I spent so much money on that we worked so hard to earn? No. I would rather fill my house with children, memories, friends and family. Im not sure if this makes sense but when Im making a big decision I like to figure out exactly what I want if money, time and resources were not an issue, then I like to take into consideration what my needs are and try and fill all those needs with the minimum amount of those three resources. I usually end up with something totally different than I originally planned but somehow I always end up happier with the outcome. I mean doesn't it just feel good not to have everything you want, really. Since we have been married we have done this with every major purchase and decision and we always look back and are SO glad we went the conservative route. (I mean look at what car I drive, a white minivan, definitely not my dream car as far as looks go, but I would never want to drive anything else, and it has literally been a blessing to have that car.)

Oh my goodness, did that even make sense or do I just sound so materialistic and dumb?

I have really tried so hard to pay close attention to the spirit while making plans and decisions for this house. I pray every day that this house can be the perfect spot for us. When all is said and done I think our house is going to be just right for our little family and it is so exciting to see the progress.

We stopped by and saw them lifting the trusses with a crane, the kids thought it was cool. This first picture is the view from standing in the front doorway.

one more

We stopped at a local fruit stand and got some fresh pineapple and sugar cane, the best pineapple I have ever had. And I forgot to mention that John went surfing with his iphone in his pocket, oops, so we had to make a trip to the apple store while we were there to get him a new phone. Expensive surfing trip.

these two also

Hawaii 2011

Well we had a super fun trip to Hawaii. Let me just start out by saying that there were a few things that kind of put a damper on things, I was super sick, Vera was super sick, and just when we were feeling better John started getting sick. Because I was sick my ears never adjusted from the plane trip and I felt like I was under water the whole time, lame. With that said, we really enjoyed it. (no more complaining)

We spent a couple of days on the North Shore on Waimea Bay, the boys surfed and boogie boarded, we played in the water, dug in the sand, and soaked up the sun. We really had perfect weather the whole time, it only rained the last day we were there. We found tons of fun local places to eat that were sooo yummy. We went to the night show at the PCC, the fire dancers were way cool. John went golfing and ended up loosing a bunch of balls. I went shopping. We really didn't plan much to do and didn't want to have any expectations, it worked out great.

Here is our week in pictures. check out the cool night shot from our hotel balcony, Rose and Josh on a water bike, the golf course and Vera asleep on the beach.

Also we were super lucky to have John's parents watch Wes and Mae, we left them with fevers and colds and came back and they were feeling better. They loved having time at Grandpa and Grandma's.

new pics

Im afraid to say that a lot of my photos lately are just iphone photos, But that is better than nothing right?

Vera will be four months next week! She just had a major growth spurt and just seems so big! she just about touches all four edges of her bassinet when she is sleeping. I love her.

Framing and Passive Solar Heating

When we were looking for a lot I was pretty insistent on finding a spot with a great southern exposure. It was seriously a challenge to find something in our budget that was the size we wanted, in the school boundaries we wanted, and have the exposure we wanted. We had quite a few stressful months of looking and even when we were signing the offer I was not convinced but now I am so glad we will be where we are!

I really wanted to get a southern exposure to maximize the amount of winter sun to warm the house and minimize the summer sun, yet let a lot of light in so that we can keep lights off during the day. I studied passive solar heating in school a little bit and knew I wanted to try and use the ideas for our house. The whole back of our house faces south and is full of windows and a set of french doors. The eaves on the southern side are extended to keep out the summer heat but will be just the right length to let the lower winter sun in and warm the main rooms of the house. We will also plant well placed trees around the house to take advantage of the shade in the warmer months. Hopefully we will be able to cut down on our energy bills and let nature heat our house.