Friday, March 17, 2006

Inquiring minds want to know...

Where have we been, and what have we been up to, and where in the world has the time gone? Well folks, the last couple months have been a whirlwind, and looking back, I can't believe it's been that long since we did an official update! We've been sending some random e-mails with pics, but time spent at the house has been time away from blogging our progress. So here's the scoop...The plan is to have the house ready for final inspection by April 1st, and it's my understanding the inspectors can take up to two weeks to complete that process. We hope! So God willing, and no major setbacks, every last one of you can show up the third weekend in April to move us! Hehehehe.....good try, eh? Andy doesn't know it, but we're giving away prizes to the first three volunteers. You get your pick from a blue or red Bronco, or a nice, rusty, cream colored VW bug. Now how could you all not be scrambling to the moving truck with an offer like that!?!
One could only wish........let's take a quick tour get up to date on how things are going!

A view from the back, we love this deck!

Here's another view, now stroll around to the front........

The columns are up, and the step work completed, couldn't be happier with the stonework!

And here's a glimpse of the kitchen, granite is on, "Papaya" is on the walls and the cabinets and hardwood floors are in!! Just need to trim out around the cabinets and add fixtures galore!


One brave dude huh? Some more "papaya" action on the walls. There's a drastic difference in colors based on the light at the moment. You can also see some the trim work being completed.



Who's that man in my bathroom???

And here's ratdawgbilly's parking pad, I think he forgot to pay the concrete folks, we'll send him the bill!!

James has been working day and night, literally, trying to keep things on schedule for the countdown! Another strange man in my bathroom!

But this is what it all boils down to....

With all the excitement going on, can't lose touch with the things that really matter. Health, happiness, family and friends. What a bittersweet week, Sarah Bear turned one this week, a day before Queen Maddy would have turned four. Try not to forget how good you have it. Keep these thoughts in your heart and prayers.......For little Sarah's continued health and growth; the Bates Family to be blessed with the peace and good fortune they've been praying for; for Little Sawyer, Ash and Jason to find safety and peace of mind as they prepare for their next trip to Duke; for Cindy and Jon to enjoy a safe delivery as we welcome LBW into our family; for Clay, Sherri and the Twins to shake that bug and enjoy some healthy time together; for Cal and Sandon's, and Linda's new home to go as well as ours has, and thank the good Lord B.O.B. turned 60!!

Keep an eye out, I'll soon be begging for contributions in memory of Queen Maddy for the Duke Rainbow Heroes Walk coming up in May. A fundraising and memorial opportunity to remember the transplant kids who have fought and are fighting for their lives at Duke!

We love you all!!

Kim & Andy

posted by Kim & Andy @ 10:31 PM 1 comments

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

It's All Coming Together....

You saw it here, a sneak preview of the Kreem Farmhouse! The siding folks began on Tuesday, and should be finishing up today. So here's a glimpse at what things are going to be looking like. The masons have finished up on the inside of the house, and will probably be working on the porch columns and front steps soon!
 And a look at the garage side... this side is almost finished!
 And this is the master bedroom side, dang near finished over here too!
 And speaking of the masons, is this way cool or what? They've got the chimney finished, inside and out!
 A closer view of the outside, we noticed the rocks were getting smaller as the chimney went up. Mr Hill said they were having a hard time getting the bigger stones to stick so high up. Watching these guys at work, it's like putting together one big puzzle. They try putting several pieces up, till they find the one that fits the spot they are working on. And if they don't have one that fits, they beat it with the hammer, break it up, and pretty much make a piece to fit! Hmmm....... is that cheating??
 A view of the fireplace from the inside. You can see the parts of the mortar that are still wet! That's not the mantel above the fireplace, it's a board that will be used for mounting the mantel. Andy and Dad have found a really nice cedar log, that Andy will be cutting and hand finishing to be mounted as the mantel. I'm really excited to see it when he's finished, I know it will be beautiful, not to mention how special it will be that he crafted it himself! This man I married, never ceases to amaze me!!
 Last but not least, this is the front to the bar that will separate the kitchen and the Great Room. Okay, I'll give it up to "Fat Daddy". We were going to have a paneled bar face, or sheetrock, like most folks usually do. But Dad came up with the idea to stone veneer the bar face as well. We had to play it down, like we were toying with the idea, you know, so his big shiney head wouldn't swell. But we thought it was a pretty cool idea from the start. Turned out pretty nice, huh?
Well, they should be finishing up the siding today, and hopefully the masons will be able to complete their work on the porch soon too. The insulation will be going in over the next two days, the wiring for the security system is in, plumbing and electrical inspections done, and I think the HVAC inspection is completed, or will be completed soon. That means that there's a good chance the next pictures you will see, just might be of real walls going up inside! And then the struggle to decide on paint colors begins!!! Fun, Fun, Fun!! We'll keep you posted!

posted by Kim & Andy @ 9:50 AM 3 comments

Sunday, January 15, 2006

We're Rockin & Rolling!

Well, it's been quite some time since we've "blogged". And while our blogging has slowed down, work on the house hasn't slowed down a bit. We haven't blogged as frequently because most of things going on inside aren't too easy to show you. But to give everyone their fair share of credit, the plumber, the electrician, and the HVAC folks have been hard at work, and I think they're all shooting for their inspections on Tuesday? Anyway, if not then, really soon! Those guys have been sooo patient with us too, moving things from here to there, and offering their experience and expertise on things that might work better than others. It really is a team effort, and it's coming along nicely! So here we go, notice anything different about the front of this house?? Aha....there's stone on them there walls! Yes, the Mason is stoning away, matter of fact, he's stoned the house, unstoned the house, and this is his second stone job. (No puns intended!) Long story, but there was a little mix up in the color of stone we picked and the color of stone that was delivered. To make a long story short, it all worked out, and we now in fact, have the stone we picked. The porch will have four sets of columns, you can see the beginnings of those in this picture.
 This a close up view of the stonework. Nice job, ehh? Every craftsman that works on this house never ceases to amaze me. This guy sticks the stone to the house with mortar, then takes an icing bag kinda thingy, squeezes the mortar in big globs in the middle, then lets it dry a bit. Brushes the big pieces off with a steel brush, then smooths out the seams, kinda like when you spit on your finger to smooth out caulking. Okay, I'm sure that's not the most technical description of how it all works, but you get the picture!!
 Here's a view from the backside, I don't even want to think about those guys up on that ladder sticking stone to the chimney! They've covered the chimney with some kind of wire mesh stuff that makes the mortar stick to it. Again, don't let me overwhelm you with technical terms!
 Here's a glimpse of the stone going on the bottom of the chimney. They haven't put the mortar in the cracks yet, but there's such a glare on the picture, you didn't even miss it, did you?
 Here's a look at the fireplace from the inside. They've got the gas fireplace insert in there. That's the metal lap going up for the stonework too. There's still more stuff to put up, but they're working on other areas right now. See that pipe going up a little above the gas fireplace insert? That's the flue for Andy's woodstove that will be in the basement. Now talk about a challenge, many minds had to meet to figure that setup out. James, our foreman, as usual, let us know it was all worked out! Whew! Hey, by the way, can you buh-lieeeeeeeeeeeeve he and Katie have the nerve to be planning a trip somewhere very warm sometime soon?? Maybe it will snow them in here till this house gets finished.........hehehehe. Well, gotta admit, they've earned any vacation they've got coming!!
 And finally, here's what all the rolling is about. The rough grading on this side of the house is well under way. They did a really nice job, again, all those heads going together, figuring out drainage, driveway swing, all the stuff I'd never think of, but really matters. I think my most memorable contribution has been, "I don't want those ugly septic things sticking up in my backyard!" I think they've worked that out too though. Call me paranoid, but I think they tell me anything so I'll go away and let them get their work done!! Now Andy, he's a different story............hehehehe........let's just say he's much more DILIGENT, than myself!
Hopefully, once these inspections get completed, we'll be posting some sheetrock going up, the siding should go on in the next week, and there will be more progress on the stonework very soon. Thanks for hanging in there with us!


posted by Kim & Andy @ 11:45 PM 3 comments

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Christmas Wishes....

Andy is running errands, and I have the Blog allll to myself.............so let me ramble for a bit.............Apache is taking on the roll of Christmas Elf in our house this year. Like any good elf, she's full of energy and mischief. Yesterday's adventures led to Jordy's doghouse crammed full of a tree limb, (bigger than both dogs and the house), and then there was the garden hose that ummm........errrrr.........let's say... got broken? I'm thinking she was trying to water the yard, and the dang thing snapped, that's right, snapped right in half. Don't ya hate when that happens?? Back to her elfly duties, she's granted us three wishes this year. At first thought, I might consider wishing for: Walmart to be empty this morning, the Credit Union money machine to be working, or the 60+ year old man in front of me at the grocery store not to try self checkout for the first time with his cart FULL of groceries. But that would be pretty selfish of me, and probably serve no one but myself. So my Christmas wishes will go a little deeper than me this year....
Wish 1... Plant a seed and make everyday the day to make somebody's day... you might not think it's much, but depending on what that person is going through, your act might mean more than you think. How many times have you thought about doing something, then thought not, because no one would probably notice. Case in point......a lot of you know that I make blankets for the children in the PICU, nothing major, actually quite simple. I thought it would be a nice way to add some warmth to such a cold environment. I've made in excess of 150 blankets in the last 6 months, and I was getting kind of tired of making blankets about 2 months ago, and thought I'd stop for a while, like anybody would really notice. It was at that time, less than a week after I had taken a blanket reprieve, that more than one family sought me out to thank me for their blanket, telling me how much it meant to them. Not only that, but two children came back to the hospital with blankets I had made them, a couple of my very first. But most touching, as Baby Sarah fought for her life, spending weeks on a heart lung machine, her mama tells me her blanket is at home, her daddy sleeps with it, so he can be close to her. Sarah was the first baby I ever made a blanket for. Needless to say, I quickly got my butt back in gear, making Sarah a rerun blanket, one for hospital, so Daddy could keep the other! Sarah is celebrating Christmas at home with her family this year, with lots of Nurse Kim blankets! So I made a difference, I made somebody's day, but more importantly, I planted a seed. Another nurse organized a group of women who made over 50 blankets with stuffed animals for our patients, and my step-mom Sandra, she makes blankets for the PICU now too. Not a child in the PICU will go uncovered, we ALWAYS have blankets now!! So my wish for you all....Plant a seed, and make somebody's day.
Wish 2..........Peace and Happiness Within..........I know, cheesy sounding, but do you have any idea how hard that is for some people. Be grateful you woke up, and you have one more day to make things right. There are lots of folks out there who never got today, don't be so grumpy and grouchy that you did! Quit looking at life as an obstacle, but face it as a challenge. And for Heaven's sake, fight your way to the top, but PUH-LEASE make sure you don't leave your footprints on someone else's back on your way up! Making yourself look good doesn't mean you have to make other folks look bad. Lord knows most of us don't need any help in that department. Don't depend on other folks to make you happy, consider them a supplement, not an essential part of your diet! That way the wall doesn't fall when one brick cracks, catch my drift here?
Wish 3..........A Cure.............Childhood Leukemia, Complex Congenital Heart Disease...........we've come a long way baby, but we haven't gone far enough. We offer hope, but we have no promises for a cure in most of these kids. The only way we'll every get anywhere is MONEY, and LOTS of it. Money founds research, research finds cures. My good friend Richelle, Queen Maddy's Mama, always points out, how many times do you see commercials, slogans, and ads promoting breast cancer, prostate cancer, AIDS research. Tell me, when's the last time you saw an ad promoting the research of childhood leukemias and complex congenital heart disease??? We cure a handful, but even more are dying or fighting for a chance to live. I know it's too late for Christmas, but do me a favor.....
New Year's resolution, or next year's Christmas Gift.........Make a monetary gift to fund children's research...............Duke, St Judes, wherever your heart takes you, give till it hurts. Trust me, it will never hurt like the pain of seeing a child die. If you're not sure where to give, e-mail me, I have several choices for you. Matter of fact, I'll be hitting all of you up soon as we participate in the Rainbow of Heroe's walk in honor of Queen Maddy, this coming May!
So without a doubt, I know my wishes will come true, because they are about good things, happening to good people..............not about me, not about you.............it's all about us, doing the right thing for the right reasons!!
Merry Christmas to all have cared enough to visit and follow us on this journey, your love and friendship mean more than words can say!!
To keep you in suspense no longer, here's what's going on with the Kreem Farm this Christmas.....
Front porch is on, steps built, we just need some backfilling and stone work to start looking like a real house!
 Lots of work done on the back side. Full chimney now, roof to the future sunroom (present grilling area) is on, and you can see the roofing is complete. Just waiting for those trapezoid windows to have the back all framed in!
 Another view of the covered area of the deck.
 Exciting!! Mr Hill is working with another house and was able to take Andy so we could take a look at the stone we will be using. Our fireplace will be same stone as you see here. We like!!
 It's not quite a white Christmas at the Kreem farm, but the pond is iced over with a very thin sheet of ice. You get a good idea of what things will be looking like from back there. We look forward to all the excitement and blessings the New Year will bring!!

posted by Kim & Andy @ 1:37 PM 3 comments

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Roofing Rafters Going Up...

As you can see, the rafters are going up, and we're getting closer to drying this house in! The doors have arrived, and it sounds like, if we're lucky, the doors and windows will be going in this week. Woohoo!!
 A view from the backside...just a little more deck flooring to go........all rafters are in, the middle will be the vaulted area.
 Looking into the Great room, you can see the stairway to the third level. The doorway to the left is half of the foyer, the board is in the way to see the rest. The doorway to the right of the board, is the laundry room.
 Looking from the deck into the breakfast nook, through the kitchen. The little door on the left of the screen in the kitchen is the pantry door. The dining room will be across the hall from the kitchen. The haven't cut those door openings yet. We're still playing with where we need things to go. That's part of the loft above the kitchen.
 Entering the loft, this is a view across the side of the loft. The little area on the left jutting out is my little "sitting area", overlooking the Great room and fireplace. It's located above the kitchen.
 Here's a view out of that big window on the front of the house, inside the loft. We didn't really have the house originally angled this way, but our builder suggested we take this angle. What a good suggestion, much better view!
 And this picture is from my "sitting area". There will be big trapezoid windows flanking the fireplace chimney above the two doors. What a great place to watch Andy reeling in the "big one" from the pond!!

posted by Kim & Andy @ 8:18 PM 3 comments

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Day One of Decking and Porch Building

Before we can move on to the third level, or "Bonus Room", they had to get the front porch structure built, since that room will extend over the front porch. So here's a peak at the porch. Those four columns in the front, the porch stairs, as well as any other gray that you see will eventually be stone. The four porch columns will be thick stone half columns from the bottom up, then the top half will be squared off white beams.
 Just a side view of that front porch. In order to tie it all together, the gray that you see around the garage will also be stone veneer.
 Again to move on to the third level, we had to have the back decking for roof support. The back decking on the left side of this picture will support the roof structure for the future sunroom.
 So far, they've started on the sides of the deck. They've framed out the middle, but I'm not sure if they will be holding out on finishing the middle until the masons do their part of the fireplace. I guess when we check it out on Friday, we'll be finding out!!
On a very serious note, we're looking at the possibility of some cold, wet weather soon. We need a team effort in wishing for dry days and night time showers so we can get this roof up!!

posted by Kim & Andy @ 9:44 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Fast & Furious Framers

Today is Monday, and this is what we saw as we pulled up to the house. They have almost completely finished the main level, inside and out. I know these rough and tough framer guys probably think I'm a sap, but I get all choked up everytime we come out here and I see how much they've accomplished. Most of you know how long this house has been in our heads and hearts, so to see it coming up before our eyes is beyond words. We're really lucky and grateful for all the wonderful people who've been working on this house! Oh yeah, and you see those guys up there, they're walking around and working on those skinny beams like they are walking on the ground. It's a trip. I asked one guy if he's ever fallen. He nonchalantly says, "Yeah, and it ain't fun, but it's a lot better to fall into the house, than out of the house". I guess that's good advice considering he was balanced about 20 feet off of the ground at the time!
 And here are my two heros. James has done a great job of keeping us up to date, offering his skill, expertise and advice as we go, making all the good things even better. And Andy is so diligent and patient in picking up on things we need to adjust, finding the best quality products at the best price, and it has really made a difference. So one of us brings all that to the table, and the other..........well, ummmm.......keeps a positive attitude on rainy days, not to mention blogging skills!
 At this point, it's really hard to tell what you're looking at unless you've seen the floorplans. So we've included a few pictures here so you can at least so how much work these guys have done. From this view, you would be standing at one of the back doors in front of the breakfast nook, looking across the Great Room. Beyond the Great Room is our bedroom, closets and bathroom, over to the left. All those beams in the middle of the room are just for support right now, they'll be gone soon.
 And this view is as you walk into the Great Room from the Foyer. The two big rectangular holes are where the doors leading out onto the deck will be. The hole in the middle will be the stone fireplace. This room will be vaulted and the fireplace will go up to the ceiling. You'll be able to better appreciate that feature when the masons finish doing their magic.
 And how considerate are these guys? You saw the picture of the front of the house. The workers are entering on that gangplank that Andy and James were standing on. Well, last Thursday, it only took James about 2 minutes to figure out that Kim was not walking the plank! It was about this time last year that I took the swan dive off of our front porch, for which I am still suffering. When we arrived today, James and Mr Bob (framer boss), had made sure the basement stairs were in so I could go up and check things out. Good guys, aren't they?!
 We had to wrap it all up with this picture. Andy was standing in one of the back doors on the main level as he took this pic. What a beautiful view below. Today they poured the footings for the deck, and plan on working on the deck this week. By this summer, we hope all of you will be sharing this view with us as a pig smokes himself silly on the smoker below. We can't wait to host our family and friends who have been so supportive and helpful on this journey.
Hopefully, by the end of this week, or the beginning of next week, we'll be posting views of the bonus room with the roofing complete. We'll just have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in store for us!

posted by Kim & Andy @ 1:19 AM 1 comments