Getting Close! Updates As We Count Down...

I have officially been out of school for one week, and I have spent almost every minute of that time working on the house! I was hoping to have a break from working, but Matt had the week off and we decided to get some more stuff done!

We have officially moved the washer and dryer upstairs to the mudroom. We didn't realize how small they were, so we are planning on buying a shelf to put between the washer and dryer to hold dirty socks and wash rags and stuff. We still have to buy a gas hose for the dryer. It boggles my mind how you pay extra for a gas dryer and it doesn't even come with a freaking hose! Duh!

The last two weeks of my life have been devoted to tile. Ah. I walked into the bathroom at the Cheesecake Factory on Thursday night and the first thing I noticed was the grout on the tile floor. Kill me! I have been staring at tile and grout for too long! Thank heavens it is finally done. You really have no idea how much work tile is until you do it yourself. It isn't just putting the tile on. We first had to paint a layer of Aqua-guard on the walls. Then we had to lay out the plan for the tile. If you just go for it, stuff doesn't lay as nicely, and you have to make tricky cuts. Then you have to put mortar on the wall and on the tile, cutting the pieces as you go, using spacers to make sure they are the right distance apart. You also need to check that they are all laying flat, you don't want any sticking out farther than others. And on the walls, the tile really moves all over the place. Matt had a way hard time with the diagonal tiles. Then the tile had to set up before we could clean it. After cleaning, we (I) grouted all the tile. Then I cleaned again and re-grouted any spots that weren't done well enough. Then we had to clean again before we (I) could seal the grout. Then we cleaned again! I told Matt that I am not going to clean any tile for at least a month...

All in all, it was worth it! It looks so beautiful and is exactly what we wanted! I am so proud of all of Matt's hard work and great ideas. The designs are all his!

Guest bathroom...

Master bath... There are a ton of different views because it is hard to really see how awesome it looks in pictures...

The outside of the house has drastically changed in the past week! We got the painter over to paint the siding! I love the color! The paint makes a huge difference! It really is feeling more finished now that it is painted.

We also had the excavator over to help us build our rock retaining wall and move some dirt around for us. We need the retaining wall up against the porch so that we don't need a railing. Code says the ground must be no more than 30 inches below the porch so you don't need a railing. I don't want to close off the big porch!

We had to build up the dirt on the back of the house to prevent flooding in the spring. This is just the beginning of leveling off the lot, and definitely the beginning of landscaping.

We only used about half of the dirt we have, so we still have some left for leveling the lot.

Finally the interior of the garage is painted! Matt has already put in all the finish electrical in here, so we have all our outlets and lights in! We are all ready for a garage door now!

Claire's Dance Recital becomes a Fischer Reunion

A week ago, Claire had her annual dance recital! This ended up being a family gathering! Lance, Kendra and their two little ones, Diet and Myrna, and Kamie and her girls all came over to the house before the recital for a BBQ and some family time.  This gave me an excuse to watch all the kids play and take some pictures.

Lance and Reagan having some fun time. Her face is classic! Reagan is a thrill seeker! Lance is used to throwing tiny Kailee up and Reagan was a little different...

!

Reagan torturing Kailee

I couldn't get enough of her pink dress and pigtails... that is why you have girls!!!

Not sure what they are all looking at, but apparently it was interesting!

Isn't she soooo cute!?

Baby Clayton- tiny as ever!

Reagan is coming!

 Can you even see the baby or are we dwarfing him?

Harrison and Reagan having a cousins "moment"

Matt and Harrison on the way to the recital

Matt fed Kailee treats during most of the recital. We were laughing so hard! You can see Reagan in the background waiting her turn for some treats!

I can't believe Claire is growing up so fast! Isn't she gorgeous in her costume and makeup?

Reagan has to get Matt for all the times he has gotten her...

Matt taught Harrison a new trick on our way to Casper's after the recital...

The Fischer family learn their love of ice cream from Diet. Whenever he is in Cache valley, he has to stop by Casper's. For those who don't know, Casper's is the company that makes Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches.

Harrison was soooo sad when his ice cream fell off his cone!

Kailee was eating ice cream wherever she could get it! She was definitely going to be super wired in the car on the way home!

I think Matt's face is better than hers! He is happy playing with his niece!

A Busy Week!

Matt and I were hoping we'd be farther along by now, but, alas, things are still coming along. Our friend Blake got the soffit and fascia finished last week and I love having the porch finished! We put in the rest of the lights and are working on finishing up the rock. Hopefully tomorrow we will have all the rock grouted, cleaned, and sealed!

The gas company FINALLY came out and connected our gas!

Blake finished the siding too (he is awesome). Now we can call Dan to come over to paint the outside of the house. It will really start looking finished when it is painted!

Now that the electrical is all tied up, the power company needs to come over and officially connect the power to the house. We have been running on temporary power since January.

Doesn't it look great! Not! I can't wait until this hideous thing is gone!

BEST NEWS OF THE WEEK! THE CABINETS WERE INSTALLED! Honestly the pictures do not do justice to the cabinets. I am so glad we went through Timber Wolf (Matt works for the owner Jon Call sometimes). Everything is such high quality. The detail is incredible. I'll have to take some close up pictures. The pictures don't really do justice to the color either. The flash on my camera made them look more yellow than they really are. You'll have to just come over for the full effect!

Kitchen cabinets. We love them!

Desk. Such a great decision. We were originally going to put in a railing, and then thought about a half bookshelf, and finally landed on the desk. Thank you Todd for the great idea.

Guest bathroom.

Master bath.

Mudroom. The washer and dryer will go below the cabinets.

As you can see, it's been a very good week for us.

*Update! Our power has now been connected! Almost everything works... All the outlets are wired right, and so are all the lights, except for the lights in the bedrooms. For some reason, there is a weird problem tripping the power in that circuit. Hopefully Matt can get it figured out soon. Pictures to come!

The Hardest Part

I just sat through our last faculty meeting for the year, and had a lot of thoughts racing through my mind about this job. About what I come to work to do every day. To everyone who wants to be a teacher, and to everyone who has kids, please read:

The hardest part about being a teacher is that I can never do enough. No matter what I do, I don't prepare all my kids for every situation they face in life. I will never teach them everything they need to know. I will never help them feel safe every day, and I will never make sure they are happy every day. I will never teach them to always make good choices. My job is literally never done. Every night I think about what I could have done better that day. How I could have handled the situation better. How I could have taught the lesson better. How I could have been better. The day's regret is often a long list. Even in the summer, when I don't have to work every day, I think all day about what I'm going to do for my kids next year that I didn't do last year. How am I going to be more efficient so I can teach more, and the kids can learn more. But we are literally never done. Ever.

My principal mentioned that he sees miracles performed every day in our classrooms. I never feel that way. No teacher ever feels like they performed a miracle. They sigh and think, "Wow, we just made it through something tough. But did I do everything right? What will I do better next time?" So please, if you are thinking about becoming a teacher, think about all this. This isn't a job. It is really my life. I dream about my class often. And to all the parents with kids in school, please tell your kids' teachers about those miracles that they perform, because they will never recognize them. Every time they look at your child, they see all the things they could have done better.

Just so you know.