I just realized that I only did one blog post in 2018. It completely got away from me. Two kids in school full time at different locations for this year means keeping track of two sets of schedules, bus routes, and activities. Both big boys played soccer this fall. Ben went to day shift in October which prompted me to change my hours for this school year to work five shorter days instead of four normal days. This allows us to fully manage before and after school care with just a little help here and there from a grandparent. It was tricky both changing schedules at the same time, but we sort of figured it out. In December we both got new vehicles within a few days of each other. We'd been putting off replacing the Fusion for a while but finally decided to just do it. We needed something that fit our family of five a little better. As I was signing the paperwork for a minivan (I'm a real mom now) on December 27, we got a death sentence for the Acadia. It needed far more work than we were willing to put into it. So our car guy, neighbor, and small group member Tony found Ben an old 4Runner with a ton of miles on it. It's perfect for him and he loves it almost as much as I love my Sienna (something I never thought I would say). So 2018 went out with a bang, and we're off to an interesting start to 2019 as Ben broke his hand on January 2 and hasn't worked since. Super Dad has instead been home to manage sick days (Jameson) and snow days (all). Works out great for me during year-end, but we are still ready for health and some less angry weather! Stay safe and warm out there, hopefully warmer than the 55 degrees we woke up to yesterday. Furnace vent issue which Ben took care of. We're back in business...
The first major snowfall of the year has me thinking about how the old corn crib we inherited with our property could collapse any day. It's being held up by a row of trees to the east, and the holes in the roof grow larger with each storm. 2019 might be the year we have to say goodbye to it. Which leads me to post about Ben's best year, 2018, the year he got a new barn. He would say better than the year he gained a wife. Emil is a close second if not actually the best thing that's ever happened to him. Kids are negotiable, depending on the day. I'm basing this ordering solely on the content of his camera roll. I still know he loves me the best sometimes.
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| the leaning corn crib of Fillmore |
Back when we lived at our old house on Huizenga, Ben upgraded the 8x12 shed that came with it to a 12x16 barn. Our timing has always been a little 'off' and this was no different. We had a fall weekend camping trip scheduled at Triponds for the four (at the time) of us, but before we headed out Ben just HAD to get the cement poured for the barn floor. So instead of leisurely leaving for a weekend away on Friday afternoon, we had a house full of cops and family to help get the cement poured. I packed up by myself, and we finally arrived at Triponds around 7:00 PM after the flatwork was done. After we ate, unpacked, and explored a little, we tried to get the kids (2 and a half and almost 1) asleep. While Ben was laying with Colter, he out of the blue said "hey dad, buildin' a barn, huh?" like he was an adult making conversation with his best friend. So blasted cute...we still laugh about it.
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| September 2014 |
Well, dad went and built an even bigger barn this time. 30x40 with a 10 foot leanto off the back and a full loft. And we couldn't be more happy with how it turned out and the space it provides us to live more comfortably. After Ben built the dog kennels in the garage and started taking his work vehicle home every day, we quickly ran out of space. It was time to build a new barn to prepare for someday (read: any day) taking down the corn crib that was original to the Farmhouse. I'd like to point out that day will be really sad. It's a cool old thing and the romanticists in us considered rebuilding it rather than tearing it down, but it just wasn't feasible.
Anyways, Ben started drawing plans and getting quotes from builders back in January of 2018. We ended up going with B&E Builders based on a recommendation from my sister-in-law, Lena, and they broke ground in May. Before they could do that though, Ben had to take a tree down. This isn't anything new...he lives for this stuff. His brother-in-law Mike and my dad came over on a chilly Saturday in April and notched and knocked that thing down. As it was falling, Tim and Tiffany (my brother and sister-in-law) drove up to drop their kids off for the weekend so they could take off on a work trip. Have I said before that we have awesome timing with projects? Extra kids for the weekend of tree removal? So typical. Oh also, it was Spring Break and we had two extra K9s for the weekend. C R A Z Y.
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| Saro, Flynn and Emil |
I digress. Tree came down, got cleared away, and B&E came to excavate in mid-May. We ended up with a 30x50 sandbox for a few weeks until they started building, which we all loved quite honestly. The kids played out there a lot, and Ben and I may have enjoyed a cocktail or two in our bathing suits pretending we were at a real beach. Embracing the here and now is what we call that. By June they were rolling on the building process and I was stressing out about siding color. I didn't sleep for two nights and I'm not kidding. Jason at Overisel Lumber, my dad, my mom, Ben, his mom, his dad, and probably some others can attest to my indecision. We wanted a red barn but not TOO red and not brown...and ultimately went with Autumn Red and we are quite happy with it. I must say though that the vinyl sample didn't do it justice. When choosing a high price, not going to return it, too expensive to replace item, trust your gut and then take some NyQuil and get some sleep. You're welcome for the PSA.
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| photo cred: Ellis |
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| another view of the leaning wonder |
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| funny story, the gray shed next to the corn crib is the original 8x12 shed from the Huizenga house. it lived at Mike's house for a while but came back to us when he built his barn. it will be my she shed someday, supposedly. |
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| taking the neighbor kids for a ride! |
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| terrifying for their mom, I'm sure. |
While B&E was building the structure, Ben was busy designing and building the cupola, the crown jewel of this barn. It turned out awesome, and he got some street cred from the builders when they saw it. Ben talked me into getting on the roof one Friday night to help him install it. Once I was up there it was kind of fun I guess, but also super scary and I literally didn't move for about 10 minutes. The next Monday they came back and said, "Do you have some craftsman experience?" He still beams when I repeat this, many months later.
Roof went on, siding went on, we left for our annual Big Star vacation in July, and when we came home it was done! So much fun to empty out the garage and corn crib and start filling up the barn. It got pretty full pretty quick, but Ben has plans to organize this year. First priority was getting the garage cleaned out so we could park in there again. Second was getting valuable items out of the leaky corn crib. Ben also spent the better part of September and October digging trenches and running electrical to the barn, and it's officially got power. The barn still needs a few things, like a garage door opener, insulation, shelving, poly on the loft floor, a railing for the stairs, exterior lights, garage door hardware, a good 'finished' picture, etc. But I'm calling it a wrap for blog purposes.
