One of the next steps after cutting down the trees and cleaning up the mess from the not-so- happy carport area was to dig out the area where the footings (concrete slab that supports the foundation) were going to be.
These are my two tools that I used to tie the rebar in the below picture down so that our house would not crack. The gatorade was just a perk.
Below is my friend, "Rebar. Say hi, Rebar." Each corner where the two pieces of rebar meet had to be tied with a wire "bread tie." The tool above made it go quicker. 
This is the crew that helped us. The one in her gymnastics outfit is really helpful.
This is one of the two concrete trucks that have been hanging out at my house. The first one poured the concrete for the footings. The other poured the concrete for the garage floor.
This is a picture of the supervisor overseeing the laborer. "I think he is a little off. I am not happy with his performance."
This is most everything framed in. Since this picture, I have a garage door frame and a closet for the garage which is the wall farthest away in this pic .
Earlier in the year my husband and I took some time to rejuvenate ourselves and our marriage. Now the thing is, I imagine that when most couples get together they start reflecting on how busy their lives are and how they can take it easier. . .how to make their lives less chaotic. My Prince Charming and I are a little different . . .when we get together we start making plans to stir up things. . . to shake things up a little!!I really don't know how we started talking about it other than our carport needed to be torn down because it was rotting. Most of you know my sob story. We apparently bought it when it was rotten. . . smart move, huh? :) Anyway, it needed a little TLC. We had to do something so we decided to do a big something!! We decided to add on to our home. We love our home but we wanted to get a little more space.
Even as I type, I wrestle with the want/need side of things. I think of our church going to make "sheds/houses" for the people in Guatemala in which they were sooo thankful. Anyway, that will have to be another blog post. Obviously by our American standards we needed more space.
My closet is really squishy and I don't like my clothes squished. Also, I have posted before how I do not like my washed and dryer in our main bathroom. It bothered me. Every time I tried to relax in the tub I was haunted by the washer and dryer. They were crying out "feed me, feed me." So I am getting a master bathroom that just cries out, "clean me, clean me." :)
We are creating 600 square feet of living space and a two car garage. Most of the framing is finished now and we are waiting on trusses. Yes, we are doing most of the work ourselves. . .ie Prince Charming is sweating through about 2 loads of laundry a day!!! YUK! But it is cheaper than hiring out. We do have some incredible friends to pay tribute to though.
Rusty - special thanks for cutting down the trees and not letting the three trees fall on my house
Stan - part of the Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre
Ken- part of the Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre
Brent- part of the Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre
Caleb P.- helped with laying electrical line and covering up the hole, poured concrete and helped smooth it for the footings
Roy - FRAMING EXTRAORDINAIRE - he helped Prince Charming finish the footings, floor the house and frame the first two major walls. They began work as soon as they got up and worked until it was so dark they couldn't work anymore
Mikki aka GB - helped raise the walls and move about 500 cinder blocks to the correct area!! and did countless hours of jaw aerobics with me while they were visiting; it was awesome!
Marvin - our neighbor; helped lay the foundation with cinder blocks and concrete; gave Prince a good start to understand how to do it
Glenna - our neighbor; she saw us in a bind when we were raising one of the garage walls and came to help hold it up while we got ourselves together. . .not a fun experience
Tim - lots of phone consultation for Prince Charming and some very nifty tools
Prince Charming, you are amazing. Can we have a talk about this time next year on how to make our lives less chaotic?!! :) I have loved all of this experience and it is a really neat family project. Who needs Home Depot's once a month family building projects. You can get a family building project every day of the week here!! More updates to come soon. Gotta work!!
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