Construction Mommy

This summer was awesome!  Not traditional at all for Adventure Mommy and family, but awesome nonetheless.

Last year, the Yes Man and I talked about the possibility of selling our house and building new.  On the lot right next door to us.  Yes, 10 feet to the East of our current home.  Hmmmm.

We spoke with James, who is my uncle and also a top realtor with Remax.  We let it simmer for a few months - until February of this year.  Another call to James and the decision to sell (and build) was underway.

What a plan!  James has this whole team of pros that helped us - from staging, colour palette, professional and spectacular photography etc... and James himself.  He brought over props - a bench, Muskoka chairs for the back deck, a beautiful orchid for the master bath...just touches that took our house over the top.  Heck! He even made fresh fruit skewers for our Open House.

So it was basically a marathon from February until the listing hit the MLS on May 13.  Some may consider that an unlucky number, but for me, it has always been good luck.  And it was! 13 days later we had sold our house (see, 13 is lucky!!)

During all this selling the house business, we had also started building our new house.  Onto the next adventure!  I knew that I was going to be a key part in building the house as the Yes Man has that full time job thingy.

So to date, we haven't had much time away up north, or done tons of traditional summer vacation stuff, but we are making other memories.  I'm on site full time and loving it.  This house, our house is more special to me because I've been part of every facet of building it.  Every decision.  Finding solutions to things that I didn't know that much about but somehow figured it out.  Every laugh on site. Every wire connected to our absolutely fantastic piece of art electrical panel (seriously, you have to see it it's amazing!)  It's me and the A+ crews that we have been very fortunate to have come onto site and into our lives.

Heck, I even placed the final brick (I think it was brick 15,000 or there about). What a feeling!  And I was referred to as "Sir" one morning and I took that as a compliment.  The topper was when a crew member asked me where the next site was that I was going to.  I even feel a little sad when a crew leaves the site and has done their part.  I have been documenting the journey with photos and I think I will put a collage together and hang it in the new house.

As Mountain Man Rob - a master mason - said to me upon placing the last stone (it was too high up for me to go) "Love many, trust few and always paddle your own canoe".  Well said.

Keep smiling!

High School here we come!

We had grade 8 grad last week for our daughters class.  That is a momentous occasion for sure.  It's literally a flash of time right in front of you - remembering when she was 4 and just starting JK and then bam! It's grade 8, last day ever of elementary school,  clapping out all the grads and watching them walk out into their future.  It's letting the rope go a little bit further, trusting that she will make good choices most of the time and knowing that there will be mistakes along the way and that is ok too.  Really, mistakes can be awesome in themselves.

So I left the grad dance (I was a chaperone much to my daughters dismay!) and thought about all the emotions I was feeling.  I felt thankful.  I felt like I was watching something bigger than me.  I felt proud.  She makes us proud.  Thinking back to the first week of grade 8, the teacher asked the parents to write a letter to her entitled "In a Million Words or Less" and tell her about your child.  Strengths and weaknesses, what they love about school and what's not so great, funny habits or anything else that mattered or that we considered a must know.  I really enjoyed writing about Naomi - and think that I may one day give her that letter. A snippet in time to show her where we were at in our lives at the beginning of that important year.  The year when your child is not really a kid anymore, but blossoming into adulthood.

We had a lot of fun times this past year as a family, but what sticks out in my mind are the funny little moments.  The things that made me laugh so hard I couldn't catch my breath!  I've discovered that Naomi has a sense of humour that will serve her well in her future.  I think that is what her friends love about her too.

I haven't forgotten about my other kid - he's well on his way into preteen.  He's balancing on the line of kid / teenager and finding his way too.  This is what raising kids is all about.  It's raising human beings.  Passing along our knowledge to our kids to give them a base to make decisions on.  Hoping and praying that you make the best decisions too.  Really all I've ever wanted is to have kids that know kindness and compassion.  To be the best person that they can be.  The rest will fall into place.

As I write this, I am sitting on the deck at the trailer, it's going to be a beauty of a day.  Roxy is curled up across from me in the sunshine biting at her paws and driving me crazy!  All is good in the world.

Keep smiling! and thanks so much for reading Adventure Mommy!