Three Under Three (and a dog): A Gift

Well, today was a lot of fun. We had a trip out to our land to watch the house go up, and happened to be there as trucks were arriving to pour concrete into some of the main floor walls.

Love those little feet

It was also fun because I hadn't seen any of the progress since the stem walls were poured. It's one thing to see plans on paper. It's another thing to see the house bloom before your very eyes!

Looking towards the master bedroom and bathroom...

I was amazed as I saw the nice large windows and open living area that will be our living room, dining room, and kitchen. I could almost envision myself inside and feeling like a part of the nice wooded surroundings that we have.

Squeeeeal!

Some people have said, "It's so neat that you are building your dream house!" Until it has been mentioned like that, I have never in my mind thought I was living out part of my goals or dreams by building this nice home. Today I told my mom, "Moving out into the country is fulfilling my dream. The home is like... more of a gift."

The last six years involved a lot of work. We sold the home we moved into when we got married, built a home almost completely on our own, bought into a business and decided that we were better off starting our own, got out of that business partnership and started building a business from scratch. In the midst of this, we were having children; four in five years to be exact! So while this has all been good and fun, my true longing has been to move my family out of town to a place where we all have room to run, and grow, and live a little more freely.

I have never had in my head an ideal or "dream" house. In fact, Leif has designed this with only a little input from me! (My input essentially amounted to: large windows and large main floor laundry room.)

I'm thankful that he has a good eye for design because I think it is going to suit our family well. I cannot wait to have people stay over and to host holiday parties, among other ideas I have in my head!

Anyways, what I'm trying to say here is this. As I see the home unfold before my very eyes, I am thanking God and thinking to myself how this is better than I could have really ever imagined. It is spacious, it is beautiful. And just living in the country would have been enough. What a gift!