Easter Weekend in NC

Ashley and I went to see my parents for Easter. We arrived Thursday night and then Friday morning, drove to Boone for breakfast. Here Mama and I are, ready to go.

Ashley and Papa were dressed alike and didn't realize it.Friday night, the family came up for hamburgers and hotdogs. Here Aunt Claudia, Grandma and I are looking at the site where Grandma's house will be. A lot of dirt had to be pushed around and trees cut to make room for the house.
John and Sue Lancaster stopped by on Sunday before Ashley and I left to come home.Mitchells plus McLeods pre- Baby Mac!
Mama's pansies were gorgeous!

And Pepper, Joshua's dog who lives in Ferguson now, looked especially good, too!

Creating the Second Floor

At the beginning of March , Ashley and I discussed whether or not we would finish part of the second floor of our house (the office will turn into Baby McLeod's room once he arrives in June). I came home one day after work and Ashley had started the project!!


First he had to insulate the half of the upstairs we were going to finish into a room.
He also had to build a wall to separate the finished room from the attic space. Two of his guys helped out--they've really been a big help!
Next we (well, Ashley and his guys primarily) hung sheetrock. And then I helped mud it in. Today I actually helped put up the last large piece of sheetrock on the ceiling. The measuring was challenging but we managed (the joys of a house having odd angles!).
It is going to be a fantastic space---two dormer windows, a closet (on the left above), and around 350 square feet added to our house. We're going to use this space for our office and game/play room. And another place guests can spend the night.


This is the view looking towards the door leading downstairs and then the door into the attic space. For our flooring, we're planning to use bamboo. The next step is finishing mudding and preparing the walls. Then Ashley will spray primer (and possibly paint, though we may roll that depending on how the sprayer works).
Outside it's starting to be spring!!! I'm really excited about seeing at least part of the 50 tulip bulbs I planted appear. Here are a few below.
Max is doing much better after a rough start to 2008. Even though he's sticking out his tongue here, he's really feeling good! The Blue brand dog food really seems to be great for him--he has a lot more energy and seems happier.
Another mark of spring--fresh strawberries. Carey got these for me. $8 for a flat (about 12 small baskets). I chopped most of them up to freeze but am saving two baskets to make a fresh strawberry pie tomorrow.