Alaskan's Journal

[drstratton]

Wahahaha!!!!

This is when I drove up today (Friday).
Still at half the rafters, I am standing on the road that goes by, looking at the driveway and then house.
View attachment 122409


And when I left!!! ALL rafters up! The few horizontals are just temporary for my kid to climb up there and sit and work safely.
View attachment 122410
Also... those stairs on the left side? A retired neighbor came by last week... took some of my kid's lumber (without asking), built a set of stairs with the lumber he had taken... and then brought the stairs and attached them.

Happily the stairs are well made and good and wide. I guess he thought my kid shouldn't be using a ladder to enter the house while carrying big lumber.


View attachment 122411

SWEET!!! All rafters up! Insanely nice!

3 kids and myself working all day today.

Anchorage kid, since it takes him 3.5 hours one way, is spending the night tonight with kid 3. I drove up early with kid 5, we worked until even the brights on the car weren't good enough to see to work, then drove home. So, full dark was about 7:30.

Tomorrow kid 5 and 3 will drive up early, (kid 3 worked today until 6 so couldn't help today). I will not be able to go up, I have a bunch of stuff to get done, but spouse will be there all Saturday and Sunday.

I am feeling way better about the progress being made!

It looks great. Also, what a great neighbor. The steps had to make it easier. So awesome how you are all pooling together to get this done!

 

[Alaskan]

I am thrilled. Thrilled my kids love each other, thrilled that they are happy working together and getting the job done!!!

I am not sure I said, that house is a 24 x 40.

I just texted up to the boys, and asked them how it was looking... and to send photos.

Kid 3 is up top in the middle of the photo, and kid 4 is to the right, inside the house and up a ladder.

This is also a good shot of the stairs.

And, an inside shot... they have to add rafter ties and collar ties...

The one interior wall that is up is the wall between the kitchen (this side) and bathroom and pantry (far side). So the door on the right side of the wall goes into the pantry. The bathroom door is not on that wall.

 

[drstratton]

I am thrilled. Thrilled my kids love each other, thrilled that they are happy working together and getting the job done!!!

I am not sure I said, that house is a 24 x 40.

I just texted up to the boys, and asked them how it was looking... and to send photos.

Kid 3 is up top in the middle of the photo, and kid 4 is to the right, inside the house and up a ladder.

This is also a good shot of the stairs.
View attachment 122430

And, an inside shot... they have to add rafter ties and collar ties...

The one interior wall that is up is the wall between the kitchen (this side) and bathroom and pantry (far side). So the door on the right side of the wall goes into the pantry. The bathroom door is not on that wall.

View attachment 122431

That's going to be so nice! So excited for him.

My husband and I built our house. Took us 3 years. Started in 92, moved in, in 95. Our kids were 8, 6 & 3 when we started. They played out in the sand and sagebrush like a bunch of wild hares...lol. We put in 4 tree lines in 91, before we started building. The first building was our pump house. We put in a wall heater and a porta potty in there, so the kids could get out of the cold in the winter when they wanted to.

 

[Alaskan]

Towards the end of today's work!

Nice! Extensions for the roof overhang (don't panic, there will also be braces etc). But look at all those nice collar ties!

kid 5

 

[Alaskan]

I wonder how big he is planning his front deck? yeah, I know, not even close to there yet!

 

[fuzzi]

Those stairs are a real help I am sure. What a thoughtful gesture.

 

[Baymule]

It is coming along. That has to make you so proud of your boys. You have taught them well, all that chaos and pandemonium while they grew up is now channeled into grown men, good strong men, Christian men, productive men and young men to be proud of.

 

[Alaskan]

It is coming along. That has to make you so proud of your boys. You have taught them well, all that chaos and pandemonium while they grew up is now channeled into grown men, good strong men, Christian men, productive men and young men to be proud of.

Very true! I truly couldn't be more pleased!!!

I think back on all the nasty comments I would get about how I wasn't raising them right.

Well, now that I am looking at the fruit of my labor, I am SO PLEASED that I stayed the course. :

 

[Baymule]

People can be so negative and critical. My daughter found out at the beginning of 11th grade that she only needed ONE credit to graduate at the end of 11th grade. She asked if she could take an extra course, even summer school and was told a flat no, that she had to come back for the entire year of 12th grade to graduate. I started her in private school because her birthday is September 6, deadline for starting school is September 1. She was in and out of private school, so when she called me and wanted to go back to private school, I left work and went to pick her up. We went to a private school, talked to the principal, went back to the high school and checked her out. I enrolled her in the private school. At mid term, she convinced the principal that if she could get into college, would he count those credits towards graduation in high school? He said yes so off to Sam Houston University she went. She got turned down 4 times because she hadn't graduated from high school yet, but finally they accepted her. She started college at 16, graduated at 19, and had 2 masters degrees at 22.

When I checked her out of high school, I caught a lot of criticism and negative comments. Friends, people at church, teachers, but I ignored them and let my daughter chart her own course. She is a college professor and now has a PHD.

 

[fuzzi]

People can be so negative and critical. My daughter found out at the beginning of 11th grade that she only needed ONE credit to graduate at the end of 11th grade. She asked if she could take an extra course, even summer school and was told a flat no, that she had to come back for the entire year of 12th grade to graduate. I started her in private school because her birthday is September 6, deadline for starting school is September 1. She was in and out of private school, so when she called me and wanted to go back to private school, I left work and went to pick her up. We went to a private school, talked to the principal, went back to the high school and checked her out. I enrolled her in the private school. At mid term, she convinced the principal that if she could get into college, would he count those credits towards graduation in high school? He said yes so off to Sam Houston University she went. She got turned down 4 times because she hadn't graduated from high school yet, but finally they accepted her. She started college at 16, graduated at 19, and had 2 masters degrees at 22.

When I checked her out of high school, I caught a lot of criticism and negative comments. Friends, people at church, teachers, but I ignored them and let my daughter chart her own course. She is a college professor and now has a PHD.

Good for you, and her!

The schools won't relinquish control because they lose funding.

My son was 16, having physical issues brought on by a hostile HS admin. I got doctor's notes for his absences, but was called in for a meeting, in November. Despite the physician excuses they were going to deny him credit for the first semester. I said I would withdraw him until the next semester, was told no, he had to finish the semester even though he wasn't getting credit. Ha. I answered that I doubted he (admin) would continue to work if he weren't getting paid. I withdrew my son, and allowed him to not return to such a hostile environment. DS passed his GED, first attempt, eventually got a university degree.