Monthly Archives: March 2016

New pictures!

Some random new pictures of the inside, after the first group of workers left. The rooms are a little more empty now and look quite a lot bigger.
Also, the Easter bunny paid us a visit 😉
BTW: For everyone out there worrying about candy hidden next to cables or inside of outlets: The Easter Bunny must have known we are not hooked up to electricity yet, so it was all safe 🙂

Shingles on the roof.

Monday, March 21st our house got shingles. Now we are sheltered from rain and storm (since we ordered shingles with individual hooks so they can’t fall off during storms 😉 ).

Also, the house looks less naked 🙂

 

Time Lapse Video!

ACHTUNG! ACHTUNG! Einige Leute in Deutschland konnten das Video in guter Qualitaet nicht sehen, da das Video auf Youtube verlinkt und dort von GEMA gesperrt wurde. Bei mir funktioniert es nach wie vor, aber damit jeder der moechte etwas sieht, haben wir das Video nun auch direkt auf die Seite hochgeladen. Spart uns den Drittanbieter (wie Youtube), aber leider muss die Qualitaet leiden. Man kann aber trotzdem noch was erkennen ;).
Unten also erst High Quality, fuer alle bei denen das dank der lieben GEMA nicht funktioniert, geht bitte nach unten, da ist das Video fuer alle anderen noch einmal zu sehen. Muesste dann bei jedem klappen. Viel Spass!

Enjoy our amazing time lapse video.
Made possible with the help of our neighbors (who let us use their window for 2 days), and a great friend who’s a photographer and trusted us with his camera and equipment for just as long.

Enjoy!

Schlechtere Qualitaet, aber alle in Deutschland, sollten es trotz GEMA anschauen koennen. Lower Quality, but everyone in Germany should be able to watch it despite GEMA.

House, Day 1 and Day 2

Our house is here!
We were told that the workers would start at 7:00am or 7:30am on Wednesday (Day 1, March 16th 2016). So, in order to put up the time lapse camera (- Thank you by the way to our friends who borrowed us the camera to do that and our amazing neighbors who let us use their 2nd floor window for two days to shoot the whole thing!), we were at the construction site at around 6:30am, just in time to see the crane pull up. (Side note: The time lapse video is currently being edited and will be up in a couple of days, so check back! Hint: It’s awesome!)
It was freezing cold. It had been snowing over night and everything was covered in snow. It was way below zero. So we thought in a minute or two the first wall would be put up. After all, the truck was already there with pieces to our house and all the neighbors hat their houses done the afternoon/evening of the very first day.
So we waited.
And waited. And waited.
After a while (an hour or so) the workers started to put some tables and a chair on our foundation. Then the put on the plan. Then out came some tools. Then nothing happened for a long time. The crane driver let the kids come in the crane for some time so they had a blast being in there while we waited.
Then, at around 11am (- so FOUR hours after they should have started working!) the wind got so strong that the crane driver didn’t want to risk picking up the walls anymore. We had to wait till 1:30pm (7 hours after we got there!) to see the wall being put up.
That was amazing though and a lot of fun to watch. It felt very surreal though, kind of like watching the neighbors houses being put up. And it still didn’t sink in, that this will actually be the house we will live in .
The workers finished the 1st floor and it’s ceiling that day (they left at 8/8:30pm) and we were kind of sad, that the house didn’t get finished that same day. But hey, we waited over 7 month for a building permit, so at least that was something 🙂

The next day they started working at 8am. Again, they were being very slow and the first 2nd floor wasn’t put up till around noon. The crane driver (who was from a different company) wasn’t amused at all and started yelling at them. How he had never seen workers this slow and that he didn’t want to be there till 8pm again. After that, they really started to pick up on their work. They still ended up staying till 8pm again. At least the house was finished on day two (they day they should have put up the shingles). Our shingles will now be put up on Wednesday (March 23rd), but hey, at least we have a house now.

Today (March 18th), we took the kids inside for the first time. They all love their rooms (which are bigger then the rooms they have now. I am completely in love with our family room (living room, kitchen and stairs). It’s HUGE, way bigger than I thought it would be and the wintergarden adds so, so, so much light to it. Whoever did the floor plan for all that was pretty amazing. (Oh wait, that was ME :))))) ).

Last but not least, a big thank you to all our friends and neighbors who stopped by during the two days we were at the construction site from as early as 6am to as late as 9pm. It was really cold that first day, better the second, but you made it so much more fun. The kids enjoyed playing with everyone and we were really glad to have a place to warm up in. And a place to use a normal bathroom instead of a port a potty ;). We even had neighbors bringing us warming packs for our hands outside and reheating them as we needed them! Thank you guys!

And now TATATADAAAAAAAAA *drummroll* ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: OUR HOUSE! 🙂

We got a key.

We are getting a house the day after tomorrow.
14 month,  3 weeks and 3 days after we signed the contract they will finally put it up on Wednesday. It all seems rather surreal, kind of like when we were watching the neighbors houses being put up. I think it has yet to sink in, that this time it’s actually ours.

Two days ago we got a letter in the mail including our temporary key to get inside the house. Pretty crazy 🙂

Chris also spent the whole weekend moving all the pebbles with a wheelbarrow and a spade from the front of the house to the yard, because the builders need that space to put up the scaffolding.
Surprisingly the kids are never bored at the construction site. They either bring some toys along or simply play with all the stuff laying around. Who knew that a pile of pebbles could keep them busy all day? 😉

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First steps!

14 months, 2 weeks and 4 days after we signed the contract for the house, we were able to take our first steps “in” our new home. 🙂 – I don’t know if “in” is the right word, since there is no inside yet, so maybe “on” is the better word.
Anyway, the kids loved jumping around and playing around on the foundation while Chris and I talked to the site manager. They tried out the different rooms and seemed happy. Now hopefully we can get some walls soon :).
Again, please excuse the none edited pictures, but I am way too tired to deal with that right now. :p

 

 

Foundation, Day 2. (Bodenplatte)

Today our foundation got done.
Same as before, it was a really long day so I didn’t have time to edit the pictures the way I usually do. We are very tired today, but it was a lot of fun to watch. It feels pretty surreal, and the foundation looks way too small for a house to every fit on it, but all of our neighbors told us that was normal.

Another fun fact: Our time capsule made it inside the foundation! The kids decided they wanted it in the middle of the house, so that’s where they put it. Lavinia handed it over to the builders.

Now, a bunch of pictures. Enjoy. I am off to bed 🙂