The BIG DIG continues...

With each passing day, the piles of dirt get higher, but we're also one step closer to completion. We pray with the kids before bed at night, and last night Becca prayed that the workers would be able to do their job...'so they can get out of here'. The dirt and equipment would be a little boy's dream but Becca is not impressed. Every time we leave the house, we get dusty and dirty. Even though we leave our shoes by the front door, we still have a layer of dust on our wood floors.

Speaking of leaving the house... I had an interesting experience yesterday. I had to leave the house to pick up the kids from school at 12:15 (they get out of school at 12:30 on Wednesdays) and when I opened the front door, I had nowhere to go! There was a 6 foot trench dug in front of the door that extends about 3 feet out from the house... and all the guys went to lunch! I was pretty upset for a minute- how inconsiderate. I though about getting a runnning start and trying to jump it, but I thought better of it. I did, after all, sprain my ankle a week ago. Then I started looking around and found a 3 foot tall step ladder. I opened it and set it in the trench, climbed down onto it, then back up the other side. If anyone was watching, they'd have gotten a good laugh out of it. When I got back with the kids, they were back from lunch and very apologetic.

In an effort to keep us from falling in the muddy trench, they rigged up a ramp. I told Becca... image that we're Princesses living in a castle with a moat around us, and this is our drawbridge...to which, she rolled her eyes and said, 'so does that make dad the King?'. Louie was less excited about the ramp. He tiptoed onto it and asked what the weight limit was. He also is not a fan of heights, so I can't imagine he likes walking over a 6 foot deep pit on a narrow piece of plywood.

One other interesting moment- the contractor knocked on the door and said, 'I've found something interesting when I was digging in the backyard. I've never seen anything like it before'. Well, that can't be good. (I had images of them finding a body or something in my yard- too many episodes of CSI, I guess) It was a large sort-of clay cistern or something that's about 20 feet from the house. They aren't sure whether it's tied into our sewer or what. As we speak they're digging up more of the backyard trying to come to some conclusion. Meanwhile, the foundation is almost done being water-proofed. (Yeah!)

There are, actually, other things going on in our lives other than this big project. The kids are settling into their routine at Covenant School. Garrett and Hannah are looking at all kinds of things under the microscope... Garrett's response is, "How cool is that!?" and Hannah's response is "That's just nasty". I guess it depends on your perspective! Becca is preparing for her first spelling and vocabulary tests of the year. She also memorizes a scripture or scriptures each week and recites it at the end of the week in front of the class (I'm trying to memorize them along with her) This week's verse is from Romans 12:18, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone". Hey... I think all the kids should memorize this one!