Week 10: Catching Up

Hi Friend,

I can't believe it's the last week of our summer building camp experiment here! I'm actually a little teary over it. These kids have done such a great job. I think it's been life-changing for all of us. I've seen them grow exponentially in their confidence and abilities; we've grown in our dynamic as a family and as a working unit and small community (I've never realized that "unity" has the word "unit" in it before now - wow!).

To be honest, in the weeks before this project started, I felt a mix of excitement and fear, and sometimes the stronger emotion was fear. We'd never had others living with us before, we'd never tackled a project of this size, and we had no idea how well our concept would work or how far we'd get. In fact, David Howard (FirstDay Cottage) said that in the 400 of his house kits that have been built, no one has ever done it this way before. He told me that he told his friend that it was going to be a total disaster - that he couldn't see young people without a real stake in the house caring enough to build it well. Boy, was he wrong (which he now happily admits)! If anything, these guys have been even more meticulous and conscientious than if Mickey and I were building it (like our son, Judah, we like to go fast, sometimes too fast). We've still got a few more working days left (and a lot more to do before move-in), but I can say with confidence that this project has been a success.

It was a joy to be able to celebrate this accomplishment with family and friends and neighbors this past weekend. Our household grew to 14 people with the addition of my parents, and there were more than 90 of us at our community potluck. We gave a few house tours, the kids played, and we ate lots of good food. As a frequent host, I really love potlucks as a way to ease the burden of hosting while fostering more connection through shared food. There's just something so synergistic about everyone's individual contributions transforming into a beautiful communal feast. In many ways, it's a picture of how this house has come together as well. As David Howard said, he hadn't considered what kind of positive energy could be generated when a group of bright and dedicated young people work together towards a goal.

Adding my parents to the dinner table mix

A beautiful Saturday evening for a party

Leah and her friends were the first to ever sleep in the house!

I think everyone at the potluck enjoyed getting to see the house close up. When I heard several people remark that they were surprised by how large it felt, I realized that I hadn't done a good job of capturing that in my photos, so here goes ... Look any bigger?

Walking in the mudroom door

Looking towards the kitchen and dining room

Looking towards the sitting room (and den beyond the stairs)

Upstairs space

We still need to do some painting of boards, and despite the drizzly weather, the guys have started installing the siding. I think it looks great!

Jordan helps Tait with the painting (and I'll be sure to get a less obnoxious primer color next time!)

Dolan and Isaac work on the east wall

Judah and Tait work on the north wall

Looking forward to seeing the final product!

A big thank you to everyone who came to our party, and if you couldn't make it, we missed you!

Until next time,

xo

P.S. If you've never built a house before, is it on your bucket list? Do you think you'd hire it out or build it yourself (or a combination of the two)?

Next post: Week 10: Exciting Siding