What we did on our spring break

The candy is being put on the gingerbread house, and it looks pretty! Lighting, flooring, paneling, and trim oh my! It is those last touches that make everything worth it. Nightly we talk a little walk over the snowy, icy path to admire the day's work. We make fun of ourselves for obsessing over every little detail, but we also are enjoying it. Meanwhile, Raif and Cora don't really care about anything except when are we moving in? Fifi is just content to run around screaming to hear her voice echo and hide in the closets.

Loft view towards the street, which cleverly you cannot see!

Pretty little Tiffany style lights we installed in the living room.

Mark made some of the trim for the windows from salvaged rafters from the old outfitters building. The process was laborious, and he wasn't sure about the outcome at first. After he installed the trim around the first window, he called me over to look at it. "What do you think?", he asked, which is a loaded question. "I love it!", I responded immediately. Not only does the story of how it came to be appeal to something idealistic in my basic nature, but the patina and richness of the wood is beautiful. He was still not convinced, but decided after a long pause to keep going. It looks amazing, and shows the history of the place and his dedication to reusing some of that building in our new home.

The northeast corner of the dining room shows the trim, flooring and wainscoating. Still to be added is trim and baseboard, as well as radiators.

Our spring break was a short affair - just Thur. and Fri. off, but we made the most of it. Raif and Cora were employed everyday to sand, drill, chisel and fit the pieces of the stairway together under the patient (no lie!) direction of Mark. The stairs are finished! After a few months of dangerous use by Fiona, we are pleased to have a house that is not a nerve-wracking place for a 3 year old traversing stairs with no handrails. My sister Nell came to visit with her two youngsters (ages 3 and 5) and she nearly had a heart attack trying to keep them away from the edge. While she was here, we visited the International Wolf Center. It was so great to see all ages learning and experiencing the informative exhibits. I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't gone.

The stairs are open to let light filter in from the south.

The master.

Apprentice #1.

Apprentice #2.

The wild screamer who loves to roll in sawdust.

Starting in February, we began to use the sauna again. Recently, the kids fired it up on a melty March day. It was so fun to watch them coming out to run out onto the lake in swimsuits. We had a doughnut making party for Raif's birthday with my mom's old recipe. We hauled everything over to the new house and fried them on the cookstove. Ice skating on the lake was perfect due to the lack of snow and recently re-frozen surface. In fact, I met my friend Mary on the lake for a skate/walk one blustery day! These treasured times will hopefully be just more often once we are permanently over on the lakeside. Now, the melting lake will soon give way to open water and announce the transition into summer activities.

Mary wore her grippers on her boots, and I ice skated to meet her on the lake.

View from the living room window of the melting ice.

He turned 15, but we just gave him 1 candle on his Boston creme pie.

We had to bite the bullet and purchase a new-to-us car in the past month. After the trusty Ford Explorer starting having trouble shifting into gear, we decided it was time to trade it in. We got the car that I was searching for last summer - a Toyota Highlander! It is quite the sweet ride in my opinion, and just what I wanted. It is a 2009 with 83,000 miles on it in good shape with the most exciting thing to hit our family in the north - heated seats! I never would have asked for them, but since they are already in, I can only enjoy:)

With the end of third quarter here, we enter into the remaining days of spring before the summer. Track has started for Raif, Cora and me too! I am a volunteer coach, but I had the responsibility to run practice for a few days on my own while the head coach was on vacation. I am feeling the burn but it is so good to get outside and be active on these nice afternoons! Fiona has taken her share of illness this year in one of the worst in recent history for this area. I just spent a day last week with a feverish runny-nosed little sweetie, but we are so ready to be done with the germies! Raif wraps up his speech season soon as he now has his informative talk about solar energy memorized. He joined the Science Club and has been researching colleges with interest in engineering. Cora is gearing up for her role as Ms. Hannigan in the show Annie, Jr. which will be in May, and has two dance competitions in Duluth at the beginning of April.

Fiona is so pleased to have tea with our friend Jim Hare visiting from Wisconsin. 

We continue to benefit from the generosity of Mark's parents each week as they make the trek up to Ely to help with whatever duties are are available. Most recently they were here installing the warm fir flooring. Each time they bring some treat or even a meal. Amazing!

Flooring is installed, along with the tile surround under both stoves. Mark is sanding and finishing the wood floor this week.

We are rounding the home stretch with the interior of the house. Decision time for appliances, fixtures, and cabinets. Can't wait to host our first party in the new place! We are just so excited for so many things, but of course there will still be work to do. Siding, finish the basement, gardens, landscaping, and always the regular dishes, laundry, cooking, blahdy-blah. These posts seem all so similar. One exciting thing that happened this month was Mark's new haircut courtesy of his dad! Enjoy the before and after shots.

          

Before the chop.

After.