Oh, I wanted to also add that we built a very similar building that you have planned, though ours is the garage portion of our "one day" house and it cost us $67,000. I am not sure what kind of prices you are getting, but I just wanted to throw that number out there for you to use as a comparison. It is a 28x36, so slightly larger than yours but still the same basic plan...two bedrooms, 1 bath, living room/kitchen combo. The price above does not include the septic system, water to the property, getting electricity out to the property, or the road being built to get out to the house. The price above is simply for the structure. If you have any questions, I would be glad to chat privately.

Check with the lumber and supply companies about giving you the contractors prices. If you agree to purchase all of your supplies from them, they can give you significant discounts. Also, not to dampen your spirit, but I would add about a 30% increase in your prices that you collect from different places, unless the company will give you an exact quote and is willing to stand by that figure through completion. In our own experience, and that of friends who have built their own homes, we always ran into issues that required more money that what we had budgeted. Good luck! And I look forward to hearing more about this great adventure.

I have a lot of weird things that I do, but one is that I have to wear my socks inside out. I can't stand the seams against the tops of my toes! Another thing is that I have rub my toes against dh's leg for me to go to sleep at night. It is almost like rocking myself to sleep, but it is just my foot. It is so soothing and thankfully, dh doesn't mind me doing it. Oh, and I thought of another one... I have to sleep with my ear covered up by the sheet and my neck sort of "tucked-in" or else I startle awake at every little noise.

I have been reading the boards for many years, but have only started posting for the last couple of years or so. Dh and I have four kiddos, ages 13, 12, 10, 8. We move every two years, as dh is active duty military. The assignment before this one was in South Korea and it made me super appreciative to be back in the United States. We have homeschooled for 6 years total. Our kids attended public school on two separate occasions and it was a disaster. Lesson learned and now we are in it for the long haul.

:grouphug: praying for you all as you deal with the pain and grief of losing your precious loved one.

Too personal

My kids were really weirded out by the owl's eyes, when they were moon-winked. Kind of creepy. Forgot to add that we didn't really like the movie much, besides the above issue. Just wasn't one we enjoyed.

You could build a very small garage portion to your one-day house, insulate it extemely well and live in that through the winter. You would not be throwing your money away and would, in fact, be investing your money in your future. Insead of kitchen cabinets, you could use shelves. You could build long tables to use instead of countertops. All of that can be used in the future garage. This is the exact plan we have done.

I haven't read the replies, so it may have been suggested already. Or, I may be way off track.... Could you build a small mother inlaw suite on to your home, which could be used for your mother now and as an added bonus space for your home in the future?

We coat the grill with olive oil. It seems to work pretty well.

I haven't read all the replies so it may have already been suggested. Could you use a nickname for each child instead of their real name? Back in the stone ages when i played ball, a number on our jersey was sufficient.

Will you be close to the Sacramento mountins? If so, Ruidoso, NM is beautiful and is a quant little town full of fun shops unique to that area. There are tons of cabins and bed/breakfast places. If the weather cooperates, you could go snow skiing at Ski Apache; very fun.

Oh my! Yes, even funnier! And slightly disturbing, now that I read the lyrics to the song....poor Stacy.:lol::D

I LOVE my Honda Odyssey. It is very roomy; much more than the Yukon XL that we had prior to this vehicle. eta: sorry, I missed the part about not wanting a mini van....but, I really do like it. It is roomy enough for me to sit very comfortably in the back with my children, with plenty of room for knees and elbows.

The last item on the To-Do list: Stacy's mom. Terrible, but funny. Or, maybe I completely read it wrong and my mind is in the gutter... That possible, too. :D

The last one on the list was the funniest!:lol::lol::lol: Crude, but funny!

Our oldest (almost 14yo dd) goes to bed around 10pm. Dh and I go to bed around 11pm or so. The younger kids are in the bed around 9pm or so.

I am actually in the exact same boat with you! Almost to the day! My test this a.m. was negative, so now I am just waiting....for something. Either AF or a positive test. Good luck!!! And hope things go well for you!

Is it possible that your job could be done from home? Maybe you could go in once a month or something?

It may be turkey mites. They are horribly itchy.

It isn't allowed in our house.

Absolutely adorable! So, what do you do with the deer once they are grown?

We have four dc, ages 13, 12, 10, 8. Going into 9th, 7th, 5th, 3rd.

I currently have four baby chickens living in a dog cage, in my garage...does that count? :lol:

I am so sad to think of what might happen to my dc if something should happen to me. Not only would they lose their mother, their entire way of life would completely change. My dh would have to continue working, so he would have to put them in school. Our oldest is 13, so he might be able to come up with a plan to school them in the evening, but I really don't think that would go over well. I am the queen of plans...I have plans for my plans :D, so I really want to come up with an idea to discuss with dh that he could do to school the children, if I were to meet an untimely death :( Do any of you have plans for this kind of worst case scenario?