We finally picked a door. We bought a wood slab door and finished it ourselves. It didn't come prehung so Jim had to do it himself (see the action shot below--which Jim made me take). We really like how it turned out. Now we just have to find the right hardware...
I was glad to see the color go up. We had picked it a while ago and I always seem to have my doubts until I actually see it go up (at least I do when I paint a room) but I love the color. We are using cement board siding.
It's kinda hard to see in the picture below but Mike put up all the cornerboards.
Mike's info in case anyone reading this is in this area and like what they see...
Above is the front of the house with the new roof, soffits, fascia, and rakes. We are still trying to finalize plans on how to do the return on the gable end that's why they are left long like that. Mike extended out the gable to add a little more interest at our request.
Here's the back with the old red cedar shingles being removed on the first floor.
The view of the side of the house. You can see where the master bath will be (upper left) the mudroom (lower) and the master bedroom (right or front). We're hoping that we'll be able to clean the chimney so that there is a smoother transition from old to new.
The back of the garage with the new roof. I was especially glad to see the roof over the garage and the roof over the back family room go because they were covered with moss and lichen which showered our deck with stuff after every rain storm and high wind. 
Another view...
The opening for the staircase in our living room.
This is a view of our master bedroom closet and door out into the hallway. It's hard to take pictures of this part and have it make sense...
Jim has just about finished framing out one of the boys rooms.
And best of all my flowers and shrubs are fairing pretty well with all the construction...
The beginning of the taller chimney.
The beginning of the farmer's porch (one of my favorite parts).
I found this note on Nora's door this morning. I guess her brothers have been interupting her American Girl doll play...
Well today our contractor Mike had the hardest inspection yet. His father (a.k.a "Little Mike") showed up to take a look at his work. Rumor has it, it was to verify that Mike had not installed his joist hangers upside down.
The ceiling went in and now all the interior work is left up to me. Probably not a wise move on my part.
The family enjoying the parade in Wolfeboro, NH. We actually got a break in the rain for the parade. Shortly after the parade we had some downpours, of course...
The bag pipers were my favorite part of the parade. There were some NH politicians in the parade and one (I don't know his name) even used Benny for a photo op.
Nora enjoying a boat ride in my Dad's boat. We had a nice fourth despite the cold and rainy weather. The kids even swam in the lake in which I could barely put in my toe in because it was so cold!! 
A shot of the gable in front. We're putting a farmer's porch off this side, over the front entry and the two windows to the right.
They finished the roof over the masterbath (far left) and put in the roof over the mudroom (also to the left). With the tyvex up and the ice and water shield on the roof, we haven't had anymore leaks! 
So I have decided that there is no longer any point in checking the weather anymore. Instead just close your eyes and think of the image above. This image has been causing many sleepless nights for Mike our contractor.
The Tyvex went up today and the roof is covered so hopefully no water. 
Here you see the side gable going up. Tomorrow Mike plans on finishing the front gable. Not too bad for seven days of work!
It was another perfect day for construction. The crew stayed clean and cool in the heavy monsoon like conditions that lasted most of the day. They still managed to get the roof sheathed even though they kept having to come down because of lightning.
There was some confusion with the plans and they thought we wanted an indoor swimming pool.
After the sheathing was up they emptied out about 200 gallons of water trapped in the tarps and moved them up to cover the roof. The space really felt like a barn without the ceilings and walls.
