Learning addition

  When I was younger, I was convinced I needed a clubhouse.  Every kid goes through this phase, yes?  The problem is that I tend to dream big.  We're talking BIG. 
 

  This is a rough copy of the plan I drew out for my dad so he would know how to build it.  Perhaps I should have been an architect...such talent!  What is the perfect square in the middle of the room you ask?  Duh, a trap door!  It opens when you say the secret password and a ladder comes down.  (Don't ask how, that part was going to be my dad's responsibility.)
  To this day, I still remember my dad's reaction when i showed him the plans.  It involved a little confusion, then laughter, with some exhalation of breath mixed in.  Needless to say, I had to return to my backup plan for a clubhouse: a dryer box with cut-out windows.  My imaginary friends were sympathetic.
  Now, ten plus years later, the time has come to finally get my clubhouse of sorts.  I'm pretty much an adult now and my family is so cramped we can't handle it any longer.  We have food storage under our bed, baby clothing boxes towering to the ceiling, and toys EVERYWHERE.  My fear of finding spiders in my shoes has been replaced by checking for Squinkies and Barbie shoes. Our daughter's bedroom is the size of my mom's closet; our son sleeps in our room at the foot of the bed (in a crib!).  And have I mentioned before that we have our piano in the kitchen? Blasphemy. 
  And thus we have decided to build on to our house.  We're refinancing to a 15-year mortgage and adding 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  We'll have a blessed garage and enough storage space to hide a...well, use your imagination.  We couldn't be more excited!
  After meeting with our architect a few times we came up with a plan that we all agreed on.  It's interesting working with an architect because you could tell he had this huge pool of knowledge that we didn't have.  It seems like every time we started a sentence with "Couldn't we..." he would have to kindly explain that no, we couldn't.  I was grateful because he saved us from having windows in the roof, a full-size window in the shower, and a staircase with two feet of headroom.  That's why we paid him the big bucks.
  We ran into a few problems building onto such an old house, however.  We can't put any more weight on the rock foundation so we have to build the addition slightly separate from the house.  We need to do another utility closet to service the new section.  Also, the spot where the house is going is infested by Box Elder Bugs.  Good luck constructioneers!  They're annoying little pests.  If you sit outside too long they get in your hair and crawl up your legs.  I can't handle it.
  We also recently took out a huge tree in that same spot so the construction folks will be battling some interesting roots trying to dig for a concrete slab. 

The north side of our house before the tree was removed

The remains...

  My dad is helping with the construction.  He's a master electrician so we bribed him with home-cooked meals and grandkid time to come up and help us.  I just hope he doesn't react to our blueprints the same way he did to my clubhouse.