It was definitely sticks. And, this morning our "Mom" returned. At least I'm convinced it's our original "Mom" as she looks identical. I'll know better when I can get some good pictures and if I can identify her. I'm pretty sure you are right as we've seen the babies bathing in the bird bath having a blast so they are still around! I was so excited to see her. And, I know we they don't have emotions, but do we really know for sure?!? :) We'll check on the other house and remove the sticks again. We've got lots of bird books and are pretty sure it is a House Wren. Plus my husband knows just about every bird, plant, tree, bug, etc. on the planet -- and probably off as well. I'm just a newbie!

oh michoumonster, I have been in your shoes so this is experience talking... 1) Review your contract with your attorney to make SURE you follow whatever requirements it has for termination. 2) Also have your attorney review every single you or your builder has ever signed that is related to the house or the land it sits on...including loan documents. Among other things, you want to make absolutely sure your builder doesn't hold a "residual lien" against your home. A residual lien can come into being where the amount your banker agreed to loan you to build was less than your contract price so that you were going to make up the difference out of pocket. In such a case, the lien documents may have been written so that you gave your builder a lien for the full amount of the build then your builder assigned a portion of that lien (the amount of your loan) to your bank. The unassigned part is called a residual lien and, when you gave your builder money directly out of your pocket for that amount, he should have given you a lien release. If your builder doesn't give you a lien release for a residual lien he holds, you'll have a major problem. Since you have an attorney, just mention the possibility to him and ask him to make sure the builder doesn't have a residual. Your builder might not think to check for a residual lien but once you mention it, he should be able to determine if one is in existence. 3) DO NOT WARN YOUR BUILDER that you are planning to fire him or even thinking seriously about doing so. Let your attorney guide you as to when and how to break the news to your builder. 4) Ask your attorney if he will go with you to your banker to discuss your options with regard to financing after firing your builder. Be aware that, as a general rule, your banker is under no obligation NOT to tell your builder that you are thinking about firing him. You MAY be able to impose a confidentiality obligation on our banker by raising the issue as a theoretical one on which you are seeking confidential FINANCIAL advice but that may or may not wash. I suspect tho your builder will be less likely spill the beans prematurely if your lawyer is with you when you talk to the banker. 5) Find out what your state's laws are regarding any mandatory warranties. If, for example, your builder completed the foundation and framing and your state has a mandatory warranty on those items, he SHOULD be on the hook for them even if you fire him before the house is completely finished. But, be aware that even state mandated warranties won't do you one bit of good if your builder declares bankruptcy and gets the bankruptcy court to discharge his warranty obligations. A warranty is only as good as the entity granting the warranty so I wouldn't let trying to hang onto my warranties stop me from firing a crooked GC. 6) Get a good digital camera and digital video camera and document EVERYTHING about the status of the house before you fire the builder. Be sure the time and date stamp on the camera is set correctly. Take about a gazillion photos from every possible angle, close-ups and wide-angle shots. Do one room at a time and stick labels to the walls so that you can know exactly what room and which part of each room each photo is a picture of. Don't forget to photograph the outside of the house and the attic and basement areas as well. Do not let there be a square inch of the house and grounds that doesn't clearly appear in at a couple of photos and videos. Upload everything to your computer and then save it all on CDs or DVD (it'll probably take several) in case your hard drive should fail. And give copies of everything to your attorney. 7) Check with your insurance agent about getting insurance on the partially built house to cover any vandelism that should occur after you fire the builder. You also want to make sure there is PLENTY of liability coverage in case someone should get hurt while on your property. 8) Print out copies of every email you have ever sent or received from your builder (along with every attachment) and put them all in a notebook then give the notebook(s) to your attorney for safe-keeping. If you should wind up in litigation, the courts will expect you to have kept all those documents and not having them could be held against you so save EVERYTHING. Finally, be prepared for a long horrible slog through a legal and financial minefield. It is going to put more stress on your marriage than you would believe. So, make a pact with your spouse that regardless of what happens, the two of you will NEVER EVER EVER blame each other for the mess. Nobody who hasn't been thru this can possibly understand just how bad this can get. If you and your spouse cannot be totally supportive of one another, you very might be better off just letting the crook finish the house - as cheaply as you possibly can - then put it on the market and sell it as quickly as possible to cut your losses. We fired our GC 3 years ago this month. We are only now finally reaching a settlement (still unsigned) with our builder that will result in him releasing the residual lien he holds against our house. We spent the remainder of our construction loan plus another 20% to get the house finished to a point where we could move in and we estimate that it will cost us another $30,000 to finish the things that still remain undone that were supposed to be part of the turn-key build. And we accumulated $20,000 worth of attorney bills. We have foundation problems that will cost about $18,000 to fix and SHOULD be covered by a 10 year statutory warranty from our builder but he has transferred all his assets to his family and declared bankruptcy so.... DH and I are still together and our lives are slowly getting back to normal but he is an absolute saint. I cannot imagine having survived the last three years without him at my side. If you click on my "My Page" link you can email me off line if you want to know more.

Thank you so much for responding! If you don't mind, I'd like a few clarifications. 1) When spraying trim, do I need to mask off the walls, too? The trim paint is going on before any wall painting, so will overspray affect the final look of the walls or not? 2) After the trim is dry I mask it off and begin on the walls and ceiling. I heard you should remove the tape while the paint is wet to get a clean line. Does this mean I need to mask, paint wall base coat, pull off tape, then mask, paint wall second coat, pull off tape? Seems like a lot of masking to do it twice. Can I leave the first masking till the paint job is all done? Thank you so much for your help. An expert's opinion really means a lot. It just seems like it would be easier to paint walls/ceiling before any trim or flooring goes in, you know? Thanks again!

rufinorox- They are actually Whirlpool appliances! I would have preferred Kitchen Aid or Frigidaire, but the builder (it's a new build) doesn't offer. Thanks! jsweenc- I figured out that I am fine choosing as things go along. Choosing floors, having those down, choosing what comes next, having that in.... But all at once on small samples kicked my butt!!! But, we're happy! Thanks!