Bob Cook Homes

06/15/2026

Welcome back to episode 25 of "Love Under Construction".

Last week I took a break from Love Under Construction to participate in our city-wide garage sale...and you know what I learned, "They don't care what you paid - they care what you saved them." While we were turning deals into steals, the daily grind of work, construction and being the VP of Domestic Integration (welp, eyes rolled) continued. My brain feels like a desktop computer with 47 tabs open, 3 of them are frozen, and music is playing from an unknown source.

Back at the under-construction house: Lonny stood there in the middle of the dusty, dirty living room like a confused potato; eyes locked on a single purplish pink wire poking out the center of the wall like it was personally insulting his intelligence. "What in the tarnation are you for?" And wouldn't you know it...two more purplish pink wires were peeking out in the distance, one off to the left and one to the right. Those other two wires helped solve the mystery...they were thermostat wires. Stand back, we are officially technicians now! The problem is that the main wire in the living room is in the location of the Grandfather clock. No problem, we set it up to move and even wrote THERMOSTAT in the location to be moved to. Returned the next day, A/C is on, and thermostat is yet on another wall, in the entry, where a drop zone is going. Listen boys, fixing the AC is great, but ruining my layout is a national emergency. You are one thermostat wire away from triggering a structural crisis in my interior design!

At the end of the week, we went on yet another "field trip." Our Great Escape was to the new company, Walk Your Plans, Wichita. It is a new startup company to Wichita, that allows you to physically walk through your blueprint. Instead of just looking at a 2D drawing, you stand in the physical space to evaluate layout, scale, and functionality before construction begins. We actually walked through the house we are currently designing. They use technology to illuminate the blueprint on the floor at true to life scale. My brain is notoriously bad at translating a ¼ -inch blueprint scale into real-world. Walking around the site gave me an accurate sense of the room size and ceiling heights. While you are walking your blueprint, they also have it projected on the screen in-case you get lost in a closet🙃. The concept is brilliant. Imagine knowing before you build, if there is enough walking room around the bed, or are the doorway and hallways wide enough, can you comfortably open the refrigerator door while someone is standing at the kitchen island. I'm seeing the huge benefits from both the builder and at a client's view. Change orders that can get so costly during the build can now be squashed. How I wished this would have been here 7 months ago, before we started construction. I'm giving this field trip 100% Fresh Tomatoes!

Our incredible Trim Carpenters will be wrapping up this week. They leave us with the ultimate Graceful Exit - leaving nothing behind but incredible craftsmanship. Next week is all about them! The Architectural Reveal: The moment the raw house officially transforms into a home. Can't wait to share! See you next week!

Included a sneak peek of current home back yard space - Coming on the Market July 2026!

06/08/2026

Tina Hall-Sumpter was busy at our model at 248 Cedar Ranch with the Derby city wide garage sale this week. Stay tuned next Monday for an update with the trim carpenter on Love Under Construction...

06/01/2026

Hello, my friends...my annoying self is back with another episode of Love Under Construction, episode 24.

"Our love under construction took a deeper dive during our 2,000-mile cross country odyssey with our two furry copilots. Turns out uninterrupted family time is just code for learning your husband can identify every hunting site he ever visited while the dogs perfect their synchronized 'are we there yet' stares."

We pulled up to a HALL-latious family reunion, my first time facing Lonny's brother and the extended families in masse. I'm the newest branch on this beautiful family tree. No way they were going to shake this limb loose. The bond was effortless and instantly, I felt at home. Here is the 411 - 38 mouths to feed (over 5 days), many 4 generations photo ops, 6 houses rented, on 1 amazing lake in Arizona! 1 Scorpion (no bites), 1 tarantula, and 1 huge fat toad! Which is how I felt by the time it was all over. Many old stories were told and now I'm here to create better ones or at least funnier ones.

After a week of R & R, we are back! Welcomed back by the cutest twins EVER! Meet Adrian Jacob "AJ" and Robert Allan "Bobby" . Our two newest additions to our family! Healthy and Beautiful!

Alright Alright Alright, I know you are anxiously awaiting the news on the house...

The front entry exterior is ready for a coat of paint!

Our Fireplace is ready for Winter, Too Soon?

Our drop-zone is ready for some boots!

And of course, our patio is ready for the sunrise!

Cabinets are still work in progress but take a sneak peek at the best cabinets ever! Our custom super deep medicine cabinets! We will circle back on these, because they are simply amazing. Our trim carpenter, Bindrum Trim, does some of the most amazing workmanship I have ever encountered!

Enjoy the pics! See you next week!

05/30/2026

05/29/2026

Training another 3rd generation Bob Cook Homes employee 😎 with Courtney Browning

05/18/2026

The House ... The House... The House is on Fire! Just kidding ... Episode 23 is on Fire!

I don't even know where to begin, except to be so appreciative of what God has done in my life! We are officially on twin watch! My stepdaughter is about to download. She is carrying 2 full size babies (7lbs 5oz and 7lbs 9 oz) so far, due any day! At 62, I became a mom (step) and NANA!

I prayed for Lonny but was super blessed when he brought his family along on this incredible journey we are on!

Happy Dance🎵 "It ain't about how you move, but what moves you!" He done traded our sin for joy / And now, My Joy Wants Out!

1st chance Kansas gave us, to burn off the brush from the site. Winds here have been stupid crazy, but perfect timing as the wheat field in our back yard is just starting to turn golden.

Rich Construction graced us with his presence and finished the concrete work that connects the "Barn" to the house. Indy was the happiest (our old wiener dog that has 2" nugget legs). Now she will never touch dirt or gravel again. She really thinks we did it just for her, LOL I attached a picture of her and our lab "Queen", just for you dog lovers out there!



Fisher Lumber for the 🏆 . All of our cabinets, Interior doors and lumber arrived for the trim to start. Bindrum Trim, in my opinion, is the best trim carpenter in the business. We will circle back with these guys. They will be inside for the next few weeks.

Fisher Lumber for the 🏆 Again! Let me tell you, whenever you see a Fisher Lumber truck arrive, it's like Amazon...what did I order? If you're lucky when they arrive, you run and meet them at the garage, just to get a peek of what's happening next. And when I saw those 8 x 8 Cedar Posts and a roll of screen! I just started the Happy Dance🎵🕺

This is the most important part of the build for me. The house was intentionally positioned for this room! Kansas has the most incredibly breathtaking Sunrises...and I want to see every single one of them!

Next week, while the trim is being completed, we are taking a small trip to Arizona. See you in 2 weeks 😎

05/16/2026

Custom should feel personal, not cookie-cutter. We listen to how you live, what you love, and what you need day to day, then build around it. Start with a free consultation: http://bobcookhomes.com.

05/14/2026

Comfort starts with what we build into the walls. We use energy-efficient building techniques like thicker walls and advanced air sealing to help keep temperatures steady and the home quieter. Learn more: http://bobcookhomes.com.

05/11/2026

Love Under Construction - Episode 22

Thank you for coming back, we are in week 22. Let's get started...

I'm tired and stressed out to the MAX!

Month 1-3: The Honeymoon Phase

You have signed the contract. You break ground. Walls are going up. Rare 70–80-degree temps allow for concrete walls to go up in the winter without a hitch. Christmas & New Years comes and goes by, feeling so extremely blessed! Then...

Month 4-5: Mid-Build Blues.

This is where the sparkle fades, the delays hit, and the true cost of your dream starts showing up uninvited. Decision fatigue kicks in hard.

Even if you budget well, something always costs more.

Month 5.5: Emotional dip; Current phase

This is the phase where many couples have their first real fight, hence the name "Love under Construction". But I don't really know how to fight. However, my dark side reared its ugly head! It's the GREY "Redhead" in me.🤣



The good news? Almost everyone who builds goes through this exact emotional arc. We have had issues no doubt, but for my sanity I have to put a positive spin on it. This week we had 2 issues that had me going crazy. Bob comes on the scene, explains the process and WHAM, it isn't at all what I thought.

Much ado about nothing. This is often the case. We, on the builder side, do this every day and some of our clients become unsettled over issues like this without realizing that there is a process and it just isn't finished yet. It isn't that our build is perfect, there is no perfect build. Construction is MESSY. There are a lot of opinions and tastes and likes and dislikes and not everything you imagine in your head is affordable or even possible sometimes. But we do our best to capture and create "the vision" on each build we do.

When the going gets tough, the tough go rock hunting...because nothing says 'I'm coping well with construction stress' like wandering a quarry in work boots, pretending I'm a pioneer. Bob has amazing vision, but better friends. A personal friend of his, let us take a huge load of Kansas boulders for a fraction of the cost. Look close at these boulders; the holes were formed many millions of years ago, when Kansas was just a body of water.

I wrapped up the week getting back into my comfort zone, I got to stain 50 16' car siding boards for patio ceiling. They go up in the next episode. Please come back!

05/10/2026

Enjoy the day with family.