Today they carved through the foundation to put in the space where the door from the existing basement to the new basement room will go. This is being done now so they can verify exactly the level of the existing slab when they pour the new one in the next few days.
The other thing that's supposed to happen in the next few days is the final rough grading in the side yard, but that may be delayed to next week, as it's still damned muddy from the last snow melt.
Alas, we head off toward California tomorrow, so we'll be missing the day-by-day picture taking — slab, grade, driveway patch, and beginning the structural build — but Jackie (who's watching the cats) says she'll shoot some pix.
In Album Hill-Kleerup Kitchen – 2014-12-18

