A Tour of Our Home

Things are changing around here. Our family is getting bigger.  In the words of our 4 year-old son, "Our house is too small." Yes, some might think a two-bedroom house is too small for a family of 9, but honestly, it's been great. We love our home and we've all been content with it, well, except Berg. Our view everyday of the extremely beautiful lake is amazing and we actually have two extra beds! But, we do foresee a time when we will need more space. For one, our pantry is busting at the seems. We keep a lot of food in our mother-in-law apartment. And I have to go out to the garage for many things that we just can't fit in the house. Moving is likely on our horizon. We just need to be patient and see what God has for us. For now, here's our home. Many people have been shocked to find out we live in a two-bedroom home. Actually, it was a three bedroom, we just got rid of the master bedroom about 4 years ago. So here it is, for curious people, forgetful me, and our children. When we do move and this house becomes a fading memory maybe it will stir up fond recollections of raising chicks in the fireplace, squeezing into the breakfast nook for meals, swinging on ropes in the boys room, watching movies on the big screen in Mama and Dada's bed and morning devotions overlooking the lake cuddled in blankets on the living room couches.
Our tour will start where most everyone enters our house, in the kitchen. This is the back door where we come in. Just to the left of this door is the laundry room, which I was not about to cleanup for this house photoshoot. It doubles as the pantry and it's about the size of a closet. 

This is the view that the hanging fruit basket has of our home:

Here is the whole kitchen:

If you go left between the KitchenAid mixer and the red wall there's a hallway, the hallway where Kivi was born! Here's the bathroom in that hallway:

If you keep going down that hallway you'll pass a closet and come to the dining room, but we'll turn around and come back to the breakfast nook:

Turning right we come to the living room. When we first moved, the kitchen was completely walled in so we'd be starting at a wall right now instead of beautiful Lake Louise!

Here is a different angle of the living room including the front door, which we never use, unless we are going out to the deck.

Here's the other side of the living room to the right is the dining room. Behind the red couch is the cupboard where we keep all the toys and behind that are the stairs down to the bedrooms. 

Here is the dining/homeschool room. The cupboards and drawers are all filled with homeschool and craft stuff.

This is how we get more space for schooling and where Dada does the bills. The white door is the closet in the hallway. (The same hallway that leads back to the kitchen.)

This dining room actually used to be the master bedroom, but we took out the wall so we could have a space to all eat together and see the lake too! Here's a view of the dining room from that little, black, fold-up, wall table.

 Through that door is another bathroom

 This is the dining room bathroom, where all the kids take their baths and brush their teeth. 

If you go back through the dinning room and go down the stairs,

you see this, our family room, turned bedroom!

This is the view from our bed. Peter had an amazing idea and put black-out curtains all around our bed. I love it. It's like sleeping in a grown-up fort. The white door is the closet under the stairs, where Peter's keeps his clothes.

To the right of that closet is a hallway:

Which leads to the downstairs bathroom on the left. Peter put in this jetted tub right after Jasper was born in our friend's, the Schocks', jetted tub and Berg, Pella and Tuff have been born in here.

Straight across from the bathroom is the Girls' Room. There are closets to the right and left of the dressers when you first walk in. 

When you round the corner you see the girls' bunks.

If you go back through the MamaDada Room there's a door next to my side of the bed.

That door leads to:

There are usually ropes, hammocks, nets, a swing and ladders hanging from the ceiling so they can play inside on rainy days.

 And that is the end of the Inside Our Home Tour, as of March 6, 2015. It's about to get all changed around!

(Full disclosure notice: Our house is not usually this clean.)