Within the Walls of Our Home: The Preliminary Tour- edited for more pics

Edited Mon morning to add pics that refused to load last night of laundry closet, kids bathroom, kids bunkroom complete with beds, dining area with table, and office area with furniture.

And on a completely different, unrelated topic....18 wks and 2 days now. I love this part of pregnancy. Size is still pretty minimal and I'm still able to fit in stretchy, non maternity 7/8 jeans. Everything feels exceedingly good and I'm beginning to feel baby move more and more often. It's reassurance that all of life is well and baby grows and thrives within.



Due to the overwhelming interest and numerous requests for a tour of our new home...here it is. This would be only within, as I'll get to exterior of home and street hopefully next week at some point. These are the very 1st pics we took upon arriving and a few of the rooms after getting somewhat settled. We still have a long way to go but it's a start.


It's 3 bedrooom/2 bath, 1500 sq ft of living space nestled on one, very forested, hilled, fenced acre. It also has a cement, unwalled, massive basement space that is unusable for bedrooms though it has proven to be amazing for laundry/closet and for children to rollerblade, scooter, ride riding toys, run and play games. As stated in the previous post, washer and dryer hookups will be moved to basement sometime in the near future. For now, they are located within the middle of the kitchen, which is entirely workable but not optimal by any stretch.



Pics of the basement to come also. It's not quite ready for a picture tour, as it became the catch-all for boxes that did not take precidence. Granted it's 1500 sq ft down there so the boxes are stacked neatly under the stairs and don't really put a dent in the space. But it's still kinda messy from the rummaging through as people have searched for items.


I have no desire to take the time to put these pics in order from empty house and taking our 1st look upon arrival to furnished rooms. So, the order's a little backwards...but you get the general idea.


Kids bunkroom. We offered to make the office area into a 4th bedroom for them but all declined. They have always had a bunkroom and it's been a celebration every time a new sibling...or two....has graduated up into it from the nursery. They thoroughly enjoy being together and chose to continue staying together. Every night is one big party...and sounds like one big party.....before everybody ends up falling asleep. Due to the fact each bed is maxed out and the room can only hold 8 occupants, once baby gets here and little twins graduate up into this room the 3 girls will move over into a full twin bunkbed in the nursery/girls room while the 7 boys have this room as an all boy room.

Two of the 3 top bunks have not been made up yet so they're a little messy. The one you can't see actually did get made up and looks great! Sleeping arrangements are by choice.....Grayson on top wood bed/Aubrey below, Evye on top red bed/Gavin and Ivye below, Garrett on top black bed/Garrison and Grant below. And yes...we've already done fire drills at this new house and everybody CAN make it out of the room despite the obstacle course that it appears to be. Personally....the whole room arrangement kinda makes me claustrophobic. Given the size of the room this is the ONLY way we found to be able to make 3 beds work in there....but it works and they love it! And yep...two of the 3 top bunks still need sheets so they're still sleeping on top of sleeping bags. Supposed to be in their line up of to-do's today.

Brad's and my bedroom. So romantic with the air mattresses and decor. Still waiting for the new bed to arrive...which is just a king mattress on a bed frame. It'll still be simple but we won't be doing the two different bed thing anymore.

Dining room. Still looking for another hook-on table highchair. They seem to be rare these days. So, for now, one sits in the highchair and one sits on the table in the Bumbo with a tray for mealtimes. It works! Crap in the corner like crate storage will probably go to the basement for organizing stuff and laundry hamper full of hangers needs to be put in the bedroom closet. So, it won't be there for long. Through the door is the office. It's the only place we could find for the ET center but has ended up working exceeedingly well in there for storage since it doesn't need to house a TV. Eventually the shelves on it will be cleaned up and organized but, for now, at least misc stuff has a place to go.

Children's bathroom. One of the huge advantages of this house.....double sinks!

Opposite the sinks...the bathtub.

In the office from the computer desk looking into the kitchen....our dirty clothes line up.

And the infamous laundry closet in the kitchen. Once laundry operation gets moved to basement this will be converted into a pantry. Our two biggest obstacles right now are laundry and food storage. Laundry has been overcome for the most part and we've figured out a system that works for now. Once interviewing husband returns from his interview today he and Grayson will work on putting the metal shelving together for the closet below. Tackle box on shelf above is multi purpose, as it houses all medications. It keeps them out of reach of children and up out of the kitchen cabinets to conserve on space.

My love gift from a very devoted husband.









Working on getting settled. The living area. We have no couch yet since we sold...or trashed....all but the beds before moving. Space on the bottom right made a great changing station since it's centrally located and there was room for a changing pad, and diapers and wipes to be stored. So, that's what the white thing is.




When the basement clothesline didn't exactly go according to plan. Little humid and a little cold down there. The deck has proven to be an amazing space. It's like one giant, outdoor, play yard for babies....and makes for a great laundry drying station until husband can put up an outdoor clothesline. The clothes are kinda crunchy but they smell really good and fresh.

The beginning of many clotheslines going up in the basement.

I'm thinking she looks pretty thrilled.

The hallway from bedrooms looking into the living area and kitchen.

Checking out what will be the bunkroom.

The nursery.

Master bathroom. Shower's to the left.

Master bedroom. Not exactly sure whether the pants were going up or down.....but whatever the case, he seems to be getting the job done.

The view of the master from the bedoom door. Different kid but apparently the 1st one wasn't the only one having jeans issues.

Looking down the hallway towards the master bedroom from the living area. If you take a right at the end of the hallway there's the other 2 bedrooms. Door on the right next to baby is a coat closet. Door on the left is the children's bathroom. Grayson seemed to be excited about the house....obviously.

Living area standing at bookshelf looking at the kitchen.

Room located on front of the house that we decided to make the dining room. Through the opening is the office/dirty clothes collection for now.

View from the dining area from the office doorway.Door on right is front door. Door on left goes into living area where bookshelf and fireplace are.

When we first arrived.

Standing in the kitchen. Cabinets are a little low. Makes for some comical attempts at conversation.

Kitchen...rockin' the yellow countertops and brown paneling. Frig is on the left and immediately follows the washer/dryer.

Standing in kitchen looking at office area.

From San Angelo, Texas to Raleigh, NC. We're here now!

Pictures from the Road

We have internet now! Pictures from camera can be uploaded. Most are duplicates of phone pics but the bigger camera does a better job of it all. Since they upload in reverse order this whole picture thing is backwards from ending of trip to beginning.

Update on the truck footage used. I continually forget to update on this info. It was fun to see the total used by the end of it all. We ended up using only 10.5 ft of the trailer space of the semi. Man who dropped it off was so entirely skeptical of us using only 17 ft and predicted we'd max the trailer out, as most people do...especially given the size of the family. But, final loading footage was 10.5 ft and bulkhead doors slid in at 11 ft. Total truck length was 24 ft. It came in over 1,000.00 under budget for us. Flat rate was for use of 17 ft. Anything under they refunded 122.00 per foot and anything over they charged 122.00 per foot. So, we got back a pretty substantial amount.

Seeing signs that home is near after 13.5 hrs in the vehicles that day. Very entirely ready to be out of the van. Although I will say that children fared amazingly well and did awesome the entire way. They love road tripping like I do.

Coming into the beginning of the Va mountains. They got much bigger than this but between rain and cliffside I had to drive rather than take pictures. Sweet falling rain.





Staring at the back of the U-Haul...for the 154th hour. If anyone ever has need of the U-Haul number I can quote it by heart. We were all in awe of the scenery lying beyond the trailer though.

Kenneled up after a quick bathroom break.

In the cold rain. 47 degrees that day!

Hotel hobbies.

Sharing her bounty.

Indiana sunset

Out of the van for the day!

Sexy man with his big broad shoulders, earrings, sunglasses and tattooes. Pretty in love with this man.

After getting lost in St Louis for an hour finally taking a break away from the traffic and people. And....this is what the boys immediately saw fit to do. He really matches pretty well though.

The most we saw of the arch. By the end of it I was pretty good with that limited view.

Day 2 on the road. A night spent in Springfield after dropping Beo and Cricket off at their new much loved home. Pics of that in an upcoming post. Personally..I love the kid being strangled so happily on the left.

Sleepy, sleepy baby after a day on the road and a late night spent with friends.

1st night in a hotel after waking up at 4:15 and attempting to be on the road by 5:00. 5:00 didn't quite happen but we did manage to be out by 5:58 am. I consider that a great success when taking into account we were moving out of our home and had to have everything out and loaded. It's not exactly like vacation where you're coming back for anything.

The Coping Mechanism

I have one. And if I have learned anything about myself in this whole moving process it's that not only do I have a coping mechanism but it can be taxed and, really, completely maxed out in general. So much so that it dissipates completely.

I absolutely love it here. I love being buried up in the hills, nestled in the trees. Birds sing through open windows, wind sifts through branches and trees are larger than life. Trees creak and groan in the wind and possess a cadence that can put all of life at peace.

Kind husband awakened early and without disturbing quietly left to run early morning errands. With children finally back on beds and their own mattresses, as opposed to sleeping bags on floors, for the 1st time in 3 weeks they all slept entirely, unusually late. So I woke to a quiet house. I stood on deck in cold morning air with 4 inch socks blanketing feet, coffee in hand. A herd of 10 deer grazed in the dense undergrowth across the chainlink fence as I stood marveling over the fact we're here. I do love it here in every way.

That being said, I am more than a little ready to be settled. We're going on 7 wks of being surrounded by boxes and it screws with the organized head that needs order in life. Life is unorganized and out of place. With a life sorted and governed by baskets of every shape and size it's been difficult to get through the phase of jumbled together boxes of crap. I am used to being efficient in every way. Everything serves a purpose and is functional....practical in every sense of the word......except for the gigantisized porcelain cup I could not resist 4 years ago. I had every intention of selling it but husband plead it's cause and the useless cup made the 1500 mile trek east. So, with cup aside, everything serves a purpose. So to have things all messed up and out of place, along with no plastic baskets in place to create order in life....it takes it's toll on the brain. I have a huge personal issue with being late....anywhere. I think it's just rude and inconsiderate and screams of how one's life is a bit out of control and unmanageable. But I have found that with no clean clothes, nothing where it should be, no way to be organized yet as we wait on modifications to make a small space work for 12 people, and things continually out of order....it makes me crazy. Like seriously crazy in the head. And I can't get anything done on time like this. We're late in everything....from just walking out the door, to lunch, to dinner, to bedtime, to pretty much everything. I have lost the coping mechanism, as it took flight somewhere along the way with about the thousandth opened, dug through box. It seriously took us 2 hours from time of making the errand announcement to being out the door. Something that is ordinarily accomplished in a mere 10-15 minutes. But no..... TWO hours as we went in circles trying to locate stuff. It makes me crazy.

As much as I have fallen in love with our little cabin in the forest it is still 400 sq ft smaller than where we came from. 1500 sq ft in total of living space, which has proved to be more than adequate in some places but greatly lacking in others. The laundry area would be one of them. And the fact the house is completely electric and we possess a gas dryer. Laundry has not been done since we unhooked it 8 days ago before the move. And with this many people life doesn't really work like that. We do about 5-6 loads a day of just commonly used stuff. That does not include sheets, blankets, or whatever else happened to get peed or baby puked on. Usually it's 2 loads of towels, 2 loads of darks, 1 load of lights and 1 denim load. And being minimalistic out of necessity, we do not own enough clothes to get us by 8 days without washing. Sooo.....I fear I'm on the brink of chaotic brain malfunction.

So the laundry is located in the kitchen....the kitchen. I have made the best of it but the real challenge lies in the fact we have no dryer. Soooo....I am hanging all of our laundry on clotheslines, that husband was kind enough to rig up, in the basement.While this sounds a bit homesteadish and romantic in theory It is actually quite the opposite. It is entirely labor intensive. And while I embrace the thought of a much lower electric bill and not being out the expense of a new used dryer I do not exactly embrace laundry overtaking my life. It would be all we do all day long. So we compromised and I found an electric dryer for 70.00 just like the massive capacity gas one we had. I will use it for small clothing articles such as sockage and all underwearage but towels and jeans get hung to dry. But wash being in the kitchen has proven to be another massive issue to overcome. Where oh where do you put waiting dirty clothes....cause they ain't sitting around in piles on the floor.....or even in baskets on the floor. So we made the decision to move the whole laundry operation to the basement. With minimal cost involved hook ups can be place directly below their current location. I found industrial metal shelving to create the everybody closet down below. Handyman husband has finished the clotheslines and is now hanging two 8 ft rods below for all shirts and dresses. Basket life will resume and all will be in order within the world. We will resume our system, life will be familiar, the method we have found that works best for us will once again be in place and efficiency and order will once again be present.

Washer was finally hooked up today in it's temporary location in the kitchen and 4 much needed loads were done. Children seemed to think hanging it all was quite the happy experience in life so they overtook that aspect of it. But....I have never known laundry to be so therapeutic in all my life. The rhythmic lull of the washer brought happy order to life and the intensity of the last few days sudsed away in the routine and happy bliss of getting one overwhelming aspect of this move back under control.....and I feel better. Much better. Like, I am no longer grumpy due to the fact I have a working washing machine. And a vacuum he surprised me with.

Husband and I have a date day tomorrow to pick up the electric dryer, metal shelving, and the plastic shelving I found to bring order to the dirty clothes baskets. We'll also pick up rugs to cover carpet and.....more little baskets. If I ever had an addiction it would be to baskets. They bring order to pantry, spice cabinet, kitchen drawers, kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, bathroom shelves, blanket closets, clothes, loose items and everything else in life. And with much tighter spaces organization is paramount. So....we organize and children know structure, routine, and order. And my brain can actually think and function beyond the walls of our home.

Internet is supposed to be installed tomorrow, which means better pictures....and lots of pictures....can be posted. Blogging on this phone...while still a complete novelty....can prove to be a bit challenging also. Having Internet also means we can finally order our bed, since it is offered via the web only. The 1st night here I slept on the floor and the remainder we've had air mattresses. Very ready to be in a real bed again and back to sleeping with my husband. Air mattresses can be squished together for closeness but inevitably I fall in the hole every night.

So know that in my absence I'm going a bit crazy in the head as I seek to establish some sense of order around here, unpack boxes and find an organized space for each and every thing.

On the laundry note which brings to mind hot water and stuff....I find myself continually contemplating how we will manage to fill up the birth pool. With a limitless supply of on demand hot water due to a seriously amazing tankless hot water heater we put in our Texas home I am finding the tiny traditional water heater to be a bit challenging as well. It runs out of hot water in just 3 showers so filling a birth pool may take awhile. Guess we'll find out. Looks like we'll be boiling pots of water and crockpotting water like the majority of other people filling pools.

The advantages of this house....now that I've crapped out and vented about laundry and hot water.... Would be the built in bookshelf, massive dining room, the much loved deck, carport the van actually fits in...a huge surprise we never expected, and ample office space. The master shower is massive in size also, given the tiny quarters of the bathroom itself. It's large enough for 2 people to fit entirely comfortably so husband and I have happily done our part on conserving hot water.

Very very ready to find normal here and regain order. Taking the family out here is proving to be a bit difficult also as the spectacle factor is so much larger since the size of the city is on such a bigger scale. People here have been beyond kind and talkative but, when out trying to think through needs and getting organized, having store employees and everyday shoppers follow us around taking pics can try the patience of even the kindest and most patient person. I am thankful though for the kindness of this city and how the size the family has proven, so far, to be a novelty rather than entirely offensive and intrusive in people's perceived spaces. We literally stop shopper traffic wherever we go...some comment, some just gawk and stand with mouth gaping stupidly open, many take pics and/or count....but so far there has been an overall kindness that does not exist in the snobby areas of Dallas when we would visit. Granted, we've only been here a week and our outings have been limited, but so far so good, and I am thankful for that. It's not the down-home cowboy that exists at home but it's not the total aversion that exists in DFW either.

Dearest in all the world friend has planned a potluck picnic at a park in our honor after church on Sunday in order for us to meet friends, church members, and fellow homeschoolers. I love that the foundation here is being built and we have the ability to get plugged in here. Pastor has already heard of us and anticipates our arrival. Drumming husband stays excited over the prospects of getting to play again. I look forward to expanding our life here and being close to my sister-friend. We celebrated our arrival with dinner Mon night and children rejoiced over being united and the ability to play on a regular basis. Best of friends separated by hundreds of miles finally united. Now if only the friends we left behind would follow life would be pretty perfect.


So....that was really long. Especially for a phone post. But we're here and I'm content. Life is good....especially now that the washer's hooked up. And I have a vacuum.

Settling In

Truck arrives tomorrow so we'll have clothes and furniture once more. Or well, as much furniture as is on it after selling pretty much the entirety of everything we had. Children will once again have beds to sleep on, as they have been camped out in sleeping bags on floors for the last 3 weeks.

Computer's still not set up so blogging is still limited. We're off today to see if we can find a cheap, used, craigslisted office desk for it and then we're headed to Sam's and Wal Mart to pick up some needed stuff, like baby gates!, for stairwells of deck and basement. Brad and I also get a temperpedic bed out of the deal since it was cheaper to buy a new bed rather than move our 12 year old mattress.

It only made it up to 61 degrees yesterday. Windows were open all day. Trees are so many here that the sound of wind blowing through them can be heard from anywhere in the house. Pretty peaceful.

By 8 last night it was already 46 degrees. With hot chocolate and a ton of excited kids happy and content husband built our very 1st fire. I am in love with life and amazingly, contentedly happy here.

Pics on the Road

For now these are pics from our last day on the road. Hopefully we'll get the computer set up today and I can tell more of the story and do a little house tour!

And We Made It!!!

We're nestled up in the hills. Crossed a massive lake as we wound up curvy roads to reach the house. We passed 2 deer which won both mine and Grayson's hearts over pretty immediately. House is great. It'll work for our needs. And the carpet??? Yeah....it's pretty much everywhere.

We made it! More to come later. I'm a little bit tired at this point.

North Carolina!!!!!!!

The completion of nine states. 30 miles from our new home....with carpet. Pictures to come. We're here!!!

Day Three!!!

Stayed in Jasper, IN since we found it a by impossible to push through to KY yesterday. Children remain amazingly happy and are doing exceedingly well given the confined quarters of van, truck and little hotel rooms.

We're in the cloudy hills of KY now stopped for lunch. It's beginning to rain and the temp is a mere 54 degrees. Children are bundled under covers and having quite a celebration and party. Coffee, good road music an happy kids. Still having fun!

On to Frankfort, KY!

On the road again after a good nights sleep and a fun breakfast.

The high here is 70 degrees. The last day we spent in Texas was 104 degrees!!

Typed by Grayson as mom drives.

Three States!!!

Still on the road nearing MO. Children have been so good. I'm forever grateful for their flexibility and good attitudes. All 10 are happy...talking, sleeping, playing, and loving the adventure.

We're beginning to pass rolling hills of green pastures. White fences, red barns, horses and cattle grazing fat and happy. Rivers are big and many and water is abundant.

Lunch proved to be interesting and resulted in only a 10 minute prison break from car seat incarceration. Due to traveling husband having failed to put the newly acquired anywhere toilet together the poop factor became an urgent issue that now had to be addressed. Park lunch had to be abandoned and after only ten minutes everyone was reloaded, rebuckled, rekenneled, and the convoy was off in search of a gas station bathroom. Before the day is over my mission in life is for everyone to use the anywhere toilet. It WILL prove to be worth the 65.88 we paid for it. And it's hugely convenient......if we could use it.


Each baby managed to blow out a diaper and fill car seats with poop. You know you've become adaptable when you can water bottle bathe two babies on a picnic table in 40mph winds. It keeps life interesting. The laughable unpredictability of life.

Just entered MO. All of life is good.

Moving day!

10 kids, 4 dogs, two vehicles, and 11 hours to springfield. We managed to hit the road at 5:56 am instead of the 5:00 am planned. I figure that's not too bad considering the fact we're moving our entire life 1,500 miles east. winding though the Texas hills now in some town called albany, home of the hereford. Tears finally ceased with the dawn and life is good. Good music, happy kids...pretty much.... and great scenery. We'll update with pic's as we go.

Lovingly typed by Evye, who is feeling rather car sick at the moment, while mom drives.