Our House

 *Sorry for the blurry pictures.  And, as always, click on the smaller photos to see them larger.*

I've been waiting and waiting to get pictures of our house when it isn't a complete mess.  Because, let's face it ... this house is twice the size that we had in Minnesota.  That means, it takes twice as long to clean; we still haven't gotten used to our chore schedule; and even if we leave things out, we can still get to whichever room we want.  So, yes, I haven't been keeping our house spotless, and I haven't wanted to show everyone what our mess looks like.  I figure that no one wants to see piles of laundry and dirty dishes, and socks strewn all over the floors.


But, I decided I would just go with it and take pictures of what it looks like everyday.  Just keepin' it real, I guess.  (Side note: I guess I should probably do that anyway .... break down any preconceived notions any of you might have about my abilities to keep my house clean and my family happy.)

So, here we go.  Welcome to my house!  I'll take you on a tour.

This is our front room/dining room/piano room.  We don't have enough furniture for this house, and I want to take the time to find exactly what I want for this room.  The piano will probably stay where it is and we won't ever end up using this as a dining room.  There just isn't any need for another dining room.

To the right of the front door, when you walk in, is Jon's office/den.  We have our computer armoire in here as well that houses our printer and desktop computer.  We had a keyed doorknob put on these doors so we can lock in all the computer/video game equipment at night.  Two little boys like to get up at 2 a.m. to play games for some reason.  And, okay, I guess it keeps me out when Jon is working.  For some reason, he doesn't want me in there during his meetings.  :)

Straight off the front door is the way into the kitchen/eat-in area.  This is my favorite part of the house .... this and my closet. (You'll see .... ha ha ha.)  I absolutely LOVE my kitchen.  I LOVE my refrigerator, and my walk-in pantry.  And, who wouldn't LOVE that ginormous island????  My cabinets are so tall I have to get out a step-stool to get to the top two shelves.  So, I've mostly put things there that I don't use so often ... and I still have empty spaces in my kitchen, which I am not eager to fill.  We have plenty of things already.

Here is the eat-in area.  It is huge!  We have put up a long folding table next to our table and we still had room to walk around and in between the tables.  In fact, this is our table extended to it's full length, which seats 8-10 people.  And, behind the eat-in area is a bay window area leading out to the patio.  Our patio runs the width of our house.  I didn't get a picture of it, but will probably take a picture of it soon.  Our backyard is just dirt ... hard dirt.  So, with our blank slate of a backyard, we have some ideas of where we want a garden and a play set and an above ground pool.  Just need to take the time to do it all (not to mention the money)!

Across from the kitchen is the family room.  It is a really good size, and I can't wait to get a couple of arm chairs to put across from the window.

Across from the big window in the family room is the way to the 1/2 bath, laundry, and garage.  I LOVE my washer and dryer!  And, my garage has TWO storage areas, even though we don't have the third car garage we had in Minnesota.

The stairs to the second story are right off the family room.  They lead up to the HUGE loft.  (I have a picture of the loft, but don't have it on the computer I'm working on right now ... I'll add it soon; promise.)  There is even a balcony off the loft, and a little computer corner nook (which I think I'll throw some floor pillows down and call that the "Book Nook").

On the right of the stairs we have a little hallway that has two bedrooms on each end.  Eliza's and Maryanne's bedroom is at the front of the house.   (Facing south, incidentally.)  They have three really cool windows.  And, a door into their bathroom.  Actually, it will be Eliza's and Maryanne's.  I haven't moved Maryanne's bed in there yet.  Eliza actually requested to share her room with Annie.  She's such a good girl.
Between Eliza's and Maryanne's room is a bathroom.  It connects to another bedroom ... so it's a "Jack-and-Jill" bath!  There is a double vanity, and the toilet/bath tub area is closed off from the vanity area.
The other bedroom connected to the J&J bath will probably be Kate's room.  We are a little bit mixed up right now because we had family visiting last week.  And, then her room leads out to the loft again.

On the opposite side of the loft we have Andrew's and Adam's room ... also at the front of the house.  They have a huge walk-in closet ... something the girls don't have.
Next to their bedroom is the boys' bathroom.  Again, separate toilet closet/bathing room; but with a single sink and vanity area.


Finally, the school room.  Or, what will be the school room.  Right now, it is Maryanne's and Kate's room until I decide whether to use this room, or the one connected to the J&J bath as the school room.  This bedroom is set up for all three girls ... this is where they stayed while our visiting family were in the two bedrooms with the J&J bathroom.  In the one room there was the queen bed, and in the other room there were a couple of air matresses.  We have plans to put desks in the school room, and our school carts.  And, this room has a huge walk-in closet.  I think this closet is the same size as our master closet in our old house.

And, to the right of what will be my "book nook" is the master bedroom suite.  It is way larger that I would have chosen had we built this house.   To the left of the doors into the bedroom is a hallway into the bathroom.

On each side of the hallway is a closet.  The left closet houses all of our clothes and shoes .... we even got rid of my dresser because we don't need a dresser with all of the shelves in here.

The right closet is my FAVORITE!  It is my craft area.  Right now I have it set up for sewing.  It has been awesome to just close the doors, be in my own little space, and forget that there are other people in the house while I sew.  And, believe me, I've needed my own space for the project I've been working on (more on that in Friday's post).

And, at the end of the hallway is the bathroom ... I had to stand in the "water closet" so you wouldn't see me in the mirrors.  The one mirror runs the length of the wall.  There is a separate tub and shower, a "water closet," and a linen closet.  I LOVE the height of my counters too ... no bending over to wash my face!
Well, that's it!  There's my house.  We absolutely love it and I am excited to know we have space for everyone who wants to come and visit.  Seriously.  Come visit.  We miss you all, and now that we have our own "bed and breakfast," what's stopping you?  I'll even make apple spice pancakes with cider syrup.  Come on, you know you want to!