(Edited to add one more picture at the bottom) I’m joining with BooMama for the Bloggy Tour Of Homes. Visit her site for all the details.
My home is not grand or amazing, except for the fact that it actually fits all of us! I love it! We built it ourselves in 1993. At the time we had 3 kids and never dreamed that 12 years later we’d have 8.
When we first moved in, we had 1500 square feet and 3 bedrooms. Since then we have finished the upstairs, bumped out a wall, and added a dormer. That added 2 more bedrooms, a bathroom, and a family room. It works really well for us. So, here are the photos from my place!
1) My front door. In nice weather I love to sit on the front porch and read a book while the kids ride bikes and rollerblade on our driveway.
2) Where I blog. On the couch in the corner of my living room- that way I don’t miss anything!
3) Main living area. We have a ‘great room’ with living, dining, and kitchen all connected. Very informal and friendly.
4) Kitchen-I really should have taken a picture of it at dinnertime, when it is wall to wall people, cooking, chopping, emptying dishwasher, setting table, and (in the case of my youngest) hanging on mom’s leg and begging to be picked up!
5) Our back yard, complete with pool, play yard, fort, sand box, and tire swing. Tons of stuff for busy kids to do!
And I had to add one last final picture of our kitchen this morning during breakfast prep! I have one kid on toast, one on eggs, one on potatoes, one on bacon, and two on the floor!
Hope you enjoyed the peek into my life. Go visit BooMama to see who else is giving house tours!
What a lovely, love-filled home. Thanks for inviting us in for a peek. I love the flowers in the front yard – so cheery! When you say “built it ourselves” do you mean your family did the actual labor for it? If so, I am very impressed – it’s beautiful!
What a GREAT home! The front door is so inviting and the large kitchen and living area are great! I’ll get my link on my page changed to direct people here!! 🙂
I love a house with a front porch! So welcoming.
I am impressed with all those kids you got everything so clean. I couldn’t manage it with my 4! Thanks for the tour!
Love it, Mary. One of these days I want to see it in person!
What a beautiful happy home. Thanks for the invite!
Your home is so cozy and I love your big kitchen! Plenty of room for everyone!
I love your home… especially the family room. It looks so inviting!
I love it too! I LOVE your front door and that kitchen and would also like to see it filled to the brim with broods of helping hands!
Nice home. Thanks for posting pictures. When I get back home, I might do the same thing!
Love your couches and the “big” great room. I can just imagine your big brood crawling all over the place! Thanks for having us.
I just love your house! So warm and welcoming!!
Hi Mary!
Thanks for the invitation! What a lovely family home!
What a great home, my kid’d love the big pool. I love the big sofas in the living room. And your front porch is just gorgeous. Blessings.
Love the kitchen pic with all the kids. What is your son doing to the pool?
Great house! That breakfast sounds REALLY good…I wish they were here to make me some!
I love the kitchen picture, too!
=-)
Thanks so much for inviting us in. So clearly a home and not just a house! Beautiful!
It looks like there’s a breakfast tray out. Does someone get breakfast in bed?
Thank you for the tour of your home. It is so warm and inviting! I love your porch. I think I would be stuck there for hours!
Exactly as I pictured your home. Kid friendly, full of love and everyone working together. I love it.
My husband always wanted to build a home! How wonderful for you that yours is created with love by your own hands! It’s so obviously a warm and happy home!!!
ABC– yes, my son turned 12 this week, so this morning he had breakfast in bed.
And Jeana, I have no idea what my son was doing with the pool– probably just feeling it longingly because he wanted to get in
Mary
It’s just beautiful, wish we had a yard, looks fun and busy!!
Wow! What an active house! I love your couches! I just want to curl up with a good book or a great movie!
What a great family house you have! My backyard is packed FULL of kids’ stuff, too. I love your kitchen!
wow!! such a busy place! i love the kitchen. and the couches are awesome! they look so comfy!
loved to see your home! especially enjoyed the shot of everyone making breakfast. 🙂
It’s fun to see your home and esp. the kids prepping for breakfast!!! Thanks for sharing!
It’s fun to see your home and esp. the kids prepping for breakfast!!! Thanks for sharing! And thanks for your prayers for our family!!!
How fun! 🙂 Beautiful front porch, by the way.
Great home! And I’m glad you added a picture of your busy kitchen! Thanks for the tour.
enjoyed your tour! looks like a busy kitchen.
I can’t see the pics!! I’ll have to come back tomorrow. I keep forgetting about opinion Saturday anyway, and maybe this will help me remember.
I was so happy to see your son in the kitchen helping fix breakfast. My little guys help out a lot right now, but I sure want that to continue as they get older, and you have encouraged me that there is hope!
What a nice home! I love the look of your front porch and door, with the high peak above. It looks like a wonderful family home!
Thanks for opening up your home for the tour!
kim
Mary, your home looks so full of love and fun! I can’t wait to have a kitchen full of help, like you do! Thank you for opening your home to us:)
Thanks for letting us peek into your lovely home…it does seem full of lots of love! 🙂
Please come by and step into my humble and small abode…not many have dropped by (I think since I was late posting) so would love the company! 🙂
Oh, I love your home! Especially the pic of everyone helping in the kitchen. That’s what a home really is anyhow, the people that live in it! Oh, to have eight….that’s my dream.
By the way, you do not look old enough to have kids that age!!!
Blessings
Very nice..Love the kitchen area
That is a wonderful kitchen! Your front door and where you blog aren’t showing up for me…oh well! I’ll just pretend!
You have a beautiful home! I just love your living room! thanks for the tour!
Love your big inviting home, Mary. I’ll bet it’s nice to have such a spread of ages there, from 1 to 18, and I’ll bet it’s never quiet or boring at your house!! Plus there’s always someone to play with.
I covet your big kitchen, I must confess. 😉
Love to see the picture of your kids in the kitchen- reminded me of home- two teenagers and a four year old- always busy.
You have a lovely home which feels very homely and inviting. Thank you for the tour.
Bests
What a great house! You are very blessed!
I love your kitchen!! In fact, I think I may show it to my hubby for future reference. :o)
Thanks for inviting me over — I had a lovely time.
Blessings! :o)
It’s much more than a house, Mary – it’s a home! And yours is filled with love. Wonderful how you made the house fit your family rather than limiting your family to what you thought the house might hold. That kitchen is great! Mine only holds one or two backsides at a time – the rest need to move out or we’re liable to dump stuff all over each other.
Oh! And I like your new blog redecorating, too! Very nice – clean, sleek… lovely surprise when I stopped in just now.
Thanks for the tour and hospitality!
I love the front of your house!
OK…do I hate you because your house is so clean????? Its beautiful and lovely…thanks for sharing!
I only counted six kids on breakfast prep. Where are the other two??
And where are the OWLS?
Seriously, I think your front porch is beautiful. And I like the kitchen too… especially with all those kids in it!
Thanks for the tour.
You have a beautiful home, very spacious, but then it would need to be wouldn’t it? 🙂 Thanks for sharing your photos.
Your home is so spacious…I like that. Thanks for the tour…it looks very ‘homey’. Hope you have a restful Sunday…God is ever good.
What a beautiful home 🙂 The picture of your living room has sealed it for me, the next bit of furniture we buy will be a leather sofa! Thank you so much for the tour.
Love your front door and porch. So inviting to go sit and watch the world go by!
I always wondered how you fit all those kids in – what a great place!! I LOVE your front porch.
Your home is gorgeous…love the kitchen.
I’m touring a day late as I was out of town…so glad that I dropped by.
Love seeing how you live! I would adore having all that space in the back yard! The great room couches are well, great! Thanks for the tour — now to go back to stalking your garden…
You definitely have a love-filled home!! I *adore* that basket your computer is on! The whole house seems open and much bigger than the numbers you gave. Thanks for a smile and a tour.
What a beautiful home you have! It’s perfect…as I imagined it would be. What a great heart you have……you can see it in the photos of your home….as well as your blog!
Thanks for sharing. Wasn’t BooMama’s idea a GREAT one! I love getting to know my blogging firends just a little better. Now, when I read your posts, I will be able to visualize you sitting on your couch….with laptop in hand….watching all that is going on around you as you connect with so many in blogland!
Thanks for the tour. It’s beautiful.
Diane
Wow! Thanks for the home tour- very nice!
Loved your light and airy family-friendly home! Your front door area is absolutely wonderful and welcoming… and seeing your family in the kitchen was like being there with you all… Thanks so much for letting us all visit you! Blessings, Debra
What a happy, love-filled home! I especially love the shot of the outdoors. Couldn’t help but notice the young man at the pool. Is he really holding a cat that close to the water?? Hah!
Your home is just as it should be… filled with family, love and fun! Thanks for sharing that with us!
Your home looks so family-friendly! Thanks for sharing with us.
So that’s where the infamous Owlhaven lives. My favorite picture is the last one. How perfect that everyone does their part (yes even sitting on the floor) to get things done. That is lovely Mary, just lovely.
What a pretty, warm, & inviting home! Your family sounds wonderful!!!
I have pictures of my kitchen up right now…not quite a whole “bloggy tour,” but its something.