We Bought a Farm: What our mud room looks like with 15 people here

 "Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up." A.A. Milne

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE our mudroom in our house. The room didn't even exist before. It was a porch. But it has revolutionized our home. 

A quick reminder: we bought a farm that we loved that came with a house. From the outside, it looked beautiful. But the inside truly frustrated me. 

I'd lived in many homes that didn't quite "work" for me. But I knew they were all temporary, and I did my best with what we had for the time we had it.

But this time, I knew this house was, most likely, forever. And that was so hard for me.

I mean, how in the world do you build a farm house and not put in a closet on the first floor?! We live on a farm for crying out loud. Surely this is a requirement?

But it matched many things in the house pre-flood. So many things just didn't work right. They didn't fit right. We'd say: "Why do you think they did that?" or "Why don't you think they did that?" 

And then we renovated. And top of my list: a mud room! I wanted a room that could hold all the things we needed on a farm. I never owned a pair of boots before we started farming and I definitely didn't understand the need for so many coats. But weather is a key ingredient in our life here. Some days require warm boots. Some require cool boots. Sometimes your boots get too wet to wear the following day. You might need a heavy coat. You might need a light one. You might need water proof gloves. You might not.

So these pictures above feature our mud room. We have eight lockers: one for each of us, one for our visitors/wwoofers, and one for the grandparents. The Kotynski family also has a section in the back when they are here. 

The other day we had the entire Kotynski family here, our family, and two wwoofers: Jacob and Alexa. That makes fifteen people total. Believe it or not, we all ate together too! That's a lot of folks. 

However, I thought it important to show that despite the pretty baskets and the fact that the "core" of this room is organized, there are days when the room still takes a beating. It isn't going to look like a perfect picture from a fancy magazine all the time. Sometimes I get it there. But more often, the room is being used. It is serving it's purpose. I mean what do you expect from a room that has MUD in the title?

Remember folks: get organized. Get your house in gear. But it has to be lived in. If you come and visit my house, you'll find organization. But you'll find reality. The truths of our life and what that means at that given time.

Just keepin' it real,

The House: Before (and AFTER!)

All right folks, I think it is time. Here are the pictures of our house inside and house when we bought it at the end of 2014. (This was the house when we viewed it the first time upon walk-thru. This is not our furniture.)

Before

After

 Before

  

After

Not completely done / mantel not on yet but basic idea is coming together.

First burn in the wood stove!

 

Before

After

Before

After

I still need to get a new pic of the outside -- not quite done yet so stay tuned.

* * * * *
I also wanted to share some pictures of our new dog kennel which is nestled under our stairs. My brother-in-law Ray was the one who transformed this into an amazing "house" for our dogs.

And here is a video of the electronic aspect of the house:



* * * * * 

Here is a video I took right after the house flood that started all this off:

Here is a video I took about two weeks ago:

TF Homeschooling: Vanishing Point

So today, this happened. I am now the owner of two refrigerators. With all our gardening stuff and all our people, I just felt like I needed two fridges in the house. There you have it:

We also had our first day of co-op this past Monday, followed up by a Tuesday of activities and a Wednesday back to our TF Homeschooling. Today, one of the highlights was working on "vanishing point" in our art class with a desert scene. 

We are using Yellow Spot for our art lessons, and the kids did a great job! You can see the teacher in the background on this photo with Ana working in the foreground:

A close-up of the teacher's lesson:

A quick snip of our crazy table of workers: 

And here are a few of the finished projects: 

Kari (age 10).

Sidge (age 9). 

Isaac's project: one of the best pieces of art he's ever done! He really got into this. (Age 10). 

Ana's -- this turned out so good! (Age 11). 

Abigail (Age 7)

Gabe (Age 13)

Another house video

To those of you who have really been following along, here's a video of our home, nearly done:

We Bought a Farm: A Miracle on Pilot Mountain

The picture below is a picture of our driveway this morning. Around 8:30am, my friend Jennifer came over. Her mother-in-law, Robin, used to clean for me, but she took a full-time job so Jenn has been helping me! (I absolutely LOVE Jenn by the way. She's a very dear friend who goes to our church and our homeschool group.) Today she came over not to clean in the traditional sense but to help us unpack our garage and start getting the house back in order. 

At 9:00am an old Carbon Monoxide detector in our bedroom went off. It started saying "Carbon Monoxide detected." It was odd to me. I'd never heard that before. In addition, the detectors our reno team had installed on the ceilings weren't going off. Just the old Carbon Monoxide detector that John had left sitting on top of his dresser during all the reno work.

I called JB who was doing some farm work outside and he said he'd be over in a second. About that time a second Carbon Monoxide detector upstairs started going off. This one was also an old one that we had pulled off the walls during reno but had left sitting on a bookshelf until we could figure out what to do with it.

I climbed up on a chair and inspected the newly installed detectors on our ceiling. They were only smoke alarms, not Carbon Monoxide detectors as we thought they were. Just something that was overlooked during all the upheaval in our house in recent months.

When the second one went off, we sent all the kids outside and immediately opened every window in the house. I called the Greeneville Fire Department who instructed me to hang up and dial 911. So I did. 

Within about thirty minutes the Mosheim Volunteer Fire Department (which includes two of our neighbors) showed up at the house. They did some research and discovered the hot water heater in our bedroom closet was leaking Carbon Monoxide.

My heart and mind were reeling. I kept thinking of all the things that could have happened. My kiddos often watch movies in our big closet. Also, we kept thinking: what if we wouldn't have kept those old detectors around during all of this reno work? What might have happened? 

Honestly, we'd all be dead -- JB and I for sure as we were right in the room. What a miracle! Praise the Lord for his providence and a miracle today. 

Our water heater is turned off, and we need a new water heater. Add it to our list. :)

My cousin Eddie chatting with Jennifer during the chaos of our morning. Despite all of this, we got a ton done in the house today, and it is truly looking like a home again!

A really, really close to finished house!!

Tension

I have seldom found myself in a place where something occurring around me is affecting me so much that it is messing with the framework of our family.

But this renovation has done it to us.

If you think of it, our family could use some extra prayers. I feel like every aspect of my life was knocked on its tail and it all started with a flood in our house about one year ago today.

I am forgetting things.
I am dropping balls.
I am making mistakes.
I am crabby.
I am frustrated.
I am emotional.

There are so many details and so many things surrounding this topic, but in the end, it's a thing in my life. It's a house. It isn't about our health or lives. And truly, even though I hate this phrase, it is a "first-world problem."

But it is still a problem and is still heavy on us.

If you think of it, we could use a few extra prayers tonight.

We Bought a Farm: Renovation update (with a bear on the side)

How amazing is this! I got to see a bear on my property AND get water in my kitchen ON THE SAME DAY!

So here is a video of our kitchen as of today:

And here is what I woke up to this morning. Abigail came running into the room to tell me that all of our ewes were out of their paddock. I soon discovered why. There was a black bear. He had already killed one of the ewes when I shot this video:

Later we would have an agent from the TWRA (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency) come by. He told us that in 35 years of working this job, he has only seen this two other times. Bears just don't attack wildlife especially in the brazen way this guy did it.

We have a permit to kill the bear if it comes back. I will keep ya'll updated.

Believe it or not, just this week I started working on a book on our farming adventures. 

And then this. 

A Special Gift

About four days ago, I hit a wall. Like a big, thick wall I could not climb over.

I'm an athlete. I've hit many walls in my life. I know that I'll get through them. I knew, deep down, I'd get through this one, but I just felt like I didn't want to try to climb anymore. I wanted to quit.

I think what tipped me over was having our stairs sanded and varnished and painted which meant we couldn't go upstairs for four days. This meant everything back in my bedroom, and a room that I felt was finally getting under control, spiraling out of control again.

It is good to write these things because writing down that it was just "stuff" causing me to hit the wall is good to see. It is good to realize that in truth, it's still a bit shallow.

People call it first-world problems. I don't really buy that. Just because I live in the first-world doesn't make my problem not a problem. If I am always comparing it to people living harder lives than me, then I don't ever have an instance where it is okay for me to complain. Only one person in the world has it the worst.

My husband was a rock star. He talked me down off about four cliffs -- and honestly, I am not sure how he even knew which cliff I was on. He had such patience with me as I considered plopping down in a corner many different times and just having a great big cry fest.

Here's what I learned as I began figuring out a way to climb over the wall.

I thrive on order. I didn't realize how much until the very thing I thrive on was GONE. In the midst of all of our moves and life changes, I managed to maintain ORDER. Every time we PCS'ed (four!) I would make it work by maintaining order. Our things, our paperwork, our lives, while in upheaval, were orderly. When we moved into a new house, it was orderly. I was organized. We never stayed in boxes more than a few days. I am not neurotic about it. I am diligent and determined.

Leave it to God to humble me yet again. How many times in life do I say: I got this only to realize Yeah right.

He yanked that ORDER blanket out right from under me. When I balked at doing renovations because I thought it was overboard, he brought a small flood, and the renovations were forced upon us. He ordered our steps every single step of the way. He lead us to our renovation team, and we've felt his guidance all along the way.

But He has let me know what it feels like to live in state of disarray.

So many times in life you think you know what something feels like until you actually feel it.

• You can't understand childlessness until you are childless.
• You can't understand pain until you feel terrible pain.
• You can't understand living away from family until you do.
• You can't understand moving every 2-4 years until you are the one who is saying good bye again.
• You can't understand losing someone you love until you do.
• You can't understand addiction unless you've been addicted.
• You can't put yourselves in someone else's shoes unless you've stood in those shoes.

I remember my Grama Huisman, a few months before she died, calling our home on Eglin AFB telling me how much pain she was in. "All those times I prayed for people who were in pain," she said, "I never really understood what it meant to live in pain."

I truly believe that God doesn't cause BAD but He always makes good out of the bad. (Romans 8:28). I believe that God is teaching me, in the midst of this renovation storm, what it feels like to not be able to maintain order. What do you do when order is not possible? How do you function? What does that feel like? John keeps telling me, "Wendi you can't organize this. It's unorganizable. You must embrace the chaos."

How do I do that? 

And in the midst of that, He gave me a special gift. I got my dressers for my room and the stairs were completed on the same day. The kids returned upstairs, and I was able to start putting my bedroom back together. It is just one room, but it was what I needed to feel some semblance of order amidst the storm. A neighbor, raising money for a mission trip, came over for a few hours. We planned on her doing work out on the farm, but the heat changed those plans. Instead, she helped me unpack books from the garage and start getting things back where they go.

Wherever YOU are today, don't forget that God is in the storm and that He will use this storm for you to stand alongside others. He is growing you. He is teaching you. He is leading. 

Be humbled. 

An Oasis

This is my new bedroom furniture! My mom, Joan, and JB went in together to get this furniture for me. I absolutely LOVE it. I have never had anything other than cheap mismatching furniture in my room, and I am so excited to have this. My room is becoming an oasis in this renovation whirlwind. (If you look out through the bedroom door you can see all the construction right outside of my room.)

So now here is where YOU come in. My good friend, Anni, has volunteered to make a quilt for my room. But I have no idea what color/design to do. Please email me (or post on Facebook) your design options. Check out the rug and wall colors and furniture colors to help me decide :)

We Bought a Farm: Our Renovation

Our mudroom is coming together. The painting is not completely done, but we purchased these baskets which were a PERFECT fit for the "lockers." We will have 8 lockers. Each of us will have one, Grampa and Grama will share one, and there will be one for guests. It's so exciting to see little parts of our new home coming together. Still a ways to go but the end result will be soooo worth it.

Falling Behind on EVERYTHING

I truly feel like I am just barely hanging on. I had no earthly clue how much a housing renovation would take out of me. There is so much to do, and I feel like I am letting balls drop left and right. I am forgetting things. I am letting people down. I am just not the Wendi I normally am. I feel like I am in the midst of PCS move (Permanent Change of Station). The only thing I can compare this to was our moves overseas and back. So many little things to do. So many things to remember. Oh and I am trying to homeschool my kiddos in the midst of this. And take care of a farm.

I CANNOT DO IT!

Wendi is normally organized and knows where things are. I don' know where anything is. The house is a disaster. I mean there are toys in my bathtub for crying out loud. I have no idea what is for dinner on any given night. I cannot even begin to tell you the last time my kids ate a vegetable when we have eaten.

I know this will pass. But right now, I just need a superhuman amount of prayer.

How we move DA sheep (and more!)

I thought it might be interesting to show a close-up of one of the main chores we have on the farm. We call it "running line." Running individual paddocks for the animals allows us to rotationally graze our animals. (To understand why "newer school" farmers are choosing this method, visit this link from John's website: here.) 

When we first got the farm, JB would go out and run all this line himself. It is back-breaking work, and would leave him exhausted and us missing him. Now that the kids are a tad older, we have gotten the whole family involved. We almost always go out all six of us and do the work in a fraction of a time. We can get a new paddock set up in about 15-30 minutes with the help of the kids. 

This is something that they help with at least 3-4 times a week on the farm. They know they will not be out there long, we try to do it when it is cool, and we give random rewards for hard workers. :)

Anyways, here is a video demonstrating the technique: 

And just because I'm already posting videos, here's one that got cut off showing some of our house updates:

And since I like to do things in three's, here is a video of the puppies opening their eyes!!

Kitchen Coming Along

We Bought a Farm: One day at a time Sweet Jesus

So the good news is: THE UPSTAIR IS COMPLETED!

There are still a few odds and ends to finish, but it is mostly done!

But with that, comes a whole new set of challenges. The downstairs is now completely out of commission. Because the upstairs wasn't completely done, and the garage was jam packed, we had to basically "dump" any remaining items in the downstairs in our bedroom or the camper while we waited to move the kids upstairs.

Now the kids are upstairs. And now begins my work of re-moving in upstairs. UGH! This is NOT for the faint of heart. 

Just so I can keep it real, here is a video of the current state of my bedroom. And this is after a lot of work. Now granted this is basically everything we have been living with for three months PLUS stuff I had nowhere else to put when they needed to tear out the kitchen.

Here is what the downstairs looks like right now:

Those boxes are all the kitchen cabinets going to be installed!

While I have no kitchen, I have been trying hard to get our camper kitchen functioning. Only thing is, it was a play area. So I have to get that emptied out and the camper set up to be our kitchen until this kitchen is installed. 

While the above has left me feeling like I am drowning, literally, there are some highlights. Like ... PUPPIES!!!! They are one week old today, and we think we have a home for every single one!

The Kitchen is GONE! (and a peek upstairs)

We Bought a Farm: Sleep Drama

We are barely fitting in our room right now. But everyone does have a bed. Why Hannah would get out of her bed during the night and go to sleep between Isaac's bed (blue stripes which are actually king sized sheets but who is paying attention) and Abigail's (pink flamingo sheets which are size and child appropriate), I have no idea. But not only did Hannah sleep there the whole night, Abigail then woke up to tell me that Hannah was blocking her path to the bathroom! That was bogus. The bathroom is in the top right corner of this photo. Abigail just had to step over the big pink stuffed animal and she was home free.  Sheesh!

P.S. We should have the kids out of our bedroom ANY DAY NOW! But who is counting!

Upstairs is (nearly) done!

Well we still aren't officially moved in upstairs. John prepared me for the possible delays right before you cross the finish line, but my heart still has trouble wanting so badly to utilize our upstairs. Either way, while it isn't cleaned and isn't officially ready, it is basically done. Check it out folks! It truly is a whole new house!

Renovation of the upstairs girls toilet/shower area

BEFORE!

DURING!

AFTER!

Reno: Upstairs ALMOST done

We have a girls shower!!! Ain't it pretty. Funny story. Abigail, Hannah, and JB went upstairs to look around. Abigail said: "Daddy, who is THAT shower for?" JB smiled and said, "That's for the girls." Abigail blushed as if she couldn't believe her good fortune to get the NICE shower. Hannah's response was "Of COURSE it is."

We have carpet!!! Here's a photo of the boys' room. Unfortunately we couldn't move in today as there is some clean up that needs to occur at the start of next week. But we are right at the finish line!

A peek into the girls' room. There is a strip of wood in their room where we will be putting a built-in!