Thursday, August 3, 2017

UPDATE!!!! The McLoughlin Dream House/Land 2014 Edition

UPDATE: We found our dream house and are moving around Halloween 2017! Check out the preliminary post here! It's creepy how many of our requests were answered!

I'm doing quite a bit of organizing around this house lately in preparation for a new homeschool year. This year the kids will be in grades 1, 3, 6, 8 and 10 and I'm feeling the weight of my 16-year-old gearing up to head out into the world. I decided it was time to clear off shelves, pack things up, get rid of things that would distract me from my main job of Homeschool Mom.
I came across a piece of paper from Sunday, April 27, 2014. It was a list of things we each wanted in our house when we moved. I can't believe it's been over 3 years since we made that list. We are really having trouble finding a house on land that fits with our family. Or if we DO find what we could love, life gets in the way and someone else grabs it before we can even take a look. Or it's just too dang expensive, like this gem.

Thought you might enjoy seeing what our wishes are. Especially the wishes of the littlest kids in our family, who were just 4 and 6 at the time the list was made. Some of the things we wish for are very telling about us as people and what we value most! We all started dreaming of country living after we spent five weeks in Wyoming on a ranch while my husband was working there in 2012.

This photo was taken on the day we made this list. Yes, Sam is naked on the dining room table. If you come over for dinner, you might want to bring your own Wet Wipes.

Daddy, age 47
Garage space for the fishing boat (3-car and big barn for workshop)
Newer -- no major remodeling
Big kitchen (he likes to cook and can)
Covered patio
Land -- minimum 5 acres

Mommy, age 43
Mix of woods and land -- weeping willow, lilac bushes, minimum 10 acres, sledding hill
Reliable WiFi for work and homeschool
Big kitchen and basement/rec room, bookshelves, fireplace
Not close to road/not too close to neighbors
Pond like in Wyoming

Joel, age 13
10 acres so we can ride four-wheelers; climbing tower with pool
Pond with fun amphibians and reptiles and fish
Wildlife
Good neighbors with kids
Good hide and seek house with man cave

Michael, age 11
Pond
LEGO nook or room
Big backyard
Nice neighbors
Lots of birds chirping all the time

Callie, age 9
Own bedroom
Blossom trees
Calm neighborhood, not close to street
Swingset
Chandelier

Eva, age 6
Hot tub
Basement with video game place [note: we don't even play video games besides Minecraft on the PC]
Garden in my room
Live in my own gingerbread house
Our table to be decorated with diamonds

Samuel, age 4
Sledding hill with snow that never melts
Pond for paddle boating
Big Foot but not a real one
Spongebob Movie
House to be pretty with decorations