Increasing House Size, Large Families - EDITED - AGAIN with Photos

I would like to address something Tammy said in one of my last posts.

"Wow, Justine...it is going to be amazing! I'm envious of ALL that space (my house is only 1315 sq ft.), although there is only the 3 of us, ha ha. Love the pics!"

Tammy, we are truly blessed. I agree, it is going to be amazing!! I am in disbelief that we have the honour of such a fine home!! But it didn't happen overnight, and as I look back now, I wonder if we are heading in a direction that God had planned for us along...

We began with a tiny 5th wheel travel trailer. We built a small addition of a livingroom and a bedroom for our firstborn.

We moved out of that when he was 9 months old into a two bedroom condo. We lived in that two bedroom place til our second son was 8 months old. He slept in a playpen in our walk-in closet til then. Small beginnings. Never be ashamed to start small! *smile*

We then moved into a 3 bedroom house, which was 1100 sq. ft. We renovated the carport and turned it into a preschool centre, which later became my homeschool/playroom for our boys. When we watched the Horse Whisperer, we saw the gorgeous countryside and we left the theatre thinking. Within 36 hours, we had made a firm decision to take our children to the land. We decided to rent a movie that weekend. We fell across Mountain Family Robinson at the movie store, watched it, giggled and laughed at watching a family do the very thing we were seriously considering: selling all, packing a truck, and heading out of the Big City into the Vast Unknown.  We were giddy! Seriously. 

Within a month of this decision to move, I discovered I was pregnant with number 4. We gave that baby the middle name of "Blue" because "we were heading for the blue skies". And that is where we ended up! 10 months later, we left that house with 8, 6, 2 year old boys, and a newborn baby. We packed a U-Haul trailer (just like in the movie) and headed North. We had spent the last nine months researching properties on the internet; I had done a couple long distance road trips complete with three small children, and wee one nestled inside, and scouted out possible land ideas. We had had a miracle when we approached a bank that was six hours away from where we lived and asked them if they would finance us building a home. They said yes, without even having met us. That was a miracle!

It was like God was preparing our hearts for a bigger home, and better environment for our children, before he blessed us with the next one. He kept preparing our nest before sending more children!

From that little 1100 sq ft home we moved to the country, because we could not afford to live in the city anymore. It was never an option for me to go to work; raising our children was a fulltime privilege that I was not willing to share with anyone else. We also wanted our children to grow up knowing what it felt like to run free and wild, which is why the land of Montana in the Horse Whisperer spoke to my soul. The cost of living was way less and our mortgage dropped by half, and there on a 10 acre parcel of land surrounded by thousands of acres of the Queen's crown land (free range forest) that we paid $33,000 for, we built our first home. It truly was our Little House in the Big Woods!

From the Big City to a Small Town

It was a tiny box of 28 ft x 28 ft. There was a main floor of 800 sq ft:

My Kitchen and Livingroom

The livingroom became a great room when we built on the addition, which became the new livingroom.

We also had a tiny 532 sq ft upstairs with 3 tiny bedrooms:

Master Bedroom

Landing to Three Tiny Rooms

 I used every available inch: the landing was built a little bigger to make it a Library. The landing had a 5' foot wide closet that I used as a sewing room. Not an inch was wasted.

And then we had a full unheated basement. This was hard to use in winter, but the kid dressed warmly and romped around this space anyway. We eventually added on 400 sq ft to the main floor. This was the life!

The View From Our Deck

Wood For the Winter

Country Boys Are Born

Freedom to Run

 Note the Outhouse, Minus a Door!

We even added on an addition going from our bedroom over the great room loft area. This was to be a small office, but little did we know that months later I would find out our unexpected 6th blessing was on the way. It was remarkable to us to see that we had built our baby a bedroom before we had even known we were expecting him!! This tiny room became his bedroom. It was wee tiny, but we decorated it up with childish prints and he was just off our bedroom, so it was nice. The other five children shared two other bedrooms of 9 x 9 each. Two in one, three in another.

Notice the 3rd Bed on the Floor on the Left

  As there was no room for playing we decided to built beds into the closets. These worked wonderfully.

I never thought we would move again.  I was determined that my grandchildren would grow up in the country. But God knew different. He planted a seed in my head when my husband was away in Toronto. Thirteen short months later, we had completed our second house build and moved in time for Christmas. This time it was 2800 sq ft. A virtual mansion! lol

Then we added two more unexpected children and our teens increased in number! More body, more testosterone = less room!

We still had no plans to move. But once again, God had other plans. We were inspired to move back to the country. Too many children for a town lot. They needed that freedom to be and explore again. The perfect property came up at a killer price, and it was next door to town. Everything fell into place.

And then God opened our hearts again...

So perhaps he has moved us because he has plans for 'our' children:

God gives security.

He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. Proverbs 14:26

You know, I was writing my post and this verse crossed my mind as being the perfect one to add to the blog. Why? Because about a month ago, when we had an unexpected adoption situation cross our path, this verse was given to me. So writing this blog post made me think of that verse. I walked across the livingroom to get my Bible. I picked it up, cracked it open, and it fell to the very verse I wanted. My husband saw this happen, which is so cool, because he always hears me tell that this happens to me when it is important. Well, for the first time he saw it happen!!

This verse speaks to me. I sometimes wonder if God has given us this wonderful large house because he has further plans to increase us?

Each time, before God sent more children, He prepared our home for the addition. And then he prepared our hearts for more children, because you see, we were not going to have eight children; we were going to have *four*. Once all was ready - *then* He sent the children, and we could look back and see His hand over it all.

So open your hearts to children if that's what you want, and also to what God might have in store for you, and God will help you prepare the nest. He will make it all work. Trust.

In another post I would like to talk about being able to accept the blessings of children when you think you can't afford it. Or perhaps I should say: When the world tells you that you can't afford it. If I forget to write this post, please someone, email me or comment to remind me. This is one I have a passion for, but I might forget in the busyness of life!

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