Welcome!

I'm Tonia and this is my family. There's Hubs, my wonderful partner; Bug, my darling daughter; and Boo, my charming son. We are the Collins clan. We are a homeschooling family who try our best to live out God's will for our lives every day. There are lots of stumbles along the way, but we love each other and this little life we're carving out for ourselves. Recently we found ourselves called to make some big changes in our lives so we're packing up the McMansion and moving out to a little farm in need of a lot of TLC. We have tons to learn and tons to do and we invite you to share the journey as we turn our not-so-new heap into a home.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Heap

Here they are- the pictures you all have been waiting to see! The Heap is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath farmhouse south of Paola, Kansas. It was originally built in the 1920's, but appears to have had two additions over the years. We don't know much about it because it was a foreclosure and the bank knows nothing about it, or so they said in the many, many papers they made us sign stating we understood that they know NOTHING about it. We will have to have different folks out to look things over and let us know what things are functioning properly and what things aren't.....like the septic tank, for instance, but that is a different post completely.


The "front" of the house leaves a bit to be desired. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to "hide" the electric meter hanging right next to the front door....guess I'll have to get creative. Here we hope to add a wrap around porch and some flower beds.


When you walk in the front door you enter a large room that will be our living and dining areas. We're rockin' some beautiful orange carpet right now, but that will soon be gone. Underneath we've seen glimpses of hard wood....we're hoping it's all in good condition and can be refinished. The house does have central heat, but not air currently-only a window unit and an attic fan. I am of the opinion that this situation is priority #2, right after the septic tank- the Hubs is a little less concerned. Luckily, I sorta have the Hubs wrapped around my little finger so I expect we'll be having an air conditioning unit installed pretty shortly.



There are two bedrooms currently. The kids have chosen the first one as their bedroom (that'd be the one with the "pretty" brown and orange carpet) and the second one will house the Hubs and I for awhile. Once we get the third bedroom done we'll move there and bedroom number two will become our schoolroom/office. That's right folks, the kids are sharing a bedroom....permanently. Don't fret, I intend to make them an option for some privacy, but gone are the days of locking each other out of their bedroom......should be an interesting transition we're gearing up for.



There's only one bathroom, but it's a good size, with lots of storage space. It will be an adjustment for us to share one bathroom, for sure, but I'm confident we can do it. Bug took one look at the shower/tub today and said, "We ARE replacing that, right?" Yep, sure are, but it may be awhile.....



The kitchen is small, with a lot less counter space than I'm accustomed to. It is also weirdly mismatched and well, just gross. A good scrubbing will make it usable, but the plan is a total remodel at some point. This is one of those places where the change has hit me hard. We don't have room for special dishes and kitchen tools and gadgets that get used rarely so I've had to put my big girl panties on and get rid of all of my former catering and hostessing life. I am mostly at peace with it. Mostly.




There is a space beyond the kitchen that has been framed out, but not completed. One side of this space will be the third bedroom and the other will be a laundry room and pantry area. Hopefully we will one day be able to put a mudroom/porch off the back door so the outdoors isn't tracked immediately indoors.





Outdoors are where things get really exciting. We are on almost 3 acres and we have 3 different outbuildings already in place. They are all in decent to excellent condition. One is the garage/storage building, one is an outbuilding we plan to convert to a chicken coop, and one is a loafing shed that will probably shelter some sort of animal on one side and a small garden tractor on the other. There is room for a large garden and fruit trees too. And, of course, there is the kids' favorite part of all.....the little pond that is currently home to little frogs and crawdads and will soon have a few ducks hanging out as well. And, oh yeah, there's a greenhouse! I'm going to have to figure out where to get replacement panels since some of them are broken or missing completely, but I'm super excited that I'll have a greenhouse!

So, there it is....our little Heap. We are pretty excited and ready to get to work, but first we have to finish packing up the McMansion....more on that later!


Tonia


11 comments:

  1. Does it have a basement? I am so excited for you!! I have vision and know you can decorate. It will be just perfect I am sure!! :) Congrats!

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    1. It does have a basement Jennifer, but only a cellar type one....it'll be perfect for storing canned goods and harvest from the garden, but it will never be a living space.

      I'll have to show you my "dream book" sometime soon! I've been collecting all my ideas in a scrapbook of sorts so when we start work I can remember what I want to do. :)

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  3. I thought the heap was an Earth Home. I can't wait to see it in three years.

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    1. Nope, we didn't get the Earth contact home- thankfully! While this home needs a lot of work it doesn't even begin to compare to that one!

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  4. Tonia, it has so much going for it! A greenhouse... Mike will be jealous. :) Sounds like you have the makings of a perfect mini-farm on your hands! Will be so much fun to watch its transformation. What about a wreath on the front of the house? Or would it stick out too much over the meter?

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    1. Yep, a little homestead! I have grand dreams of supplying everything we need and never going to the grocery store- we'll see how close I can get to that!

      Hmmm.....a wreath, but not on the door? I'll have to think on that!

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  5. Sounds like a wonderful life if you have the patience for it! :-)

    I do encourage you to look down the road toward the kids having their own rooms further in the future. It's just an all-around good idea for opposite gender siblings, for a number of reasons.

    Good luck on your new adventure!

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    1. Thank you Melanie!

      We'll see how the room sharing goes. I know it is a bit scandalous these days for different gender kids to share rooms, but once upon a time it was perfectly normal and lots and lots of kids grew up without any undue damage. We are open to taking a different direction if we absolutely need to though!

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  6. I love it, Tonia! I admire your ability to die to what we think we "need" and embrace a different life depending on God! I'm so excited for you guys! I like that you are making the kids share a room and you are exactly right...people did that for years and years! I think they will be fine! I am so excited to see all the transformation...both on your house and in your hearts! So awesome! We hope to do the same some day! Thanks for sharing your journey!

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    1. Thanks Tammi! Honestly, I have zero ability to do this without some serious equipping from God. Thankfully I know He is up to the task!

      Maybe someday I'll get to see your journey into the unknown too- that would be fun!

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