Somewhere For the Bunch!

Did I say we were renting?

Yep, we are renting a great 5 bedroom house but with so many kids we needed to make a decision about our ongoing living arrangements. Paying off someone's mortgage is definitely not my long-term cup of tea!

With a need for multiple living areas and 6 bedrooms, it came down to the two choices that many of us homeowners face...buy or build.

We have lived in the area for more than a decade and our children are more than settled into the community and school routine. Looking outside of Point Cook was not an option for us, so we hit the usual online real estate websites and talked to the local agents.

After looking around our area for a while and discovering that 6 bedroom houses don't grow on trees, my partner-in-crime and I decided that the real estate gods just didn't love us. This was despite the promises from the estate agents that something would turn up (and the occasional sacrificial offering to appease the gods in our quest). Nothing that met our requirements eventuated.

Goodbye established house hunt and hello land.

With the house hunting at a dead end, we turned to the usual suspects again, this time for land. After a few quick setting adjustments for minimum land size, we were off and gazing at the local land for sale. 

The land gods were obviously happy with us because we found an amazing block of land almost instantly.

It was big by land standards in Point Cook today - 750 square metres and within the confines of the amazing Alamanda Estate.

To be honest we were amazed the block was on the market. We soon discovered it was an old block from one of the initial stages that was surplus to the needs of a big volume builder. They had sat on this block for a number of years. They were now off-loading it and several others in the same street. 

We were convinced we had hit the jackpot with its close proximity to the Alamanda Resident's Centre, complete with heated pool and gym. Having fibre optic broadband deployed in Alamanda Estate was another massive bonus, not to mention the amazing parks through-out the estate. We knew the kids would be wrapped with this location, the amenities and the super fast internet.

We were quickly on the phone to the agent who had listed the block (we were well aware that others would be circling) and within a day we were inside his office paying the deposit.

About 10 days later we were back in the agents office to sign the contract. It was such a quick and easy experience. Within two weeks we had found and secured our dream block of land!

NOW WHAT TO BUILD ON OUR DREAM BLOCK OF LAND?

Not Quite The Brady Bunch...

"Here's the story of a lovely lady..."

 

 

I am sure many of us could recite the opening theme to, "The Brady Bunch". Being a cult classic that showed us all the trials and tribulations of Mike and Carol Brady and their 6 kids, it was a program that I watched regularly as a youngster. The Brady Bunch was fun and chaos mixed in with a few proactive parenting tips, moral dilemma solutions, teen angst crises and of course loving parents who were always there for the children no matter what. It was a great show in my book...a show that tackled something very poignant, particularly in this day and age - that of blended families.

This is where I come in. 

I am in a blended family with a beautiful, loving, brilliant and amazing woman. We have brought our children together to live under one roof - well 50% of the time anyway.  Being a blended family of four children from our previous relationships was fantastic but we felt our lives were not complete. My partner and I decided we needed more chaos, love and excitement in our lives...so we decided to have a child of our own together!

Recently we welcomed into the world our beautiful bundle of joy and latest little man, Lucas. With 5 children now we are NOT QUITE THE BRADY BUNCH but we are close! 

Bringing two sets of children together under one roof can be challenging for everyone, but it is tempered by the immense joy and excitement that living together can bring. With children ranging from our newborn to thirteen years of age - 3 boys and 2 girls, our place is never dull or quiet!

Did I say never quiet?
 
With four older children running around, TVs blaring with Abbie Lee Miller's voice from the latest episode of Dance Moms, Master Chief's gunfire and explosions on the Xbox, the chuckles of an eight year old who has just made a disgusting slime ball from his crazy scientist kit, and the thump of two girls who spend most of their day upside down doing walk-overs (unless they are watching Dance Moms), having so many kids is a noisy experience!

Thank goodness we live in a great five bedroom house with multiple bathrooms and living area to accommodate our tribe. It serves us well in terms of space. However the acoustical properties are sadly lacking...anyone who has woken to the sounds of a child sprinkling in the toilet above your bedroom will surely tell you it is one of life's joys. And one more thing. Did I mention it is only a rental?