the 5 acre tile game...

Do you remember those travel games that your parents gave you when you were little? The ones with all the tiles that you couldn't pick up and move, just shift around to create the picture. It was frustrating at first because you didn't know what it would look like or what to move where, but once you began moving it all around it became clearer and easier to find the right spot for everything.

We made some serious progress in our own 5 acre tile game today...

You see, we need a bigger living room and another bedroom. With a household of 11 we don't all fit in our current living room and some more floor space in the bedrooms would be a bonus. So our tile game begins. To accomplish this we need to move the current living room to the garage space (and add to the laundry room at the same time! Yes!!), everything in the garage has to go somewhere. So we add on to the barn and create a storage space and a shop for Brian (with a door and a lock!), plus an overhang for the tractor and attachments, but to do this we need to be able to find the actual dirt on which to build.

If you have ever walked out to our large field or to the barn you may have noticed a rather wild patch of land behind and next to the barn. Whenever we'd have some fencing, or building materials, or stuff we didn't know what to do with, it would always go behind the barn. You can't see it from the house or yard and if you REALLY wanted it, you could dig it out. Well after 7 years of placing items out there, it was pay back time. Keep in mind when you leave something in field grass for 7 years it becomes part of the grass and the grass doesn't like to relinquish it's possession's easily.

We moved all this...

(except the shed and 4-Runner, they were already there) These were all the keepers. And all this...

(except the trailer) is the dump run pile. It is hard to see all the smashed fencing in front of the truck, but it is all easily 2 dump runs worth. Most of this the kids had to cut out of the grass or pull out with the tractor. We were amazed at all the stuff we had put out there. But in the end we had...

and..

cleared out and ready for the addition. Now our 5 acre tile game is far from complete, but it sure felt good to get started! We did learn a few things: don't leave fencing in field grass for 7 years, Jonathan and Steven like snakes, Rachel still doesn't like snakes, some rope just isn't strong enough, and waist high field grass will hide anything...

Look Chelsea! We found all the t-posts!!