Life in the Green House...

I wanted to share some pictures of where we live. Mostly, I wanted to make sure that I got these pictures for our family to always remember our little home in India.

We live in what is called The Green House. The brown door is ours...on the second floor. Our Managing Director, Dr. Susan, lives on the first floor. She swears she can sleep through anything...and I hope that is true! Because with tile floors, wooden furniture, and four kids...it is anything but quiet up here.

 We have a beautiful courtyard outside of our home where two ducks and one kitty live. She was named Princess Kitty by one of our summer coordinators. She gives us a heart attack on a daily basis because she will dart across the path as we are warily scanning the ground for snakes after dark. There is a swing hanging from the tree and a duck pond near the wall. It can be a very peaceful place to sit and relax.

This is the view standing on our front steps...

And if I step up a couple of those stairs leading to our roof, this is the view out over the nearby farmland...

Lon and I both love to look out and see workers in the field and watch the people on bikes and motorcycles go by on the road outside of our gate. And from this very spot, we watch the most amazing sunsets we have ever seen. Absolutely gorgeous!

Now moving inside our house...

When you walk in our front door, you come into our living room. We really don't spend much time in here because it does not have an air conditioner. ; ) We have family dinner once a week on Thursdays (because Thursday is fish night at the school cafeteria....blech) so we only occasionally squeeze our whole family around this tiny table. Other than that, we eat with the other volunteers over at the Volunteer Hostel.

The first room on the right is Camry's, the second on the right is Liberty's and past that is our kitchen. The room straight ahead is Cohen and Avery's and then our bedroom is on the left past the kitchen table.  Here is our kitchen...

We recently got the shelving unit for our food and it has made it so much easier to organize. Under the sink area is a small countertop oven (on loan to me from Dr. Susan) that I pull up a few times a week to make yummy breads and such. Last night, I made french onion soup and used the oven to broil the toast and cheese on the top of the mugs.  It was divine! I have loved, loved, loved having an oven again and the family and other long-term volunteers enjoy eating whatever I make!

Here is our bedroom....which thankfully has a really comfortable bed (it's the only comfortable bed in the whole place)! The little kids are constantly begging to sleep with us. In fact, Cohen often campaigns for a rotating-bed schedule hoping to kick us out for a night and get the bed to himself! ; )

This is where we spend most of our time. The computer is often being used for online schooling or my sponsorship work for Rising Star and the desk on the left contains all of our homeschooling books and supplies.

Brooklyn does not live in the house with us...she lives over in the "Elephant House".

And this is what the inside looks like. It is a very beautiful place with all the trees and open air. Since the top of the Green House has a metal roof on it, I often come to the roof of the Elephant House to do my yoga in the morning.

Our houses are right next to each other. Here is a photo from the walkway in between the two buildings. I am standing right next to the Elephant House...and you can see on the left, through the gate, the red front door of the Green House. You can also see the beautiful murals that we get to walk by every day. Each session of volunteers gets to paint their own mural at the end of their time here with us.

It is a beautiful place...unlike anywhere else I have seen in India! We love it here.