Family Like Never Before in Our Home

In my backyard it is not glamorous , we have 6 bikes.....4 need tubes replaced but neither time nor cash have allowed that, the mosquitoes are vicious, the shed needs painting, you can find some stray Popsicle wrappers, and it is muddy (not just Memphis rain, also kids leaving the hose on to play in the mud with). This is my home. In our front yard are 2 big city garbage cans ( we are a big family), hostas, lambs ear, a pickup truck, a 12 passenger van (that needs the tags replaced NOW), my moms Taurus and probably some of the neighbor dog's dinner. This is my home. In my kids rooms are shared spaces, dirty laundry, beads in the carpet, i-pods, TV with no cable and possibly a few living fish in a tank. In our living rooms (kitchen, school room, living room, dining room)are kids clothes, books, papers, cat hair, unfinished old wood floors, old carpet, one TV with Direct TV, dog hair, the yummy smell of leftovers, comfortable couches and two computers. This is my home. We don't live in the nicest neighborhood, but I have some of the nicest neighbors, I would bet on it. Often money runs out before month and groceries before grocery day and patience before fun is had....but love never runs out. Coming to our home is like camping, hot, sticky, pool to cool off in, never sure what we will eat next, kids running, momma sometimes yelling and Daddy coming to the camp site late because he had to finish work before the weekend get away.
We don't live like most of the people we know, sometimes this is difficult, sometimes it brings great joy and it is always an adventure with blessings and memories that I didn't expect.
These are the little details of the big picture, when you walk into our home it looks like a big mess in our little house.....but our lives are full of little moments, Big ideas, big messes, lots of laundry, questions waiting to be answered, 6 kids, a grandmother,one working daddy and one busy quick to correct momma that needs to play nice a little more often.....this is our Home, The Pike Home......Family like never Before.