Move from Seattle to Ky or TN or IL w/kids, bi-racial (Louisville: for sale)

[muddy boots]

We are planning to move from the Seattle area to the midwest/east. We used to live in a small town 60 miles NE of Tulsa and enjoyed the town but not the lack of outdoor activities.

I have a teaching degree for grades 5-12.

My husband has been self employed as a custom wood worker specializing in staircases.

We have 5 boys ages 7-11 and 3 of them are from Ethiopia, the rest of the crew are blondies. I don't want our kids to be the only African-Americans in school or town.
I homeschool 3 kids and 2 go to public school. The reputation of the public schools is not that big of an issue; we are looking for good kids, not that concerned with academics as we do most of our academics at home.

We would like to be within 5 hours of St. Louis as we have family there.

I have not been to a mall in 7 years so could care less about malls.

Having 5 boys, I would like to be close to a decent hospital!

We have horses, raise our own hogs, lamb and chicken; would like at least 3 acres.

We like to spend our time hiking, camping and fishing.

Community is important to us; with 5 kids we want to make friends, go to ball games, have B-Qs, etc...

We would like to live where we'll have snow part of the winter.

From the sale of our house here we will have about 180K cash to buy a place with and do not want a mortgage.

Any input you can give on places that might meet the majority of our wishes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

[kygman]

Muddy, readers in here are may think I'm a broken record, but I'm in Cadiz, Ky. We're right by I-24 which connects to I-57 then I-64 that takes you to St. Louis. And it's within your time limit.
My step daughter and her husband bought a 3 br, 2 bath home with a full basement (which could be fixed up as an apartment) on 14 acres for $140,000. they wanted room for their 6 yr old to ride his 4 wheeler and dirt bike. As far as snow, some is predicted there this weekend. Not like the east coast is looking for, though. Hiking, camping and fishing, we have the largest man made lake east of the Mississippi River (160,000 acres), 15 miles from here and another (58,000 acres) and the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in between. The LBL (lbl.org) is a 170,000 acre recreation area with plenty of hiking, fishing, camping and more.
Your boys will have plenty of friends in school here. They won't be the only African Americans in school. Good hospitals 20 miles one way (Hopkinsville) and 35 miles in the other (Murray).
Hope you find a nice place wherever you decide to locate. To check on properties anywhere, check out Real Estate Listings, Homes for Sale and Rental Property Listings – REALTOR.com® and put in the zip code of where you want to check.

[Off Topic]

That is an absolutely beautify area.

[spudskida]

we are moving to Cadiz this month any advise would be appreciated I am a sign language interpreter and Instructor, we have a very large family with 3 kids in high school...any advise about the area is appreciated

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by muddy boots

We are planning to move from the Seattle area to the midwest/east. We used to live in a small town 60 miles NE of Tulsa and enjoyed the town but not the lack of outdoor activities.

I have a teaching degree for grades 5-12.

My husband has been self employed as a custom wood worker specializing in staircases.

We have 5 boys ages 7-11 and 3 of them are from Ethiopia, the rest of the crew are blondies. I don't want our kids to be the only African-Americans in school or town.
I homeschool 3 kids and 2 go to public school. The reputation of the public schools is not that big of an issue; we are looking for good kids, not that concerned with academics as we do most of our academics at home.

We would like to be within 5 hours of St. Louis as we have family there.

I have not been to a mall in 7 years so could care less about malls.

Having 5 boys, I would like to be close to a decent hospital!

We have horses, raise our own hogs, lamb and chicken; would like at least 3 acres.

We like to spend our time hiking, camping and fishing.

Community is important to us; with 5 kids we want to make friends, go to ball games, have B-Qs, etc...

We would like to live where we'll have snow part of the winter.

From the sale of our house here we will have about 180K cash to buy a place with and do not want a mortgage.

Any input you can give on places that might meet the majority of our wishes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Id look at Louisville or N KY, or just the STL metro itself. Oldham County KY would be a great choice for you.