Mrs Carter said they had virtually lost everything, but they were alive and well.
"We got out, that's the main thing." On the way out, she grabbed the ashes of her eldest son, Dylan.
"That was the most important thing - the kids and him."
The Eketahuna Volunteer Fire Brigade contained the fire.
The pair said they are devastated by the loss of their character home, which they had owned for six years and were renovating.
"We loved this house. It had a lot of old timber, a lot of character.
"We were halfway through renovations."
Hawke's Bay fire investigation officer Bob Palmer said he did not know what had caused the fire at this stage.
It appeared to have started in the vicinity of the hot-water cylinder.
Mrs Carter said the loss had not sunk in yet, but the children are a bit shocked.
She said their oldest, Joshua, was weighing up how much he had lost in the fire.
The youngest, Ryan, wanted to know why they hadn't got down and got low during the fire.
"He's done so much at school on what to do in a fire, it's sunk in."
Yesterday bags of clothes were being dropped off for the children, while neighbours lent support.
"We're lucky, it's a small town."
The children will go to their grandparents while they figure out what to do next.
