3 Month Milestone

This week marks 3 months of trailer-dwelling. **phew** We are still alive! The kids have grown out of shoes and clothes in this time period. We have learned the ins' and outs' of being in a tiny house and are feeling the pinch. I cant even tell you how excited I am to use a full size oven, dishwasher, and take a bath again. The excitement!!!

So much has happened in just the last week. We had inspection on the house and are working on coming to an agreement on the counter offer and repair addendum. Such a tedious process! We have until Monday to settle. Lets just say, original furnaces from the 70s need help... and so does the plumbing.

 We tentatively began looking at the very limited selection of homes for sale and yesterday found one that we fell in love with. Its over our budget so we are praying and waiting to see where God leads. All I can say is: 10 acres of peaceful quiet and no cellphone service..sounds crazy right?... Sounds like a dream.. and yes we would have wi-fi... HOPEFULLY more on that later. And if not, we are excited to see what God is up to.

While trailer dwelling I have invested time in dabbling in some new avenues of art to get the kids interested in it, and to find new activities to keep them engaged. I have fallen in love with water color paints and have started playing around with calligraphy and text art. Fun things!

School starts for Ethan next week! Cant believe that 1st grade is upon us.

We went hiking as a family last weekend. Holy cow it seems like the whole summer has just disappeared- most of it spent on house repairs and such. Hiking was a nice change of scenery. The kids did the entire 4 miles!

How are you spending the last week of summer???

Well goodbye summer!

If you are joining me here after I shut down my facebook, I welcome you! It has been 2 weeks officially since I deactivated it, and I can honestly say I dont miss it, AND I feel lighter and more free of brain space. Its mighty refreshing.

This summer has literally BLASTED past us. We as a family, (as you may know) started our summer adventure moving into our camping trailer over 2 months ago. This was to give us a good chance to prep our house to be listed for sale. We spent hours on cleaning, repairs, and updates/remodels, worked in 100 degree weather, learned how to (or not to) tile a backsplash and a brick fireplace, and overall just poured out our all on this place. We listed it for sale about 10 days ago and received our first offer yesterday. We were THRILLED to say the least. We accepted the terms and are now awaiting the inspections, and appraisal. Did you know that its now standard for most home buyers to request a radon test, along with a sewer scope? Fascinating. We are praying for smooth inspections and a quick transition.

Lets be real here (am I ever not?) I love trailer living. SO MANY have asked us how we are, while rubbing our arm with a sympathetic look... We are great! Trailer life is actually quite awesome. We have had bumps in the road (literally and metaphorically speaking) we have battled over the tiny storage space, I have organized, and reorganized several times over to find what we need and dont actually need, we have felt the walls closing in, and also experienced the joy of a more simplistic living style. I came up with this "you know you live in a trailer when: " segment for your enjoyment. I have had so many friends say "I WOULD LOVE to do what you are doing," or "I AM going to talk my hubby into selling everything and buying a tiny house."  This is for you, for those of you who need a little insight onto the day to day living in a tiny house.

You know you live in a trailer when:

1. You realize what a light sleeper you are, when your son rocks the whole house using the potty.

2. You become expert status in meal planning, because the real estate in your fridge is minimal. You may even find yourself foraging in your moms garden for dinner.

3. You learn very quickly that if you forget to turn on the water heater 30 minutes in advance, you can either forgo your shower that day (again) or wait ever so patiently for the water to heat.

4. You discover how amazing and quick propane heats on the stove.

5. You fold laundry the second it comes out of the dryer (score) because otherwise its blocking either the whole walkway, or the whole couch.

6. Your kids become rock-hard sleepers because they go to bed and if you still want to watch a movie, you are in the same room. Sleep my children. Sleep.

7. You text private conversations to your spouse because lets face it, there is no privacy in a tiny house.

8. You become a stock holder in command-brand hooks and hang nearly everything you own from a hook or a hanger.

9. You dont keep a single spare thread or piece of scrap paper. There is simply not enough room. That receipt you want to keep? Go put it in your car.

10. If it seems like you are wearing the same clothes every 2-4 days.... Its because you are.


Seriously though. Its not bad at all. We were able to hitch up and leave for the weekend a few weeks ago, spent some time with Hubby's sweet Auntie and Uncle, hit the beach for the afternoon, and I didnt have to pack a single thing. Talk about being prepared!

Summer is quickly winding down, and we are looking forward to where God will take us next. Ethan is starting 1st grade in just a few short weeks and Luke and I will be starting preschool together. Seth and I will begin shopping for what I am calling our "forever" home. One can hope right? ;)

Thanks for checking in. Our family is so blessed with such amazing family and friends, Feel free to leave a comment! We would love to hear from you! :D

Fun at Peter Iredale

 The kids and I built an air tram for their legos. lots of fun!

 The view from the master bed. My jewelry, spare change, socks, earplugs, hat, and everything else misc. storage.

Just a normal morning in the trailer.

Trailer Tour Part 4: finding a routine

We're coming close to the 1- month point in our trailer adventure. I have to laugh at some people's expressions when I explain our current living situation. It's really quite pleasant actually... some think we're nuts. Other than not having a house FULL of stuff and tons of space, it's pretty nice. We have a place to sit. Eat. Sleep. Potty. Play games. Shower. Cook...

We are in the process of finishing up the updates at our "actual" home and plan to list it early July.

Meanwhile things have calmed down around here and we are settling into a routine. There's a few things about trailer life that take a little adjusting to. The first and foremost is the bathroom situation. We try and use my mom and grandmas restrooms as often as possible but sometimes it just can't be avoided. This creates a bit of an extra weekly "chore" for Seth but as always he's such a trooper about it.

The other big adjustment is the obvious loss of personal space. There is no such thing in a camper trailer. Basically when the kids are up everyone knows it almost instantly. The idea of "sleeping in" is a joke however with summer here, the kids can play a bit later and go to bed later as a result.

I'd say the biggest key factor that makes this living option the most feasible is where you park and the weather. We've had a few issues with the air conditioner tripping the breaker in the house, but Seth got clever and figured out a solution. I'd prefer the heat over rainy/muddy weather that's for sure!

We're in a great space surrounded by room for the kids to run. Their Nana is just a few steps away, as is their Great Grandma. We share a lot of meals together, help each other with watering the garden. They can swing. Feed the chickens and collect eggs. Sit in the hammock. Dig in the dirt. Ride bikes. Pick berries. Play squirt guns. It's heaven for them. All reasons we were hoping to move.. we need space. Seth and I play cards and board games in the evenings. Sometimes we watch a movie (the trailer is equipped with a tv/dvd player) but no cable which I am happy about! I am actually sitting in the hammock writing this right now, and enjoying the birds and the breeze. 

Our four-legged family member has proven to be a great trailer-dweller. He's very portable and likes roaming the property during the day.

Looking forward to the following summer months. Planning to continue school at home for the kids (affectionately nicknamed "Trailer University"), I'm starting up pottery again soon, Seth and I still rotate helping with worship on Sunday mornings. And are spending "spare time" working at the house. Feeling settled is nice.

Now to get the house listed!...

Foodie goodness (and Granola Recipe)

We interrupt routine trailer life announcements to bring you this foodie message.

I've been getting asked for my granola recipe.. and as I mentioned on facebook, a good solid recipe I do not have.

I've made it so many times I just toss the ingredients and go till its the correct consistency..

So.

I'll try.

(Disclaimer: Not responsible for the turnout of each individuals granola adventure result, but it will probably be awesome.)

3/4 cup nut butter (almond or peanut)

3/4 cup honey or real maple syrup

1 TBS vanilla extract

4 TBS butter or oil

1/2 tsp seasalt

6-9 cups of oatmeal, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, coconut, rice krispies ect. Use any combo you'd like.

Melt all wet ingredients and salt in a sauce pan over medium heat. Heating and stirring till bubbly.  Pour into all dry ingredients. Mix with spoon until all is coated and shouldn't be dry (glistening!) If your mix is dry add 2 TBS of honey and 2 TBS oil/melted butter until the mix is wet.

Spread onto a large pan and bake 300 degrees for 10 minute increments, pulling it out to stir until golden brown. Let cool completely before storing.

E
N
J
O
Y

In other news.. summer is inching closer, and it's my favorite time of year for so many reasons, but the fresh produce is a big one! We are celebrating Ethan finishing Kindergarten tonight with fresh strawberry shortcake! My handy kitchen assisted Chef Luke helped make the shortcake!

Ethan
.will.freak.

I love surprising my kids and honoring their accomplishments!!

My old stomping {fair}grounds

I grew up in the country. We had 5 acres and nearly every farm animal available. I LOVED it. I used to spend the entire week of fair at the fairgrounds participating in 4-H for pigs, chickens, and horses. I have such amazing and awesome memories of those weeks spent. I learned so much, and 4-H teaches a lot of responsibility and I was able to raise a market hog and then profit and learn to save money.. so cool!  I sure hope my kids have the opportunity to experience the fair in that way someday!


Bucket Boys!

aren't these chickens cool? They are called "Silkies".. fitting.

These Polish Chickens have a pom-pom for a head

Ethan found a feather and decided every animal "liked" being petted with it... some did. some not so much.

 

Ethan and his feather...

"HI PIG"

This is the smallest goat I have EVER seen! Its a baby pygmy goat, just 2 days new!

Just a tad too short for the caterpillar roller coaster...

That is one noisy ride... Luke was pretty enthralled. 

Watching brother go on the giant slide 

This picture absolutely melts my heart.. He was so determined to do this monster slide, he did ask Daddy to go to the top with him. At the end I asked him "was it scary?" his answer "NO IT WASNT!!!"... this picture says otherwise but he sucked it up and wanted to do it again.