The Wintertime Blues

     

    Hello my dear readers. Whoever you may be. It always surprises me when I check in behind the scenes and see people have been reading when I haven't been writing. Here's a little secret, I don't write when I can't write honestly. When all I have is complaints, or frustration and I feel like

everything is swallowing me up, I don't write. I make phone calls and I pray. My family and friends that I call, they know the real me . See, I've always wanted to be like Drew Barrymore. She's so free and adventurous and she goes with the flow. Drew Barrymore can make sunshine out of dog poop. I want to be like that. I'm still looking for a fictional character as neurotic as I am, but my old friends once told me I am like Monica from friends. I love order. I love a good plan or itinerary. Give me something to look forward to. I need a meal plan or a lesson plan or a guide. Order gives me peace and it creates new chaos at the same time. I love order but when it doesn't go as planned, Kristina has melt downs. Guess what? Things have not been going as planned. We are so close to the end of my husbands apprenticeship and that should be so exciting. We've all sacrificed for the past three years towards this common goal. What's killing my buzz is that I don't know what comes next. Where do we go, where do we live, can we get out of this God forsaken fifth wheel?     We don't know.   Wintertime comes and  work slows down in this trade and we have to be in a place that there is work.  The suspense is killing me and also making me a lunatic. Here is a glimpse of some of my craziness that I haven't written about.

                                                 --Potty training in a fifth wheel sucks. Poop poop everywhere eww. If I

okay sometimes he uses the big potty but ....ugh!

have to look at that tiny gross toilet any longer.....
--My  car broke down. After I had dropped Waylon off at preschool. Preschool is only 1.5 miles away.  I can handle that right? Y'all, it started to rain and I don't have a jogging stroller. I have a target umbrella stroller. Running and holding an umbrella stroller  in the rain....not a good day.
--We went to the pumpkin patch and my older boys did flips, literally flips down an inflatable slide. They nearly clobbered a class of kindergarteners.  I was so mortified we left without pumpkins.
--We've brought in our truck to the mechanic over 6 times this summer. That darn truck has literally drained our savings.
--This week our water froze on Monday. When our water freezes, for some reason that master bath usually still has water, but the kitchen and boys room don't have water. So to do the dishes, I boil water from the bathroom sink and soak the dishes. After soaking them, I scrub them off and rinse my dishes in the bathroom sink. It's been a long week.  We stayed at home all week. Ian came home from work early Wednesday and chauffeured us around. We had to get groceries and more propane. Other than that we have been on lock down. I don't drive in the snow if I can help it. I don't have 4 wheel drive and getting stuck or in a wreck with the kids is my nightmare. So finally on Friday, we braved the mostly clear roads and went to the movies. Two hours, that's how long I was gone for. The water lines finally thawed, thank you Jesus...but one of the boys had left a sink handle in the on position. They probably went to wash their hands, saw no water coming out of the sink and walked away. When the water came on, it ran and ran, it  filled up the black tank, came up overflowing their bathroom sink and continued to run. There was easily 2 inches of water in their bathroom when we came home from our lovely jaunt in the snow. The carpets were soaked, the water ran into the kitchen that shares a wall with the bathroom. We grabbed all of our towels. we own probably 9 because who has the space in a fifth wheel . After those were soaked, I went and put them in the dryer which takes hours to dry.  I started hyperventilating. After making phone calls to everyone I knew and sobbing, I rented a carpet cleaner. Ian came home and we spent the evening sopping up water in cabinets and in our vents. Our good friends the Duncan's dropped off a dehumidifier that we ran all night long . Then they ordered us a pizza. Our friends are the best.

      So what has been getting me through all this chaos? The good stuff, sprinkled in between. Halloween was a blast and Waylon is still talking about trick or treating. We went to a friends  house that had an amazing neighborhood. We let the older boys run ahead with their friends and Waylon stole the hearts and candy from everyone he met.

  

Wrex turned 12. He has been wanting a Mohawk and really who the heck are you trying to impress when you're homeschooled living in a trailer park, right? So we let him get a Mohawk for his birthday.  We went to lasertag with some of his buddies and he bought himself and ipod touch with his birthday money.


      I ran the rock-n- roll Denver half marathon and all my boys came to cheer me on. That was a great day for me.

Super early in Downtown Denver with my boys before the race

  We have awesome friends. I have a group of girls on Facebook that 's called "trampwives. "We have all lived in trailers at one point or another and encourage each other and listen to each others complaints. We've made great friends here that I can call in an emergency and they come to my aid. I have great friends in California that cant wait for us to come home. I have a supportive family scattered all over the country . What else could I need?

      It feels like the winds are changing for us . Either way changes will be happening in our household. I always have this nagging feeling like I'm doing it all wrong. My kids are going to figure out any moment how clueless I am. My hope is just to be honest with you, maybe you don't have it all figured out either but we can at least be honest with each other, right?

Go RVing!

      Go RVing! It's a sticker on the back of our friends trailer. We say it whenever things get way too complicated with our fifth wheel. Sometimes people thing we're on a never ending vacation and we say this phrase to ourselves because it makes us laugh. You have to keep your sense of humor when you live on the road...otherwise you'll probably end up in tears in a straight jacket. This was one of those weeks. You turn on the news and they say something like "Good news, it's not negative today." Well yee haw. You know you're insane when you cheer for weather in the teens! Let me back up...
        We knew the temperature was going to drop and that there would be snow. Up to this point, this season, the snow has been minimal and has melted pretty fast. On Sunday, Ian tried to gather some supplies and skirt the trailer for extra insulation. We've had heat tape on our water hose for a while so we were ready enough. I stocked up on groceries because I do not like to drive in the snow. I'm actually a bit afraid of being stranded on the road with three children in a ditch with no family around, so my motto is "it's not worth it." When I woke up on Wednesday morning, the water in the kitchen and the kids bathroom was frozen in the pipes. I was just grateful for the water in our bathroom working. Hooray for hot showers! I did dishes in the bathroom and overall I didn't get my feathers too ruffled. This stuff happens. It would have helped if our whole trailer was skirted, but Ian's been working overtime and well, this stuff just happens. The next day, all of the water was frozen. This was starting to get old. Ian asked me to go to the store and pick up supplies so he could insulate some more when he got home. Keep in mind the weather is negative this whole time. I did not go get the supplies because I was terrified to drive on these roads . So he insulated until bedtime hours and we tried to thaw things out as best we could. By the time our heads hit the pillow we had water in one bathroom. This was a huge success. Lets get some details here. Remember what it's like to go camping ? When you brush your teeth without water. How about using the toilet? You kind of need water for that. We used water bottles and at one time I shoveled snow into the toilet and waited for that to melt. Cooking is challenging without water. You can't wash your hands, dishes are piling up and we only have so many in these tight living conditions....So you can see the tension rising right?
     The next day was Friday. Still only have water in one bathroom, which I'm grateful for but still frustrated about. That's when I started to notice the creek behind the trailer. At first the way the snow accumulated was beautiful. It looked like we were above the clouds, then it started to melt in some areas. It appeared that it was partially frozen so when the water started to thaw it was looking for a path around the "iceberg" the path it chose was covering the sidewalk and creeping closer to the trailers. I was getting a little panicked but the water would rise and then freeze again. When Ian got home that night, he finished insulating and by that night we had water! Success! I made dinner and did dinner in the kitchen, we really lived it up!

This I what it looked like when the snow first fell, like beautiful puffy clouds!

    The next day, everyone was looking at the creek and getting antsy. It was definitely rising but then it would freeze into a slushy like substance. I mean how much can it thaw in 3 degree weather? We went out for frozen yogurt that night because, well we're crazy. We were siting on the couch singing duets while Ian played on the guitar...oh what a perfect life we live....then our neighbor knocked on the door. The water was rising. That was the end of our peaceful night. Ian started helping some of the neighbors that were already getting water creeping up on their rigs. Some people moved forward a few feet, some people didn't and this is what happened  to their trailer.

The jacks were covered in ice. The fire department came, at one point they said evacuate, then they said we were on pre evacuation status. We were told there would be cots for us waiting at the rec center. I did not find this comforting at all. All of my children were asleep. It all happened between 9:30 and midnight. It was one of those should we stay or should we go moments. At one point we were near the creek and we could hear the ice breaking and water flowing. It was so creepy. I packed a few days worth of clothes in my car along with the laptops and school stuff. Grabbed my insurance papers and declared I was leaving. Ian  tried calming me down and we decided to sleep in our clothes and wait for the fire department to come knocking on our door to evacuate us.
    We woke up and were surprised to see no water under our trailer. Again it was that decision, do we wait it out? Will it really happen? It's not super easy packing everything up. It's possible but it's definitely a hassle. Kids bikes and nerf guns are everywhere and we just put the skirting up on the bottom. You also risk all of your pipes freezing up in transport, and we just got our precious water back. So we waited for something to happen until my mommy hormones kicked in again and I declared we were leaving. I just can't wait for something bad to happen , you know? So my husband didn't protest, he packed up everything and we got to a new park. The whole time Ian was helping older couples get their stuff all packed up and moving people rigs for them. He's quite a stud muffin my man. So it's no surprise that Fox news wanted to interview him. He told us about it but we didn't think the clip would be so classic. I don't know if it's because I love pictures so much, or it's my husbands love for facial hair or if it's just that my knight in shining armor got me out of there. I got such a kick of the interview and I'm so proud of my man. Here's the YouTube complete with family commentary in the background. Enjoy.

This was Friday morning when the water started to thaw. Who knows how this weeks weather will affect it.

I admit I'm horrible at this!

I have to tell you, I have such blogger guilt. There are so many times when I'm taking out the trash or folding laundry and I write up a post in  my head. The thing is I never sit down in front of my computer anymore. Our little guy doesn't take 2 naps anymore so that has cut down on my free time. The other thing is our oldest boy uses this computer for school. He's reading right now so I am bringing you an update in the 15 minutes that I have! We're getting ready to spend Christmas in the trailer. Last year we went to see family on the East Coast but this year we plan on staying put. Can't wait to see how that goes. We had a really fun November, Here are some of our highlights...

Halloween! Okay it wasn't November but I love this picture , so I'm including it. It was so cold and windy Halloween. We trick or treated from 6 to 7:30. Everyone looked at us like we were  loony because we were the first ones out in the neighborhood but it was so flipping cold that I'm glad we started early! The boys mocked me for bringing gloves but soon they each had one of my gloves on each hand...So silly these Californians!

Then we had a visit from our California Grandparents! It was so fun to have family visit us and show them how we do things in the trailerhood. We went to red rocks amphitheater and explored and of course we had to take them to our favorite ice cream spot. We didn't realize how much we missed home until they brought a little bit of home to us.

I took the boys to Garden of the Gods. I would love to spend more time there. It really wasn't what I expected. If you didn't know, it is an amazing free National Natural Landmark. It was free because at one time it was owned by a private citizen and he gifted it to Colorado Springs on a condition that it would remain a free park. How cool is that. We took a picnic and did a little exploring. It was amazing to be looking up a crazy narrow red rock jutting out of the earth and then realize there's a person rock climbing up at the top. It gave my boys wild ideas.

This would bring us to Thanksgiving. We decided to smoke a turkey on our Weber. Ian did and amazing job. It was a huge turkey and not a small task. He spent hours outside basting it with butter. In the end it had an amazing smokey flavor and we had enough food to feed a small army. Which we did. WE had our friends over which meant 6 kids and 4 adults in our trailer. It worked out perfectly , it was a memory I will always treasure. Oh yeah! Also, the day before Thanksgiving I got my act together and we cut out hand prints and wrote down things we were grateful for and made a Thankful Tree. I'm keeping it up for a while. We're working on teaching our kids to be grateful for what we have. It's probably going to take us their whole childhood to drive in that point, but with Christmas coming, its worth trying to reiterate it. Also, I really like our thankful tree.

Okay I know this was short and sweet, but that's a bit more practical for me. I'm going to try to work on a home school resources page. I would love to get that going. Our homeschooling takes up most of my time these days. Its a lot of work but it's also very rewarding. Hope all is well in your hood. P.S We are getting tons of snow today.

We also made snowflakes out of coffee filters, so it's snowing outside and inside.

Home EC and Homeschool tricks

   Hello, from Denver! I'm so sorry I haven't written. I had such a great summer. The boys and I went to visit family that we hadn't seen in a while and that took us to North Carolina, Maryland and a few states in between! We came back refreshed and ready to take on the school year. I also did a lot of reading this summer. I have been totally sucked into the Voyager series by Diana Gabaldon and I'm still trying to extract myself. So that's where I've been in my free time. Last week we started kicking our butts in gear, getting ready for school . I was trying to organize myself for weeks in order to make our home schooling go as smooth as possible. So when I asked the boys to tidy up their room last week, they obliged me by throwing everything into the closet and then I exploded. In my haste, I grounded them from all electronics for the rest of the day. I don't know where you are but here in Denver it has been in the 90's and all of the public pools, mini golf's etc are closed down because Denver has already started school. So I had to think of something to keep them busy.
    This led to our day of cooking. We started off making meatballs. This was a big deal because I have a child who doesn't like to get his hands dirty. I made these boys chop garlic, measure oregano, cracking eggs, crumbling crackers (we ran out of breadcrumbs.) I admit, this day was much more hands on for me then I had anticipated, but we went with it. I had to make dinner anyways. After I made my children slave over the stove ...OK I fried them up, but they did roll the balls, we threw our meatballs into the crock pot and I let them choose a dessert to make. My oldest chose a chocolate pie out of our family's favorite Hershey cookbook. This was extremely exciting for them. Our toddler especially. One of the boys showed him how to pull up his chair to the counter. I am really regretting that they did this. He helps with dinner every night now, but the pie making was great fun. He took every task very seriously. I was trying to sneak him chocolate and he kept putting it  in the bowl. He was in a rare mood. Around 4 in the afternoon , we started the laborious task of making home made noodles. I tried this out with my mom this summer and we loved it. It took forever to make but fresh noodles are the best.

     If you didn't know, I am an extreme Master Chef fan. It is my favorite show. The boys watch it with me every week and they had an episode where they made noodles in the wilderness with nothing but egg , flour and a rock. Very impressive, so we were convinced we could manage. If you didn't know, Master Chef is coming out with a kid version of it's show in September and we are really excited for it. I'm grooming my children to become chefs. I feel confident that I can get at least one to cook professionally. My personal goal is to have them duel it out in the kitchen over the holidays and I can reap the rewards of their labors. Of course this is a long term plan....ANYWAYS!
    They were so impressed with themselves. I was equally impressed by how many dishes we dirtied and how exhausted I was afterwards. I think it took me a week to recover. I went back to reading, it was much less tiring, but I kept thinking of back in the day, when there was settlers in the colonies and parents taught their kids everything and every one was so self sufficient. Can you imagine teaching your child to survive in a world without so many conveniences? There's a pin on pinterest, that haunts me. It has ages that your child should have learned tasks by different ages. It overwhelms me, thinking of the things they still haven't mastered. Maybe not the best frame of mind to start home schooling but maybe it is. I don't know.

 
 I remember starting home school last year and after the first week, I drove by the public schools in the area to see what my other options were. I was so overwhelmed but I feel pretty strongly that having my kids switch schools several times during a school year is unfair to them. I have no way of telling when or how often we move. So homeschooling works for us. I am happy to say that this week has gone very smoothly. The programs with our online school are very familiar to us and I planned crock pot meals this week so I wouldn't have to juggle it all. My biggest concern was what Waylon was going to do, while my attention was on the older boys. Last year he was crawling on the ground attempting to get at the computer wires. Now a toddler, I didn't think he would care for all of us ignoring him all day. I received a brilliant idea from a friend. I do not take credit in any way for this but am so excited about it. She instructed me to come up with several different boxes of activities to occupy his time. I came up with three. These items are not to be brought out until it is school time. They are put away after school and I give him each item one at a time. So he doesn't get a box of new stuff in the morning, I dole out a new toy which is expected to keep him busy for about 15 minutes. So in essence I have my own little preschool boxes for him and it trains him to be in the mind set of school when we are. I have things like a puzzle, a special school snack, a new book, a tambourine, play food, an educational DVD, a hammer and foam board or Crayola's color wonder pages and markers and a cool superhero costume. On a side note I scored a slew of incredibly cool Halloween costumes at a second hand store! This approach has really helped keep him busy. Yes he still is coming up to me every 15 minutes or so when he is bored of whatever he's got, but I feel like he's staying active and at least I have something to give him instead of sitting him in front of PBS until nap time. Which, on occasion,  I've totally done, who hasn't? So day three of homeschooling has gone quite well, I'll keep you posted.
    

Homeschoolin' Momma

   

Last art project of the school year!

     Must blog... having a hard time finding the time....There's a lot of things I can tell you about Denver, but we're going to save those for another day, because today is our last day of school. So I'm finding time to write you this while the chicken nuggets are in the oven and the kids are kicked outside.
      I cannot believe that I made it through one year of homeschooling! I told my husband this morning " Can you believe I made it through without losing my mind?" He said that this was questionable. I agree, we've had some ups and downs on our journey. If you didn't know, we home school through an online program which means, I have teachers to report to and I facilitate the assignments they give the boys. Most days this works pretty well.  I feel confident that the kids are not behind in their studies and will be neck in neck with their peers when they return to school someday. I'm comforted by the fact that they're not in Kristina's school of hard knocks. If there's anything I want most,  it's for my kids to have a happy, normal childhood.  Normal seems to be questionable these days. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing but in the end,  I think keeping our family together is the best decision for us.
        You can't imagine how ecstatic I am to get through one year of homeschooling and still have my children like me.   Friends, you may think I'm a patient person, I am not. I get flustered at the end of the day when I think we're almost done and I'm ready to do a happy dance and realize we have an art project to do. I sympathize with my first grader when he says "are we done yet?"  We have had a lot of fun and have been able to bend the rules  with our flexible schedule. We've schooled in Colorado, Utah, Maryland, California and Nevada this year.  I am so comforted that we have not had to pull the boys in and out of schools with all of these moves. We skipped class a few times and went to the movies. We've taken field trips to Chimney Rock,  Mesa Verde, the hot springs, you know wherever.
      Some of my favorite moments were when Ian helped us build a scale out of gift wrapping rollers and tin cans. I remember making homemade paste because when you live 30 minutes from the store it's just not worth it. I didn't particularly enjoy that memory but I'm dang proud of myself for doing it. I remember when Wrex had to write a poem about Cleopatra. It sounded much better as a rap but I was also very proud of that moment too.

      One amazing thing is,  that in every town I've been to, I've been able to connect with another home school mom and be very encouraged. They make me feel like one of their own, even though sometimes I think I'm an impostor. They're always so cheerful as they charge along getting the best education for their children. Sometimes I feel more reluctant than the rest, but today I did get it done. If you can't tell I'm extremely proud of myself, but I am even more proud of my children, because they have learned independence this year,  among many other things. Wrex was a bit distraught yesterday when his PowerPoint presentation of 1910 to 1919 would not work on application sharing to present to his class. I tried telling him that this was  something that most adults can't,  even do but he didn't really believe me . 
     As one son goes into junior high and the other into second grade I feel that they are definitely ready for the challenges ahead of them and I pray that I am too. We're transitioning into our summer learning program, which consists of me teaching them to do whatever I want them to do. As I was instructing Houston to make meatballs in the kitchen this afternoon, I stepped out to prop the door open with my jogging stroller, because the door opener thingy  has broken off quite some time ago. When I came back, I saw him trying to stick his fingers in the can and I stopped him because I knew he would get hurt. So instead, I stuck my finger in the can and pop tomato sauce everywhere along with bloody fingers. Which reminds me, how much I have to learn and how  grateful I am that my kids are graciously learning with me. This is one thankful homeschooling mom who is so happy for the end of the year. Now id you'll excuse me, I am late for PE which just happens to be "Just Dance 2" today. Thanks for checking and happy summer!

A clay lineman for his service worker project

Science projects

We created our own time machine

A mosaic of a horse....you could tell that right?

 

 

Off to Denver

      Hey Guys! So we found out last week that we were headed to Denver. We thought we would have until Tuesday to get here and that Ian would have the whole weekend off. We thought of how nice it would be to not be in a rush for once....Wrong! Ian ended up working Saturday and even part of Sunday. When he left for work on Sunday, I figured we would just be leaving Monday. The trailer was pretty much packed up, so I had just finished my coffee date with my friends and was relaxing outside around 11 am when I heard Ian's truck pull up. It was so sudden, yet I should've been mentally prepared to go because I knew it was coming for several days, but it kept getting pushed back, and  I was in denial that it was really time to go. So I said goodbye to Tarah and Chandra, I think we were all a bit stunned that I was actually leaving, and just like that we left Alamo. I wasn't sure how far we were going to get. From Alamo to Denver it's a twelve hour drive, but towing a fifth wheel and traveling with children can just about double that.  We made it to Green River Utah that night and stayed at the KOA. Green River is one of those towns that I've driven through before and imagined it would be the end of the world to work out there, but after Alamo, I realized how many stores they had and all of the amenities I didn't notice before. Funny how that works. The next day was much more eventful . The truck had been running pretty hot the first day and an air hose that went to our jake brake had melted. A jake brake is an additional braking system that makes it safer and easier to slow down when you're towing a heavy fifth wheel behind you. Semi trucks have them too! Anyway our air hose had melted, so Ian fixed it before we left the campground. We went through some amazing mountains. It reminded me of "Thunder Railroad" at Disneyland, because we drove inside of mountains. We came out of the mountain and there was a train on the other side of the river and amazing pine trees. It was breathtaking but especially so after our time in the desert. As I admired the beauty of the mountains, the truck was running hotter and hotter. We made pretty good timing and made it to an hour outside of Denver in about 6 hours. That's where everything turned south for us. The truck was just too hot and we had to pull over and rest for about 15 minutes every mile. This was not ideal for the children, who had ants in their pants from being in the car for  6 hours. It was also extremely frustrating for Ian who had already done some serious work to his truck this year. Truck troubles are never ending, can I get an Amen? So anyway, we had been pulling over every mile for about an hour and a half and I pulled out behind Ian and looked in my rear view mirror and realized that the dirt bike which I tow on my 4Runner was no longer in sight. I asked Houston if he could see it and he said "No" so I honked twice and pulled over. Ian however, didn't see me and kept on going another mile. So I get out and we have a hauler that plugs right into my hitch and its big enough for one dirt bike and the KTM was laid on its side, thankfully not on the road but the tires had come off the track. So I called Ian, and he and Wrex pulled over and we're running back a mile down the highway while I gave it my best to lift the 250 lbs bike back up. Yeah, that was not going to happen. An amazingly kind truck driver came to my rescue and pulled over and lifted it up and strapped it down. I called Ian and told him I would meet up with him, he was so apologetic. In reality I don't think it was his fault at all. I know how I drive, I probably hit every pot hole from Nevada to Colorado and then flooring it from the shoulder to the freeway traffic was probably bound to loosen the bike. My bad, luckily nothing major broke on it and I didn't drag it a mile up the freeway, Phew! So another hour and we had made it up the mountains. Our air hose on the jake brake had melted two more times during this jaunt in our journey.
       We finally made it to our park. Oh yes our park! So when I found out we were moving I started calling around and everyone told me they were completely booked. Some people told me that even people's backyards had been taken and that the nearest long term solution was in Cheyenne Wyoming. I called at least 16 places and got nowhere. I called upon all my line friends and everyone was trying to get us a spot. Finally a guy we had worked with , who had stayed in the company yard in Denver a few days waiting for a spot for himself,  found us space at his park and called dibs on it for us. I was so grateful to actually have a spot, but I forgot about all that when we pulled up. It had been such a long day when we pulled up to our spot right next to the freeway. If you're driving on the 285 in Sheridan on your way to Costco, wave to me! I haven't been in a city for a long time and I was completely overwhelmed yesterday. Yes, I am right next to a Super Target and a Costco. so no more 6 hour shopping trip days, like in Alamo, but dang. The constant hustle and bustle which I can hear as I type this is frustrating. I was on the phone last night and the boys couldn't hear their movie over my conversation and likewise for Ian in our bedroom, so I took it outside, you know next to the freeway. Finally I went into the bathroom to finish my call. Such a glamorous life I live!We took the truck in yesterday so I'm car less. Yes, this all sounds a bit discouraging to me too. I had to remind myself, that usually when I get into a new place, I immediately find the things that make me uncomfortable but by the time I leave, I'm not ready to say goodbye. I think it's just human nature to dislike change.  Who would've thought I'd miss Alamo? Truly I don't, because that just can't be, but I miss my friends, my support, those girls that know what it's like to cook dinner in a mini oven and take a 6 minute shower using yoga poses to shave your legs. I miss them. But I am determined to stay positive today. I did have a few highlights yesterday. I went to a park further from the freeway and brought all my boys and gave my best puppy dog eyes and showed off my adorable toddler and she is trying to find us some room there. After I realized I do in fact have to stay at my park for a bit longer, I paid the rent and the very kind manager told me about a trail right outside our park. So opposite the freeway there is a trail that goes throughout all of Denver and we all went for a nice long walk last night. It was actually very serene and peaceful, just what I needed to clear my head. So I'm sure Denver will be just fine. Ian started work today and it looks like he'll have a more normal schedule and we'll actually get to see him. I've got a few leads on kids camps that I'm going to look into and the boys are trying to convince me to walk to the movie theater today. We will see. Ill keep you posted ~Kristina

Our Merry Go Round

     

    I haven't written in a while. The truth is I didn't think much was going on. I should be working on my never-ending laundry,  but when it's never ending what's the rush? I've been lost in thought today about what's happening out here in Alamo. To be honest it's a weird place. I went to California, for the kids school testing and since I've gotten back, it feels like my days have been running into each other. Ian has worked every day since April 18th. I'm sure his days are blurred even more than mine. It's like groundhogs day; laundry, groceries, homeschool, repeat. When you're in a town this small, and in a group this large, you might find yourself bartering for items.  One day I had to laugh, as someone handed me $10 for a screwdriver they bought off of Ian and I passed it down to Cayla so she could purchase some flour for me in town and she handed it back to repay me for the apples I had purchased through bountiful baskets. We have our own gypsy trading system going on here. Then we had to say goodbye to Cayla and Mike who had moved on to a job closer to home.  Then one day I was running ;ate back to the laundry room, and I met Chandra folding all of my clothes! It was a few day before Mother's Day and I just about cried when I saw my laundry folded. We continued our Sunday potluck dinners. What a neat tradition that Cayla left behind. There's always someone by the campfire in the evenings and someone always has smore supplies. There are five of us gals out here right now.  Which is pretty impressive, when you've been traveling around on your own. This Sunday four of us were walking around Alamo, exercising, laughing and chatting it up. We are all very different gals from many different backgrounds, but we're all here together  For me, it has made Alamo more than bearable even enjoyable. Not to say that every day we have a ball, but what we have here is support for each other . A line family. I find myself depending on all of them at one time or another. Not every job is large enough to have this many travelers on your same path .This sense of community , our little trailer hood, is affected when one of the guys gets injured, which we've had quite a few. Our friend sustained an injury yesterday. He almost lost his thumb. As in, it was dangling by skin. I'm reminded again how dangerous this job is. We have these people in our lives for a small period of time but these injuries can follow them forever.   Ian has all the hours and the time to become a fourth step apprentice. At this point we're waiting for that paperwork to be processed and then he can work on live electricity. We need your prayers. Pray for our friend, pray for our future.        
         We came on the road to stick together as a family and we need Ian to be safe so we can come home as a family. This weekend marks our one year anniversary of living on the road. To be honest I'm not ready to go home. I thought I would've seen more by now, done more by now. There's still more out here to experience. I may get lost in the day to day things like Waylon crawling up on the table every five minutes. Or last night he woke up asleep underneath his bed and our days are sprinkled with baseball, baseball, baseball. But we're still having adventures and there's still more to come. It feels like a change is coming. We've been told we will most likely leave this job any day. There are job opportunities in our territory and it's time for us to go back To the mountain states. I am so grateful to have experienced this type of community on the road. All of us so different,but coming together as a line family. I'll keep you posted until next time...

Spring Break

      Hello everybody. We had a very lovely Spring break here in Alamo, last week. We ventured to the closest town, Caliente, which is 50 miles away. I was hoping to be amazed by the luxuries of the big city, but ended up realizing our grocery store/ rest stop is actually much nicer here. Still, I found out they have a public pool and a train museum. Always good things to have nearby when you have little boys.
     I turned a whopping 29 last week. I woke up and did what I imagine everyone does on their birthday. Put on an outfit that makes them feel good, do your makeup in a way that makes you feel like you really shine. Then I laughed when I inspected myself in the mirror and saw this 29 year old hipster, with her skull shirt and liquid eyeliner "with wings" staring back at me. I think I can still rock it, it's just funny how I thought I would grow out of that stuff, but it still is my comfort zone. Silly, I know. So I planned on going to Vegas that day to fill up on supplies and keep myself busy so I didn't miss my family too much. My friend Tarah and I headed to Vegas which is a scary drive. It's an hour and a half on a two lane road, which is mostly used by semi trucks and trailers. So if you want to make it there in an hour and a half you have to pass in the other lane (towards oncoming traffic.) I've never felt comfortable with that. I think I made everybody else feel uncomfortable too. Not fun. Anyhow, we made it to Vegas and had lunch at In N Out (surprised?) Then we went to Costco and Target. While I didn't find everything my hearts desired that day, we were loaded definitely down on the way back. After taking a wrong turn and driving an extra 20  miles out of the way, (the pleasures of being in a new town) I was in such a hurry to get back to Alamo. So much that, I got a phone call from Ian on the way home "was that you flying by me , just now? This ain't California babe, slow down!" Whoops! If you've ever driven a long car ride with a screaming baby, you feel my pain. We made it safely back, but after that adventure I was wiped out .

Our awesome set up! My lounge chair is the one with the towel on it, so you don't stick to it. It's classic

    I spent the next two days lounging in the sun in my new classy trailer park lounge chair. The other gals purchased wonderful things like slip n slides and baby pools. Which I am grateful for, because all I thought of was laying out in the sun for the next few days. We had such great weather the kids had an absolute blast on the slip and slide. At nap time you could find me, laying out, soaking up the sun. This relaxation fueled me up for our next big event. Easter.
      Let me say how lucky these kids of mine are. We had three Easter egg hunts. We found a local hunt at the elementary school which was tons of fun. This is where Waylon really figured out that plastic eggs=jelly beans. Although, after that, there was really no motivation for him to find the next egg until the one he was working on was empty. On Easter morning we had an egg hunt inside the trailer, just to warm them up. We then made Resurrection rolls and read the Easter story while filling the crescent rolls with buttery, cinnamon and sugar marshmallows. If you've never made them they are so yummy and very simple. (here's the recipe I used http://eatatallies.com/2011/04/resurrection-rolls/ ) Later that day, Cayla, Tarrah and myself collaborated for an Easter dinner for all the guys. It's so nice to be in a community.  I think of all these guys away from their families and I think of my brothers scattered all over the country and I  just hope that someone out there makes their day a little brighter with a plate of food. It seems like the least I can do here. Especially with such little fridge space.They have been great at eating my leftovers. I think its a win win situation. Anyways, Easter was a huge success. We had a ton of food and everyone had fun munching and chatting. Afterwards all the guys (I believe Cayla had to supervise) hid over 100 eggs in our trailer park. I'm not sure who had more fun, the guys hiding them and giving out clues, the dogs chasing the kids or the kids on their sugar high. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that fun was had by all.
    We are now back at school and trying to figure out a daily routine. The stomach flu is still hopping from trailer to trailer, we're convinced we've built up enough immunities to outlast the apocalypse. I sure hope so, I'll keep you posted.xoxo~ Kristina


Houston making our resuurectin rolls.

Easter brought to you by the lovely ladies of Alamo

Our first week in the middle of nowhere

     Good morning ! I've been making mental notes and coming up with some Alamo stories for y'all. At first I thought "What am I going to tell them? We're in the middle of nowhere!" Once again life proves it's not about the destination but the journey along the way."
      Our first day in Alamo was wonderful. I woke up early and had the whole morning to myself . Thanks to my new trailer, the boys slept snugly in their room and I was able to have some peace. It may have been peace and quiet between 4 and 7 AM but I'll take it either way. My friend Cayla showed us around.  We finally have an address! I opened a PO Box, it's very unsettling not having an address.  We also  looked at the "other trailer park" options because ours was having some power issues. Meaning our power kept turning off. Not a great start. First we went to this "secret park" which was someones yard, at the end of a spooky street.I say spooky because it is on the edge of town and no clear definition of where town stops and desert starts.  Then we investigated "the other park," which was basically a parking lot, without laundry facilities, we decided to stay put. Along the way, we managed to pop all of our tires, on the bicycles and the jogging strollers. Turned out that "other park" was full of little "goat heads." I wasn't familiar with these pokies before, but after pulling out a few hundred of them and patching all six tires, now I know what they are! After our serious threat to leave the RV park,  the owners fixed our electrical problems. I would say this in itself was enough excitement for a day, but  that evening,  Waylon started throwing up. I've never had a one-year-old throw up before,  it's awful. They don't seem to know when it's coming, (or they do and can't tell you)  so you really just aim them at things. The stomach bug spread to everybody except for me for which I am eternally grateful. This gave me the opportunity to really get familiar with the towns laundry mat. I've spent $40 on laundry this week. With half the town's laundry machines out of order, it was a miracle that I have clean linens. Poor Ian came home sick on Wednesday with those dreaded words "your son got me sick." These poor guys, whatever they had,  it sounded terrible. Horrible noises coming from both bathrooms. Somehow I survived! Shuffling crackers to one room  and gatorade to the other.   Everyday I love my trailer more and more . It is so much more livable,  there is so much more space and  I am so grateful that my husband bought  this for me. In fact I feel quite spoiled!

    My friend Cayla, took the opportunity to quarantine her family and left the city! Actually, they left because her husband finished his apprenticeship. She is now officially married to a journeyman which gives all of us a glimmer of hope. It's so wonderful to see someone finish this apprenticeship. It is proof that the hard work and sacrifices will pay off. We are so happy for them. So they left town for a bit to get his Journeyman's ticket. I was so relieved when they came back. For a moment I thought we had lost them! If it wasn't a blizzard in Salt Lake, who knows if they would've come back! So  by Saturday, I had a little break in the action and Cayla and I were able to run a 5K in honor of the victims of Sandy Hooke. It was so fun to have a running buddy. She is definitely more compatible and more fun ,as a running partner than either my brother (sorry Nate) or Ian. ( He already knows this.) We had a few days here in the 60s but most of the week has been in the 70s. Which didn't seem like a big deal until I started seeing reports of Salt Lake and Colorado . Sorry friends out there, stay warm!

      I also got to pick up my first basket of fresh fruits and veggies on Saturday morning from bountiful baskets. Cayla forewarned me that the grocery store had slim choices for fresh produce. I'm so grateful that she was able to figure this stuff out ahead of my arrival, I feel so lucky. There was a little drama with the produce truck not arriving on time and I had to make three separate trips to the elementary school which isn't a big deal because I'm right down the street. and I don't have a lot to do. We  got all sort of goodies like pineapple, bananas, tangerines, grapefruit, Chinese cabbage and a box of sugar cookies to  decorate for Easter! In Alamo you really do need to plan ahead. I found this out when the grocery store ran out of bread. So signing up for bountiful baskets to receive fresh fruit and veggies a week ahead of time seems like a necessity.

        On Sunday we got a new family into the park. The boys are so excited to have some kids around here. The timing is perfect because we're on spring break and we need some entertainment! Ian was lucky enough to get off early yesterday ( he's working seven days a week, 12 hour days) and was home around five. Then we got to witness this really neat tradition that the guys in our park on Sundays call family dinner. ( I'm pretty sure Cayla actually started it.) I was caught off guard and you know how I like to plan, but sure enough at 5 o'clock, food started coming out of the trailers and everyone asked if we were ready for dinner!  I was not as I was up to my elbows in Chinese cabbage. So I whipped together a Chinese chicken salad and went out to feast on smoked pork loin, pasta salad and watermelon. I am so impressed that they get together every Sunday. It was so fun seeing all the guys hang out and enjoy each others company. Afterwards the guys all started playing poker and Houston  moved in on them. Luck was on Houston side and the boy cleaned house with those guys. We finished the evening off by enjoying a new recipe from the Pioneer Woman. If you haven't made her Apple dumplings they are a must! They have a secret ingredient (its Mountain Dew) Sounds weird, I know, but it was incredible yummy and easy to make. So we ended up having a pretty good,  entertaining week in the middle of nowhere.  Now we're ready for our second week. Let's hope everyone is healthy!

I am woman, hear me roar. I had to patch my own tires, because Ian is working every day, used 3 tubes of slime, but I got the job done!

 

Apple Dumplings! Imagine this warm gooeyness with vanilla ice cream. I should've taken a picture when it was plated, but we were hungry and it smelled soooo good!

The Mad dash to Alamo

     Hey friends ! We're still waiting it out in Salt Lake. I'm happy to report that we have been having sunny weather in the mid 50s. It's funny how the 50s feel so cold in Southern California but in Salt lake it's short sleeve weather! We've been keeping ourselves entertained with the local skate park and luckily there are a lot of kids in our rv park.
     Wrex and I went to see nick Vujicic on Saturday. What an inspirational man. He started the ministry "Life without limbs" He was born without arms or legs but he uses his story to encourage others. I thought it would be a neat experience to bring Wrex and I was able to get two tickets just  for us. While Wex did enjoy it he was more concerned about "how our date was going."  To learn more about Nick look here http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/


End of this entry and starting over......

      Well the day after I wrote this Ian  received a call to work. They sent us to Alamo Nevada. We had been browsing at new fifth wheels and decided if we were going to be spending the summer in the desert we needed to upgrade. So as crazy as it was we moved all of our stuff into a new fifth wheel ( with a huge kids room in the back) and got on the road headed for Alamo.  It would be surprising if you have ever heard of Alamo Nevada. They're only 1070 residents here. The grocery store is half gas station, but it's the closest town to area 51. This would probably be a very difficult place to be in if it wasn't for another line wife Cayla. Cayla's blog inspired us to live on the road and it is such a treat that we get to be with her, on her families last leg of this journey.Cayla has some pictures and fun facts about Alamo on her blog but discalimer, her pictures make it look way cooler than it actually is. So don't all go buying plane tickets at once. http://livinthelifeofalinemanswife.blogspot.com/2013/02/alamo-nv.html
    It's been a little hard getting time to write because as soon as we got here Waylon got sick.  You would think with my family being isolated on the road that we would be imune to all those germs out there, but it seems like the stomach flu has hit us again.

      They have Ian working 12 hour days and there's rumor that they will soon be working 14 hours a day.  He couldn't be happier to be back at work. He comes home with a goofy grin on his face every day. I am still busy unpacking, homeschooling and taking care of sick kids. But I can tell you this,  I am so happy that we have our new trailer.  This would be an extremely difficult town to be in, if we didn't have more room in our trailer . Ian describes this part of the desert as "the Hills have eyes" kindve desert.  It's very desolate and already pretty warm. So I think we will be spending most of our summer inside. I'll tell you more as it unfolds and as soon as I get back on my feet. ~Love Kristina

Keeping Busy

      Two months is an eternity to be out if work! I'm use to coming up with things to keep the kids busy and  look forward to but my new job is to come up with family activities to keep us all busy. I'm sure it's going to be an adjustment when Ian does get "the call." Who will help with the  laundry and dishes . Ian has taken on the task of organizing.... everything. Something I will never be able to keep up on. It's true what they say, "many hands makes the work load light " and due to this we've had extra time on our hands. Our first adventure started with the best of intentions of my husband. I have been complaining about my jogging stroller tires being flat since October. I tried repairing it myself and lately I've decided just to upgrade and find something on Craigslist . After going to several bike shops though, finally someone offered some help on upgrading the tubes and Ian got to work on it. I was so happy to get my stroller back and wanted to show my appreciation. It has been in the low 40s and they kept saying it would snow but it wasn't coming. So I bundled Waylon up in 2 shirts and a snow suit. ( let me reiterate , the skies were clear and had been for days) We started out on our run and he had a warm bottle , a pacifier and a blanket, just for comfort . Everything was great for the first 25 minutes, but then the wind picked up. Waylon started crying and the blanket kept falling off. I was so close to home, I couldn't see calling Ian. I figured I could run home in the time that he loaded the boys into the car and found me. So needless to say, I started running (faster) , the temperature dropped a bit and my fingers were freezing so I can only imagine poor little Waylon's. We lost the bottle and the pacifier. I think it was the fastest mile I've run yet . We got back to the park and I couldn't unbuckle my screaming child because my frozen fingers wouldn't work. So I pounded on the trailer door. Ian pretty much laughed at me and told me I was insane. He said Waylon wasn't cold to the touch , he was probably just scared. I promptly shut myself in the bathroom and cried, until I realized that Waylon wanted me! What a gift that children trust their parents. A gift sometimes I feel I don't deserve . So we bundled him up in a blanket and gave him a warm bottle because I was convinced he was freezing. He went right to sleep. At that moment, Ian opened the front door and we saw quite a snow storm hit. In only a few minutes the jogging stroller was covered in several inches of snow. We have had the nicest weather but it can change very suddenly. As this story shows. It felt like a huge momma fail.
    On Monday we celebrated Houston's 7th birthday. Yes, all of our birthdays seem to be around the same part of the year, we're almost done with birthday season over here, just have to celebrate mine at the end of the month and then we'll be good til November. We wanted to make his birthday special but being on a budget we were kinda winging it. We decided to get him a new bicycle because the one he had was way too small and it's a great activity to do when you live on the road. It could hardly have been a surprise to him, because we took him to bike shops all weekend long having him try this one and that one. So Sunday night, I decorated the trailer with party decorations and he woke up to his favorite breakfast, buttered croissants on angry bird plates and his new bike! We finished our school work and then decided to go to an indoor rock climbing gym. Houston is a spider monkey. He was up and down the walls like a pro. Were looking at a future lineman in that boy.Wrex went up a few times just to prove he could, but he wasn't that into it. This gym was no joke, they gave Ian and I a tutorial on tying the knots and all of the proper procedures (I didn't climb but I learned all the stuff so I could be at the bottom with the ropes. (Sorry I don't know all the terms, I was just happy to be there and learn a figure eight knot.) Houston went up so many difficult wall climbs that I'm pretty sure he pushed Ian to do more than he would've done. You can see a friendly father son competition budding between the now seven year and his dad. After that we grabbed some In N Out (birthday boys choice) and we went home to play some new board games. We had a great, corny, old fashioned birthday dinner . We ate homemade fried chicken, again not my choice to make in a trailer, but it was the birthday boys request. We ate chocolate cake and played cards. All in all it was a really fun day .
        We were lucky enough this week to have a friend watch our kids for us so we could have a date night . We went to see "Silver Linings Playbook " which I enjoyed but the movie theater was something I had never experienced . First of all the movies were way cheaper than back home but once you're inside they have restaurants ( that's right several) and you could take a meal into your movie. How cool is that ? We had fun and got some great grub at Cafe Rio. Which is outside of the theaters.  I wasn't ready for that whole eating in the theater experience. Next time we'll have to get there a little earlier.  A big thanks to my friend Jen for making that happen. .
     We also found a neat little skate park near us. Perks of being home schooled is that it was pretty much empty and we are now declaring that our official spot for PE. I think it was just as good to get my husband out and moving as it was for the little boys
     So you see, we've been keeping busy. Ian gets really antsy if we don't keep our day filled. Poor guy is bored out if his mind. Hopefully I'll be posting that we're back to work soon, but until then, here are some pictures from our week.

Keeping my man busy at the skate park...yeah he's still got it

Clue, is one of my favorite board games! LOVE!

Sometimes I impress myself, with what we accomplish in this ity bity kitchen.

Just a warm up free climb

Dad is whipping these kids into shape, they are doing dishes nightly. ( I didn't say they were happy about it)

Look how big that snow bank is compared to him!

It is NOT always sunshine and roses over here. In case you got that impression...

       We made it to Salt Lake. Driving away from Durango was bittersweet. I was so sad to leave behind my friends and the town which I have called home for the past seven months, part of me felt like I was getting uprooted and I had to keep telling myself that "this is the deal, the plan was never to find a mountain town and get settled in, but to travel as a family on the road, exploring new places." So with a deep breath , we drove away. This time the truck pulled the fifth wheel with no problem. When we moved in the summer, we had issues with the truck overheating but due to the cold weather and hopefully all the truck repairs we went through this summer, we had no problems. The drive from Salt lake to Durango this summer (towing the trailer) took us almost 10 hours, but this time we made it in 7 1/2 hours. Which was much better, but still really uncomfortable in my vehicle. Waylon really didn't get why we were stuck in the car for so long and I kept holding Wrex or Houston hostage in my vehicle to keep Waylon entertained. It didn't take long for either of them to plead with me to go back to dad's truck. After a very long day we got to our new park at 7:50pm. The office was open till 8 which I thought was cool. So we got our spot number and went to settle in. I helped Ian back in and then took his phone (because mine was dead) and navigated the boys to the nearest In N Out. We thought it would be best if Ian could get things set up while I got dinner. It was just after 8 by then and we were all famished. So I came back with two double doubles only to find a disgruntled husband. Apparently, they had put us in a spot rated for a 50 watt plug in and we have a 30 watt. He ran to the office before they closed and they gave him an adapter, but when he got back to the trailer he saw they gave him the wrong one. So he went back to the office, but they had closed up and gone home. I'm sure he would've at this point made a few phone calls but guess who had his phone? That's right, this girl, who was taking her sweet time munching on In N Out. Yep, totally my style. So I came back and Ian let me in on our troubles, we had it all set up but no electricity. This might not be a huge problem for some, but here was my issue. Our heater runs on propane, but the heat doesn't distribute evenly throughout the fifth wheel. The heat is concentrated to mainly our bedroom and trickles throughout the fifth wheel. So usually, Ian and I are either sweating or trying to block off our vent, in hopes that the other vents will have more heat pushed through. To keep the kids warm, they have heating blankets and an electric heater in their room and they are always nice and toasty. Without electricity though, we would be depending on the propane heater to keep everyone warm.  Since we had been on the road all day, as it was, you could see your breath in the trailer. So I decided right then that there was no way we could heat the trailer enough for the kids to be comfortable. So we pulled up "kayak" and found the cheapest motel near by and checked into the Comfort Inn. Ian and I were a little frustrated with the turn of events but Waylon was more than happy to stroll around the motel room. In fact that's what he did for a few hours and when we tried to put him to sleep in the porta crib he resisted. It was a pretty restless night for Ian and I, Waylon kept fussing and by 6 am, I was up with Waylon at the continental breakfast.


Ian's art project

     A few hours later, Ian went to the trailer to start thawing things out. Since we left everything closed the night before, everything was frozen, pipes, tanks and a lot of our food. Did you know when banana's freeze, they turn brown. It also ripens them up. I left them slightly green and came back to ripe frozen bananas. Anyway, to add a bit to our frustration the trailer had a few issues. The "landing gear" the automatic jacks that you put down when it's parked, blows fuses every time its used which really ticks Ian off. More importantly our fridge was acting up before we left Durango and now it simply isn't working. It's cold enough in these parts where it is not warm inside the fridge but I wouldn't say it's cold and the freezer is just not happening. So all in all my attitude was poor yesterday. I felt like I was waking up from a dream,  telling myself "what are you doing? are you really living in a trailer, on the go every couple of months?" I had to take a deep breath and make some banana bread. Really, what else was there to do? Over the course of the day, Ian thawed things out, and I watched suspiciously. His attitude was peculiarly upbeat. I spent the rest of the afternoon, teaching Wrex about dividing decimals and Ian, eventually bored out of his mind, started coloring. I should mention that Waylon took a nice long nap yesterday. He was exhausted from the previous day's events. Houston  was all caught up on school and enjoying a "Magic School Bus " marathon. By the end of the night we had picked up a pizza, since the fridge doesn't work and pizza is super easy for dinner when you're living in the city again. We ended up having some good, quality family time due to the fact that this park doesn't have a cable hook up. Which reminded me of the reason we moved in to this situation in the first place. To be a family. So the fridge will hopefully get fixed soon. Ian is still waiting on the next call but I hear the voice of a warmer place calling my name....we will see.

Yes He's Bored