Thursday, January 27, 2011

Introducing: "The Admiral"


There "he" is!  We call him Admiral Columbus, or "AC" for short.  But this is our new home!  He is equipped with places for all of us to sleep, eat, shower, and restroom. :)  There is a nice kitchen, and 3 slides that gives us enough space to work or play.  As you can see, we also have a lot of storage space underneath, and we take advantage of beautiful weather every chance we get!

Right now, we are "parked" at Grandma and Grandpa's house in the country.  The kids are really enjoying the cooler weather and sunshine. Here are Tanner and Zach getting ready to go on a "Man-tracker" quest!

Here is Hannah and Emily playing with REALLY big sticks.  They built forts with the boys and ended up FILTHY dirty!  But they had a great day!  Tonight, the boys are spending the night in their fort and camping in the "forest."  :)

We are still waiting for the Lord to provide renters for our home.  Please pray when you think of us!  Thank you!

Blessings,
Steph

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Special Announcement!!

WE ARE OFFICIALLY FULL-TIME RVers! :)

I know that I have left ya'll hanging for a long time.  I am sorry.  :)  I wanted to make sure that this was ACTUALLY going to happen before I shared this really exciting step in our lives as a family.

About 6 months ago, we went on an AWESOME family vacation in West Cliffe, Colorado, at Horn Creek Family Camp.  We were there for about 10 days.  Todd and I did not have ANY responsibilities, but to play and spend time with our children, and spending time in the Word, and relaxing. :)  It was wonderful, but what we walked away from it with has been life changing to say the least!

It made us realize how quickly our children really are growing up so fast.  This time that we have with them is so precious and it is something that we do not want to take for granted.  It made us realize how busy our lives were with SO many activities and running the roads, work, school, chores, and other things that fill our schedule, that we felt that time was running away from us and fast.  I still can not believe that my oldest child is 13 and going through puberty!!  I still remember giving birth to him! :)

Anyway, since we started homeschooling about 9 years ago, I had always dreamed of doing history on the road.  I wanted to SHOW my children marvels of this great nation, (Grand Canyon, Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, etc...), and WALK on the battlefields where brave American soldiers fought and died for our freedom, (Gettysburg, Bunker Hill, Lexington, Concord), and to TASTE all the interesting foods in our culture, (hot dogs in New York, pizza in Chicago, lobster from Maine or Gumbo from Louisiana), but to also HEAR the accents from the deep southerner, to the serious northerner!

Todd and I talked a lot on the way home from that Colorado trip, and we talked about how we could make this dream a reality.  Before we knew it, we were researching RVs, and learning about this amazing lifestyle!  We found an amazing website, familiesontheroad.com and learned SO much from the people who are doing this and LOVING it.

Now, I know that you might be thinking that we have lost our minds.  I pray that you understand our heart in this.  Our motivation is to teach our children U. S. History in the next 2-3 years, in the best way possible.  Meanwhile, we are sacrificing what might seem like a lot, but in the end, we pray, it will be absolutely worth it.                            
The amount of time that we get to spend as a family is something that I consider priceless! :)  No amount of money, or trophies, or stuff in a house can measure to the time we will spend on the road with our kids.

Todd will be working in his office which is also in the back bedroom of the RV, while the kids and I get our school done and visit the museums, zoos, historic monuments and sites.  We will only travel on Saturdays for a maximum of 5 hours, so that we can prepare to go to church on Sunday and plan for the following work week.  We will stay at RV Parks, National and State Parks for at least a  week at a time.  This way, Todd can work Monday through Friday, and the kids still have their structure for the week too!  As long as Todd has a phone and internet connection, he can work!   It has been fun to see this transition in technology and upgrading, to allow him to accomplish this goal.

Well, that is it in a nut shell!  :)
Please pray for us, that the Lord would give us wonderful renters for our home.  Hopefully, soon, we will hit the road for San Antonio, TX and study Texas history!

Blessings,
Steph