Two years ago, just before we came to California, the kids had a Christmas concert, we had several family events, a ward Christmas party, added to the chaos of preparing to move.  What a crazy experience!  One year ago we had our first Christmas in an RV and we went to Legoland with our soon-to-expire membership.

Yesterday?  Not much at all.  It was kind of nice.  We celebrate St. Nicholas day on December 6th, which is when Santa fills our stockings.  This year we were at Michael’s parents on the holiday and they were very generous with our children giving them lego sets and a few other toys.  We are still looking forward to Three Kings day when the wise men bring the children toys from Mom and Dad.  I suppose I’ll do some shopping for that event sooner than later, but I haven’t worried about it yet.  We celebrate Christmas by eating delicious food and honoring the Savior as well as learning a bit about the winter solstice and the history behind winter celebrations.

This year we didn’t go to any church or company parties.  No extended family Christmas events because we are far away.  Not even any last-minute Christmas shopping.  We just drank our egg nog and hung out at the campground.  There were several Christmas events we could have gone into town for but we didn’t.  There were pot-lucks and Christmas movies here at the campground that we didn’t go to.  We went and saw Santa at the youth lodge a few days ago and we went there again yesterday for a craft.

Also exciting for the big event- I did laundry.  Problem is, the card reader wasn’t working for whatever reason so I couldn’t refill the card to dry our clothes.  Luckily I had enough on the card to do one load, so I stuffed two large loads into the dryer and did what I could.  When I brought the clothes home we found that some of them were dry, but the rest spurred an earlier-than-expected debut of our new drying rack that we got for $15 at IKEA.  I was so excited when I saw that it fit between our bed and the closet in the back room, so we were able to hang all of our wet clothes up.  They were mostly dry anyway and being over our back heater vent helped them dry quickly.  When we were done, the rack folds up and fits nicely in our bathtub.  Also pictured in the bathtub is our dirty cloths hamper akin to this one.  Laundry is expensive and we are going to start supplementing the workload with the drying rack and handwashing.  Sometimes we’ll hand wash and dry at the campground laundry.  Sometimes we’ll wash at the facilities and dry at home, especially when it’s sunny.  Sometimes we’ll do it all at the facilities or do it all at home.  We have options.  And now I know I have the option to dry things inside and that’s a great feeling.

Anyway, Christmas yesterday was very nice.  Michael finished up the day reading the last chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone to the kids and I.  What a fun story!  I never got around to reading it earlier so it has been fun for Michael to share it with all of us.

The holidays aren’t over, and I hope they are great for you as you prepare for the new year.

So... we had planned to move back to UT and sell the motor home. However, what we plan doesn't always happen.

The RV didn't sell...​

Back in September I took the bus back to CA to sell the RV. My car was waiting for me. I did a really good deep clean on the RV and fixed a few things in preparation. Well short story – I found a buyer at an incredibly low price, they gave me $500 down as a deposit and then I needed to get it to pass smog, which took me a few days to get that to happen. Once I had the smog certification in hand, I called them up and set up an appointment for the following day to have them come pick it up and finalize the sale. That was the last time I heard from them. I called and texted a lot and got no response, I waited as long as I could before the campground kicked me out, and even slept in my car two nights just to give them some extra time to contact me. So Mary… if you read this, I’d love to find out what really happened. It feels weird to have had them just disappear, but what can I do?

Goodbye Little Honda

I put the RV into storage and went to UT for a few months – and then it was time to move back in. Having two cars with the RV was nuts – we had to go back and forth to get the other vehicle every move which didn't make sense for a family on the road.  So we sold my Honda Civic car and have the family van.

Getting back to California...​

We were left with a dilemma – everything we had except a few small dishes I used as a bachelor pad in the RV while I was "selling" it had been packed into a moving truck and hauled off to UT. We needed to get at least our bedding and some essentials back to CA to live in the RV. We had several options to do so:

• Rent a moving truck again: $600+ (rental, gas, etc) and drive down two vehicles.
• Get a trailer hitch for the minivan and pull a small trailer. Tamsyn's dad said he had a trailer hitch that would fit a Dodge van and we thought this would be a good option.
• Pack very lightly and just buy everything we need again

Or... there was one other option...

We are pretty tight on money right now, so we ended up just going hill-billy style and tied stuff on the roof. We borrowed a roof storage box for the roof from Tamsyn's parents, and a canvass carry bag from Michael's parents. Plus we tied two plastic totes on the roof. It looked quite crazy and was just missing the rocking chair on top.  We were quite a sight!

Thousand Trails Cabin​

We get a free cabin week each year with Thousand Trails, so we used that while we moved into the RV (plus it would expire)

Anyway, check out the quick video showing the roof rig. And a quick tour of the cabin. (It was filmed at night when we arrived so it's dark, it doesn't really do it justice.)

I had this wonderful idea of doing 100 blog posts.  I did fairly well.  It was hard to do daily posts, but I did it!  But then, I did something very typical of me, and I misplaced my camera.  Yeah, you get blurry phone pictures for this post.  At the same time, other events came into play and our family has decided to sell our RV, move to Utah for a few family events, and then purchase a different RV that will better meet our needs.  So much for 100 days of camping!  I was going to go back and edit all of those posts, but I'll leave them up as a reminder of a good idea.  And to remember how awesome Thousand Trails' promotion is this summer.  Look up the hashtag #100daysofcamping on facebook and you'll find a lot of awesome pictures submitted by other TT members.

So here's our update.  In the picture above (I'll share again below so you can see the whole thing), you will see the old fashioned RV similar to what some of Michael's ancestors used to travel to Utah.  The painting was created for a Pioneer Day celebration at our stake center.

You may also notice that some of us are kinda, well, bald.  That's because we shaved our heads.

We discovered that we had an infestation of lice.  This has absolutely nothing to do with living in an RV, our hygiene routine, or anything of that nature.  Lice don't care if you're rich or poor, bond or free, male or female.  They just care if you have hair and a warm head.  Shaving was rather melodramatic, yet it was completely effective, and with everything going in our life right now, I really didn't want to spend a lot of time, well, nit-picking.  (You know where that term comes from, right?).  Plus, I read this post a couple of years ago, and I somehow got it in my head that shaving was a smart solution.  At least for the boys.

After spending some 15 minutes picking eggs off Peter's head, he was happy to have his head shaved and have it done with.  Patrick didn't want to shave at first, but after we discussed with him the reasoning, he agreed.  After watching her brothers, Helen was in tears when we told her that we didn't think having a girl shave her head was the same as a boy and that we could treat the lice with a hair straightener, a lice comb, and some chemical treatments.  She was very upset.  And since she did have lice after all, why not?  And after Michael tried to find lice on my head and completely failed to find anything, with all due respect to my husbands other amazing skills, I lacked faith in his ability to properly pick them out.  Plus, he doesn't have time.  I don't have time.  And I don't spend that much time in public anyway, and that's what hats are for.  So with my daughter having a bald head as well a my sons, I shaved my head too.

I'm not really sorry either.  I hated my hair.  Well, I thought I hated my hair, I really hated the lice.  But even now that I've realized the difference, it doesn't change how I feel about my head.  Those pesky pests are gone now, and I'm happier with my head.  Plus it's so hot right now, it feels rather nice.  That, and we're about ready to move in with my in-laws for a spell, and I didn't want them to have to worry about their heads.

So yeah, there's our update.  We're moving to Utah and we shaved our heads.  Nothing much.

Our son Peter celebrated his 8th birthday this week, and he put a lot of thought into what he wanted to do to celebrate. Luckily for us, he was very realistic about what we can afford and was conscious about that as he planned what our family would do. He planned every meal of the day, and asked that we go swimming.

Wilderness Lakes has two pools, one for adults only, and one for families.  In the winter, they close the adult pool and have adult-only hours in the family pool, but no matter.  This is obviously the one we use most.  There are two jacuzzi, one quite hot, and one pleasantly warm and better for little kids.  There is a wading pool, and a swimming pool that is 5 feet deep in the middle.  We usually go swimming every Saturday night so that afterwards when we shower, the kids are nice and clean for Sunday.  The outdoor shower is nice for getting this job done quickly and efficiently between Michael and I and all the kiddos.  It's convenient for rinsing before we get in the pool too.

Peter wanted granola for breakfast, fruit cocktail and carrot sticks for lunch, personal pizzas on hamburger buns with pasta sauce, and smores for dessert.  And ice cream.  We'll make a cake sometime in the near future, we haven't gotten around to it yet.

Anyway, he had a great birthday.  Simple and fun.  Happy Birthday, Peter!

It's time of another F.A.Q., what kitchen appliances do you have?

We have a decent amount of space, so for us it's the weight that is our biggest issue- trying to keep things not too full so we can make it up the hills.  I didn't really have to give up any of my appliances, although we opted to have one waffle maker instead of two, and I left our hand-mixer in storage.  Pictured above our our six, and I'll comment on them l. to r., back to front.

First, our Hurom juicer.  We used to use this thing a lot more, but it takes a lot of time to make enough juice to feed our family, and buying the produce for everyone is cost-prohibitive for us right now.  Yet it's just so healthy, and having it on hand for medicinal purposes if necessary is our big reason for keeping it with us now.  I've mentioned selling it a few times and Michael doesn't want to, and his reasons are good.  So there it is, but we've only used it a couple of times since we moved into the RV.

Our Blendtec blender, on the other hand, is used all of the time.  This thing grinds our wheat into flour.  It makes us yummy icey fruit smoothies.  It mixes up our pancake batter.  Its just awesome that way.  This thing is totally earning it's rent.

And the Apricot tree?  Um, I mean, the air-popper?  Yeah, we use this thing a lot too.  We love popcorn.  It's amzing how much the little heat from this thing can change the temperature in a small room.  When its cold, I like to jumpstart the room with popcorn while the furnace kicks on when we just get home.  But now that it's summer, it's a nice evening snack when I know the night air will be cooling our home and I know the popcorn maker isn't competing with the air conditioner.

The crock pot is awesome too!  I used it a lot more last winter, and used it extensively before we fixed our propane line.  It doesn't take a lot of electricity , is efficient, and very easy if I manage to think ahead a little.  It stays.

The induction stove-top cooker was a gift from a friend when I mentioned that it's nice using electric appliances because I had ran out of propane recently and it's nice to have electric.  She offered it to me and at first I turned it down thinking we didn't have the space.  When Michael heard about it, he was shocked.  "Tamsyn!  I've always wanted one of those!"  And here we were snowed in in Idyllwild with an RV that wouldn't start, wondering if our propane would last until we could fix it.  Turns out we had more than plenty, but it was something we were concerned about then.  Anyway, we sat them again and it was a wonderful gift.  We cook outside with this thing all the time, and sometimes inside too since it heats up the pans so quick.

Finally the waffle iron.  It's not just for waffles!  We've made yummy brownies in this thing too, among other things.  Yeah, it can stay.

And that's it!  But you know what I've got on my Christmas list?  The kitchen appliance many full-timers say they love the most?  An Instant Pot.  Yeah, I'd really like one of those someday.  But I'm very grateful for the appliances I do have!  Plus we've got a nice, big-for-a-rig oven and a microwave.  Cooking isn't really that different from when we had a stick-and-bricks home.

Mike Thompson RV Super Stores has rented a portion of the parking lot here at Wilderness Lakes and we took the opportunity to be Lucy lookers.  In all fairness, we are hoping to be buying one of these suckers some time in the future.  But it's all about $$$.  We would have to prove our income to get a loan and right now we're self employed, but we could turn things around pretty fast, so we're allowing ourselves to dream. 

So the one that really caught our attention was the "Grand Design" 5th wheel called "Reflection".  I posted a couple of pictures from other RVs at the end, but this one really impressed us.  It also is retailed at $70,000+, but as a full-time residence, it would be worth it.  Not that I am announcing that this is our dream rig, but it sure would meet our wants and needs, so let's take a look!

When we first started RV shopping, one thing that I thought I would not be interested in is the outdoor kitchens.  Sure, it's a nice idea for, you know, camping campers, but as a full-timer with lots of kids, I want the bunk space!  But in truth, I often cook outside because our small space can get hot really fast.  Cooking outside helps keep things cool inside.  Plus, if you're cooking something at all smelly, like fish, you will be dealing with the fish smell until all of the dishes are clean.  But as nice as the outdoor kitchens would be, we would want the space for a bunk bed.

And yet, this model would has enough room in the back for all of the kids to sleep, all of their clothes, a big screen TV, and STILL has an outside kitchen.  Technically there's only 3 beds, but both bunks are wide enough for two kids, and the bench is long enough to put another kid there.  If we needed to, we could even put a triple-bunk bed back there.  The kid room also has it's own bathroom.  The master bedroom ha the shower and a very large closet.  Another 5th-wheel model had a washer and dryer up there.  Wouldn't that be handy- wash the clothes and immediately put the clothes away right there.

As dreamy as these homes look, and as much as I really want one, there is this caution we are considering ourselves- some of the materials in the RV felt cheap.  They weren't designed for full-time use and I wonder how well some of these things would hold up with heavy use.  We've been spoiled in that aspect.  I mean, our 1989 RV is old, and has had roof problems, and engine problems, and we had to fix some plumbing and electric, and it's been a pain, but most everything works now.  And it was in our price range, so great!  But in 1989, our rig was right up there with the best of them, and I have been impressed at the quality of the cupboards, the table, the blinds, etc.  It's a sturdy ol' bessy, and I really like the quality of these things in our home, even if it is so retro.  Now, I'm not saying everything was cheap-o in this rig either, but there were a couple areas where they took shortcuts and I don't think it would take that long before we would be breaking light fixtures and such.  So I have that concern.  I also have heard horror stories from fellow full-timers recently who have purchased new and have had their rigs spend extensive time at the shop for warranty work while their family camped out in motels or a friend's couch. 

Not that it would stop us from purchasing new if it was the right rig for us at the right price, but it's something I want to do with our eyes open.  We don't have a warranty and have done quite a lot of work on our rig, but even with all of the repairs, we're in this thing less than $10,000 (plus labor, but let's look at the dollar figure).   And we own it.  And it has an engine.  Our dream vehicle is a 5th wheel with a truck, but we will have to add the price of the truck to our final price when switch to a different RV, which well need to do.  This is an excellent Southern California rig because it doesn't rain much, but  there are exterior weaknesses that I would not want to deal with in Oregon where it rains so often.  And I don't know if our rig would be able to handle extensive driving.  But it's nice and roomy for now and I'm grateful for to have a roof over our head.

It's so fun to shop though!  So good for getting a feel for what is out there and what is new on the market.  Someday I'd love to buy a new RV, and the Reflection is as good a model as I have seen to date.

We started a new blog because Professional Mothering wasn't a good fit for a family travel blog co-authored by my husband.  But what about the kids?  My daughter Helen has wanted to participate in the blogging process and we have decided that sharing her art would be a good way to do this.  Today's introductary picture is a painting of a rainbow.

Says Helen: "It's a happy rainbow with clouds and a heart-shaped hot air balloon.

Today's topic seems so mundane I almost didn't write it.  But then again, it's a question I get surprisingly often, so why not?  Who wants to go to the grocery store with me and my 5 kids?

First off, I have to warn you that it's inevitable that someone will say "You've got your hands full!"  Verbatim.  Every time.  So let's keep a tally and see how many times we hear it this time.  Okay, only once.  But it did happen.

Parking close to the front usually isn't an option, but if we can park next to the stall, that's ideal because we can put the kids in the car, then unload the groceries, and not have to leave them for a minute while we take the shopping cart back after the trip.

Having a big family and a tight budget, or even just wanting to save a money in general means that you need to buy in bulk.  Winco is one of the best places to do this in Southern California, so we'll go there.  Afterwards we'll stop in at Ralphs really quick because they have a great clearance section at the back of the store.  They often have whole-wheat buns and older produce they need to clear out, so I like to check there.  Ralphs is the closest grocery store to Wilderness Lakes.

We spent $101 at Winco and $12 at Ralphs. This was the big grocery store trip of the week.  We often do a smaller one mid-week, and we spend about $600-$700 a month, depending on the sales, how busy we are, and who does the shopping.  When I go, we save more, Michael spends a little more (I don't complain because he usually gets really yummy stuff), when we go together we spend the most.

Time for another F.A.Q.  How do you homeschool?

Before I answer that, I want to preface everything with saying that homeschooling will look different for every family.  Budgets vary, family size will vary, room in the RV will vary, and a whole slew of other things.  In our case, we have always homeschooled, beginning at infancy, and we have collected materials over the years.  We didn't transition to homeschooling when we moved into the RV like many, since it's harder to do public school when you are traveling full-time.  In our case, it was a matter of choosing our very favorite learning materials and putting the rest in storage or giving them away.  We have oh-so-many books in storage, and I really miss having a working library.

The other thing I realized when I lined all of the materials up is that many of these materials are on the higher end $$.  That's why they are our favorites, I guess!  These are materials we purchased when we had a little more money and all of my online earnings went straight into learning materials.  I don't really miss those days since we are having a grand adventure of a different type now, but it is what it is.  I am very grateful to have these learning supplies for our kids since I would not be able to buy them again at this time.  So, what made the cut?  Here's the tour.

Screen time:  I have absolutely no reservations in giving our kids screen time.  While I do moderate un-educational and edutainment time, some of our greatest progress has been in direct proportion to the high quality screen time the kids have had.  Our favorites are starfall, BrillKids programs (Little Reader, Little Musician, and sometimes Little Math, as well as the Country Program), Prodigy and Big Brainz for math, PBS kids, Salsa, and Hoodamath.

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But the screen-time doesn't stop there!  We love our DVDs too.  Our collection includes Rusty and Rosy, The Magic School Bus series, Baby Signing Time and a few Signing Time, Preschool Prep Meet the Sight Words, Your Baby/Child Can Read (the name has now changed to Your Baby Can Learn), Your Baby/Child Can Discover, most of the MonkiSee Collection, TweedleWink and Wink, Liberty's Kids, Kid Start Spanish, various DVDs from Rock n Learn, Mathtacular, Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego, School House Rock, Alphabet Beats, Home Art Studio, Sparkabilities, Word World, Peter Weatherall, Piano Wizard, and various DVDs from the LDS church.

How well do you know the RV lingo?  Well, let's start at the beginning, what constitutes an "RV"?  It's an acronym for "Recreational Vehicle".  Some people think only motorhomes are RVs, but a motorhome is simply an RV with a motor.  I took my kids on a scavenger picture hunt to scout out the different kinds and we found all but two, but I'm still on the lookout and will add image answers of my own when I get the chance. (I have to own the pictures to put them in the gallery).

I'm not going to take score, just read the different questions, look at the picture and tell yourself what you think the answer is.  Then click on the image gallery and read the captions to find the answers.  Have fun!  Now, is it sad or awesome that my kids can get 100%?

An RV built on a cargo or camper van chassis, whether converted or manufactured, is called a...

A converted school bus is called a...

A wheel-less RV that sits on the bed of a pick-up truck is called a...

An RV that is pulled behind the vehicle is called a...

The garage on the back of this RV makes it a...

An RV with a collapsible roof for driving is called a...

Wider, sturdier trailers made with heavier materials are called...

When a trailer is towed from the center of a truck bed, it is called a...

Built on a van or truck chassis with a bed over the driver's seat, this motorhome is a...

Built on a heavy-duty truck or bus chassis, but serving it's life history as an RV, these are...

Once a bus, now an RV.  It's a...

Finally, we'll address one brand-name since they have such an iconic look.  This is a...

I'm sure I haven't touched on all of the RVs out there, there are also Super-class Cs and another slew of sub categories.  And I'm not going to touch on the tiny-house movement lingo.  Some RVs are truly unique, like the Eco-Womb pictured below.  It's engine has been converted to use veggie grease waste, often gathered from fast-food restaurants like McDonalds.  How cool is that?

The Eco-Womb