Special thanks

Special thanks to a little boy who woke up at 4:30am and decided that was when the day started I didn't get my bible study or letter to God written today. He loves to try tearing the pages up and sitting right on top of what I'm writing if I try doing it with him! He is like your favorite cat and dog wrapped up in smiles and laughter when you are attempting to do anything that doesn't have him right in the epicenter.  And who could resist playing with a boy so charming?
So instead of my letter to God this morning I'm going to share a 5th wheel Living moment.

Trash! And Laundry! Two things that in a normal sized house are annoying and need constant attention, are in a 5th wheel the biggest problems I face daily.

There is no place for a giant kitchen trash can in a 5th wheel which means that if I am on top of things I will take the trash out a minimum of two times a day. And most rv park dwellers have lovely little golf carts that they will load up and take down to the bins but I don't do things the easy way. I fill a bin of my own  outside with a lid.. it is really just a lightweight metal trash can with a lid. And when it is full I transport it to the kids wagon and we go for a family walk (unless Patrick is home then one of us can go and we don't all need to). Caeden pulls the wagon,  Fia pushes her baby doll stroller,  I walk Boomer and push Micah's stroller and off we go.
Landry is also a thing of worry. Where do you keep the baskets? So far I have three baskets. Two are your regular rectangular ones and they are kept stacked on Boomers kennel out of the way until laundry day. One of them generally becomes a catch all.  It is meant to be where the unmatched socks stay until their love is found and they can be moved to their homes but generally everything on the table gets put in the basket if I'm finished cooking and the kids have not finished cleaning it off.
I also have a laundry hamper that stays just inside the doorway of my bedroom and collects laundry all the time. When this basket is full I have two loads to wash,  when it is overflowing I have three.  Our family usually creates a load of laundry every day and I try to go down to the wash house every other day.
This chore is a bit easier.  Again I load the wagon with two baskets (that is all that fits) laundry detergent and quarters (I recently acquired a draw string bag to keep my quarters in and love it!) The children can stay at home for this trip since I can see our door from the door of the wash house. And hear Caeden if he hollers for me. I know that it takes 8 quarters to wash each load and 34 minutes. I know it takes 5 or 6 quarters depending on the contents of the load to dry a load. And since I'm so close I leave the laundry to do its thing and return home to be with the children instead of staring at the machines. Unfortunately this means occasionally something happens with the children that prevents me from getting back right away and some times ties up the machine for someone else... but I do set an alarm on my phone to remind me of when it will be done.
Lately Fia has been my laundry assistant. She comes with me and helps me load the machines and it is her job to put the quarters in and turn on the machine.  She can mostly do this without help.
Another day I will try taking pictures of our organization for children's clothing.
For now I need to take a broom and gather everything on the floor and get the children to pick up their things, it works pretty well if I tell them anything left on the floor goes in the trash. I have never had to throw anything of real value away... but I would if it came to it and they know it.
Have a great day!  Thanks for visiting my 5th wheel living moment. Leave a comment I love to hear from people.

Rest your weary head

Nap time over the last 7 months has been totally messed up.  First off when moving it isn't always possible to get naps when they are needed, and second the kids are growing and changing so much that their needs are also changing in the area of rest time.
Now that we are settled into our 5th wheel I'm trying to discover their nap time needs.  I know that where Caeden did not require a nap before when he was inside all the time, he now plays so hard every day that a nap is absolutely necessary.
Any day that we happen to be driving at 3pm will result in all three of my children snoozing in their car seats. So you would think that nap time would move easily to 3pm from the previous 1pm time it used to be.  I would however point out that 1. A carseat keeps my overly active 5 year old still in a way no other thing can, and 2. My children share a very small room in the 5th wheel.  Micah is easy to fix.  Put him to bed in my bedroom with pillows to keep him from rolling off the bed.
Sapphira needs her nap but has never done well at going to sleep.  Caeden needs the nap and if I could get him to slow down he might take it but he is insanely active.
Putting them in the room together results in a lot of play,  putting them in separately results in me getting nothing done and them laying down but not sleeping.  Putting them down together with me seated in the room changes nothing.  Just quiet rest time where I do nothing, get no relaxation, and they do not sleep. 
What is the solution?  Any one got any ideas?  Playing hard is resulting in a grumpy girl, a boy with more frequent accidents at night, and a mommy who is going to go bald.  If I try to slow them down there are other undesirable affects...so really I'm just looking for a nap time solution.
Any comments will be taken into serious consideration.  Thank you in advance.

Small house visitors

Last week we had the privilege of visiting some friends of ours.  We don't get to see them often so it was indeed a special treat.  The last time we had seen them was when our youngest was born 7 months ago.
While we were at their house I couldn't help running a comparison of our living spaces.  Their 4 bedroom house seemed like a mansion in comparison to our 5th wheel.  Our whole home would fit inside of their dinning room and living room with space to spare.
But I wasn't envious of them at all.  Their life is beautiful and their home filled with love, just the same as ours is and those are the things truely important. .. Not how much space we have or the things we fill that space with.
Both of our families are thriving, our children growing and healthy.  We are living lives filed with God's peace.
After leaving their home we traveled back to set up or own home and start the 5th wheel life here in Pennsylvania.  I had a very full week ahead of me and was looking forward to getting life back on track.  Things went well enough. 
The weekend came and our same friends were headed out for a family vacation in our general area and asked if we wouldn't mind some company for a night.  I welcomed them whole heartedly.  More chance to see the friends we do rarely see! And our first 5th wheel house guests too!  They came, we had a lot of fun and enjoyed each others company. .. And you know what?  Aside from a lack of sleep due to our tight quarters and so many people in them it was great!  I really wondered if I would be embarrassed or sad about the space I had for such good friends... But I only had one tiny moment where I wished I could offer more, I love my little house. I love the freedom my children are enjoying.  Even though my space is small I feel perfectly at home in it. And now that we have been living in it with Patrick for nearly a week I am finally getting things in the places they need to be, and school is back in progress.  We didn't even fall behind this week!  I did have to throw us in pretty hard core to make sure we didn't lose our place in all the craziness but it is going well.
I feel that life is both rewarding and comfortable right now and that is such a blessing.
I do wonder how our friends felt about their visit. .... But I know I gave my best and that is as good as it gets.
I do love this life! God has really blessed me!