The Edge [of all] Journeys

It’s the perfect picture. Out our dinette window I can see the most precious thing ever. Andrew is teaching the kids how to fish. They are knee deep in mud, Joy is on Andrew’s back and everyone is enjoying the weather and the mud and hoping to catch a few bass that were washed up to the shallow water and now stuck there when the river went up considerably a couple of days ago. I am supposed to be working but wish I was out there having fun in the mud too. It’s my turn to work and his turn to play with the kids.

This morning, while Andrew got some work done at the coffee shop, I took the kids down to the river bank to play in the sand. We had finished scripture study and had a really great time of discussion. The kids were so interested and eager to learn. While we were outside immediately after, they still had that eagerness so decided to take advantage. “Okay, everyone! Time for math! Everyone grab ten stones and line them up!” I spent time with each child individually, using the rocks to do some math problems, while the others were content playing the sand. I used the Ray’s arithmetic with Reayah, using the rocks to practice addition, subtraction and the beginning understandings of multiplication and division. Bennah is a visual person and using rocks to represent groups, he was able to practice his multiplication very easily. He has learned to count by 2s,3s,4, and 5s and is now learning to count by 6s and 7s. Zach and Jaiden did simple counting and threw the rocks into the river when they were done. As I taught them, I was rejoicing at how easy this was, and prayed that I would have many more days like these :).

After lunch, the kids had some play time and then came in to do journal writing. The kids had been making up their own worship song and so I asked them to write it down as a poem. Reayah loves to write and had no trouble concentrating and filling up 3 pages in half an hour. Bennah on the hand struggles when there are many distractions around him. While we started to write, a short thunder storm started so we were all in the trailer! Including a baby who wanted attention, a tired toddler and a provocative 4 year old, who drove his truck over Bennah’s journal.  So, Bennah had a rough time and after some frustration on both our parts, he completed his assignment. I want to accommodate him so he can concentrate and do school joyously, without frustration, but I also need him to practice concentrating with distractions. He won’t always be do his work alone, away from everything. I think it’s a good skill to learn. I do want him to see that I am supportive of his struggle though, and encourage him to overcome. Writing is the hardest subject for Bennah. Not because he’s not good at it, but because it requires a different form of concentration. And sitting still!

It was a good day. We did school, we did our chores and got the trailer clean and prepared for Shabbat (Sabbath). We love Shabbat. The one day we Andrew and I can sleep in while the kids fend for themselves and run amuck!

Last night the kids feel asleep on the way home after visiting with my sister, her husband and their sweet little girl. My brother-in-law is a food genius so we were treated as usual to a delectable feast. Yummy food, delicious drink and lots of laughter. It was a great night. This morning the kids slept in until 9am! We had a wonderful laxy day today. Did a bit of school, a little work but mostly just hung out, got a coffee treat at the campground coffee shop and even got a nap in! It’s a rough life! We’re going campground scouting tomorrow to see if we want to move somewhere else or just stay put. We have till Wednesday to decide.

Ahhhhh….. It feels good to be clean. Nothing like a nice hot shower in your own home. Even if it is small, the trailer is starting to feel a lot more like home. Every time we arrive somewhere we have this little family joke: “We’re home!” no matter where we are when we stop. I’m thankful for the things we sometimes take for granted: hot water, electricity, heat (especially on days like today). I enjoyed my tromps to the laundry room and back in the cold, and the family walk / run – the exercise and cold air felt so good. And so did coming back to a nice warm cozy trailer!

I am really enjoying having Andrew around every day. There have been sacrifices that we’ve had to make, and challenges adjusting to this new way of life, but it’s worth it to start and share every day together with him. I like brewing a pot of coffee for two rather than just myself. I think I could even live in a tent and eat rice and beans every day as long as we were together as a family. Of course, I say that now, not knowing how hard it would really be. Andrew gave up a really successful position at a comfortable job with an income that spoiled us a little, but the kids and I missed him.

It’s going to be nice staying put for a while so that we can relax a wee bit, visit family and friends, and have a little time to enjoy our home sweet home before we take it with us to our next adventure.

I am playing a drawing game with Bennah and we just entered North Dakota. We’ll have a brief stop in Fargo and are hoping to be in Winnipeg by tonight. Woo hooo!!

I have a few minutes here to write. I’ve had about 4 or 5 blog entries swimming around in my days for days and have not written them down. I haven’t showered in seven days, Joyzers needs a diaper change and is tired, Zac’s complaining of a headache (he’s tired and just needs to sleep) Jaiden has to pee. Again. Now so does Reayah. And Bennah is hungry. It’s just about lunch time. I feed Joy a bit to tide her over, Zach has finally gone to sleep. Jaiden and Reayh have gone pee in our handy-dandy porta-a-jon and I have five minutes. Oh, but now, we need gas. We’re stopped and I need to make lunch.This is definitely not the full picture. I’m just writing in the moment now and writing out of how I feel. We’ve been driving for 4 hours straight. Our kids are such awesome travellers. We’ve had a lot of fun today but I’m feeling pretty drained after a whole morning of serving everyone within arms around me. “Take a number!” I laughed earlier when everyone was wanting something from me all at once. While I am usually good at multi-tasking, it gets tiring and everyone is going to have to wait their turn. One at a time. Life is easier that way. Complete one task at a time, fulfill one request at a time. Ahhhh!  Yes, sometimes there are moments when multi-tasking is a neccessity, but most of the time, even if you don’t get as much done as you’d like, when you accomplish things one at time, or take care of a child’s need one at a time, each child is learning the difficult but very critical skill of waiting their turn but then they also get mommy’s full attention and the need is met fully or the task is completed with 100% effort. Except this blog, which I am writing while multi-tasking:)

Although I have to say that I haven’t always been completely comfortable in supporting a huge corporation that takes advantage of third world countries and seems unsympathetic sometimes to it’s employees, I am sure thankful that they allow overnight RV parking in their parking lots. I know it is selfish on their part: we’ll probably buy from them if we’re parked right there for night. It’s been nice not to have to pay for a camp site or reserve a spot for the night while we’re traveling. I must say, it’s very weird sleeping in Walmart. I’m at home in my warm cozy bed. I wake up and look out my window and lo and behold, I live right next door to a Walmart! It’s not the most restful sleep. The parking lot is bright and noisy with all the traffic. Tonight I walked out my door and walked right into a Walmart supercenter to pick up some organic apples Wisconsin cheese curds and some other items for our meals tomorrow. Weird but sortof fun.

The sun has been out and the children have been outside. If it’s not pouring out, they want to be out the door as soon as they have their clothes on and some food in their bellies. Fresh air makes happy kids. The sky has been very clear the last couple of nights and the constallations are very visible and breathtaking from where we are. Bennah and I went for a quick run tonight to burn off some energy and get one last breath of cool air in our lungs and did some star gazing before bed. Zach turned the big 4 today and picked out a special dinner and desert that we shared with all our friends here.