A Day Inside

Ever wonder what a day in the trailer really looks like?  Well Saturday was just that.  It was snowy and cold out, and not the nice fluffy snow you can play in.  So we hunkered down and stayed in ALL day.  My biggest problem with this isn't being cramped together in a small space, it's that my kids want to just sit on their tablets all day.  So we decided to work on their Valentine boxes for school.  One of my worries with homeschooling was that my kids would miss out on things like class parties and exchanging Valentines cards.  This was a huge draw back for me, as I know it is for a lot of home school parents.  It seems silly but it really is a factor in the should we home school discussion.  Since we signed up for a co-op this year, my kids go to an activity day once a week.  So this year they were able to participate in a Christmas party and now a Valentines day party.  So it's a win win.  They are so excited.  Kya has asked me a million questions about how it all works.  I love it.  So we worked on their cute boxes.  Charlie made a Pokemon character and Kya's is a collage of stickers.  
I let Lily make one too.  She just wanted to put the stickers on everything but the box.  

Look how cute they turned out

While we worked on the boxes Brian was changing the breaks on the van.  Poor guy ended up working in a snow storm.  He was a trooper and got it done.  They kids liked taunting him from the window.

Lily had seen someone make barbie shoes on YouTube.  They used a hot glue gun and when she saw mine in the craft box, she insisted we try.  So this was our attempt at making barbie shoes.  It took a long time and after I finished them lily told me she hated them.  Kids! No appreciation.  I mean they weren't pretty but they did fit Barbie perfectly.  

Already disappointed before I even start.

We wrapped her feet in plastic wrap and then covered them with hot glue

Barbie seems to like them but they needed color

So we painted them with blue nail polish

And they are done.  They looked more like house slippers than the tennis shoes that Lily had hoped for.

So after a full day of crafting do you wonder what a small RV looks like?  Well let me show you.

Yep, that is totally real life.  I got behind on dishes and there were toys and craft items everywhere.

However when people ask me what I like most about living in a tiny house, my answer is always the same.  The house can go from this to this in less that thirty minutes.

Even the kids are better about helping because they know it's quick.  I spend so much less time cleaning and it makes the messes not feel like a big deal at all.  I have to admit that when it is messy it feels like the walls are caving in.  But just a quick clean up and everything feels much better.  We lived in a three story house before and after a day of crafts and playing, it would have taken me closer to two hours of cleaning to get the house clean again.  So I am always thankful at the end of the day that my time is much better spent now.  

So that is how a day inside goes.  We do a lot of crafting, play dough time, puzzles, really anything to keep us off electronics.  I will be so happy when the sun stays up later and when it's warm enough to go out and play.  

Lots of Love,

Stacey

  

January Update

Wow January really got away from me.  To be honest,  January is always a survival month for us.  It's always a month we all get out of sorts and quite frankly a little unpleasant.  This year of course, it didn't help that we are all living on top of each other.  I think everyone said at least once this month that they were done living in the trailer.  The cold days and early sundowns really get hard when you have no where to get away.  But this last week has seemed better.  The sun is going down later, it has been a little warmer, so we are feeling like we can spend more time outside.  I'm sad I didn't keep up with the blog because this is really what I am using as our family journal.  So I'm going to give a quick update about the last few weeks and then hopefully I will get back on track.  

Big news! The binky is gone! Lily came up to me a couple of weeks ago with a baggie full of her binkies.  She said she wanted the binky fairy to come and bring her an LOL doll.  So she put the binkies outside and the binky fairy wasted no time in taking them away.  She has done amazing.  She hasn't asked for it at all.  The only downside is that she is no longer napping regularly.  This is a kid who used to put herself to bed at nap time.  She loved her naps.  She also takes a little longer to fall asleep at night.  But it gets better everyday and I am glad that I let her decide when it was time to get rid of it because it was so easy and stress free.  

Last moments with her binky.

Totally worth it for the doll

The other big thing we've been doing this past month is lots of skiing.  Charlie had made so much progress over Christmas and we were so excited about that.  Recently though, Kya has also made leaps and bounds.  She is super fast and she even loves to jump as she is heading down the mountain.  She asks to go skiing almost everyday.  She loves it.  Over Christmas we tried to put skis on Lily but she wasn't having it.  But then about a week ago she asked to go.  So we rented her some ski's.  The smallest boots they had were two sizes too small.  We figured it didn't matter because she probably wouldn't last very long.  We headed up the mountain and I thought I would take her out and let her scoot around a little and then we would head inside for some snacks and playtime.  Boy was I wrong.  She picked it up amazingly fast and I spent the day running up and down the magic carpet slope.  She skied for seven hours.  She outlasted Brian and Charlie by more than an hour.  I had to bribe her to take two breaks during the day because I needed it.  I am so glad she loved it.  She also asks to go everyday.  So it looks like I better learn to ski.  

All three of my skiers. 

Lily, Kya and Charlie

After seven hours of skiing, she was asleep before we pulled out of the parking lot.

Some other things we have been up to are field trips to museums, the library, indoor playgrounds, and the airplane museum.  This was Charlie's favorite.  We have been playing games and doing lots of crafts.  Charlie is way into Pokemon lately so we have been learning to play that.  I really don't like that game.  

Doing school work on the train ride home from a field trip

Life in the trailer has been going OK.  Our hot water heater has a switch that is broken, so when we need hot water we have to go outside and hit the switch.  This is a bit annoying since it's cold outside.  Hopefully we get that fixed soon.  The plug outside that our heated water hose is plugged into has shorted twice, leaving our water hose frozen.  So that was fun.  Overall though, we are still fine with living in Millie.  Lily really loves it.  The other two occasionally complain and want to live in a stationary home but then when we look at land and talk about building a house and moving out of Millie, they whine and cry.  So you can't ever go by kids reactions.  

I'm going to try harder to keep up on a more semi-daily basis with the blog.  So if you are enjoying following a long make sure to check back frequently this month to see how we are holding up this month.  

Miles of Love,
Stacey

Parent Talk: Technology

I don't know how many of you out there struggle with the technology balance but we certainly do.  First, I am part of the problem.  I love technology.  I love games, news feeds and mostly weather apps. I check my phone constantly so why do I expect my kids to be any different.  My kids love YouTube.  I mean it is a true obsession for them. They talk about it constantly, they act it out and they even have their own channels.  When we lived in our larger home it wasn't quite as bad.  We aren't even big TV watchers.  My kids refuse to watch movies and the only TV they watch is PBS kids.  So I never really thought we had much of a problem. 

Then we moved into a tiny home.  While we were moving, all rules and time limits on electronics faded away and then while we got settled in I found myself letting all of that continue to slide.  It's terrible.  Here is the thing, electronics really effect my kids behavior.  I mean really bad.  They are more angry, they fight with each other more, they are more defiant and they don't want to do anything else.  So a little over a week ago we started an electronic detox.  I was really good for the first half of the week.  I wasn't letting them have any time at all.  We do a little bit of schoolwork on the computer so I did let them do that, but I sat next to them and did a lot of the interacting with the device.  I really wanted to minimize their interaction with electronics.  Of course though as the days went on I started to give in more.  I am still restricting them greatly, but the last few days I have let them earn a little time.  

I admit whole heartily that I am a major part of the problem.  I home school my kids so I get absolutely no alone time.  It's so hard not to give in just so I can get the dishes done or sit down and eat lunch by myself.  When my kids have zero screen time they are either making huge messes or want my complete attention.  We are trying really hard though to not fall into turning to our deices.  It is definitely harder now that it gets dark shortly after 5:00 and the temperatures have turned colder.  I have found that TV watching has less of an effect on them than the interactive devices.  So we are trying to find shows to watch as a family and that does help.  Another impact too much screen time has caused is that no one can entertain themselves.  My kids complain all the time they are bored and then can not come up with anything to do.  What's strange about that is I have always had a no screens in the car policy.  Unless of course we are road tripping.  However, lately they get in the car for more than five minutes and they think they are dying from boredom.  That has been the biggest red flag that we have fallen into a terrible screen time habit.  

So we are desperately trying to get back on track.  It does take some strategic planning on my part and I have to realize that my time is now basically nonexistent.  So here is what we are doing to get back on track. We tag team parent now more than ever.  We switch off who does bedtime, because yes we still lay with our kids at night.  Brian takes the kids out for daddy time more often.  We do more field trips.  I have a list of ideas for the kids to choose from when they can't think of their own.  

Here are a few ideas I have come up with to help entertain the kids so they don't beg for electronics.  
-We have play dough at the ready at all times
-I bought them each a sketch book and they can color and write in that
-I print out mazes or coloring pages for them to work on
-Lots of library books.
-When I can tell we are breaking down, we all go for a walk or to the park
-I read chapter books to them
-We play trivia games on Google Home
-Games, Games and more Games (Charlie could play board games all day)

Please comment if you have any tips or ideas for this.  We don't have gaming systems and only have one TV.  Our biggest problems are tablets and YouTube watching.  I feel like we used to have a good balance for this, so we just need a little reprogramming to get ourselves out of the habit and hopefully we will be back on track.

Miles of Love,
Stacey

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