4 little men and girly twins

I think….

2012-05-25T17:52:00.002-05:00

I think... my blog is finally up and working

and hopefully it's working for everyone now!

I'd love to hear from you if you can see this

and if it's showing up in your reader I'd love to know that too.

Thank you to all of you who are still around

for being patient and not giving up on me. {grin}

and now because it's hard to post without a picture...

{Badlands, South Dakota}

Can you see me now?

2012-05-14T09:20:00.002-05:00

Well... it seems that coming back to my blog has been harder than I thought it would be.

My domain expired, Ooops!

We renewed, but it is only kinda sorta working off and on. sigh.

I have no idea what to do

...except ask my husband to fix it, please! {grin}

He is however insanely busy with planting

...so it's just going to have to wait. double sigh.

I did redirect my blog back to www.4littlemen.blogspot.com

and it should be showing up in google reader.

so, I apologize for the trouble and thank you for your patience!

and now...

for fun,

some random pictures.

Enjoy!

Well hello there

2012-05-09T18:06:00.000-05:00

I've been staring at this empty page for 10 minutes now,
thoughts of what to say coming and going,
but nothing feels right.

I've been gone so long it's like I've forgotten how to do this whole blogging thing...
and maybe that's a good thing.
being away from the computer,
away from watching others lives through a window,
away from sharing with others online...
it's helped me rediscover some things.

There has been lots of change going on around here,
spending almost 4 months on the road....
has a way of doing that to you. {grin}
We've grown as a family, learned as a family & discovered so much.
I'll have to write an entire post just on that.

We have been home for a nearly 2 weeks,
and I still haven't unpacked the rv.
Well, we all brought a few things out, but not much.
It's still our home and it won't be long before we're back in it
...we already have a couple summer trips planned.

Adjusting to being back on the farm has been harder than I thought
...we really settled into the simplicity of life on the road.
Less space, less stuff, less distraction.
Not to mention we came home to sewer trouble. sigh.

Funny story...
I had big plans for our first trip to town when we got back to the farm.
One of the stops being the grocery store.
Myself and all six kids marched into our local grocery ready to stock up,
We quickly filled the cart with what looked like a lot of food.
...remember we had been shopping for a small rv fridge for the last few months.
At the check-out the cashier commented on how "healthy we ate".
We're defiantly back in meat and potatoes North Dakota!
On to store number 2 where did the same thing,
and heard a very similar comment from the cashier.
It looked like a lot of food...
until we got home and started putting it all in the fridge.
It only filled up half of one fridge and a quarter of the other fridge.
I guess we were really out of the habit of buying big and being an hour from the store.
I didn't make the same mistake this week...
our fridges are now bursting at the seams! {grin}

We haven't had much, scratch that, any down time since we got back.
Farming is back in full force,
the farm yard is full of semi trucks, tractors, gators, & trucks
and the lull of big engines is continual.
Even in all the chaos there is such a peace about farming.

My awesome husband tilled the entire garden for me.
I have a pile of organic heirloom seeds waiting to be planted
and now it's just a last frost waiting game.
Any day now, any day.
I can hardly wait!

We're back in full swing with school.
well as full swing as this eclectic, unschooling, homeschooling mama can get.
We ordered a few new school books for the summer
...i'll have to share what we're doing in another post.
Vance had his 1st of 2 days of homeschooling testing today,
we missed it over the winter so he is making it up with a local friend & teacher.
She already graded the first part and he scored a 99 & 98, ranking at 7.9th grade.

I have so many stories and pictures to share with you from our trip.
I had picked out my favorites and edited them when I could along the road,
hoping to share them before now. Ha!
Well, now that we are home we realized that they didn't back up and I lost them all. sigh.
At least I still have the negatives.
I promise i'll be sharing very soon,
I am bursting at the seams now that we are home.

although, I'm not sure if anyone is still around here?!
::::::::crickets chirping::::::::
I am not one to be too concerned with stats,
but I was a little sad when I saw I had lost so many readers.
smaller is better, right!!

Well I think I have filled you in on almost everything
...for today that is.
It's great to be back friends!
Talk to you soon!

desert thoughts

2012-03-27T14:28:00.001-05:00

Almost 11 weeks living on the road... and we've been through 17 states, traveling just over 7,000 miles. Wow!

Its been an amazing journey... Not without challenges but isn't that part of the adventure?!!

we had our first "home repair" the other day.... We blew a tire in the middle of the desert between new mexico and arizona. Thankfully I have many wiling and able men to change tires. We now have 4 new tires.

We have been off-grid mostly, boondocking in the desert and camping at the base of the mountains. It is lovely and beautiful and all sorts of amazing. I love where we've been staying... Which is why its worth being off-grid. :)

I haven't been on the computer for nearly 4 weeks.... Its bittersweet. I love the peace but sometimes miss the connection.

This trip had been full of dreams discovered and old wounds healed. What a blessing it has been.

We've been through forests, bayous, caves, sand dunes, deserts, mountains, oceans and beaches. it still amazes me to think about how much we've seen and done on this trip... And there is so much more to do!

We went and looked at new RVs... I guess we're feeling a bit crowded and that extra 50sqft sure does seem bigger. Ha! We won't likely do anything yet, but we are already planning for next winter.

I have more to say and LOTS of pictures to share but that will have to wait until we pull out of the mountains.

I am writing this on my phone while I have service... But that is fleeting as we head back into our cozy campsite on the mountains.

please ignore the spelling and grammar errors... Blogging from my phone is tricky. :) goodnight friends.

Fancy a chat?

2012-03-21T12:59:00.001-05:00

We're driving all day and there are only so many books to read, puzzles to build, card games to play, snacks to eat, songs to sing, jokes to tell and quite times to have.

Since I've been off-grid so much lately I thought it would be fun to chat a little with you while I have a
Phone signal and a little time.... you know, inbetween all I mentioned above. :)

If you just want to say hi or have a question you want to ask... I'll be around most of the day to answer in the comments.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Road rambling

2012-03-15T11:53:00.001-05:00

We boondocked in a Texas state park last night... They were full and we were going to leave. Before we did a nice older couple, that did the evening rounds, stopped by and wrote us a pass to park in overflow overnight. Sweet!

The boys spent the evening watching the stars from the roof of the RV. I spent the evening putting the girls to bed while hearing the boys watching the stars from the roof if the RV.

The girls, myself included, are in love with the texas wildflowers. I want to start a flower book for them.... Ideas on ways to preserve the flowers anyone?

There are at least 6 loads of laundry, piled on the floor, waiting to be done. Today is the day... laundromat here we come.

The boys are perplexed by a billboard they saw that read "i love traffic"... this north dakota family driving around the county in an rv doesn't love traffic.

I bought a bag of organic pears for $1.98 and raw almond butter for $3.49. We pay at least double or triple that. Texas I love you!

Did you know I was born in texas? Right in the capital city. I only lived here until I was the girls age... But it will always be a special place to me.

we have quickly realized that texas winters are much like north dakota summers. Which is why I am not coming to texas in the summer... but the winters are beautiful. :)

I have a busy few days of photo shoots coming up. I am so looking forward to it and really hope the weather holds out... clouds yes, rain no.

My husband said he would enjoy this trip even more if we were pulling a race trailer... hmmm maybe next year.

We have arrived at the laundromat so I must go now. Have a wonderful..what day is it? :)

Eliza loves the beach too

2012-03-13T16:25:00.000-05:00

...in case you thought it was only Ozzie {grin}

do you think...

2012-03-13T16:02:00.000-05:00

Ozzie is a little excited

to be back at the beach

soaking up the cloudy skies & cool water.

I think so too! {grin}

playing with the light

2012-03-12T15:50:00.000-05:00

{back light}
...the sun was directly behind his head, I overexposed for his face & purposely positioned for glare
44mm 1/320s f/2.8 iso200

{reflective light}

...the sun was above and behind him, reflecting off of chrome. I manually adjusted for underexposure.

70mm 1/200s f/2.8 iso200

{filtered & reflected light}

...she was at the edge of the shade from the awning & had light bouncing off of the RV

55mm s/200 f/2.8 iso250

this now concludes the summary of my camera play time. {grin}

Road Rambling

2012-03-10T18:28:00.000-06:00

We've been on the road for 6-7 weeks now. Sometimes it feels like more and sometimes less. It's been an adventure we'll never forget... that is for sure.

I heard the first homesick comment last night. It turns out most of us miss our church family, comfortable beds and our beloved cats. I asked if anyone wanted to go home but it was a unanimous no. We are loving living on the road, so far. {grin}

My husband and I were just talking this morning about how much we've grown as a team on this trip. Living & working on a farm teaches you team work. 8 people living in a 200 sqft moving home takes team work to a whole level!

It's been a crazy, beautiful, active, wonderful, wild & peaceful journey. So much so that I barely had a chance to miss the fact we've been mostly off-grid. We've discovered, so far, two types of campgrounds... RV parks that are a concrete paradise boasting wifi & tv. And the state parks that are surrounded in trees, bike trails, nature centers and no wifi. Can you guess which one we've mostly picked.

Traveling along the Gulf coast we've had a chance to learn a lot about the Civil war & WWII. We had not studied US history yet, we're still in ancient times, so this has been a great learning experience... for all of us! We met a Japanese prisoner of war at one of our stops, after talking with him and hearing just tidbits of his story we decided to buy his book. I just finished it, my husband is right behind and Grayson just started it... it is a intense, horrifying and eventually redeeming story. I can not even fathom what it was like to be in their shoes.

On a lighter note.... I asked my husband to trim my hair. It is now 6 inches shorter, gasp! I guess he likes it shorter. {grin} It's right at my shoulders, which isn't the best length for me. I am thinking about cutting it even shorter.... hmmmm.

We've discovered a new love for dice games. I remember my parents playing dice games with friends when I was a child. I would sneak out after they had tucked me in bed and see if I could work my way into the game. I would roll for someone, it would be a great role, they would call me their lucky charm and I would get to stay up for a little bit longer. It's funny the things we remember as a child... I wonder what kind of little things our kids are going to remember.

It's raining today and looks like tomorrow too.

So today we're inside having fun, eating veggies and hummus & blue bell chocolate ice cream.

Some of us are reading books, playing games, having a tea party in the bathtub & enjoying just being.

oh, and blogging... you can thank the rain and weak internet signal for the double posts today. {grin}

Ooops

2012-03-10T14:45:00.000-06:00

self timer
manual focus
family photo
gone wrong

but that's okay...
somehow I still love this photo.
It still holds memories of that afternoon
and is a reminder of all the little oops
we've had along our journey. {grin}

Happy Saturday Friends!

Meet St. Augi

2012-03-04T10:03:00.000-06:00

...our friendly campground lizard.

We shared a campsite with him for nearly a week.

He stayed in the tree, we stayed on the ground.

He would come and show us his catch of the day

and then scurry back up the tree.

I am finding myself to be quite a fan of the temporary pets...
especially ones that can feed and take care of themselves. :)

{camera numbers}
85mm prime 1/2000s f/2.2 iso250

the first thing

2012-03-02T09:30:00.000-06:00

everyone wants to do

when our new campsite

is all set up

is go for a bike ride

and now that I have a bike
we can all go along!

What's in my bag

2012-03-01T10:30:00.000-06:00

I don't usually do this like this...
they can make me feel a bit narcissistic.
However I emptied my bag on my bed when we arrived home from the hospital and I thought it was neat how each little piece told a story.
I was reminded how I like to see and read things like this...
so I decided to share.

Now on with it!

{my bag} is a purse I found a thrift store 4-5 years ago. I have used it without changing for the last 3ish years.

{the handkerchief} was my grandmothers, it's my favorite

{the lip balm} it's berts bees acai, the girls took the label off, they do it to all of our lip balms.

{the rings} were gifts to the girls from their brothers while they were in the hospital. They gave me one too.

{the penny} was given to Eliza by Ozzie in the hospital. She asked me to hold onto it.

{the knife} this is my prized knife, all farm wives and mothers of many children should have one. :)

{floss} can't say much about that one!

{the red satchel} it's supposed to hold my lip balm, floss, hair ties, ect.

{the scarf} I was wearing it in the hospital but it was warm and humid when we walked out so I took it off.

{my clutch} oh how I love this clutch. It's my everything wallet, my little journal is in there too.

{thermometer} I had it at the hospital to see if it was really accurate, we had been having trouble with it. Turns out it's very accurate 75% of the time.... the other 25% I have no idea what it's doing!

{organic cayenne pepper} we stopped and bought it on the way home, I felt strep coming on and knew I needed something strong and quick. It along with raw apple cider vinegar worked!

{blue & green pashmina} this is my favorite pashmina and I am currently using it to wrap my camera in. I am however missing it so I might have to switch it out with another soon.

{pen & pencils} the green pen is my favorite, the pink pencil is the girls & the little one is from a Jr. Ranger exploration.

So there you have it...
fun, weird, interesting, narcissistic or not!

in the hospital

2012-02-29T14:00:00.000-06:00

11 days ago we went somewhere we did not plan,
somewhere we thought we wouldn't see again for a long time.
We went to the hospital with a sick little girl.

We had been fighting off colds and coughs for a few weeks.

Remember all those friends and family we saw...

we picked up all the germs we could apparently

and it was just too much for the girls little immune systems.

18 hours after Nolia was admitted to the hospital with bacterial pneumonia,

her sister followed along and was admitted as well.

It was twice the iv's, twice the blood work, twice the x-rays, twice the vital checks, twice the hospital food, twice the crying and twice the healing.

The paramedics, doctors, nurses & everyone at the hospital were wonderful.

They let Paul and the boys camp out in the hospital parking lot while we were there.

Can you see them?

Within one dose of antibiotics they girls were feeling SO much better.

Their fever never came back, they never needed O2 and were only on fluids for one night for good measure.

We did however have to stay admitted until we received the girls blood cultures, which took nearly 72 hours.

Which left us with lots of time to play!

We colored and covered our cups in stickers.

We played candy land & stuffed animals.

We watch cartoons & videos.

The boys came to visit everyday

and had fun riding the bikes around the little town and down to the beach.

It wasn't great but it wasn't horrible.

Our hospital stay included quite a few special dates...

it was my birthday, followed by Vances 10th birthday & then mine and my husbands 15th anniversary.

We celebrated the best we could and praised God it was only as bad as it was.

It all felt so surreal, and even today it almost doesn't feel like it really happened.

But it did and we are so thankful to be feeling better and back to full health!

Thank you to all who prayed for our family and reached out with encouraging words.

So many of you have walked such a similar road and we are so blessed to share and connect through it.

Where are we now?

2012-02-28T19:30:00.000-06:00

We just crossed the state line into big 'ole Texas

...my birth state. :)

Hope you're enjoying following along with us!

this boy...

2012-02-27T22:41:00.000-06:00

sure

knows

how to

rock

the hoop

over and over

again

Hello

2012-02-26T09:09:00.002-06:00

{this is the beginning of the post I tried to publish ~~yesterday~~ - 2 days ago}

...from rainy, stormy, humid & beautiful north Florida.
we are packing up camp site on the gulf coast shores right now
...so this is going to be a quick hello
and even quicker because we just heard there are tornado warnings! Yikes!

It's been an off-grid,
hospital staying
plans changing
beach going
bike riding
campfire cooking
bird watching
rain playing
amazing time.

I am honestly losing track of time...
what day is it anyway! Ha!

We've moved west out of Florida...

on to new adventures for us!

Yesterday was full of riding bikes through ruts and ravines,

and today we're on to battleships and bombers.

I have SO many photographs to share with you all...

so you might be flooded with photos for a bit.

I do hope to have some down time that I can write.

I have been scribbling in my journal though.

Texas friends interested in photography...

If you already filled out the contact form, you will receive an email from me.

We are stopping in or around Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas & Lubbock.

If anyone else is interested please fill out the "contact us" form.

I had many questions regarding money...

so I thought I would just tell everyone.

There is no set price, in my email reply I will share with you a suggested minimum & average

BUT if you can truly only afford half or anything less that is okay.

This trip is expensive, coming to you to do photography is expensive,

but this journey is worth so much more than money. {even though we all need it}

I only wish for a blessing for those of you we do get to visit....

and that will bless us I'm sure.

...sometimes it's hard to convey in words but I hope you understand my heart here.

I better jump off and head out the door for our day full of adventures,

I just had to use a few minutes while we had good internet.

Happy day my friends!

words from the camper

2012-02-14T21:19:00.002-06:00

We moved on to another campground in Florida. It's much less appealing to the eyes but full of nearby activities. We are surrounded by retiries, at the last campground and this one. We are definitely the minority... which is what we're used to anyway. :)

I was boasting a few days ago about how I haven't discovered anything I wished we had brought from home yet....
and then today I discovered I really wish we would have brought a cooler, the stroller & my big laundry bag.

I thought we were all on the mend, but we're not.
I'm sure all of our camp neighbors can hear the coughing...
it's not pretty.
Nolia has been the hardest hit, with Eliza right behind...
I am on the verge of finding an urgent care to take her to. sigh.
If you wouldn't mind, we would appreciate your prayers.

Playing jenga on a slightly unsteady rv table adds a whole new dimension to the game
...but it's still fun.

We've decided that Florida is expensive. The fuel is expensive. The food is expensive. The campgrounds are expensive. The laundry mat is expensive. It sure is pretty though. :)

Everyone in the family has a bike, but me.
I have started searching craigslist for a bike and a trailer for the girls...
so we can go further and faster.
We went into a bike shop today. I found a beautiful creamy yellow beach cruiser... it was $989. Ouch.

My wonderful husband gave me fudge for Valentines Day.
I haven't decided if I'm sharing or not. Ha!

We have finally established our RV chore chart
...now we just need to follow through with it better. :)

I met a nice older woman at the campground laundry mat, I had started the conversation and one thing led to another... and then we discovered that she lived one street over from our old home. AND she was a teacher at the boys old school. What a small world it is.

Did I already mention that we only brought boots along?
Most of our shoes were ruined in the basement flood last year
...and little & big feet had grown.
I searched locally but ended up ordering them online and having them shipped to the campground.

Happy Valentines Day friends.
goodnight.

we went to the beach

2012-02-13T08:58:00.000-06:00

it was cool

{24mm 1600s f/2.8 iso320}

and breezy

{24mm 2500s f/2.8 iso320}

the waves were rolling

{70mm 4000s f/2.8 iso320}

the water was chilly

{56mm 3200s f/2.8 iso320}

seashells dotted the sand

{31mm 1000s f/2.8 iso320}

there was laughter

{24mm 8000s f/2.8 iso320}

and soaking it all in

{24mm 8000s f/2.8 iso320}

we imagined and created

{31mm 1250s f/2.8 iso640}

and made our mark

{24mm 1250s f/3.5 iso640}

and made memories

{70mm 1250s f/3.5 iso640}

we will remember

{26mm 1250s f/3.5 iso640} {self timer. set on the sand}

for a lifetime

{eight}

2012-02-12T11:15:00.003-06:00

Can you see all 8 of us?

sometimes I look and 8 doesn't seem like much...
and then other times its just enough.
eight.

and sometimes I'm reminded...
that there could have been 9.
right now.

but always I know this moment
this us
is perfect in Gods timing.

Road trip rambling

2012-02-09T09:18:00.001-06:00

We made it to Florida....

it was late and rainy ,

we lost our reservation, almost got stuck,

and ended up boon-docking for the night.

But we made it!

My husband has driven this rig through some tight places,

and has amazed more than just me.

We are truly blessed by his abilities!

I'm sure I'll share lots of photos along the way...
but I really want to share more.
This trip is something to me, to us.
The coming together of dreams & healing.

We did school for the first time yesterday...

all but one was actually excited. {grin}

We have been fighting off a cold and some other bug.

Thankfully it was not strep.

I thought we might have had a stomach bug too,

but it was just me and Eliza so maybe it was something we ate?

So thankful we are all almost better now.

Although we've been gone for a while now,

this truly feels like the beginning of our big adventure.

A new place, settling into camp, seeking new things...

we are so excited!

The boys are doing the Jr Ranger program,

at all the National parks we visit.

Roadschool at it's best. {grin}

I really want to put up a map on my sidebar,

so you can all see where we are at.

Anyone know of a good one?

The kids saw the ocean for the first time yesterday.

It was cool, beautiful and peaceful.

We even took a family picture...

which means there is proof I was there! {grin}
I turned it into a new header...
what do you think?

I just started working on a you asked it... road trip edition.
Hopefully I'll finish it up soon. {grin}

Paul and the big boys just got back from the grocery store,

time for some eggs finally...

we had been eating nuts and dried fruit for breakfast the last few days.

hope you all have a great day!

on the couch

2012-02-08T12:16:00.000-06:00

with nana...

with cousins...

with papa...

with uncles & papa...

with uncles...

with friends...

with nana & papa and cousins...

Brittany

at the mall {in photos}

2012-02-07T15:30:00.000-06:00

the ones we left behind

2012-02-06T09:00:00.000-06:00

they are missed.
they are prayed for daily.
they are being checked on by friends.
they are outside in the cat shop.
they have hay bales and a heating pad to keep warm.
they probably miss us.
they are deeply loved.
they are our cats.
they are part of our family.
they are the ones we left behind.