It's official!

We're officially full time RVers, or full-timers as they are called in the RVing world!  We got to the campground yesterday,  but we have been staying in the trailer at our old house since Thursday as the movers were packing up. So far, it's really been great!  I have mentioned to Tom a few times that I really don't feel like I'm missing out on anything as far as "stuff" goes. The only thing that's really been a bummer is the length of the bed. It would be great if it would be just 4 inches longer (TWSS-sorry). I'll adjust eventually.

We got the second piece of furniture we had built and  it's perfect.  It fits the rest of our clothes,  my babywearing wraps, and Will's cloth diapers fantastically. I really couldn't be happier with it!

Speaking of cloth diapers,  that was something I was really apprehensive about. I have to wash them every other day,  and I was not looking forward to the cost or time that I was going to have to spend at the laundromat.  So I started researching.  After many hours of research and reading reviews, I found a portable washing machine- and it was on sale! I have done several loads of laundry so far, and I'm really impressed with how it cleans, and how quiet it is. Yay! (I will have to link it later because I'm posting this mobile and it won't let me now even though I was able to link before.) It was on sale for $199, and I've done 8 loads of laundry (3 cycles of that was a load of cloth diapers). I figure I could do two of my loads of laundry in a real washer, except for the cloth, which will always be three cycles. At $1.25/load, I figured I have saved around $9 at the laundromat so far. I will spare myself from acknowledging how many loads I need to do to break even, but not having to go to the laundromat holds a lot of value for me.

Homeschooling has been going really well. Cameron is enjoying the lessons, and I have been enjoying teaching him so much! His reading skills are consistently advancing,  and he is spelling up a storm. 

We've all enjoyed spending more time outside and the profound peace and quiet here. Some non-crappy WiFi would be nice though...

**update on the bed issue** I was in bed almost asleep (usually when I have my brightest ideas), when it came to me- just slide the bed out! We don't sleep with our heads right at the top of the bed any way, and our pillows wouldn't be in danger of being lost to a crack only a couple of inches wide. Problem solved, and we slumbered in non-foot dangling peace. Huzzah! 

Moving in

Well we're 5 days out from our first night full-timing! We're slowly moving in, and I wanted to share some of the modifications that we've been working on. We still have one major one that will hopefully be done on Tuesday (a drawer unit for the kids' bedroom). We got the first piece that we had made, and I just love it.

We met the carpenter at our local farmer's market about a month ago, and he has been fantastic to work with! The piece we picked up today is a cabinet we'll be using as our entertainment center. The house for our game/Netflix systems, movies, accessories, and whatever else we can fit. Tom and I both think it makes Irv (what we've been calling our RV- creative, I know) look and feel much more homey.

I drew up the plans, and our carpenter, James executed them fantastically:

Note that my youngest child does actually wear clothes on occasion, despite most of the photo evidence suggesting otherwise.

We wanted the back to be open to save on weight, and allow for air circulation. There was also a heating vent in the wall that we needed to accommodate for, so we had James cut a hole in the bottom shelf, and we fed the vent through that and attached it to the bottom along with anchors to the walls.

Yay!

We also added hinges to all of the covers for the bench seating, as well as handles and slam guards for easier access, and finger protection.William likes to help- pants optional.

This is the bottom bunk in the boys' room. There will be a set of drawers there in the next couple of days, but to cover the plywood, I found a cute rug, and stapled it down, which will be great for twinkle toes hopping into the upper bunk.

Still so much more to do, but it's coming along!

We started homeschool this past week with Cam, who is in 1st grade this year. He loves math, but doesn't love writing, so I've been trying to sneak it in anywhere I can. He has actually enjoyed helping me write lists, which helps me, and he gets handwriting and spelling practice- win, win! We've been talking a ton about US geography and history, and planning our route west. I am so excited for all of the historical sites we're planning on seeing. We've also been doing a ton of reading, and talking about deadly sea animals in the waters off of Australia. Blue Ringed octopus is a favorite, with cone snail coming in second.


Someone bought our couch and dining room table, so we're happy to have two big things gone! Back to the sorting. I gave myself a big high five when I finished the junk drawer today. Next stop- linen closet!

Our carpenter, James said he is willing to ship pieces, and is open to all sorts of custom work. His contact info: James Godfrey, Simply Pine Furniture, jimswoodwork@vermontel.net . He really is a great guy, and was fun and easy to work with!