another ride & pics

Well, it's about that time again....to write another post in the car! :)

We are heading home (again) for the weekend since Nathan doesn't have to work Sat or Sun. I've been putting off getting groceries for the last few days since we thought we'd be leaving last night for good, but after him not working much this week due to rain and then wind yesterday, he needed to work today and tomorrow (so he thought). So I finally went to the grocery store to get a few things for meals and Nathan's lunch. It was about 4:00pm when he calls me and says “So you have the car packed?” I'm like “Uh, I'm in the grocery store and have a bunch of groceries in my cart!” He says “I know, I just found out. The job got done today and we can go home for good.” Yay!! So I tell the kids we have to hurry, buy the groceries, go back to the house, make supper, pack the whole house, cause we're going home! Once I had supper started, I went into our bedroom and started taking the sheets off the air mattress, getting all our clothes back in the suitcase, and I unplugged the mattress to let the air out. That's when Nathan comes in talking on the phone to someone and says “Can I come back here and work next week?” Uh...I guess so? And then he leaves. Okay...so I turn on the pump and fill the bed back up :) That's how things roll around here...never know what the day will bring!

So since he's got the weekend off anyway, we are heading home to spend two nights in an actual bed...and ours to be exact! Then the plan is that we will be back to work Mon-Thursday and then off for 2 weeks before he's transferred up to Bemidji! I'm a little hesitatant to say that we are going for sure since I know how plans can change, but for now that's what it's looking like.

So what do we bring for toys for the kids while we travel like this? Well, they each have their “backpack” which is actually a lunch bag and whatever they can fit in the bag, they can bring. (And I brought their scooters bc they fit under the seat in the van). Then when we were home last weekend, I went to a garage sale that had a whole free box, two actually, full of those McDonalds toys and little trinkets. I filled two bags full (the bags were in there too!)...maybe about 30-40 individual toys and kept them in the car. Once we got to our rental, I took them out and they kept the kids busy for days. It's so super easy to find that stuff at garage sales for free bc it's those kind of stuff that people want to get rid of. And it's awesome for me because 1) they are free, 2) if they get lost, wrecked, forgotten somewhere, it's no big deal and 3) I can throw them away or recycle them when we are done with them! I have done this for long car rides too....put some of these toys in 4 bags and give them to each of the kids during the car ride. It keeps them busy for hours and they can rotate bags if they want. Thrifty way to have some fun!

This is what can happen when you jump off the counters and the drawers have knobs on them...and yes, I stopped and took a picture before I helped him :)


Our rental house...




Tiernan havin' a grand 'ole time at the dentist


This is how/where we eat. Our landlords (friends) were kind enough to lend us their card table and 3 chairs and 2 little chairs and a left-over end table from a previous tenant! Yes, that's only 5 seats...I usually stand or sit on the rocker in the living room (which they also brought over for us!)


Tired kiddies


Ariella praying at supper time...this is her usual 'pose' during prayer :)