Too Much Stuff!

We had a great winter in Arizona and NM. It just semed like we accumulated so much stuff. Now, there are 8 of us in our camper, so that is easy to do. It is my husband and I and six kids. Some days I don't know how we do it and other days I can't imagine not doing this.


But, things have gotten to a new level of crammed. I know I could not shove another thing in another hole anywhere in here. I really got to be quite stressful as we constantly cleaned and picked up things before sweet baby would shove them in his beautiful mouth. He is one year old on Thursday and every bit of curious. So, I know I have to baby proof the best I can. Also, my five and eight year old have grown so much that they have to hunch over in the back room, where we have bunk beds that come out of the ceiling. I don't want my children to be hunchbacks, so I knew I had to change things in here, A LOT!

So, we decided to skip southern NM and TX (boo hoo) and head back to MO to get out as much stuff as possible.

That is where I am now. I am parked in my mom's yard with our big, ugly storage trailer up and out of our old neighbor's cow pasture and sitting in it's future location, my mom's woods. It has been hard to do a lot outside since it has rained so much, but I have managed to get a ton done. Today I actually finished our bedroom/bathroom/office and almost finished the living room/kitchen/school area/foyer/pantry/loft bed area. Tomorrow I was going to run errands but instead I may have to finish the back room. I'm not sure what I will do.

It sure is hard work. I have been at it for two weeks now and am still not done. I know it takes me longer because I have so many little ones to tend to. My older three sure help a lot, but they take a lot of time also.

We haven't visited with hardly any friends. A close lady friend of mine and her two daughters that are my kids dear friends came over the other night. We had dinner, which ended up being a total disaster. I don't know why I try to cook for others in this camper. It is a long story, so I will not share all the details, but I will tell you the night ended with my 5 yr old walking around farting on my leg, then his two sister's legs! Now, I know we live in a camper, but do we have to act like wild animals!!!! Who taught him to do that anyways??? I won't blame anyone, but you can probably guess who. And it IS NOT me.

I have had such a wonderful time with my mother. She has been great. This has been or best visit with her ever. Her fiance, Tom, is just great, too.

All the kiddos are in bed and sweet husband is snoring loudly. I am enjoying a few minutes to myself before I climb in bed in my newly organized bedroom.

Please think of us as you accumulate junk. I know how it feels. I read Tom Smythe's blog entry about it a couple weeks ago. It made me feel a lot better knowing that everyone accumulates too much stuff and we just need to go home and unload what we want to keep and give away the rest.

Sweet dreams,

sheri

Gilbert Ray Campground, Sonoran Desert Museum, Saguaro National Park, and who broke our door?

Driving to Gilbert Ray Campground northwest of Tucson was quite a ride. 

Read my earlier post about getting lost and then add this story to it! 

We came in from the north.  We took W Avre Valley Rd from I-10.  Went west on it and then turned south on Sandario Road.  That goes for 10 miles or so until it reaches Mile Wide Road where we turned left.  That brought us past the Sonora Desert Museum and to the second entrance to the McCain Loop Rd where we went right to get to Gilbert Ray Campground. 

Let me go back to Sandario Rd.  It is so full of dips!  I was following Shae who was driving the truck pulling the camper.  I saw our things flinging up and down as he traveled somewhat slowly down the long road.  I just prayed the Lord would put angels to hold our things in place.  One of the hard things about traveling full time is that we got rid of most of what we owned.  We either gave it away or sold it.  I still have some in a storage trailer in our friend's cow pasture but not much.  I was always reminding myself that "I can't take it to heaven".  There were days that were more difficult than others as I saw things that I liked leave my home.  It was very character changing for me.  So, as I saw our things getting tossed around in the camper driving down the awful road, I had to keep reminding myself that it is just stuff.  I can't stress about it or worry.  It is a constant choice to keep things in perspective.  Yet, I know that we are to be good stewards of what God has given us.  Shae works hard to make the money that pay for everything we own.  So, I pray for God to protect our things from breaking, yet know that if I do lose something it is not the end of the world.

Shae was the first to go into the camper.  Things weren't terrible in the front.  The back was a mess.  Stuff had been tossed everywhere, but thankfully nothing was broken.  After about an hour of cleanup, the camper was back to normal.

There was a nice concrete pad at our site.

My teens do sword fighting for exercise in our campsite at Gilbert Ray Campground.

Gilbert Ray Campground is very nice.  I didn't ask if they had a shower house, I just assumed they did since they didn't have full hook ups.  I won't make that mistake again.  There is no shower house.  We planned on taking showers the day we arrived, so instead, we continued to stink.  Sink baths only last so long, so we did eventually take turns having showers outside.  I washed the girls hair with the outdoor shower.  One night, I went out after dark and started my shower.  The wind was so cold and I kept screaming quietly when the air would blow on me.  I found out there was a star gazing group just through the bushes.  I am sure they had a good laugh as they heard me freezing. 

The cactus were in bloom, so hikes were beautiful.  The bad part is that the rattle snakes were coming out and being found all over the campground.  That makes it hard with the kids running everywhere.  I had to be watching out all of the time.  There are also a lot of mountain lions in Arizona, so we had to watch the kids on any hikes we went on.  It makes it difficult with so many little ones.  I don't know how many times Gabriel almost fell into a cactus.  The spines on those things are huge!

We stayed in campsite C1, which is the biggest site in the campground.  They gave it to us since we had so two vehicles and two trailers.  It was nice to have some privacy.  It used to be the camp host site.

Of course, we loved the Sonora Desert Museum.  We bought a family year pass, so went 4 times in a week.  Josie loved all of the bronze animal sculptures.  She kissed them over and over.

There is so much to do there for everyone. 

The Saguaro National Park was just a few miles down the road.  It is amazing to drive through so many stunning cactus.  They have a great Junior Ranger Program there.  We always have Josie do the programs, even though she is a little young, at 3 yrs old.  But, it would be hard on her if Gabriel and Naomi always got badges as she didn't.  So, Shae took her and read her the questions and helped her find the answers.  When we went back inside to get their badges for completing the book, the Ranger at the counter looked unsure about a 3 yr old actually completing the older kids booklet.  She took Josie's book and began to ask her the questions to see if she could really do such a difficult book.  Josie answered every question correctly!  The Ranger told me, "I was sceptical that a 3 yr old could actually do this program, but I was wrong!  She did great!" 

We went for the drive around the scenic loop.  Shae stopped the van so we could look at the holes made in the ground by animals.  I opened the side door so the kids could see them.  As I went to close it, Shae told me he would do it by driving forward and then putting on the brakes.  Then, the door would slide forward and shut.  This is something he and I have done for years with different vehicles.  So, I sat back as he pulled forward, but he slammed on the brakes!  Wow!  We flew forward, thankfully in our seat belts.  The door rushed forward and smashed into the lock.  Well, it closed, but we were all a little surprised at the force of it.  He just cringed and kept going.  We enjoyed the rest of the drive down the terribly bumpy dirt road.  We were almost out of gas and I had read the map wrong.  I thought the scenic drive was a lot shorter than it really was.  So, when we arrived back at the visitor's center, we were very low on gas and now our sliding door wouldn't open!  The door jammed when Shae put on the brakes too hard!  The kids and I went back inside and left Shae alone to fix it.  I have learned over the years to leave him be when something like that happens.  We try not to bother him when he is fixing broken items.

He did fix it, though.  I was not surprised, he can do just about anything.  That is what is nice, if he can break it, he sure can fix it!

All in all, we had a wonderful time in that area.  We shopped at a grocery store that made me feel like we were in Mexico.  It was fun to try to figure out what to do with all the different foods they sold there.  We left the area ready to get to a new state and maybe some trees!

What 5 yr old boys do with free time.....

Kids will be kids.  We all know that.  Well, I have six of them, so my stories are endless.  It seems like a majority of the excitement, activity, and laughter revolve around my 5 yr old, Gabriel.  He is not a bad boy, or ridiculously wild, he is just a boy...300 percent boy that is.

I think it is very important for the kids to have some free time.  I teach them that free time is a privilege, not a right.  We sometimes have to do school, chores, and work and then not get time to play that day.  It is important for them to realize that from a young age or we get these teens and adults that want to have too much play time and not enough work!  Well, off my soap box now....

I do give my children as much free time as I feel is beneficial, which is a lot at age 5.  It is fun to sight see and travel, but my kids just need time at home, too.  Our home just happens to be on wheels and our yard changes continually.

We have been at the same campground for a while now.  My kids have played all of their games outside numerous times, so now it is time for them to get creative.  I do not let my children say they are bored.  It is naughty to say that.  So, the other day my son, Gabriel, decides he is gonna catch himself a WILD CAT!  Now, let me explain.  There are about 9 homeless cats that live in the ditch by our camper.  They were here when we got here and will be here for long after.  In fact, we found out they have been here for years, just new babies every year.  We decided to feed them while staying.  It is so nice to have them around.  We can't pet them, but they are fun to watch.

Gabriel loves them, but hasn't always.  The siamese cats reminded him of the ones from Lady and the Tramp.  He was scared of those for a while.  Now, he loves them all.  He decided the other day to catch one.

He took the laundry basket, some twine, a bowl of cat food, and determination outside.  He tied the twine to the top of my basket and put the food inside.  As soon as a cat went in the basket to eat, he would pull it over on him!

He tried for almost an hour.  Cats would come in, but he just couldn't catch him.  There are quite a few older men here.  A few of them walked by our camper on the way to the dumpster.  I could see memories flashing before their eyes as they thought of times when they were young.

It was a riot watching him try and try.  Oh how I wished he had caught one.  None today.

He did make a fishing pole from a sword and tied a baby toy to the end and caught a baby today!

I have personally read Bringing Up Boys.  It was an excellent book.  I only have one sister, so the whole male thing had me stumped.  It was hard for me to understand some of the things Cody did when he was little.  But, this book helped me with even more than that.  After reading it, I had a better understanding of my husband, why he does what he does.  I do believe God made man special, just as He did women.  I hate to see men put down in society, like their character traits are less honorable than womens.  I rejoice in the manhood of my men.  I respect and honor them for who they are.  Let's let our boys be boys and our men be men instead of trying to turn them into girls and women!
One note on this book.  There are a lot of studies and statistics in it, so, I just skimmed over them.  I trust Focus on the Family and just wanted to get to the content.  I don't have a lot of time to read, so sometimes I just get to the meat of it.  I read this book about 7 yrs ago, and it has helped me for all of these years.  I probably should skim it over again! 
I do not, I stress, do not think that farting at the table is ok though, Shae and Cody!  That is not manhood, that is just gross!!!!! Love you guys!