Home Sweet Home - Balance

I have been thinking a lot about our home lately. The state of our home. The cleanliness of our home. The amount of time we spend in our home.

We are reading Little House in the Big Woods as a family and this really struck a chord with me.

What a simple life! Could we ever really be THAT simple? Only one day per week doing laundry? Only one day of cleaning? A day of rest! How relaxing.

So I cleaned the upstairs. Where the kids' rooms are. I gave away many, many things. Some I had to throw away. I think there are now so few toys that it will be hard to make substantial messes. A weight has lifted. 

The laundry once a week is a bit easier. Perhaps that is all I was doing anyway (except cloth diapers). But we do always have a huge pile out in the garage. I think giving away or recycling some clothes and turning them into cleaning rags is in order. 

This morning my kids asked me why we didn't bake yesterday. It was Saturday after all. I said because we went to the creek for hours and were in the sun all day. By the time we got home I was tired. Really tired.

The big question is should we stay home more? The kids need to be outside and I do not think our tiny backyard is going to cut it...

We are working on finding a balance.

 The weather will start to change but really that only means we will be outside more...

I am also starting to think about the upcoming homeschool year. There will not be much change in what we do, but co-op classes will start up, we are enrolling for homeschool P.E. class at the YMCA, I will need to get new binders for the kids' work, art, etc., and maybe a new binder for our pictures.

Here are some pictures from the first meetup for a group I created called the Rainbow Warriors. I'm not sure if the group is going to work in the long run or exactly how it will work. It takes commitment from other families and I'm just not sure how committed other families are. Also, I am almost positive that once school starts (this is not a homeschooling group), involvement will drop. I guess we shall see. I wish everyone was as excited about getting kids (and ourselves!) outside as I am. I see an awesome bird, plant, or insect and take a picture thinking it's the greatest thing ever. But no one else cares. It makes me a little sad I guess.

And here are pictures from my family's trip to the creek yesterday. It was a lot of fun and the water was really nice. We stayed for a long time.

The park was having a program on stream ecology.

After the program, we hung out at the creek for a couple of hours.

We picked up trash. I just cannot understand why someone who enjoys the creek (they spend their time there) would leave garbage everywhere. It doesn't make sense.

 We ate.

And we enjoyed ourselves..

The kids made up a game where they sit in the stream and wait for leaves to float to them. 

Mirek was so cute. He would get a leaf, let it float away in the water, wave and say "bye bye," then all of sudden run real fast and catch it again. He did this over and over. I could have watched him for hours.

We observed this little guy inch along for some time. Very neat.

 And then we headed to check out the Nature Center which is usually closed when we visit.

Maybe our balance is off. Maybe we spend too much time outside of the home. Maybe it is not. Can we ever spend too much time outside? If only our little house was in the big woods...

Making things happen for my family

I'm always reading about families that go on adventures together or travel the world. I read about families with their own land and homesteads. I want that, sure.

I used to just do things when I was younger. Of course traveling across the country with a few hundred dollars is a lot easier without kids. I was impulsive. I still am. With limitations. Chief limitation being providing food and shelter for my children (clothes optional). Of course, I also provide the children with me! No wasting away in school means I do not work. No work=less money=less everything.

We went to the creek today. It has been a while since the last time we went and upon arriving I saw a new bridge over the creek. Initially I thought they had rebuilt the footbridge. It has limited railings on the sides, is quite high up, and gives me the heebie jeebies. I am not scared of heights and certainly was not when I was younger. However, feelings change a bit with four kids in tow. Anyway, I was happy that they had rebuilt the footbridge and I would not have to stress when crossing it believing that my kids could fall to their death at any moment.

However, when we got closer I saw that the old footbridge remained and this new bridge was one meant for cars. NOOOOOOO! Immediate depression sets in. Why? No one is ever here when we are here. Sure, we only come on weekdays specifically for that purpose, but why? I am sure it is to make things easier for those who work in the park. Currently one would have to drive out of the park and quite a ways around to come in the back entrance. It just sucks though. 

Then on the drive home, at a stop light, a man opened up his car door and threw his trash into the street. Double depression whammy.

There are things I love about Texas. Primarily, I am from here, grew up here, and all of my family lives here. I do love the rural and small town Texas, BUT the Texas cities are enough to suck the soul straight out of a person and spit it out on the sprawling concrete.

So leave! Well it's never that easy. My husband has a job. We have a house with a mortgage. Sure we do not have debt (HUGE PLUS!) other than the mortgage, but we do have that mortgage...close to our income source. To sell our house we would have to get rid of the chickens and the coop (not legal), plant grass, paint and fix holes in our walls, get new carpet, etc. Although we do not have debt, we also do not have savings. We cannot afford to do any of this. We make just enough for me to stay home and homeschool and others would certainly say we do not make enough for that.

So what do we do? 

Well, for now, we travel as much as we can to Central Texas where there is semi-clean water to swim in. We live on as little as we can so we do not get into debt. We hope for a miracle. 

Meanwhile, we are thankful for what we do have (the kids have never been out of Texas, so they do not know what they are missing...yet).

Taven was a dinosaur hunter digging up fossils.

He found the tooth of a "baby long neck dinosaur."

As a person who has lived in Alaska and has backpacked for days without seeing a single piece of trash, I want more. I want more for my kids. I want amazing! If we never move out of this house, we will go on road trips. We will drive through the Tetons and Glacier. We will see pristine wilderness. Maybe there is no such thing in the lower 48, but there is a heck of a lot better than where we are. My kids will experience it! I just hope their kids can too....

My backpacking days were before the advent of the digital camera (well at least before I had one). So unfortunately I do not have many pictures. I look at the ones I do have over and over and wish I had taken more. Guess what?!! I will take more! With my kids! Soon!!!

This picture is from Glacier National Park in Montana. I LOVE this place with my entire self!!! With 100 of my selves!!!

 This is also from Montana. I wanted to live in Montana as a kid. I never lived there but I did drive through once (with many pit stops). I cannot wait to return!

 This was at one of my favorite camping spots in Yellowstone. Man how my kids would love to camp here and play in that stream for days!!!! Do nothing but explore...for days!!!! Soon!!!!

 Alaska. My home for a short while.

 Not many people get to land on a glacier!

 This is Grand Teton National Park. I left part of my heart there and I must return to retrieve it!!!!!

 Backpacking alone in Denali. This has become a little joke among my family. I thought I was cool back then. I could backpack Denali, a park with no trails and many, many bears, ...alone. Let's just say the bears surrounded and scared the shit out of me. HOWEVER, it is an experience I would not trade for anything.

 More of Glacier. I cannot believe I didn't stay there longer. I could have....

 Southwest Alaska from a float plane.

My kids are my world. Obviously. All I do is take pictures of them, write about them, talk about them, spend every waking hour with them. When Mirek is just a little older we will travel. We will travel on very little. Camping everywhere. Eating cold beans from a can if we have to. I will not waste away here. My kids will not waste away here. In these places, one does not simply see their surroundings, they FEEL them. It is so AWESOME! My kids will feel that. I am sure.