Adoption into Parenting

This is my first post to address "issues" related to adoption.

Which, in itself, is a complicated "issue" and "experiences" is a much more accurate term.

This is an introduction of how our journey began.  

Who I am has been so shaped by our experiences.
I decided to start including some of these experiences in my blog.  

Please remember this post when I make mention of things in future posts,
because I want to also always remember these truths myself.

     When we started on the path to take care of foster children and then adopt some of those foster children, I saw good everywhere I looked.  

There was so much possibility for good! 

There still is good, but ONLY because we serve a GOOD God!

I have learned the hard way: there is a negative in every situation because we live in a broken, sin-filled world.  I have seen the devil use the negatives to bring depression and discourgment which will quickly steal our joy.

When we look for the negative, we will find it.

Similarly, when we look for the good, we will find that too.

"For we KNOW that God causes all things to work together FOR good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28 (emphasis mine)

     There is SO much in Romans 8 to encourage those who are walking through sufferings but, following my line of thinking in regard to our situation as a whole, verse 6 really stands out:

"For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace."

There is GOOD, there is LIFE, and there is PEACE because we serve a God who is greater.

Our task then is to LOVE God, allow ourselves to BE CALLED according to His purpose and SET our minds on the Spirit.

     Our first foster child was my son, he was one day old and I was priveleged to pick him up from the hospital.  He never had a visit with his family and he was adopted when he was 10 months old.  If you're thinking about doing foster-to-adopt please remember and be prepared for a completely different experience ... this happens about 0.0000001% of the time in foster care!

     My daughter came to live with us on my sons first birthday.  She was 3 years and almost 2 months old.  She had been in two other foster homes before she came to our home.  Her foster time was pretty "normal" (if there is a normal in foster care!).  She did visits off and on for over a year and then her case moved to adoption.  She was adopted when she was 4 years and 8 months old.  

Their stories and our experiences in parenting them are vastly different.

Some of these differences will become apparent as I continue to write 

(for instance: my son can read my blog, create a nickname and add a comment without extreme emotional and mental upheaval, my daughter could not).

     We cared for many more foster children and I may address those experiences at different times but I decided to use this post as a sort of introduction into my parenting experience.

     There is GOOD in our adoption experiences, there is LIFE in our adoption experiences and we find PEACE in the midst of these experiences because God's lovingkindness is everlasting and His mercies are new every morning!

Through it all I have discovered,

I am just a mom, who adopted kids, who is being carved and molded by God, who tries hard to see where "ALL things work together for good" and who is nothing without Christ.

This post has been read and approved by "D.J" 

(my sons nickname for this blog) who also commented, 

"God makes all things good" - DJ 

"Why are you crying out to Me?"

You are finally walking away from suffering. 

You're marching forward full of relief.  

The past is in the past and you are ready to embrace a land flowing with milk, honey and freedom from oppression.  

In the distance you hear the pounding of hooves and the shouts of war. You turn, suddenly blinded by sunlight reflecting off hundreds of chariots pursuing you and swiftly gaining. Despair envelopes you.  You are not free.  Maybe you never were free. You can't go back, you just can't.  Every negative, depressing, desparing thought wreaks havoc in your mind and you cry out in agony.

"The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent..."

Just like that, we forget God is our Warrior.

We forget the Lord is our strength, our song, and our salvation.

We forget the God who is almighty, all powerful and greater than anything ever is the one and only God who just delivered us from slavery by His own hand.

We forget we did absolutly NOTHING to free ourselves.  

The Isrealites didn't have to plague the Egyptians, they didn't have to win debates with Pharoah, they didn't have to call on other countries, they didn't have to riot in the streets and they certainly didn't have to fight with weapons.

"...Why are you crying out to Me?"

Why did the Isrealites cry out to God when He had just freed them 

AND promised them freedom?

Why do we keep crying out instead of being silent and watching Him work?

What if we stopped crying out and trusted?

"Tell the sons of Isreal to go forward."

We would go forward!! 

If we stopped crying out, we would go forward!  

We would go forward to minister to the orphans and widows.  

We would go forward to bring the good news to lost and lonely people.  

We would go forward to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite in the stranger, clothe the naked, look after the sick and visit the prisoner! 

THEN,

we would watch God work! 

We would see His mighty hand at work making a way for us to go forward. 

As the Isrealites watched God make a way through a great body of water, 

we would watch God make a way for us to go forward.  

We would see His mighty hand at work and we would be able to say, 

"The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation, This is my God, and 
I will praise Him."  

References from Exodus 14 and Matthew 25:35

What happened to the Tiny House?

One of the "must haves" when we were looking at purchasing property was a place to park our Tiny House.  Most of the properties with this qualification met had R.V. parking.  While R.V. parking works great in regards to space enough for our Tiny House, it is usually a concrete slab added to a driveway.  Not the greatest setting for a house!

When I saw the place on our new property where we could park our Tiny House I was so excited!  This would be the view from the big picture window!

 

And that's in the Winter!  In the Spring, Summer and Fall when all the trees are blooming, growing and a riot of color it's even more beautiful.

There just happened to be a patch of land between the pasture fence and the road which not only fit the Tiny House but also provided a small yard before the pasture starts. 

The dirt piled there is part of what was dug out for the french drain, one of those ongoing projects that always takes longer than you think!

Another wonderful benefit of where the Tiny House is located:  I get to look at it from my front window and porch and I really do think it's a cute little Tiny House.

My husband and I would love to live in our cute little Tiny House again but, since our family has outgrown it for now, my brother and sister-in-law are living there AND making it look ten times cuter inside than I did.  In fact, my sister-in-law has an Instagram where she shares all about their experience living there: https://www.instagram.com/essentially.sara/

If you're interested in Tiny Living, you'll love seeing everything she posts about Tiny House Living!

HOPE

Reading through Exodus 6 this morning I was struck by the question: what would our lives be like if we listened to the promises of God?

More specifically,

 what would MY life be like if I really listened to the word of God?

Not an uncommon question if you're a Christian, I know, but one I believe requires continued consideration. 

God TOLD the Israelites, "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements.  Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians." Exodus 6:6-7

He told them it would all work out.

However, what the Isrealites saw and heard and lived was all bondage.  In addition to their current lives of slavery, Pharoah had just increased their suffering because of Moses's request to let God's people worship.

"...they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage."

I don't understand the utter hopelessness of slavery or cruel bondage but I have known the feeling of hopelessness. The feeling of hopelessness when every bit of parenting advice for normal, abnormal, attached, non-attached, etc. children doesn't work. When my physical health can only be addressed by a medication, a VERY expensive medication which drains our HSA every year.  When the trauma effected children cause me to be a trauma effected momma who needs to spend more money on anti-anxiety supplements.  When cars are breaking down, medical bills are piling up, the dishwasher isn't working, the electric bill is getting higher and there seems to be no end in sight.

But then, maybe my sight needs to change.  

What IF the Isrealites had listened to Moses, 

listened to God speaking through Moses?  

They would have been rejoicing!  They would have been smiling and joking as they made their bricks.  They would have been laughing as they raced around to find more straw.  Have you ever gotten to the end of a really long work day and you know its almost over??  That's the feeling they would have had.  They would have KNOWN there was an end to the cruel bondage.  

They would have been experiencing HOPE instead of hopelessness. 

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."  Colossians 3:2-3

Suddenly...
Parenting children is not hopeless, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all WITHOUT FINDING FAULT (emphasis mine)." James 1:5

The health costs and concerns are covered, "My God shall supply all your needs your needs according to His riches in glory." Phillippians 4:19

The trauma isn't to big for God, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you." John 14:27

All those other things?  Well, I can smile because I KNOW that someday I can leave this breaking, broken world behind.  

Sure, I can't drive very far in my gas-guzzling van; maybe God wants me to stay close to home right now.  Sure, we can't pay the medical bills; maybe it's time to humble myself and ask for help (btw, God covered those for us already, He is Good). Sure...the dishwasher isn't working; maybe I need to be thankful we have food to eat (and no, its not fixed yet, and the joke that my kids can be my dishwashers doesn't work around here...that's another story for another post). 

Despondency has no place in a mind focused on God's word. 

This is not addressing depression in the clinical sense, depression is real and my anti-anxiety aids I believe are one of the many ways God supply's all my needs.

What I am saying though is...

We have a HOPE and a PEACE which surpasses all understanding WHEN we LISTEN to and BELIEVE the word of God.

Feel free to remind me of this tomorrow when my very human brain gets despondent over the things of this world yet again!

Back to when I could BE still

2018 brought some totally new, completely unexpected, absolutely amazing experiences.  I went on a sabbatical of sorts as I experienced pregnancy and the birth of our 3rd child.  My son was in public school for the first time, my daughter was still in public school and I chose not to work outside the home more than a couple days.

I chose to just BE in 2018.

BE present for my husband, BE rested to meet children's needs, BE pregnant and BE still and know that God is God.  

God is God who directs our paths.  God is God who listens to us.  God is God who protects us from evil.  God is God who gives us wisdom.  God is God who heals us.  God is God who gives us peace and who meets our needs before we even know them.

We sacrificed financially as I chose to BE but I would do it all over again.  Sometimes I think we move so quickly here and there and everywhere that we forget to BE.  I also don't think this is a new problem as God commanded us thousands of years ago to, "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

When I chose to BE still, I found peace, joy, love and recognizing God's hand in our lives became easier.  As I healed from the delivery of my first biological child, my sabbatical slowly ended.  In addition to caring for an infant, God directed me back to homeschooling my 11 year old son.  I love seeing the transforming God is doing in my sons heart toward Him and I praise God I can stay home with my baby as he quickly grows into a moving machine.  There are way less opportunities to just BE still now (for example, baby is currently standing on my lap bouncing while I type one-handed :D ) but the peace, joy and love are ours for the taking if we continue to trust in God and let him direct our paths!

To Hear an Angel Voice...

"I need a silent night, a holy night..."

To hear an angel voice 

through the chaos and the noise...

Keeping Christmas simple as I decorate my new home means seeing the peace without the chaos.  

I gave away container after container full of Christmas decorations when we moved out of large home.  I kept my ornaments with special meaning and my children's ornaments, my Itty Bitty Moosetivity, our stockings and a few other special items.  

All of those decorations were perfect for my tiny house but I LOVE decorating for Christmas.  

I was a little concerned my decorations would be "lost in the space" of our new home.

My decorations did not get lost in the space of our new home but instead became focal points for Christmas.  

We are able to see the peace without the chaos.  

My sons newly made Christmas nativity from his homeschool class became a point of interest instead of becoming lost in a display of multiple nativities (as before).

My daily developing card "tree" brings joy to my heart as I remember all the love that is showered upon us by friends and family throughout the year.

"...I need a midnight clear, 

a little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night..."

-Amy Grant

" Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you..." - Jesus

1 1/2 Years Later...

It always amazes me how much can happen in just one year, or one and a half years in our case.

Our new place has been wonderful.  It is out in the country, small enough to not overwhelm, has barns for the animals and a garage for my husband to work in, a beautiful setting for our tiny house and lots of room to run, garden and grow.

Grow is what God continues to do with our hearts and lives.  He grew a beautiful baby inside of me.  He grew our neighborhood by two amazing people in our tiny house.  He grew our circle of friends by adding neighbors to the list of those we know and can love.  He grew our farm by providing more chickens (thanks to a good friend thinking of us!) and more goats (looking forward to baby goats in the spring!).

Despite the growth and housing changes, I decided to keep my blog name the same for several reasons.  First, though our current house has more square footage than a "Tiny House", it is still small for a family of 5, which has required me to use many of the skills I learned while "Tiny Housing".  Second, we still own our tiny house and would like someday to move back into it.  Third, I do want to Live Tiny, or in other words Live Simply, so that we might follow through on Big Plans for lots of adventures.

Some of those adventures happen in my heart as I trust God to direct my path and I see where He leads.  Some of those adventures will be because of my family and the paths we walk together.  I am hoping that some of those adventures will be on our little Farm and some will be travel to fun places.

I look forward to sharing these adventures with you as I can and I would love to hear from you as well!

It's the Simple Things

Moving Stuff

When we decided to move out of our 1700 square foot house, I was completely exasperated with the amount of work it takes to move stuff, stuff and more stuff.  

Not only the amount of work exasperated me: 

the stuff seemed to multiply every time I packed a box! 

There was always more, and more, and more until I was loading things into the "Give Away" boxes simply because I hadn't even seen half the stuff in the last 5 years!

To this day, I couldn't tell you even a third of what we got rid of without some serious mental organizing and meditating.

This was all stuffI still hadn't packed so I moved it out of my kitchen to sift through:

This was all stuff I THOUGHT I was going to be moving.....

This is probably TRIPLE what I actually have in my tiny house right now!

This is what I have to move this time around (minus the loft area):

                


I could move my whole kitchen in 2 trips ... in my station wagon!  

Technically, we could just hook up our house to a truck AS IS without moving anything out of it.  The weight might be an issue though, so we're trying to get as much moved out of the tiny house as we can before we move it.

I am SO VERY GLAD I got rid of all the stuff that I did.  

I have no intention of going back to the "Stuff Life". I like the challenge of living minimally, I enjoy the freedom it brings and I LOVE how easy it is to move!!!

Why did we just buy a house?

     It began in December this past year.  Stating our plans as absolutes has never worked well for us.  We were made aware of a situation where several children we knew well could potentially need a place to live.  In my usual manner I offered housing with the thought in mind to make changes to our obviously incompatible housing.  I shared this offer with my husband, after the fact, and my usually very hospitable husband said, "No, we live in a tiny house so we have to say no, remember?"  I did remember, I do like living in our tiny house and I respect my husband.  I prayed for the children and committed our future to God.

     

     We really do like living in our Tiny House.  We like the freedom it provides financially as well as with our time.  Chris likes to work on the tiny house and I like the comparable lack of cleaning.  We like choosing just exactly how we want our house, without worrying overmuch about cost.  We like keeping "things" to a minimum and I like the challenge of making sure everything fits well.  We really liked traveling last October to Hawaii and we were making plans to travel more.  

     At the end of January, I took a test, a pregnancy test, and then I took four more.  There are a lot of things I don't know.  One of those things is why I hadn't carried a baby to term.  I grieved infertility and I wonder at God's plan but I was to a point where I was 99% content with my situation.  Our wonderful trip to Hawaii, and other events in my life, led me to see a lot of blessings in only having two adopted children.  This pregnancy came as a complete surprise.

    As I mentioned before, we really like tiny living.  We brainstormed how tiny living would work with pregnancy, then an infant and 2 older children.  It just wasn't going to work.  We had to move.  We knew how long it can take to find and buy and move so we immediately contacted a real estate agent and a loan officer.  I was very nervous about the possibility of miscarrying due to two previous miscarriages.  Chris told me even if things didn't work out we would follow through with looking for and buying a house.  It was time.

     God is always leading and directing.  He is at work in us to will and to work for His good pleasure.  We are told to, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight".  We believe God led us to a point where we would purchase the house next door to my parents.  It is an adorable 1000 sq ft farm house on 2.4 acres with two barns, an insulated and sheet rocked pump house, a garage, a fenced yard and fenced field for animals.  

    

     There is no promise of heaven on earth.  Jesus told us in this world we will have trouble.  In Romans 5 we are admonished to "glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."  Contrary to the world view to "follow your heart and do what makes YOU happy" we are told as followers of our Creator and King to "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  (James 1)

     My baby only made it 6 weeks inside of me.  I am working hard to accept the grief without being consumed by the depression I am prone to with loss.  I see God at work in bringing about the purchase of the beautiful piece of property we just purchased.  I am no longer questioning every day the reason for the particular path we are walking down.  I will often have several days in a row now of resting in God's plan.  I still cry at the drop of a hat but I'm also working on accepting the tears while continuing on with life.

     The children we thought might possibly need a home are now living with various relatives.  I don't know if God plans for us to still be in their lives or to what extent.  The trusting God has to come into play here as well. This has been hard for me.  I see the good in what is happening but I also feel the loss of their presence.  I pray God will continue to will and to work in us for His good pleasure that we might "be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing".  My spirit is willing but my flesh is so very weak.

     While we love tiny living, we are all very excited to be moving to a small farm.  When we first decided to move out of the Greater Seattle area we wished this particular piece of property was for sale.  We would have bought it in a heartbeat then and we are a little bit in awe that we now own it!  The way things are right now we don't really need a house but we are thankful for our new little farm.

We are richly blessed by God and know He will work "all things out together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose".

Looking out my new living room window

     

     

     

     

     

Staying Minimalist in my Kitchen

A friend recently asked me about my kitchen.

How am I a minimalist in my kitchen?

Let's start with plates, bowls, cups, mugs, spoons, forks, knives, mixing spoons, serving spoons, spatula's...you name it, and most people probably have one, if not two, of everything they need in a kitchen. I know I did!  

We have: one small plate, one large plate, one bowl per person and approximately one butter knife, two forks and two spoons per person.  Because they are both hot and cold, we use mugs and jars as our drinking glasses.  Mugs were tough to narrow down because I had a few favorites and I had slowly been collecting Norman Rockwell mugs.  I kept all but one of my Norman Rockwell collection (6 all together) and then I kept two mugs I really liked.  My kids each have a mug (my son has two now) and my husband uses jars. 

As for mixing spoons, ect., I kept my favorite Pampered Chef bamboo spoons, a soup server, whisk, pizza cutter, can opener, pie server, spatula for the grill, garlic press, ice cream scoop (though my husband keeps insisting I can use a regular spoon and save space!), thin cheese grater, basting brush, small and large tongs, rice spoon and kitchen scissors.  I still need, no WANT, to purchase a slotted serving spoon. We've survived a year and a half without one, but it would be make serving some things a lot easier!

Just recently my husband added this shelf perfectly sized to our pint and quart size jars.  It's perfect for all the odds and ends in a kitchen and for now I'm also using it for spices.

Unfortunately for him, I found these ADORABLE mini jars you can see closest to the cherries.  They are just TO cute AND they're perfect for the spices I don't use often.  No, they don't fit the space perfect but sometimes we have to sacrifice space saving for mental health and these make me smile :)







Moving on to spices and other kitchen things. I kept a LOT of spices because I use a lot of spices.

I love loose leaf teas so I bought little jars that fit perfect on my shelves.  Then I waited to buy more until I had emptied a jar.

I kept a few decorative things...Norman Rockwell mugs, cream and sugar pottery and Regina teacup...all of which I also use for holding teas, tea spoons or other misc. small items.

My ziploc bags and garbage bags are stored in jars to save space.

My jar lids are also stored in a jar...although I need to downsize these again.

We can't do much about the water jug yet; the water around here is awful.  








Onto the other side of my kitchen where I keep my Tupperware container foods.

I bought all those modular mates p.k. (pre-kid) when I worked full time and had the extra money.  I am SO very glad I did.  I still love them for storing food and they're a great use of space.

In these containers I keep (starting at the top from left to right): oatmeal, pancake mix, gluten free flour, steel cut oats (I want to get down to one kind of oats but I don't eat them very fast), pinto beans, dried cherries, chocolate chips, nutritional yeast, pecans, sugar, chips (yes, I take them out of the bag), coffee, almonds, flax meal, brown rice, lentils, raisins, cereal, flax seeds, flour, white beans, dried mangos, split peas, powdered sugar, arrowroot, baking powder, measuring and baking utensils, baking soda, brown sugar, marshmallows, cocoa powder, popcorn and black beans.







The items and containers are often changing.
I move things around to best fit the food and situation BUT I only buy enough to fill a container.  This keeps my house uncluttered as possible.

   

As for pots and pans, I have one 6 qt sauce pan, one medium size cast iron skillet (not pictured), one small cast iron skillet, one small saucepan, one cast iron waffle maker, one cast iron griddle (works for multiple purposes - pancakes, eggs, steaks, etc.), one regular cookie sheet and one square cookie sheet, one 9x13 cake pan, one 8x8 cake pan, one pie dish and one bread pan.                                                                


As you can see in the picture above, I also have a pressure cooker (tiny house life saver!!!) and my Kitchen Aid (which I use A LOT!).  My other kitchen essentials not pictured include our BlendTec blender, my food processor and my 9-tray dehydrator (actually you can see in the picture on the right my dehydrator under the stove and between the fridge and freezer is the blender and processor).

Handy storage for cookie sheets and griddle

Moving on to bowls and leftovers containers:

Since this picture was taken I have added 7 glass rectangular containers with sealable lids from IKEA.  They stack great right behind these two storage rack things (also IKEA).  I kept one mixing bowl with a lid that I plan to replace with a collapsible mixing bowl, 3 small collapsible bowls with lids and my collapsible colander.  

This is really all I have needed.

And last but not least, here is the rest of my pantry!!  

Not kidding you.

It is amazing what we can get along with NOT having in our pantry. 

First, the crate on the bottom shelf is my daughters snack bin.  She has some past trauma surrounding food and feels much safer having a bin of food all her own.

You can see the jars of popcorn on the far right??  We buy popcorn by the 25lb bag and fill every large container we own until my husband starts using it up...he makes it nightly so it goes pretty fast!  

I keep some basics: 1-2 cans refried beans, 1 can black beans, 1 can corn, 1 small can olives, coconut oil, one loaf of bread (sometimes I buy the 2-pack from Costco and pop one loaf in the freezer), canned peaches, 1-2 jars apple butter and miscellaneous other items depending on what is on sale, such as g.f. cake mixes, organic oatmeal snacks, craisins, grape juice, top ramen and evaporated milk.

Also, you can only see the corner of it on the far left on the top shelf, but we have a small rubbermaid bin with easy grab foods such as fig bars, protein bars, canned sardines, seaweed paper and snack bags of dried fruit.

Thankfully, we live in a day and age where most of us live near a grocery store.  Also, since I like to have lots of fresh fruits and veggies on hand, I'm usually at one of those grocery stores at least once a week.  This means if we eat that 1 can of black beans, I can easily replace it with another can within the week!

Think "ONE or TWO" and "REPLENISH OFTEN" and you have my food motto in a nutshell.

It would figure: my "minimalist" post includes more words than any other post I've written!

Changing things up

When you live in a Tiny House and your bedroom is a loft...changing up bedroom colors is as easy as buying a different colored sheet set!  I've had purple since we moved in but I decided we needed a little spring time blue (the color is brighter than in the picture).

Actually you can see the color a little bit better in the bottom corner of this next picture.  

I took this picture because I haven't posted pictures of our loft areas in a while.  This is looking from the storage stairs across our loft and into my sons loft area.  His clothes and extra blankets are stored in that hamper (no, I don't fold clothes).  My son loves to dress up like a cowboy and check out that nice hat we were given!  My husband objected, "Our tiny house is not big enough for a 10-gallon hat!" but of course it is still here :)

We changed up a couple other things over the last couple weeks as well.

This is the new, possibly temporary but a hundred times better than what we had, counter top.  Our original plan was to have wood counter tops.  Then we decided to go with stainless steel counters and tile backsplash.  In the meantime we needed something and my husband was able to put this Fir wood counter up in a weekend.  He's coating it with Cutting Board Oil so it will be food safe and water resistant.  Will we ever do stainless steel and tile???  We just never know...

I'm still working on the area under this counter.  I originally did not want cupboard doors.  Then, when I saw how cluttered it looked before the middle shelf was in, I wanted cupboard doors to make it look neater.  Now, I don't want to lose the space or convenience that cupboard doors will take away.  

I have considered curtains but I'm not a big fan of curtains yet.  I took these pictures last night and I've spent some of my morning re-organizing the area to hopefully make it look less cluttered.  It IS really nice to just be able to reach over and grab whatever I need and have the space to move things around without working around cupboard doors.

Last, but not least, WE FINALLY HAVE CUSHIONS FOR OUR SEATING AREA!!!!!!!!!!!

We opted for outdoor cushions from Ikea which fit almost perfect AND they are heavy duty!  Which we knew we needed with all the kids coming in and out, all the mud, mud, mud outside and because we eat in this area.

Unfortunately, only hours after we put the cushions in we were proven correct in our processing when  a neighbor boy sat down to put his very muddy shoes on and, for some reason, put his shoes on the cushions before he put them on his feet!!  

He's just visiting the area so we smiled, waved good-bye, reminded ourselves we are happy the neighbor kids have a safe place to come, went inside and groaned.  Thankfully, I've had A LOT of practice cleaning up mud lately!

That, my friends, is life and lovin'.

Staying-at-home in my Tiny House

I haven't been working at my "out-of-the-home" job the last couple weeks.

This creates several different situations in our Tiny House.

1). My son has to do a lot more of his homeschool work.  For some reason he's been begging me to go back to work.

2). I have been able to focus on my animals: 3 goats, 2 new kids, 6 chicks, 2 ducklings, a rabbit and a  hen.

3). I have time to go on walks and enjoy the sun, rain, sun, rain, sun, rain weather pattern we have been experiencing lately.

4). All the bedding in the house is getting washed thoroughly (I tend to focus on washing the essentials and other things don't get washed quite as often when I'm working).

5). Food calls out to me ALL DAY LONG and I am rarely able to resist...which of course means I need to go clothes shopping.

6). We eat healthier because I actually have time and brain capacity to think of a recipe, plan for the recipe, buy the ingredients and make the recipe...whew!  Wears me out just thinking about doing that and working my "out-of-the-home" job!  Full-time working momma's are my heroes!

7). I enjoy my tiny house more because, guess what?  It's CLEAN and ORGANIZED!  A tiny house is SO MUCH more enjoyable when it is clean and organized.  I know almost every house is more enjoyable when it is in this state however in larger houses the mess can be less noticeable and a lot of things can be swept under the proverbial rug.  I know.  I had a 1700 sq. ft house.  First, it was VERY hard to keep clean (even when I wasn't working) and second, one pile of papers, a couple blankets left out (even folded), a duffle bag left by the front door, etc. was not even HALF as noticeable in a 1700 sq. foot house as it is in a Tiny House!

When you leave a pile of papers out in a tiny house, you don't have anywhere to bake food.
When you leave a couple blankets out in a tiny house, you don't have anywhere to sit.
When you leave a duffel bag by the door, you can't get out the door!

Easy clean and (fairly) easy organizing is one of my absolute favorite things about living in a tiny house.  Not only is my house staying cleaner than it probably ever has, I have more time to do the things I enjoy...like making my son do his school work...he might not like it but I'm super excited that we'll be done with school in time for summer break!

Oh and because they're just too cute ;)