Life on the Road, Part 2 (New Trailer Tour)

Here's a virtual "tour" of our new trailer. Even though it's small (and we would all love to be in a real house again!), this is our HOME. It's where memories are made, where children are loved on and educated, where meals are eaten, and where we all feel "comfortable". Is it always easy? No way. But we are SO SO thankful that the Lord has orchestrated events in a way that we can stay together as a family while we raise support.

 

The front door opens to the "living" space:

 

I took out the two tables that came with the trailer and replaced them with one long "craft" table. It can be folded down when we travel, moved at night for bed arrangements, AND it's large enough that we can all scrunch around it for meals and school! :) All day, every day, you will find a child (or 2 or 3) playing around this table.

Above the couch/table is storage for toys, backpacks, craft supplies, puzzles, and games.

 

To the right of the kitchen is the "master bedroom".  My things are on the left and Brent's things are on the right. There is some nice under-bed storage that holds things like extra blankets, important family paperwork, Brent's shoes, etc.

Titus' diapers/wipes/blankets/toys are to the left of the bed. His diaper bag fits nicely there, too.

 

Being transparent here for sure....this is my closet. Yes, this is ALL of my hanging up clothes. LOL. It's amazing what you can learn to live without! Every single item that comes into our home must have a place and a purpose---and it must get USED frequently or this Mama will find it a new home in the trashcan or local donation spot. :)

 

To the left of the kitchen is the "kids bedroom". Johanna, Eliana, Nathaniel, and Noah share this room. They call it the "big kids room" and enjoy staying up later than the little ones, talking, playing, and giggling way too much.

 

That's reading/sticker/coloring books on the top shelf, and school books on the bottom two shelves. Library books are on the floor. We can't usually utilize the local library, but a friend graciously shared her card last week with us. We LOVE books!

 

More toy totes, couch and dinette by day and Johanna and Noah's beds by night. :) I'll need to do a nighttime post to show you how everyone sleeps.

Much of the children's bedding gets stored on Eliana's bed during the day and brought out at night. Believe it or not, they got rid of most of their stuffed animals!

Nathaniel's bed fold up during the day and folds down at night. This table is SO useful, not only for school but also for Rook tournaments.

 

Gabbey and Lyssie have a doll tote shown here. The green tote is for tablets/headphones/Leap games, etc.

All 7 older children have their "hanging up" clothing in this closet. They each have a drawer or cabinet for all of their folded clothing as well.  Boys socks are held in that large laundry bag. (Does anyone else have a love/hate relationship with boys socks??)

And there you have it! Life in our trailer. I did forget to take pictures of the bathroom (although it's quite unexciting!) but I will try to get to that when I answer any questions from the previous post.

Blessings on you and your day---This is the day the LORD hath made, so REJOICE in whatever circumstances HE brings your way....even if that means living in a 35 ft travel trailer. :) He is always, always, good!

Life on the Road, Part 1

I cleared all the pictures off my memory card today and came across never before seen footage a bunch of pictures of life in our trailer. Since I frequently get asked about HOW we have managed to live on the road for 19 months now, I thought it would be fun to share them below. :)

Also, I'm opening this post up to questions from you, my sweet friends. If you're curious about how life works during this stage of our lives and ministry, please drop me a quick note. I will do my best to photograph and blog about the answers to your questions!

(Side note: Two weeks ago, we traded in our first trailer for a different model. We had been having serious manufacturing problems, and although the company claimed responsibility and covered the too frequent repairs, we felt safer working with a new company. So these pictures are from this past fall and our "old" trailer. I've already taken a "photo tour" of our new trailer, which I'll post soon.)

**Early morning, showing sleeping arrangements for all the children except Johanna, who was gone at the time these were taken.

Noah on the couch and Ethan on the couch/dinette. Our laundry is normally stored in the bathtub, so anytime someone needs a shower, we have to move it to the living room. Hence the turquoise laundry baskets seen below!

Nathaniel on the top bunk and Gabbey and Lyssie on the bottom.

 Nursing Titus, while attempting to wake up sleeping children. This was a Sunday morning and it was EARLY. :)

Titus, playing on my bed. He wasn't rolling over or scooting yet. :)

Eating breakfast. The box fan was for white noise at night---but we've upgraded to 2 noise makers now and they work SO well!

Sorting socks with Lyssie. The top bunk folded up during the day and was part of our morning routine. Making beds and cleaning up blankets and pillows always takes a good amount of time, and I've had to adjust to the fact that nothing happens "quickly" in the trailer. I find myself repeating, "Take it slow and don't panic" throughout the day. LOL.

Working on the little girl's Sunday hair. There's not enough room in the bathroom to do this (and someone else is always needing it anyway!)

We rotate morning chores---this day, Gabbey organized the shoe shelf, Lyssie vacuumed the floors and couches, and Nathaniel worked on dishes.

(Notice the TINY kitchen space! This presented quite a challenge for me at times. Our new trailer has a much more functional kitchen space and I'm SO grateful!)

Ethan and Noah reading and playing quietly before church. Once the little ones are in their church clothes, they can't go outside and play, so we assign quiet play until we leave for church. :)

All dressed and ready, trailer cleaned up--time to leave for church!

Sunday afternoon nap time.

Outside play is a large part of our life! Because we are always parked somewhere "new", the children get to constantly explore their surroundings. Sometimes we are at a church, and sometimes (like these pictures), we are at a campground.

I keep totes of various toys and rotate them in and out of the trailer for variety. We have a storage unit in our hometown so I can keep these things organized and available as needed.

I never thought I would bring a newborn "home" to a travel trailer, with no nursery, no crib, no swing, no bouncy seat, etc----but Titus hasn't lacked for a single thing! He has been the sweetest, easiest little guy and I stressed about all of that "stuff" for nothing---he couldn't be happier!

Coming up next: Trailer Tour! I'll walk you through each room and space in our home and show you how it works for us.

(Remember to post your questions on this post!)

Blessings!

A Day in the Life of the Bergey Bunch

I'm thoroughly enjoying the 30 Days of Grace Parenting Tips series.  From the feedback I'm receiving, I think many of you are enjoying it as well. 

But I thought a little break might be fun, especially since I haven't been adding pictures to most of the posts, and let's face it---blogs without pictures get.boring.fast. Right? 

Don't you enjoy getting a peak into other families' daily lives? It's like sitting down to tea with a new friend-- through cyber-space!

This post is for those of you who have ever wondered what a typical day looks like in our house--- or for those of you who just enjoy pictures. (Cause there is a TON of pictures in this post.) 

I will warn you, however. I am not a professional photographer. 

All those cute pictures on my blog? My amazing sister took them. She's the family photographer. Not me. :)

These pictures are just quickly-captured-candid-moments of 

A Day In The Life Of The Bergey Bunch

FYI: None of this was staged. As a matter of fact, I didn't even plan this in advance. I did my best not to make it fake. (as evidenced by my make-up-less face. lol) Anyone can stage photographs to make their lives look perfect. :)

I get up, do my morning routine, and start waking children up. As soon as the youngest children are awake and pottied, they go to their highchairs to play until breakfast.

Nathaniel starts the morning with sorting laundry. Normally we do all of our laundry on Tuesdays and Fridays, but we spent Tuesday afternoon with my sister so we were a little behind. 

Wednesday morning is bath morning, so no one gets dressed just yet. :) 

The girls make their bed, Johanna fills the water cups, Ellie helps me fill the plates, and everyone heads to the table for breakfast. 

 On the menu for today---French Toast sticks, strawberries, and yogurt with granola on top.

 

Here's what my kitchen looked like during breakfast. :) 

The other rooms (besides the boys bedroom, I think) were pretty clean, though. 

Breakfast over, Johanna and Eliana head to the shower. Nathaniel starts his schoolwork and the four youngest stay at the kitchen table with toys and puzzles. (I keep them close when I need to clean---otherwise, they are making messes as fast as I'm cleaning them up!) I get to work on the kitchen, folding a load of laundry, and helping Nathaniel with his work as needed.

A certain little munchkin (Ethan, 3) tries to convince me he needs to get out of his chair while I'm folding laundry. Even though he IS adorable, the answer was still no. :)

Ahhh. A clean kitchen. I don't function very well in a messy kitchen. With 7 children, however, it gets messy several times a day and I'm learning to just go with the flow. Some days it's easier for me than others. :)

Johanna and Eliana finish their showers, do their hair, and start their school. 

 The youngest four (and Nathaniel, once he's done on break) watch a 20 minute movie. This gives me the time I need to teach a math lesson to the older girls and get them working on their school for the day.

School gets done in all rooms of our house. Here Johanna is reading on her bed. (She's reading English at a second/third grade level now and her math is up to sixth grade! So proud of her.)

I finish up with the girls, send them off to work, and make a nice cup of coffee for myself. :)

Wow. Nothing like keeping it real. I didn't take a shower because I it was bath day and I wanted to run on the treadmill later....so here's the un-showered all natural Mommy look. LOL

The movie ends all too quickly and my quick break is over. My second cup of coffee gets cold as I forget about it and get to work on bath-time. 

I send the three-year-olds to the bathroom to undress. This is quite interesting to watch as they wiggle their little bodies and work all of their clothing off. (Yes, they are in their clothes from the day before. I am that kind of Mommy.) 

They will SO kill me for this picture later. Lucky for me, they're too young to care now and I think they are the.cutest.thing.ever. 

Everyone has to go potty before they get in the tub, because Mommy doesn't like putting her hands in PEE WATER. (Yes, they think it is funny to potty in the tub. I don't. Think it's funny, I mean. Well, I don't potty in the tub, either. Okay, I better just stop now.)

While the babies take a long bath (I think they played for about an hour!), we take turns watching them.

Johanna, Eliana, and Nathaniel continue their schoolwork, and Noah plays alone in his room.

Nathaniel takes a turn watching the babies play, while I tend to Johanna. She was disappointed about an upcoming event that she doesn't get to attend, and had a nice long crying session about it. It took me awhile to get her regrouped and realizing that I was not going to change my mind. 

Okay, back to bath-time. I lay out all three outfits on my bed, wash up the little ones, and call the older girls to help. We each dress one child, making it much quicker than if I was doing it alone!

Next up, hair time. I dry and "style" each child's hair. I keep all three with me in the bathroom so I know what they're up to. :)

 

A math question interrupts the hair party in the bathroom. :)

Johanna and Nathaniel find a quiet place to work on more schoolwork.

Everyone enjoys a snack of almonds.

 

The babies settle in for some fight over the same green spoon play time. (What? You thought my children never fought over toys? They're CHILDREN, not angels. :))

I solve the green spoon problem, switch over the laundry and start getting lunch ready.

Eliana works on a story she's writing while Johanna folds the next load of laundry.

 The youngest five go outside for a few minutes while we get lunch on the table. Turns out, it's a rather warm day and they come in with all kinds of plans for the afternoon play-time.

Here is how I prepare most meals. I set out seven plates, fill them while I'm cooking, and take them to the table when it's time to eat. Johanna always fills the cups and Eliana is in charge of bibs for the babies.

Lunch menu: Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, chips, bananas, and graham crackers for a treat.

Only six cups today, because one child "lost their sweets" for a week. (One of our family consequences.)

After lunch, each child has a job to do. The littlest ones stay at the table again while we clean up from lunch.
Alyssia and Gabriella LOVE to color! They beg to "coloring".

After jobs are done, I take a break and sit down on the computer for a half hour while everyone heads outside to play. They have so much fun playing spy and building with ropes and sticks.

Next on the schedule is nap-time. I call the youngest five into the house, set up Nathaniel and Noah (8 and 6) on the Wii and get the babies ready for their nap (potty, drink, diaper for the one that might wet her bed, etc). Normally, the older girls will read or play in their room during this time, but because the weather is so warm, they stay outside.

 

I put the babies down for a nap in the same room, so the other rooms are freed up for the afternoon.

 They ask me for "a story, Momma!" so I tell them Goldilocks and The Three Bears (complete with silly voices, which they LOVE). I turn off the light, turn on the fan, close the curtains, and sit down in the quiet room. Ethan needs help settling down, so I rock him on his bed for a couple of minutes. Then he whispers, "Mommy, I think I'll be more comfortable if I lay down." so I lay him down. They're all asleep soon.

(I took the pictures of them sleeping with my flash, so it looks bright in the room, but it's actually very dark!)

I LOVE this picture of Gabbey and her baby. She snuggles this baby every time she falls asleep....

It's now 2:30 in the afternoon. I turn off the Wii and send the boys outside to play with the girls, change my clothes and hop on the treadmill. Thirty-five minutes, 2.5 miles, and one sweaty mess later, I'm ready for a hot shower. NO, I didn't have the girls take pictures of me during this time. Sorry, but a girl's gotta have some dignity. :)

I call Johanna and Eliana inside. Johanna helps me fold the last of the laundry and we are both happy it is done until Friday. 

Eliana practices her violin.

Nathaniel comes inside and gets his violin out. We work on some music together.

The babies wake up, go potty, snuggle Mommy for awhile on the couch, and get a small snack. They want to play outside, so off they go, with their buckets and a pile of rocks.  

I need to peel potatoes for dinner, so I put Noah next to me to work on his reading flashcards.

 Johanna works on her penmanship. (She and Eliana are trying to copy the entire book of Matthew in cursive.) Noah works on his seatwork.

 The laundry pile, ready to be put away!

We have church on Wednesday evenings, so I fix everyone's hair, lay out the Bibles, quiet books, and music for church, prepare dinner, change Gabbey's clothes (since she got dirty somehow), help Nathaniel and Noah get ready for church, and put everyone's shoes on before they sit down to eat dinner.

Eliana and Johanna fix the plates and drinks for everyone's dinner.

On the menu: Leftover ham from Sunday's lunch, mashed potatoes, green beans and pineapple for dessert.

AND this is where the pictures end, although the day wasn't quite over yet. It just got too busy for me to grab the camera. :)

Brent arrived home. We finished dinner, scrambled to clean up the kitchen, loaded everyone (and all the "gear") into the van, and headed to church. Brent stopped at WaWa and got me a coffee----heaven!----and we listened to music the whole (long) hour drive to church. :)

Stayed after at church to fellowship while the children played with their friends, then started the (long) trip home. Brent and I tucked the very tired children into bed at 10 pm, sat on the couch for a few minutes, and dragged our own tired bodies to bed at 10:45.

There you have it. A Day In The Life Of The Bergey Bunch. Not very exciting, was it? Nevertheless, days turn into weeks, weeks turn into years, years turn into a lifetime of ordinary days. So I am thankful for these boring, sometimes monotonous days. They are the makings of a lifetime!