Our First Christmas – in the Motorhome

Christmas is always an exciting time of year around my house, but we were slightly worried about how we were going to fit some of our traditions – like a Christmas tree and tons of Christmas cookies into our new, compact house.  There was no need to worry however, and every tradition went off without a glitch.

 

We purchased a 3 foot artificial Christmas tree, which fit perfectly on top of our living room table.  Each year, the boys get a new ornament for Christmas.  Every one of their ornaments, plus a few from my childhood and some bows and beads, fit perfectly onto our tree.  The stockings were hung from the cabinet behind the tree.

 

 

My oven is a bit on the small side, with only one cookie sheet fitting in at a time.  So, the boys and I spread out our cookie and candy making with one or two projects a day for most of the month of December.  We chose not to do any structured homeschooling lessons during December, allowing us to have plenty of time for daily baking – and all of the unplanned math, science and history discussions that came up.  We even created our own cookie recipes on Christmas Eve.  (Find the details of this cookie project on our sister site – Raki’s Rad Resources.)

Family is a huge part of the holidays for our family.  We are currently parked only twenty minutes from some of my family, so we had Christmas dinner at my Grandma’s house.  Additionally, my dad flew in and spent two weeks with us.  It was great to see the boys spending quality time with their Papa!

 

 

On Christmas Eve, we went out for Mexican and then returned home to watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas and snuggle up for ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Then the boys set a plate of cookies and a mug of milk on the very small kitchen counter and headed off to bed.  My 7 year old was ready for bed at 7:30 – unfortunately he didn’t fall asleep until 11:30!  Oh the excitement of being a kid waiting for Santa.

 

Christmas morning was a huge success, with the boys receiving presents that could be used and stored easily – headphones, bike accessories, goggles, binoculars, pocket knives (for the older two), a journal, a sketch book and a water bottle.  There were also some nerf guns provided by Papa, but we won’t talk about that!

 

 

 

 

Thanks to technology, I was able to share all of these pictures out on Instagram – aka my new technology addiction.  If you’re on Instagram, find us at rakisradresources!

 

Here’s hoping your holidays were as happy as ours.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Virtual Communities – the BEST Part of Technology

Technology provides us with so many opportunities that weren’t available to us before.  It allows us to watch any t.v. show or movie that we want to with just a click.  It allows us access to the written ideas of others from all of history through the digital archiving of books and papers.  It allows us to scan an item on our smart phone and compare prices with other stores without driving all over town.  However, for me, the most important thing that technology does is to form communities of people in similar circumstances, but separated by distance, time, or any number of other challenges.

 

As a new mom, I found it hard to make new friends.  We had just moved to a new area of town and I didn’t have many neighbors.  I was working full time and didn’t have time to go out to Mom and Me classes or playgroups that were often held at 10:30 a.m, when I was teaching a class full of kids and my son was staying with my husband or my mom.  I felt like an island, and it was very lonely.  However, one day I found a website that changed everything.  It was called Atlanta Mommas, and it was a group of amazing women.  Some were stay at home moms, some were work at home moms, some were working moms. There were young moms and older moms and everything in between.  Through this group, I met moms who cloth diapered, co-slept, baby carried and breast fed and I met moms who used bottles, disposable diapers, cribs and strollers.  I could post a question in the forums and generally, someone knew the answer, or could point me in the right direction to find the answer.  And then there were meet ups – Mother’s Nights Out, weekend and evening playgroups, a chance to get out and meet other moms.  This group was a life saver for me and the friendships I have formed from it are life long.

 

Before we moved to Morocco, I worried about not being able to meet anyone.  I could walk by a person who spoke English there and never know it, unless I stopped to try and talk to them, or was introduced to them by someone else who spoke English.  However, by using technology to join a group on Facebook – called American and English Speaking Women Living in Morocco, I suddenly had access to hundreds of women, most living in the same city I did.  All of these women spoke English and lived in Morocco and they were a combined wealth of knowledge.  These women knew where to find expat items like maple syrup and vanilla extract.  They knew how the education system worked and who to talk to if you were looking for a housekeeper.  Additionally, there were meet ups and gatherings to get you out, meeting others and building friendships.  While we were in Morocco, this group provided me with an enormous amount of support, and when we decided to leave, they were able to help me find buyers for many of the items we decided not to take with us.  Through this group, I formed friendships that I still maintain.

 

So, when we decided to move back to the US and become full time RVers, we knew there must be other people like us out there  - full time RVers with kids - and so I went hunting for blogs and facebook groups to help us connect with them.  I found a few groups and I like them all, but I have to say that my favorite is called Fulltime Families.  It is a place to go with questions about being full time in an RV.  There are discussions about great places to take the kids, way to help kids make friends, how to store your stuff, etc. etc.  Somebody in this group recently recommended DIY – an online “scouting” and networking program for kids that my boys are in LOVE with.  Additionally, there are rallies and ways to help people get together when they are close to teach other.  Now, I’m new to this community, but I am so excited to add it to the list of communities which have shaped who I am today.

 

What virtual communities are you a part of? 

Kitchen Updates – Creative Storage Solutions

Storage in an RV is always an issue, but storage in the kitchen is essential – especially with how much I cook.  My drawers and cabinets have started to overflow, so my husband has spent his week cooking up some new storage solutions for me.

He started by creating a cabinet for the spices, which have previously cluttered up the space behind the stove.  The cabinet includes hooks for my rolling pin and the hanging recipe cards that my cousin made me.  Next to the cabinet, he hung my strainer.

 

 

 

 

Next, he added this garbage can and the plastic bag holder that we picked up at Ikea.

 

My knives were previously in a knife block which cluttered up my limited countertop space.  In order to give me back that countertop space, my husband hung up two magnet bars - also from Ikea – behind the stove.  Every knife (and a few other metal items) now hang from these magnet bars.

 

Finally, my husband hung some hooks from the cabinet between the stove and the sink to hang some of my stirring spoons and spatulas.

 

Going into the holiday baking season with this extra space is making me super excited!  More counter top means more space to roll out dough, cool cookies, store goodies, etc. etc.