WFMW: what's in our van & gas tank help!

While it feels like we PACK everything in the house when we head off for an afternoon...

there are a few things we find sooo important on a trip (even a quick one) that we just keep in the van:)

The potty seat is a must have.... it's more like our kids' traveling porta john with the wipes and handsanitizer right there!



There have been plenty of times we've made it through the store and as soon as we get to the car a kiddo has to potty... not about to drag all 4 back into the store:) Or when the park potty is a hike away and I have the kids by myself.

And NO that's not reading material... LOL!!! We have a workbook in the car. It's actually a fun little book that the kids and I have worked in while waiting in the car for Brian to visit at the hospital or grab some groceries.













My other favorite carry-alongs are in the passenger door pocket!!! Gotta have some

• Deo on-the-go


• Simple first aid kit


• Hairbrush


• Bug Spray


• and usually we have some sunscreen tucked in there, too!

And of course you already know about THIS... right?

In vehicles near your gas gauge there is a picture of a gas dispenser. I figured it told us which gauge is which.... but not so!!

I learned from husband, who learned from my random-knowledge-and-useful-fact knowing mother, that the picture of the gas dispense is actually telling you what side of the car your gas tank is located.

WHOA!! Did you know that??

Light Out - 1st Sleep Over and NO Distractions

Here is our view as we left my parent's house and headed down the highway.... ahh the BIG city.... when I see this I can't wait to get HOME to my little one-stop light (literally) town:)


Looking at the sky reminded me of the messy day we had had and that the power might still be OFF at my HOME!

About halfway on our journey home, Daddy called and asked how far we were and suggested we turn back!!!! Well the weather was fine where I was so we pressed on:) Our dinner together! EVen though the kids were exhausted and I was nervous about the road.. we had a nice dinner together:)

Although the roads we littered with branches from trees and the gusts of wind were very strong we headed to home SLOWLY...

At home the light were off. Brian had every candle he could find lit:) The kids weren't too happy with no lights but they settled down with some banana bread and then Pjs.

Since our kids like their "night lights" we decided to lett hem sleep in the living room with the candles (and us)!! Brian read a chapter and some in Farmer Boy (by Laura Ingalls Wilder) and the kids (and almost MOmmy) we OUT for the night:)

Our 1st Sleep Over:)


After the kids fell asleep Brian and I sat on the couch and talked. Usually at night, he'll pull out some work and I'll get on the computer for a little while. Then we'll watch a movie and head off to bed.

But last night we sat ont he couch a talked about our days.... it was nice! I wasn't that we neglect talking. We talk... it just usually happens in the midst of blogging, reading, cleaning, movies or folding laundry! Last night we had NO distractions. After we chatted, Brian looked through some of our pictures and he ate a cold leftover dinner, we crashed in the living room with the kids!

About 12:30am the lights, TV, microwave...everything came on!! It was kind-of funny to have the house "awake" while we were sleeping....

I must be getting "old" but by the time the lights came back on, the floor wasn't feeling soo comfortable either:) So Brian carried the kiddies back to their beds and we crashed in our own cozy bed:)

***I'll try to get some pictures of our fun day on the blog tonight or tomorrow:)

Fun on the way home

Daddy coming out of the slide at a McD's playground... we all needed a break:)

Anna "hiding" from Daddy:)

The free-ride at the hotel..... they LOVED doing this:)

Conserve Gas, Travel Together!!!

Yes, it is possible to fit 7 people, including 5 "car seats", into a mini-van :)


Let me just say that the three kiddies in the back.... had their boosters in tight. But they had their own car seat space and they were fine. They also all got along VERY well which makes a BIG difference:) And it was nice for Momma to have some adult conversation:)

And on the way home we had the five kids (of course) and a van load of groceries!!! So hopefully my family won't have to make any grocery trips out......

Our Quick Trip

On Tuesday we received news from our family in the West that one of Brian's good friends, Steve Crowe, had passed away. He was a sweet gentleman that Brian had worked for for over 10 years in high school and college. And in many ways he mentored Brian. Brian was able to watch this man's life change when he became a dad and Brian watched this man with his wife and young children. And these two "quiet" men bonded. So when we heard the news....with very heavy and sadden hearts we began to make our own plans to travel out to the mountains.

We decided to take the whole family for this "quick" trip mostly to be together but also to reconnect to some of our friends that we don't alway get to see or talk to. And we were very thankful we all went....even through the 18 hours of driving in just 2 days(really just 42 hours)!!!

It was a fun opportunity to teach the kids about mountains since we don't have any around here. Anna was a little hesitant about some of the residential roads we drove along...but I was too. I relied on Brian to navigate the minivan on those roads, I did the highway :)

On Thursday we left at 5:45am!! We thought the kids would fall back asleep but they didn't... just a little too excited about the trip and some toys we had picked up for the trip. The actual driving and trip went pretty fast, we were there at 2pm which was nice to have some time for unpacking and rest. We stayed with a sweet lady, Mrs M., from Brian's father's old church..she was such a gracious and giving host. And handled the kids "exploring" the house (and decor) very easily...she let them play with all sorts of stuff without worrying about how many pieces it could be made into (thank goodness they didn't break a thing).

We headed to the church about 4:45pm for the family visitation and public visitation at 5pm. After greeting the family, I took the kids to the nursery to play and outside (yes even in the damp cool weather..they had to get out). Two ladies volunteered to keep the kids in the nursery for me during the actual funeral service at 7pm!! I was thankful for their servant hearts and glad to be in the service. Although we were broken hearted over the loss of Steve, Brian really did a great job sharing memories of Steve and his family. And a reminder that mourning is natural and permitted....he looked at Jesus weeping over Lazarus. Even when Jesus knew that He was going to bring him back to life, Jesus mourned with the family over the loss of their friend/brother.

I wasn't able to take many pictures. Brian had a role to play in the funeral services and so my job was to keep the kids. And although we were in a beautiful area...it rained pretty much the whole time. Here are two taken after the funeral at the church where Granddaddy pastored for almost 20 years!!

On Friday we got another early start! We were all packed up and back in the car by 9am!! We attended the graveside service with the Crowe family and then decided to spend some time with them. Although we knew we had a LONG trip a head of us ... it was very good to spend time with such a sweet and amazing family!! They are such an inspiration and it will be a sweet blessing to keep up with them and see the plans that God has for them, even through this life changing loss of their husband and dad. And it was great place for our little ones to run around and place since there were other little kids around in a very child-friendly house.

Needless to say, as we got on the road we knew we were going to have LONG afternoon and evening!! Our kids did very well. They napped as soon as we got into the car, played, watched a video, stopped for dinner, played, video and fell asleep. The picture is of them crashed at 10:30pm in the van. When we got home (just before midnight) we just changed diapers and any dirty clothes and then they went right to sleep in their beds until 7:15am this morning..... yay! They even slept in :) What troopers :)

HMM...not quite over :(

Well we decided to make the journey to Grandma and Granddaddy's house even though we weren't sure who was over the bug and who wasn't. I woke up sick to my stomach....the worst feeling. You know when you feel like vomitting but it just doesn't come. My poor children feeling this way for days now.....

Anyway, it a last minute grab as we packing into the van...I grabbed a bucket incase someone got sick!! We are all so thankful....I would have had my head out the window, like a dog :) The trip was miserable. Lydia also got sick again....for the last few days the only thing she has consitently kept down is breastmilk (thank goodness for breastfeeding).

I ached all over so when we got to Grandma's I took some pain-med. and then napped through dinner. When I woke up I felt soo much better and even ate some dinner!!! And this morning I feel even better.....except being tired, Lydia didn't want to sleep in her pack-n-play. At home she would have cried it out some....but on trips we susally have a couple of share a room, so it's just easier to figure out where she wants to sleep and go with it:) I know she's SPOILED.

Christopher woke with a reaction to something....his face was swollen and blotchy....he got into some milk last night but we thought we had cleaned him up!! So we are washing his bedding, maybe it's the detergent used to washed the blankets. I took a picture but I'll have to post it later:)