Kid's dishes

We have a way to simplify dishes at home and make it easy for me to identify who didn't do their job.

All my kids have to clear their own dishes from the table.  In a perfect world I would be with them all the time at meals and would be clearing off the table in one shot...  but it doesn't happen that way in our life.

I bought colored dishes at IKEA and they all chose a color. This way if I see dishes on the table or even a glass of water somewhere I know exactly which kid left it!  We have been doing it for over a year and it works.  No kids seems to have figured out that they could just used an other color to get their sister in trouble...

Mimi: Orange
Mina: Dark blue
Lily: Pink
Clo: Green
Guests: Light blue and Yellow.

You can't really see on the picture but we have light and dark blue in there!  In the other drawer we have the utensils with the same colors.  They are in lower drawers to make it easy for them to get their own dishes and put them away when they empty the dishwasher.

I just don't know how to remove the white from the dishes, I have to look online for a solution.  Anyone found a way to deal with this?

Some of our first preparations

I started with creating a board on Pinterest and looking at a few, ok a lot, of the ideas on there for a Canadian roadtrip. I also made a list of some of the problems we encountered while doing a roadtrip from Edmonton to Montreal and back in 2012. Those were my starting points for this roadtrip.  We will go through those problems and post as we fix them.

This is our transportation:  Dodge Caravan 2013 and trailer with boxes on top:

Problem 1:  Blankets and pillows gets in the way or fall on the ground and get dirty, especially when we get out of the van.  I decided to make a homemade version of a ceiling storage I saw on Pinterest....

Here is the original idea...

Here is my homemade version made with a section separator for an old tent and jumping rope!

It holds really well even with stuff in it and doesn't block the view for the driver. We even put some clothes like big sweater and the car sunshade to block the sun in the windshield when we don't use the vehicle.

Problem 2 (a,b and c!):

Air mattress that don't stay inflated,
No privacy from the kids when we all are in the tent,
No shelter on the beach to change.

I got a Kamp-rite and I am planning on getting a Disc-o-bed Bunk cot too for the kids.

Here is the Kamp-rite double tent cot.  It is so easy to install, comes with it's own travel bag and fits two adults comfortably.  Only two 2 section poles. 4 doors with screens. Comes with a rain cover. Makes a lounge chair. It has two mats inside to sleep comfortably.

We can now install it at the beach or anywhere we need on the side of the road. We can also install it in our tent and have a completely private sleeping quarter while still keeping an ear on the kids.

Banana chocolate chip coconut muffin

We had some ripe bananas and the kids wanted to make some banana bread.  After thinking of it, I decided to make them into muffin so it would be easier to bring for school and picnics. I am pretty proud of myself!

I used this recipe with some little changes:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/flours-famous-banana-bread-recipe.html

I used coconut oil instead of regular oil and used the sour cream.  I added chocolate chip in it and shredded coconut on top of some. I didn't put walnut as I don't like them.

Even though I added chocolate chip I did not adjust the amount of sugar. It was still really good but my husband would probably prefer a less sweet version.

I left them for 45 minutes at 350 F but I think they could have been taken out a little bit sooner.  Not burnt but too crispy for my taste.

Our big plan

I received almost a year ago an invitation for my brother's wedding in Montreal June 14 2014. My oldest daughter also spends all her summers with her dad in Montreal. Those two got connected to create a master plan of travel!

We made arrangements with the school to homeschool all of them for the month of June and hope to be leaving our beautiful, tempered Victoria for the still beautiful but hot Montreal by May 31st.  We will cross the country stopping several times on the way.  Our goal would be to go from Sidney, BC to Sydney, NS but we will see how the finances are at that point.  We will be gone for almost 3 months, coming back at the end of August for school.

It's been quite the journey to plan!

First off, we decided to do a home exchange.  We registered with Home Exchange.com and it went really well.  It was easy to set up and really straight forward.   We are going through all the details to prepare for their arrival here.  It will make it so much easier over there for us. We will have their full house from mid-July to the second week of August.  We still have no plans for June and beginning of July but we will stay with a family for two days for my brother's wedding.  We have been hosting couchsurfers for a while now but it will be the first time that we surf at someone's place!

We just bought a small trailer to tow all our gear.  We plan on painting it and the kids have been working on a logo for our family to paint on the side of it.

I will write back on our plan for the trailer and the preparation that we have already done for the roadtrip.

We have been mapping our trip and deciding where to stop. I have to admit we do not have much in Saskatchewan or Manitoba.  Since we are traveling with our friend David, we will stop to see his family in Saskatoon and I am hoping to see a friend in Moose Jaw.  Nothing yet for Manitoba.  

If you know any good places in Canada, especially the prairies to go visit, let us know!

Homeschooling / School

With my oldest being 13 and three kids school aged, I am starting to have a few school years under my belt. I have experienced having them in school, homeschooling and unschooling.

At the moment, I have my two oldest in school, 3rd and 7th grade. Lily was in first grade but at Spring break it was decided that it would be more beneficial for her to stay home. Her small body couldn't stand a full day at school even though her academics were fine. I am now homeschooling her and the youngest.  I will probably continue in September.

I am not against schooling, I believe in the hard work of teachers and school employees.  I do believe that our school system is not the best for our children though.  Too rigid, not enough resources to do everything that is needed.  I also don't think that every parents should homeschool.

I will go over my journey as a homeschooler through this blog.  Sharing some of the things we do.

Also, how we homeschool on the road since we have a big 3 months trip planned,  but more on this later!

Cleaning tip for Whiteboard

Babywipes have always been my go to tool to clean whiteboard but with my kids growing up I don't buy them as often.  I needed another way to clean whiteboard and I found the best one.   Hand sanitizer gel!  Works wonders. I got an old whiteboard from the thrift store and it cleaned it without any elbow grease.  On my whiteboard in my kitchen there was a kind a grease that went on it and every time I was erasing with the eraser made for it it would leave a residue.  Just a little bit of the gel on a clothe and wipe it clean! 

You can see at the top where I used the eraser and the bottom where I used hand sanitizer. 

Where to begin...maybe with today.

We celebrated a birthday today. Our good friend David turned 29th. It's also the day when I bake my best cake ever!

Here is the recipe with only the change about switching cake flour for all purpose flour. You can find the details in the comments on the website.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grandmas-moist-cake/

I really didn't want to fail so I read on several blogs all the little tricks to make a good fluffy cake.

1.Everything at room temperature, egg, milk and butter.
2.Mix the sugar and butter for about 5 minutes then add one egg at a time while mixing.
3.Put the flour and the baking powder through the sifter twice then add to mix.

It turned out moist, fluffy, and delicious!

 Everyone loved it! 

First post ever!

Wow, that's it. I made it. I have created our first family blog. It's not like Facebook, where I sneak a bit on other people, no. This is to write our story, our journey, to share our experiences and meet new people. To discover the world with everyone. I always thought that traveling is the way to grow and develop a certain respect for life. It's especially important that my kids get that respect and discover that they are not the center of the world. We are now getting ready to embark on a new adventure!

Maybe I should start by presenting ourselves.  There is my husband, the Man, the type of guy that can fix anything. Not the sports fan, or the wanna be handy man. A real man who knows how to use tools as much as talking to kids and doing positive reinforcement. He grounds me, which is pretty neat since he is an electrician too. :-)  He loves everything related to new technology, being off grid and not depending on anyone. Oh, and also not spending too much!

We have three daughters together and one daughter from a previous relationship. I thought about giving their age but it would make more sense to go with their birth year.  So Mimi, 13, 2001, is a little adult in child's body. I'm not sure if this is a good thing during teenager's year but so far it has been incredibly easy and enjoyable. Mina, 8, 2005, is always in her own fantasy. She went through a few medical problems but it could always be worst. She is sweet and has a never-ending imagination! Lily, 6, 2007, is a wise girl. We often get the comment that she is wise beyond her years or that she is an old soul.  Really happy but knows way too much about the world around her. She has been sick too and I'm told it can happen when kids go through a lot. Clo, 4, 2009, is a fully energetic girl! She is completely different than her sisters and gets in way more trouble! I don't know if it's the baby syndrome...

Than there's me, weird, indecisive and taking care of the whole bunch!  People consider that I change my mind often, others, probably to be more positive say that I can adapt to a lot of situation.  I have a hard time deciding because I want to do everything!  I want a regular safe life in a nice house where we will grow old but I also want to live in a RV and go travel the world.  I want to live in the city for the action and the proximity but I want to live in the country for the peace and quietness.  I want a regular job where it doesn't overflow on my family life but I want an exciting job where I am challenged and that I can do from anywhere.
Why is it so hard to have everything in life? Actually why is it hard to have everything at the same time?

I invite you to embark on my ever changing life, my "scratch your head" adventures, and let me know what your impressions and advice are.  Are we the only one who wants everything from life?

Please, pardon my English!