New Move

Uhhhhh!
Over  a year since I blogged?!!!
I really, truly do intend to do better. Not just for myself but as  something for my kids to look back at one day.

Change is in the air again. We are moving from our way too big house to our "cozy" little boat. The owners of our house are trying to sell it, and want the house empty.  So at the beginning of June we will be moving. We have been saying for months that we need to get onto the boat so this is the little nudge we needed. The fun part will be purging once again. It is amazing how much stuff we accumulate, even when we are trying to live simply!

She is a 34 foot Morgan sloop.  As to is if we are crazy to move onto such a small boat the answer is yes and no. Our motor home was 23 feet so you could say we upgraded.  I don't think she will be our forever boat but will serve her purpose for the mean time.

Julia is going to fulfill her dream of visiting the Big Apple!

Tim is wrapping up his trip visiting Dominica. It seems like that is going to be that our next place we spend a good amount of time.

Dominica is a much bigger island than St Thomas. It has high mountains (not by Colorado standards, but Caribbean standards), hot springs, and lots of fresh water streams.  Fresh Water may not seem like a big deal,but when you live off of rain fall it suddenly becomes very important.  But as with everything we will never know for sure until we get there.

Ayyam-i-Ha Fun

Well it is that time of year again!
It is time to celebrate Ayyam-i-Ha!
This year we decided to do things a little differently since we are in a new place,
 and to be honest cash is low.
We were able to get lights really cheap after christmas was over, and we made our own decorations.
We also decided to do homemade gifts for the kids. (actually I just let Tim know he was going to be responsible for building a bunch of stuff for the kids)

Oliver and Asher were the easiest to figure out. Tim made some wood animals for Oliver and they are big enough that Asher won't choke on them.  I made Oliver a felt mat. I got the idea from this great tutorial.
http://morningsunrae.blogspot.com/2010/06/tutoiral-wet-felted-ocean-playmat.html

Tim decided to build a work table and bench for Zachary. It is perfect for him because he always has some project that he is working on.

Julia was the hardest for me to figure out what to do. Since I am  not a great sewer or crafter for that matter I was stumped as what to do.  She is at that age where one day she is still a little girl and the next she is a young lady.  I decided that I would make a needle felted fairy. I was not sure how it would go over but went for it. I found a great you tube tutorial.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=14vFdHv1Y6E

Everybody enjoyed their gifts and the homemade sentiment spread throughout the family. Without asking them the kids decided to make gifts for each other and Tim and I.

Since it is a leap year we get an extra day this year and get to celebrate for an extra day. We are going to the beach with some homeschool friends and have some sweet treats.

As much as I would like to say everything was handmade this year we did cheat. All of the kids got boogie boards at long last.

Wool Felt Mat

Flower Garland (notice some of the flowers have nine points)

Oliver with his animals 

Zach and Oliver seated at Zach's new work station.

Julia's Fariy

Fairy in Flight

Wow!
It has been a really long time since I have posted to the blog.
So many things have happened since the last time I wrote.
We made it to St Thomas and have started to settle in.  Since the post office in Florida said it would only take two weeks to get our things we carried Tim's tools on the plane and took very minimal clothes. Of course it took six weeks to get everything!  It was like Christmas going through all of our boxes. Some things I was happy to see. Other items I was wondering what I was thinking when I packed it.  It was one of many "welcome to St Thomas" moments.
The house that we moved in had been vacant for some time. None of the doors shut and the neighborhood dogs were using it as their personal play house.  The troublesome threesome were not happy when we moved in and tore up an old pillow that was on the back deck, a garbage bag of trash that was in our house, snorkel gear, Oliver's swim trunks, Zach's flip flops and many other things.   You would think that if we stored things on the back deck they would be safe but we were wrong.  Unfortunately the owner of the dogs does not care to keep them locked up and they continue to be a menace to the neighborhood.
The kids seem to be adapting to island life very well. Oliver has become quite the swimmer. A wave knocks him down and he gets back up laughing ready for more.  It is hard to believe that if we were still in Colorado we would be building snowmen instead of sand castles. Julia claims to miss the snow but I don't miss it at all.
The beautiful weather is wonderful but the people we have met are incredible. Not only is it much more culturally diverse but the people are so friendly. We have made some great friendships. Even though we have only known them for about a month it seems like we have known each other far longer.  Tim says that he feels like he has come home.
Every day is not rosy and is not like a picture out of a postcard. Well I do have postcard views but I still have to do dishes, laundry, break up squabbles, cook, clean and everything else I did back in Colorado and in the motorhome.  Moving your whole life and family to a rock in the Caribbean can be trying at times.
People have asked if we are happy that we made the move. I do not hesitate to say yes! Even though it has not been that long and we are still in the honeymoon period I think this has been one of the best decisions we have made in the long time.

On a side note we have an apt. for rent. So if anybody wants to take a leap we have a great place for rent.

From this to this..

Our new house for the next month or so

So it seems that we are supposed to be going to St. Thomas.  Everything has sort of just fell into place.  Of course we wouldn't be able to go without the help of our family.  So thank you! You know who you are.  It is kind of crazy that we are going from living in a 22 ft. motorhome to a large villa.  And how are you going to swing this you might ask. Well we(meaning Tim)are  able to trade work for rent.  The owner of the house also has other properties so Tim will have work on those. The owner also has connections with others on the island. Hopefully that will lead to more work. People are also more receptive to Fridge Tek. Energy is so expensive that people are willing to do anything to cut down on costs.
At the very least we have housing for the next month and are very thankful.
Next step, getting our stuff down there as cheaply as possible.

Our soon to be new home town

which direction

getting ready for another great day at the beach

The Schwentor way to fix a leak

one of the beautiful bike paths in Jekyll Island

Tim and the kids cast netting! Can you say Mullet for dinner

So things are not going in the direction that we thought they would.

The "For Sure" job in Barbuda has been postponed until March/April. This job has had so many delays that I don't think it really will pan out.

The big question now is what to do next. Since we are not independently wealthy and the money is dwindling quick we need to find a place with some work. Tim has been working since we left but it has been selling Fridge Tek. The economy is so terrible that it is a hard time to sell!

We have have decided to head back down to Florida for the time being. Tim has a couple days of work and my dad is going to be there next week. He has not met the newest member of the family; Asher.  After that we plan to head over to St. Petersburg/Tampa area.

We have had a wonderful time on Jekyll Island. There is quite a bit to do and see in the area. It is a great place to learn about history and marine life. Homeschooling has consisted of many field trips to the beach looking for new specimens. We than look up what we found. Sand Dollars are all over so we have had fun collecting, researching, and preserving them. There area has quite a few historical houses, museums and lighthouse. We climbed to the top of the light house(I didn't realized how high they really are until you are at the top and scared of heights) and learned what it was like to be a light house keeper.  We have had a great time learning about this area.

I think we have grown closer as a family. Now don't get me wrong, we have had some major meltdowns all around. I think we are starting to get more of a rhythm going. We also have not connected to the cable TV. That little thing has helped tremendously. Julia has become a voracious reader. Late in the night I will see her head light shining.

Abby Orange is hanging in there. She definitely a conversation starter here in the campground.  She has sprung a couple of leaks but is still holding up.
So things have not gone the way we imagined them to go, but we are still glad we made the decision to go.  Plus, it wouldn't be an adventure if everything went to plan now would it?

After being in one place for a little over a week we finally are on the move again
We are in Jeckyll Island GA. It is a quaint little historical town. It was also the birth place of the federal reserve. Talk about going into the mouth of the machine.
The great thing about it here is how bicycle friendly it is. There are beautiful paths that go all around. Of course on our "little" trip to the store we got lost. So a three mile ride turned into a twelve mile expedition. The kids were troopers! The majority of the whining came from this out of shape mama.
Pictures to come when I figure out how to get photos off the I Phone.(if anybody knows how please shoot me an email)

For the past week or so I have been wondering what exactly are we trying to accomplish. Ther is nothing like a little Dr Seuss to put things in perspective. Oliver picked Oh the Places you Will Go for his bedtime story. It was just what the doctor ordered.

Sorry for typos and if the format is funky. I am using the phone and the screen is tiny