Getting ready to GO!

The kids and I spent last week at Lifest. 5 days of great music, speakers, activities, comedy, fun, food and faith. Being a little tired, and not being able to think of a suitable description, that last sentence was copied straight from the website.

It was really truly amazing. I'll try to do the experience justice.

In the process of preparing for the event last week in the hot humid weather I was skeptical of my sanity. What am I doing? Why am I going camping in the tent, alone with 5 kids, with no electricity, no water? Who do I think I am? Even though Matt was joining us Friday after work, I don't have fond memories of tent camping without him.

"This is the LAST time I'm doing this! You people aren't even helping me!" I sobbed more than once in the 87 degree temperatures as I hauled all the camping gear from the basement, packed and brushed the pine needles off the little trailer that had been parked in the back since our last camping trip in September. The one that convinced Matt of our need for a bus. "If only the bus was ready"...played over and over in my mind.

Somewhere between a family reunion requiring and overnight stay, 4 soccer games, 4th of July celebrations, painting the cupboard doors for the bus, countless trips to the store for food and supplies and Matt being on call (and working) for a huge part of the 6 days prior to departure I realized how much Satan didn't want me to go. I realized how much he wanted me to throw in the towel and give up. Then and only then did I give it to God... Foolishly, as I do so often, I wait until I can't do anymore it before I give it to God. How stupid! Maybe someday I'll learn.

Wednesday arrived cooler and with a breeze. We arrived and set up camp without incident. The kids worked together wonderfully at the plan we had devised.


Each campsite was 10' x 20' and we had 3...

One for the tent and trailer...

One for the carport that we borrowed from a friend...

And one for the van. It was parked right behind this end of the carport. That detail becomes important later in the story.

With their cell phones fully charged, I cut the older 2 loose! Me and the younger 3 set out together to check out the bathrooms and see what we could see.

We met a wonderful couple just down the "road" with this cool set-up. We stopped many times to visit with Ann and Erik from Chicago. Their shelter is an actual refugee hut made with pvc pipes and tarps. Very cool.

Hailey found friends and went to see Natalie Grant's concert.
And had their picture taken with Bob Lenz, founder and president of Life! Promotions.
Hayden found the dodge ball tents and whacked a few kids that were not his brothers. Novel, I know.


The boys and I staked out our seats at the Grandstand for the Newsboys. Griffin's all time, favorite band in the whole wide world! He knows all the words to every single song they sing. He was just about as excited as I was. I happen to really, really like them too.
I don't really know why I stressed out so much about packing activities for Sam and Isaac...They played with 2 "guys" and rocks all the time we were there.


It had been a long day and the little boys were tired. I promised them I'd wake them when the concert started.
Of all the concerts I've ever attended in my life, I'd have to say Newsboys has been my favorite.

It could have something to do with thousands of people singing on a beautiful summer night in an open field the chorus "Glory, glory, Hallelujah, He reigns" while Peter sings "And all the powers of darkness tremble at what they just heard, because the powers of darkness can't drown out a single word."

Or it could be the drum off...

(I don't think legally I can post the movies the big kids took of the drum off, check out the Newsboys website (or here) for videos, or come over, I'll show you ours!)

Or it could be seeing my boys praising God with their whole beings...


Or it could be the fun of "Breakfast" and knowing the big kids were close enough for Hayden to scoop up a handful of Cap'n Crunch and for Hailey to bring some home in bedded in her shoe.
If you've seen them, you'll know just what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you really are missing out.

Upon arriving back at our campsite we came to the conclusion that we, in the first 6 hours of the festival, had gotten our money's worth. All the rest was going to be bonus.

More tomorrow, now I must shower and take a nap...

God is good
(All the time)
All the time
(God is good)
-Peder Eide
(Lifest 2008 M.C.)

Bus Kote? check.

Matt decided on Bus Kote for the top of the bus. It's an insulating paint designed specifically to keep school buses cooler in summer and at a more consistent temperature in winter. As a side benefit, it will also help with soundproofing. School buses are loud.

The big boys had a wonderful time on top of the bus, washing and preparing the surface for the paint.


Matt rolled on the first coat and tried to get a second coat on and set before it started to rain...He didn't quite make it...

I spent the next couple of days finishing the part above the windows while the little boys helped me by cleaning off the streaks left from the downpour

They did a great job. It took 4 coats (and some touch ups here and there) and 3 days for me to cover the black stripe and make it presentable.
Why so long?

Mom, wipe my butt!
Mom, what's for lunch?
Mom, are my soccer clothes clean?
Honey, can you run to Metal Supermarket for me?

The peony bushes on the side were really hard to get a ladder stable on.

Interior Paint? Um, almost check? STARTED.

Things are coming together quite nicely. I've painted the inside walls a lovely shade of green and the front cabinetry has been painted Beach Basket. Let's take a little tour, shall we?

I'll hold the door. Watch your step, the steps are steep. Oh, since we are so concerned with cleanliness at this stage of the project, please remove your shoes and place them in the storage compartment under the step.


Thank you.

Glance to the right and peek in the seating area to catch a glimpse of our overhead cabinets, they're not done yet so we won't spend a lot of time there.
Take a left so you don't run into the kitchen counter and feast your eyes on the bunk area. Doesn't it look relaxing?
Take a closer look at the bottom bunk and notice the outlets for all of our reading lights. Ignore the speaker hanging by wires from the ceiling, we'll be taking care of the sound system later.
If we can get these guys to get out of the way, we can crawl out the back door and see what it looks like from the outside looking in. They just moved our old mattress in, thank goodness it's old and flimsy...getting it in required them to almost fold it in half.

Structurally, the bedrooms are complete! All "we" need to do is hook up our reading lights and add the outlet covers and light switch plates.

Oh and the closet drawers...

Oh yeah, the hardware that will enable the top bunk to be latched in the upright position...

Gosh, all the details, I'm glad Matt knows what he's doing!

What Our Kids Do When We're Gone...

We recently had the opportunity to work a fund raising event to benefit our daughter's volleyball team. We considered it a date. The kids thought it was great too, they got to stay home alone, grill their own hamburgers and we even sprung for soda. (which we don't do often) We rented a movie for them to watch.... they had a great time.

Yesterday while perusing iPhoto , I stumbled upon this video...



Nice. I am glad they had a wonderful time.

Door? Check.

Remember our bus project? I know, it's been quite awhile since you've had an update. The door is now done and the hole left in the front is covered as well. Here, I'll show you...

First, (or should I say 12th) Matt welded a box to go under the bus for storage.
Which will be eventually be accessible by one of these doors.

Then he constructed the steps from angle iron and finished the storage box and steps with plywood.
The steps are a little steep but we decided we'd rather have steep steps than more, but really narrow, steps as the "run" is only 24 inches. Or would that be the "rise"? In any case, we'll all just have to get used to it.

The tread of the step also doubles as a lid for more storage. He added beadboard to the risers and the sides.

Here's the inside of the door, it's not beadboard as we originally planned. I've learned to roll with anything these days. The closing mechanism is pretty ingenious if I do say so myself!
Notice the handle? It's from here!

Now we'll end the tutorial with a snapshot of the outside.
Now I'll show you how he closed up the gaping hole left on the passenger side of the bus by welding a frame to enclose the previous steps and covering the inside hole with the hood of a car we just happened to have laying around.

On top of that, he added a new piece of plywood and ...
a layer shingles we also had laying around (to help deaden the noise) and he's almost done.
Weld some more braces to support the wall...
stuff his middle child in just for fun...
and slap on some more sheet metal. Of course we let the boy out first!
Add lots of rivets and this window...
TaDaaaa! Easy as blueberry pie.
if you count the time it took to grow the berries