simply extreme.... or extremely simple?

To me its a little bit of both.

What could be better than waking up to the sunrise.... crawling out of my tent or camper.... taking a fresh breath of air in a new place.... making a fire and some coffee and getting ready to face the day after a great night of camping?

Doing it for a year.

even better?

Doing it for a year before I am older and retired, taking the whole family, and home schooling the kids while we travel around the US.

That's the plan.

8 mos away and counting....

What's my logic?

We have moved around a lot in the last 5 years and the kids have switched schools often. I have yet to be impressed with any of the schools they have been to and have been even less impressed with the social demands for kids of their age.

Whenever morals and values started to be replaced with designer jeans and name brand sneakers is probably when you lost me.

When I think of the most valuable things from my past, I think of conversations with my grandpa. I think of a neighbor that brought soup to the fence for our dinner because she knew we needed it. I think of the days each of my children were born.

I had a lot of "things." My grandpa always spoiled me to attempt to make up for all that I had lost. What he never knew is he did that just by being there for me.

I don't want to give my kids a lot of "things."

I want to give them memories. I want to give them experience. I want to teach them how to be responsible and competent.

I have never understood why so many parents seem to chose over compensating with material things instead of time or they "fix" everything for their kids to make the family appear complete and competent. The Dad that always pays for the best lawyer, but was too busy making the money to pay for that lawyer to teach his son why it's not okay to drink and drive in the new expensive car Daddy bought to make his son look cool. The mother that cleans her kids' rooms and does all their laundry and then is frustrated when they expect it.

It is only through my weaknesses that I have become strong. I would never hope for an easy life for my kids. I wish them trial and error. I wish them sadness so that they can learn how to make themselves happy. I am not here to do everything for them, but to guide them as they learn how to do for themselves.

I cannot wait to show them that there is so much more to life than what they see everyday.