Our RV Journey - Summer Trip - Day 6

Almost here a week already! We are still settling in since we’ve been so busy.

Storage is always an issue in the RV, well, that and packing light! I can’t emphasize packing light enough! I struggle with this every trip. With staying for 2 seasons and being far from home, it’s challenging! Then, I remind myself that we have limited space and I don’t want to be tripping over things in the camper!

We did bring 2 square storage ottomans this trip. This is a first run for them. We haven’t used them in the camper before. They are multi-functional, which is important. They offer storage, seating and use as an ottoman. As we were leaving the house, my son was bringing his clothes downstairs and we ended up putting them in the empty ottoman to take out to the camper. All of his clothes fit in one of the ottomans! I then had my daughter bring her clothes down to test out the other ottoman. Lo and behold, all of her clothes fit in the other ottoman! Huge win-win. They really needed more space for their clothes, so bringing the ottomans has really been working out so far.

Please share if you have any storage ideas that are working out well for you or your family!

~ Happy Camper

Bookshelves Are For Books, Or Are They?

I am a homeschooling Mama and a book lover! I think many of us homeschoolers are also book lovers. So here's my predicament - my bookshelves are full! My first thought is: I need another bookcase....maybe a few more. Now I am not saying that I necessarily have room for several bookcases. I do know I could make room for one more at this point.

I recently had this conversation with another homeschool Mom and we both asked - do we need another bookcase or is it time (please say it isn't so!!) to declutter our books?

How many books do you own? How many books are too many?

I went to a conference in the fall and the presenter stated she has 1200 books. Now I have no idea how many books I actually have. I've never counted or attempted to. I wonder if that includes the children's books too - you know, the thin paperback books? I keep many of them in a basket and not actually on a bookshelf.

In all fairness, some of the bookshelf space has been invaded by.....Legos! I've allowed 2 shelves of a bookcase to be donated to displaying my son's Legos. He's thrilled and so am I. However I'd like to give him at least another shelf. He has been building a lot recently.

This leads me to several questions:
What do you keep on your bookshelf?
If you have a Lego lover, how you display his or her creations?

Simplicity of Canning Jars

I love canning jars. We bought a quite a few several years ago when we were making our own Soy milk. I started using them for everything! They are great! We had these older white canisters for flour and sugar. I got rid of them and replaced them with canning jars. I buy a much smaller amount of sugar now and place it in a few canning jars. I like it’s natural look at you can see it through the clear jar.

I also use them to store leftovers in, especially gravy. They make great containers to store gravy in. I place them in the refrigerator and I can easily spot it when I’m ready to use it again.

They are so many possible uses for them. Beyond storage for food, I also started using them as banks for the kids. The kids never knew how much money they had in their banks. I finally got rid of the small banks they had on their dressers and replaced them with canning jars. They can easily spot their money and take down the jars and count how much they have.

I love the simplicity of the canning jars. The natural state of say the sugar in the jars. You can dress them up or decorate them if you like or just leave them plain. I also love that they are multipurpose storage containers.