OMG the places i've been learned through!

While I eat an apple cider donut, I'd like to say a few words about the most recent days/nights with our bus.

My mother is here. This is like giving a knight his armor back after it had shown signs of fatigue and oxidation. The armorer whips it off to the smithy to spiff it up, and when it comes back the knight feels...relief. (S)he feels an over-all sense of security (however false) and comfort that only happens when snugly wrapped in the perfectly fit, made-just-for-me steel that shields and protects the body so that it can carry the mind to do it's work. This is how I feel when Marianne of the North Vancouver Smee's lands at our door.

Having said this, there are many things to stress about/be excited about currently in our lives. We are definitely moving out of our house. We are definitely putting our oldest son into a new school, where he will ride the bus with his sister each day. We are certainly going to move onto a bus for five or six weeks to see how it feels to sleep in the bed of your own making (with a little help from Randy and the Cook boys). And, we do not know exactly where we will house our family of five for the winter just yet, and as you may or may not know, WINTER IS COMING. But, why worry. Just carry the water and chop the wood.

(This, BTW, is all the wood and debris my mother tossed out of the trailer so we could use it as a spare office room :)

I've learned so much in the recent adventures of the bus. We painted a lot of the vessel. I did very little of this, feeling overwhelmed by the creativity that my wife has been channeling.

S has done an amazing job planning and applying the design of a farm mural on the driver's side, and an ocean mural on the passenger side. Judy has jumped in and helped A LOT. I love to see the two of them collaborating together. On the big paint day, we had several people join in and contribute flowers, burrows, plants, etc.

Rowdy tries to recreate the bus-painting scene in the muppets :)

We were even entertained by some clowns putting on a show for the worker bees!

But then the rain came and washed some of our creations away. Poor Danielle tried desperately to save her ocean waves. In the end, however, the rain left it's own cool effects on the paint. And we continued to paint throughout the week...adding a bee here and a cloud there...

Like R's crab :0

We even had a mermaid drop by. And more is added each day - so feel free to come by and join in!! And, don't worry Cali...there is a space being held just for our girls (and maybe their painting dad and mom too, if they'll not be showed up by their littles' amazing abilities :)

I had a heck of a time cutting through the floor to put in the toilet.

I used far too many tools, each of which informed/enlightened me toward another one better suited for the needs.

The septic holding tank that I scavenged from our RV trailer had two big cracks in it, causing it to leak.

Stella (of current "FACEOFF" fame on TV - watch her awesome special effects make-up on the show and support her!!!) helped me to fix these after a failed attempt on my own with some resin and fiberglass. Stella saved the day with lessons on resin, "CHOP", and how to appropriately measure the hardening drops to the resin so that it doesn't set before you've been able to apply. [Super fun lessons that I have every intention of applying when making wave-riding devices of my own design.] Once I did the final test on the tank to see if our work would hold (IT DID!), I began the task of mounting the tank to the undercarriage of the bus.

With lots of help from Phoenix, of course. Drilling, filing, grinding, and machining my own brackets. This was some of the most fun learning experiences so far. I used pieces that we'd pulled off the bus elsewhere to create a stable, strong fastening system. Omi and S helped me to lift the tank into place, and offered advice on where/how to make it better.

Now, I'm on to the hooking up the water and we'll see how it all shapes up this week.

I would also like to say how great it is to attend the wedding of the year (Anna and Devin's super fun, dance party wedding) and feel confident that you're leaving your older children in competent hands. I literally did not fret the entire 24 hours I was away. I did dance, though. Dancey dance dance! So come visit us soon if you want to witness the continued birth of this crazy-great project!! We'll leave you with pics of a few more helpers/visitors. PEACE!

We are ON!

Weather looks great. Bus looks great. Let's get some painting on! See you soon!

PAINT DAY HAS ARRIVED!!! (ALMOST)

That's right!!! Tis time. We have made many preparations and we are just about ready for the onslaught of little Picassos to assist. After HOURS of priming (JR and I calculated somewhere in the range of two thousand rivets that had to be scrubbed and painted around!!) and some rough landscaping, there is finally some semblance of a background for the garden side of the bus (you can see really rough sketches in an earlier blog).

Look at LITTLE TINY pitching in :)

How it's gonna work: With everyone wanting to paint, but at the same time not wanting a huge chaotic mess, we have come up with some thoughts on how this will go. I have set a rough time of 12 - 2P on this Thursday (Aug. 7th) as PAINT DAY. If you absolutely can't get there and still want to paint, let me know. There will be other stuff to paint. On Thursday there will probably be more to paint the earlier you get there, as far as filling in dirt, working on the sun, maybe even some ocean work (though we may save the ocean for the future if it gets to be too much!). If your child (or your inner child - ALL are welcome) have shorter attention spans and just want to add a flower or two, then come a bit later and I will set up some stems to be topped off. I will have some paper and paint out for pics to be taken home or practice painting if we need it. IF you are a bit older and want to paint something more intricate, like a bug or an animal or something detailed, that is great too! Just start sketching it/practice painting it so you know what you want it to look like and send me an email saying what it is and I will try and save some room for it. How much everyone gets to paint depends upon how many people show up. At the end we will all sign our names. RAIN DATE!!!! CURRENTLY, we are not slated for rain. Of course, in prepping for this the weather said rain everyday til Thursday and, luckily, they have been wrong! SOOOOOO, we will make our rain date for Friday at the same time. Check back into this blog before you come just to make sure we are still on!

I will have some drinks for thirsty painters and probably light snacks for the weary. Bring your own paintbrush since I am not sure if I will have enough and kids (adults) get cranky when they have to wait!! If anyone has any extra paintbrushes they would like to donate (or exterior latex (NOT OIL) colors they've got kicking around), that would be great too. We have the basic primary colors. Also, PLEASE pay attention to your own kids. I have a hard enough time chasing my own :P and there would be nothing worse than a toddler with a paintbrush covered in black and running down the length of the bus through everyone else's hard work :) Call, text or email me with questions and THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR BEING A PART OF OUR CRAZY ADVENTURE!!!!!!!

WHAT ELSE IS NEW, YOU ASK?!?!?!? Well, too much to tell really. This guy has been working his BUTT off (see how little it looks :) and learning a TON! You will just have to come see the progress.

I'll give a thorough tour after PAINT DAY, but to name a few things: the water tank has been installed under the bed, the bed installed, rear wheel-wells insulated, kitchen stove and sink installed, crib roughed in and a TOILET arrived :)

It is odd to me that I have done so much chattering in these blogs and Mister-Storyteller has been mysteriously absent, but that just shows you how busy he has been. Ah, I hear it pouring outside...time to put down paintbrushes for a day or so and prepare for the arrival of painters and OMI!!!!!!!! Yes, my mother-in-law will be joining us!!!! So excited!!!!! See you all soon :)

"Omi?" "THAT'S RIGHT, OL! OMI!!!!!"

To PAINT, or NOT to PAINT!!!!

Actually, there is no choice, really. If we want to drive the thing as an RV, we have to remove the SCHOOL BUS-NESS of it. That includes "SCHOOL BUS YELLOW"...which brings us to now. We are washing and putting a primer coat on the bus over the next few days to a week. This is tedious but good work. We have had MANY, MANY people say "YOU HAVE TO LET US KNOW WHEN YOU ARE PAINTING THE BUS!!!!" and I just want to be clear. IF this is the kind of mass-painting you enjoy, drop by anytime. If it is sunny, then most likely I will be out there slapping on this blue primer coat. IF it is the mural you are interested in, however, our PAINT DAY is tentatively scheduled for AUGUST 7TH. Anyone who wants to paint flowers and bugs and such on the GARDEN side of the mural can do so and anyone who wants to try their hand at the fish and sea creatures on the OCEAN side of the bus may also do so. The amount of space you get to paint depends upon the number of people who show up interested in adding to the overall decor. Anyone who paints will also get to sign the bus. SOOOOOOOOOOOO, check back here before AUGUST THE 7th to find out all the details of time, rain date, etc. Here's a few more pics and a few more visitors/babysitters in the meantime.

SEE YOU THEN!!!!!

Bed, bath and beyond B. Cook Bday!

Happy Birthday, B Cook! (AND MOCHIE SOON TOO!!!!) As you can see, we had some visitors from the far WEST at the BUS STOP. Wahoo!

Yes, there is a special place in our hearts (and space on the bus) for some Cook kiddos. LOTS has happened since we last wrote - as the pics will divulge. But FIRST, a little verbal meander. JR and I have started to really talk about living in a bus, and the prep therefore, as an exercise. In stupidity, you ask?!? Futility? In many things actually. In creating, trusting in yourself, making choices and decisions, living simpler, finding out what it means to scale down, gratitude, letting go, abundance, allowing yourself NOT to know, learning, teaching, being taught, effort, reviewing basics like cleanliness and routine, living together as a unit, crock pot cooking, flexibility, surrender, and many, many more that I am sure we haven't even stumbled across yet. I am sure it will not be pretty in a number of ways - I am not naive about this! But I am hopeful that the evolution emerging from such an experience will benefit and inspire us for years to come. I would also like to praise my husband for a moment. The work he has put into this movehicle is substantial, do not be fooled. If upon completion the bus drives ten feet and dies (which we are not hoping for) it will have still been worth watching him accomplish something he has never done before and inspires and excites him on a daily basis. I look forward to a time when the kids are a bit older and he and I can work more consistently side by side on a project. He has taken the lead on this and grows with confidence and enthusiasm (and aches and pains) each day :) Thank you, Jones, for all your work. We love and appreciate YOU!!!

Meanwhile, in an effort to remove distracting children from the mix, in just the last two days alone the kids and I have been to three creeks and night pool swimming! Wahoo for tiring out children and adventure no matter where you are :) On to bus development:

Morg stopped by and gave some good advice on carving out the back of the cabinets to fit around the plumbing and electric.

While the other Williams boys entertained P.

The kids helped out priming their bunks and the walls and the bunk boards and mattresses were tried out.

Except for P's bed, though she seemed ok with a drawer instead. Just like Daddy, right Omi!?!

The kitchen is starting to shape up nicely. Lots of extras and hopefuls in the mind, but we will see what time and expense will allow.

And Uncle T was the first to christen the toilet. (Just kidding, we don't even have it yet! But the bathroom is framed at least :) Lastly we have been working on our rough sketches of the outside murals on the bus. We are going with themes from the natural world and images that are easy enough for children young and old to feel comfortable adding.

Don't worry, we will post the painting date for all to join us once we have done the base coat and picked a date. We would LOVE to have you all add a flower, fish or any other odd thing to our world :) Finally, here are a few of the latest faces to drop by and check us out or lend a hand...

OK, so those last two weren't anywheres near the bus, but we were soooooooooo happy to see those crazy ladies and their families regardless. And we look forward to parking in their driveways someday :) In any case, PEACE!!!! More news to come soon. Are we crazy?!? YES!!!! But at least it's a nice place to visit and you can join us on this wild ride.