one family. one bus.

big on adventure. small on stuff.

Hi! We're a family of 5 (sometimes 6 when we have our bonus child in the mix) on an epic journey to turn a retired school bus into a tiny house on wheels. We'll go from McMansion to Minimalist and you're invited along for the ride.

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The latest.

Blog
Busworthy: Silipints
Busworthy: Silipints
Reset.
Reset.
Better (Almost) Late Than Never.
Better (Almost) Late Than Never.
End of the School Year: How to Make a Clean Start for Summer in 6 Steps.
End of the School Year: How to Make a Clean Start for Summer in 6 Steps.
Mama Don't Need Your Crap: 5 Things to NOT Get This Mother's Day.
Mama Don't Need Your Crap: 5 Things to NOT Get This Mother's Day.
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bus stuff!

See the entire conversion from start to our current state.

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Sneak peek of the finished cabinets for the kitchen! No one who knows me in real life will be surprised by the color. #grayismyfavorite . I am so excited to see them in the bus instead of leaning up against my (also gray 😂) bedroom wall! . Countertop measurements are happening next week and we need to have the fronts on all the cabinets so the laser can get the right numbers. I found a recycled remanent piece that looks like it should juuuuust cover us, so fingers crossed that it works out! . (Check out my stories for behind the scenes of building the bunks! It went mostly to plan until it didn’t, but I think they turned out pretty cool.)
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Want to guess what color the new countertops are? (It’s not gray! 😱😆) Is anyone else terrible at making IKEA cabinet fronts line up? There’s got to be a trick to it! _________________ #skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #thepigeonbus #ikeakitchen #grayisthenewblack #graynotgrey #skooliekitchen #travellife #themeasureofus
One of my most favorite things ever are before and after photos. . People, landscapes, seasons, rooms, whatever…I love them all and the more astounding and wildly different the transformation, the better. . Get ready to swipe for some caaa-raaaayyyyy-zeeee comparisons. Like so crazy that it’s *my* bus and I don’t even know how it went from that to this. . We went from removing rivets to bunk beds. In fact, that very spot where I was standing all those months ago, sweating my ass off trying to get the ceiling panels removed is exactly where the bunks are today. . And how did we go from a sawed in half bus to the kitchen and the bunk room being closer to done than non-existent? . In the moment of it, all of these milestones have felt like a journey made wearing lead boots, but nothing opens your eyes to how far you’ve come like a good before and after. _________________ #skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #thepigeonbus #beforeandafters #progresshappens #bunkbeds #husbandandwifeteam #watchmework #themeasureofus
Our homeschool likely looks a little different than most. . Prepping materials for the bus and welding lessons with Daddy is as normal around here as spelling lists and science experiments. . We read every single day from a variety of books, but worksheets are unheard of. We are taking a break from formal math for sanity sake and instead focusing on lots of life math as it comes…cooking, measuring, counting, playing games, budgeting, and paying at stores have clicked far better than any of the curriculums we tried. “Are there any videos about *insert random topic*?” is asked who knows how many times a day. Off we go to find out. Interest leads to more videos, a search on our library’s app for related books, and Googling for more resources. . Hours of the day are left open and filled with time outside, building, inventing, and playing with brothers. . It’s a good life. . What’s your typical day look like? Do you have a favorite homeschool IG that you follow? I’d love to add to my list for inspiration and ideas! __________________ #homeschool #homeschooling #homeschoolmom #homeschoollife #homeschoolers #homeschoolrocks #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolmama #homeschoolife #homeschoolperks #homeschoolingboys #homeschoolersofinstagram #homeschooladventures #secularhomeschool #unschooling #thepigeonbus #skoolieconversion #skoolie #themeasureofus
We recently finished our latest breakfast read aloud, Ollie’s Odyssey by William Joyce, and all three boys were hanging on to their waffles until the very end. I think it was especially loved because, like in the book, two out of the three boys have their own special “favs” that cross the line of pretend and plunge down deep into the world of childhood real. . Eli has a bear that he totally stole from @honeynowdoula’s house and Silas has this cat who wears a cape made out of his very first baby blanket. They aren’t stuffed animals, they are family and they will absolutely be coming along for our own adventure. . We had so many great conversations because of this book! What it means to have a “fav” and what it takes to be one. When to follow rules and when to break them. How easy it is to let sad turn to bitter. The importance of forgiveness and trusting your own instincts. . Thanks again to @thunderridgeacres for recommending this one! . Do your kids have favs? What should our next breakfast read aloud be? We just started on The Green Ember, but I’m always looking for what’s next!
_________________________________ #homeschool #homeschooling #homeschoolmom #homeschoollife #homeschoolers #homeschoolrocks #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolmama #homeschoolife #homeschoolperks #homeschoolingboys #homeschoolersofinstagram #homeschooladventures #secularhomeschool #readaloud #breakfastreading #reads #olliesodyssey #williamjoyce #momofboyslife #themeasureofus
It’s my husband’s birthday today. He’s my all time most favorite fellow bus converter (husband, father to my children, lifter of the heavy things, insert schmoopy endearments, etcetera) and he’s so amazing that he didn’t even mind me getting teary over the fact that I could put his coconut cream pie down. . On a makeshift countertop. . On the newly installed kitchen cabinets. . In the bus we’ve been painstakingly working on for over a year and a half. . In the bus that has felt more and more like a totally impossible feat to finish. . We always say, “It’s a whole new bus!” after any little thing gets added because small things really do transform the space. But this afternoon, he put a board across a cabinet and it all shifted again. The spot where I’ll turn ingredients into love on the plate appeared like magic. Here it was…the spot where the future birthday cakes and pies would be created where there was just plywood and metal only moments before. . The impossible got a little less daunting. . And who better to tackle the slightly less terrifying with than my (slightly older and better than ever) other half?
___________________________ #skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #husbandwifeteam #coconutcreampie #marriagegoals #thepigeonbus #skooliekitchen #themeasureofus
We’re a snack-loving family, so when @livbars asked if we wanted to try some of their energy bars the answer was, duh, yes…thank you for feeding these bottomless pit children of mine. . I peeked to see if these were going to be the typical junky snack that I was going to have to taste test in private, you know…for the health of the children, but alas, they were so jam packed with goodness that I had to share. We *love* being able to pronounce all of the ingredients that make up our food, and these LivBars scored bonus points because not only could we easily read the entire list, but we could actually SEE all the bits that made each tasty bite. . And our most favorite thing? The wrapper is compostable!! And because we’re #homeschoolers, you know this Mama had to turn it into a thing. Snack turned science, yes please!
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Thanks LivBar for the basket full of bus snacks!
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#skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #eatwell #healthysnacksforkids #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolmama #homeschoolife #homeschoolperks #homeschoolingboys #sendsnacks #sponsorus #momofboys #thepigeonbus #themeasureofus
A while back, Raquel over at @mccloudlife (Are you following them? No? You should be.) posted about having an anxious child and I ended up having a comments conversation about some of the ways we help our own worrier. . Eli is 7 and with an extra large heart, the guy has got concerns. One of the ways we make worries manageable is to talk about things he can actually *do* to either help prevent the worry from happening in the first place, or to have a plan of action ready, just in case that worry becomes reality. Knowing what you *can* do in a situation is a huge anxiety reliever and it cuts the what if cycle off at the knees. . One of his biggest interests is the state of the environment. He’s determined that one day he’s going to invent something that will solve the climate crisis, and if anyone can do it, it’s Eli. But for now, he worries over it. A particular concern is oil spills and what’s being done to clean them up. He wanted to DO something to help the process and that’s how we first learned about donating hair to be used in mats to help clean up oil spills as well as filtering out all the stuff that shouldn’t end up in the ocean in the first place via storm drains. . And so, since last summer, Eli has happily told anyone who would listen that he was growing his hair out for a scientist to fight oil spills. Of course, there had to be at least one little brother on the hair bandwagon, too. . The original plan was to grow their hair until the Spring Equinox, but there was a day of particularly bad bedhead where everyone threw in the towel early. (Sorry, scientists!) . They were both SO proud of their contribution and I’ve got our brown paper bag of hair clippings (haircuts courtesy of Mama) to send to @matteroftrust.
. Do you have an anxious kid? What are some of your coping strategies?
_________________________________ #homeschool #homeschooling #homeschoolmom #homeschoollife #homeschoolers #homeschoolrocks #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolmama #homeschoolife #homeschoolperks #homeschoolingboys #homeschooladventures #secularhomeschool #anxietylife #oilspill #environmentalist #doyourpart #hairdonation #copingskills #momofboyslife #themeasureofus
I surprised my almost 12 year old daughter and we got to spend a rare weekend together!
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I scored us the Harry Potter Airbnb (message me if you’d like the link to it!) and we did a whole lot of nothing, which was just as requested. . “Mama…can we go to Target?” “Absolutely.” “Think we can watch all 8 HP movies?”
“No, but we can try.” (We ended up watching GoF, OotP, and HBP!) “Can we eat breakfast at iHOP?” “Dude. We can eat there TWICE.” (I am in SO MUCH PAIN because of this. #worthit #damnyoucarbs)
“UNO Championship?” “Girl, it is ON.” (She beat me for the first time ever. 16 wins to my 14. I’ve never been so proud or so annoyed.) “Pizza for dinner?” “How about pizza AND cupcakes?” “Mama, I love you.”
“SAAAAAME.” . It was a much needed weekend for the both of us.
_________________________________ #motherdaughterweekend #supportlocalbusinesses #chickamaugageorgia #harrypotterairbnb #harrypotterforlife #ihop #unochampion #unogame #mamaforever #besttimeever #twelveyearsold #birthdayweekendfun #motherdaughtergetaway #airbnbexperience #harrypotterhouses #themeasureofus
Baby’s got (bus rack) back! . I’ve been quiet over the last few days because even though we’ve been scrambling to get all the things done, the to do list hasn’t seemed to get any shorter. . But today, we got this done! Our back storage rack is complete and it can hold all 400 lbs of us! There were many high fives over this made from free materials project and it was a big one off our list...so maybe that list *is* a tiny bit shorter. . Photo courtesy of our seven year old! _____________ #skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #thepigeonbus #backrack #husbandandwifeteam #getitdone #todolist #themeasureofus
Sometimes you really just need a photo of a good looking bus in your life. . You are soooo welcome. 😆 . I feel like I have a million things and absolutely nothing to report all at the same time. The days are mostly me running around like a crazy person trying to sell all of our personal belongings, paint all the rooms, and squeeze in some mild panic attacks about if this is ever going to be finished and, oh shit, what are we going to do when this *is* finished?! ______________________
#skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #heynicebus #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #panicattack #thisisanxiety #worrier #thepigeonbus #themeasureofus
Sometimes I think far into the future to the time when my boys will inevitably tell stories about their childhood to their friends and significant others. . “So, this one time, my brother and I spent an entire day playing on what would eventually become the gray water tank for the school bus our parents turned into a house. By the end of the day, we were covered in bruises from falling off it. We had the best time.”
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Or at least I *hope* they’ll say it was the best time because I mean, really, why even grow up on a school bus if you *don’t* get to spend a whole day playing with a gray water tank every now and then? 😂😂😂 . Do you have a weird childhood story? Let’s hear it!
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#skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #homeschooled #homeschoolingboys #homeschoolfamily #weirdchildhood #storiestotell #thepigeonbus #themeasureofus
“All day, I watch humans scurry from store to store. They pass their green paper, dry as old leaves and smelling of a thousand hands, back and forth and back again. . They hunt frantically, stalking, pushing, grumbling. Then they leave, clutching bags filled with things - bright things, soft things, big things - but no matter how full the bags, they always come back for more.” . We just finished reading The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate and I need all of you to go and read it, too. It’s inspired by a real gorilla who lived most of his life in a circus-themed mall. This book took us through all the feels. There were moments where we snort laughed and others where we had to take a minute to wipe away tears and talk about how ugly reality can be. . I looked back through all my highlighted passages this morning (there were many), and the passage above stuck out as especially relevant to our own journey towards less. . It wasn’t until we got a strangle grip on our shopping and spending habits that a life of travel could even become an option for us. . It’s on trend right now to “Marie Kondo” your life, but an equally important part of the equation (that doesn’t seem to be talked about) is the part where you change the way you shop. I was an organized hoarder for years. Labels and super cute matching storage containers and way too much stuff. So I’d purge, reorganize, pat myself on the back, and then go out and buy more stuff. . Lather, rinse, repeat. It wasn’t sustainable. . So tell me...do your shopping habits match up to your minimalist desires? How do you get out of the spend and purge cycle? _______________ #homeschooling #homeschoollife #homeschoolers #homeschoolrocks #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolmama #homeschoolife #homeschoolperks #homeschoolingboys #homeschoolersofinstagram #theoneandonlyivan #homeschooladventures #secularhomeschool #readthisbook #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #themeasureofus #kindlepaperwhite