Running Their Own Race

Homeschooling their three children, going on adventures in their skoolie, and watching their kids play sports keeps Crystal and Jake Casteel busy and engaged

By Lisa Porterfield Thompson

“Intentional,” Crystal Casteel said when asked to describe her family in one word. “Adventurous. We’re not afraid to try something new. We aren’t stringent to keep up with the world; we’re just running our own race.” 

And doing a really good job of it, by all accounts. 

Reese, Olen and Haven in the bedroom of the skoolie.

Jake and Crystal Casteel have been married for 16 years. They have three children: daughter, Haven, is 13, and twin boys, Olen and Reese, are 8.  “I can truly say I married my best friend,” Crystal said, “My best friend who says yes to all my crazy ideas and adventures.” 

Beatrix’s transformation photos show her post deconstruction, the carpentry work of Ric Pitts, and her final form with flooring installed and curtains hung.

The couple is active in their church, Church on the Rock, and keeps up with a busy sports schedule. The family loves to camp and hike. Crystal works in the kids ministry at church, and Jake is an entrepreneur.  “What doesn’t Jake do?” Crystal laughs. 

Crystal finds herself busy with homeschooling three children, another adventure to add to the list.  “The first year was by far the hardest,” Crystal said. “Honestly, the desire to homeschool had been hidden in my heart from the time Haven finished fourth grade. It just sounded crazy when I said it out loud, and I didn’t think it was possible without making big changes to our life and jobs, not to mention Haven’s unwillingness to leave her friends and make a drastic change.” 

Olen and Reese staining the bedroom walls.

Crystal said Haven has been the one who had to adjust the most.  “The boys love how flexible our school is now, and that they don’t have to sit in a classroom a full day,” she said. “They have each other, so it’s like having a built-in best friend. Haven is a different story. She loves all things social. Thankfully, Trinity Christian School offers sports for homeschool students, and she got the opportunity to play with them last season and loved it. We couldn’t ask for a better community for her. 

Haven holds up the sign made by Rhonda Clark.  Beatrix means “she who brings happiness; blessed.”

“I’ll never forget watching the local news during the pandemic and watching school close and the world shut down,” Crystal said. “The boys had just started kindergarten.” 

The Casteels made the swift transition to virtual learning, and while it wasn’t always smooth, the family flourished.  “We know it was a really hard time for so many people,” Crystal said, “but we tried to find the positives and really take the time to rest and reset as a family.” 

The entire family sits down to eat pizza in the skoolie before they began its transformation. 

The Casteels suddenly had time to think a lot about what would be best for their family, and ultimately, since the home learning was going so well for their children, decided to continue on with homeschooling.  “We were prayerful about it,” Crystal said. “I knew with all my heart it is what the Lord wanted me to do, so we took a complete walk in faith, pulled the kids from school, and dove in.” 

The Casteel kiddos have their photo taken annually when they hike the Cedar Falls Trail.

Church on the Rock offers a homeschool enrichment cooperative called Legacy that meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which gave the kids a chance to see friends and gave Crystal time to work.  “Everything just seemed to fit so nicely,” she said. “I was overwhelmed with the Lord’s love and peace over the transition for our family.” 

Jake adds retractable legs to the dinner table.

While Crystal and Jake had a peace about homeschooling, there were still challenges to face in the new environment.  “I was stuck in a traditional school mindset,” Crystal said. “I had super unrealistic expectations that first year, and I constantly felt unqualified to be taking on such an important role in our children’s future. But we all live and learn, and I walked away with more knowledge and confidence in myself as the facilitator in our children’s education. Now as we approach our third year my favorite thing about it is that we get to choose what to cultivate in our home.” 

The Casteels also appreciate that homeschool happens everywhere and anywhere.  “I wish I could say we have it all together like all the homeschools you see on your Instagram feeds,” Crystal said. “We definitely have our imperfect moments, a lot. My kids aren’t always obedient or happy to do their schoolwork. My house, organization, and the hearts of my children are always a work in progress. But time is precious, and I know I will never regret the time I had with my children. I just try my hardest to be intentional and give myself a lot of grace.”  

In only three weeks, the Casteels’ friend, Ric Pitts, completed all of the carpentry work.

The Casteels’ newest adventure is the restoration of an old school bus they’ve turned into an RV for family camping trips. They affectionately call the bus “Beatrix.” “We kind of have a thing for restorations projects,” Crystal said. “We aren’t claiming to be Chip and Joanna, but in the past we have restored a couple of RVs, and we never could settle on one that fit us. Financially, we didn’t want to commit to a newer one, so during the pandemic we started researching “skoolies.” 

A skoolie is a renovated school bus that is often turned into a house or mobile home. It’s a huge trend in renovation communities lately, and the Casteels’ project is one great example of how the projects can go very well. “I spent more time than I would like to admit researching ‘how to’ do a school bus conversion,” Crystal said. “I thought it would be so cool to find a school bus, renovate it, and have it ready for the next annual Father’s Day trip to Petit Jean State Park.” 

The Casteels have always stayed in a yurt, with no air conditioning, on their annual camping trip, but in 2021, they had a different goal in mind.  “Jake found a school bus for sale in Sheridan, Arkansas,” Crystal said. “The couple had already started the conversion but were moving to Alaska and couldn’t take the bus with them, so they were very motivated to sell. After a quick trip, and a very, very slow trip home at 55 mph, we were skoolie owners!” 

The decal on Beatrix’s window says Casteels_on_Wheels, the family’s Instagram page.

The previous owners’ layout did not work for the Casteels, so they set to work quickly in deconstruction.  “It was every little boy’s dream,” Crystal said. “This was a great opportunity to spend time as a family and teach the boys a work ethic.”  Jake did all the electrical and plumbing work for the project, and the couple’s friend, Ric Pitts, completed all the carpentry work in only three weeks. 

The project is ongoing, but the Casteels are already enjoying the results of the work. “We have an Instagram page, Casteels_on_Wheels, and I have some decals on the window and back of Beatrix so traffic can give us a shout out if they see us travelling,” Crystal said. “I love that this has been a project the whole family can do. We have only made two camping trips so far, and she has already brought us joy and great memories! We look forward to making many more this fall.”