Dreaming of California!

On this cold and wet January day, I am warm and happy at home, but I am also thinking of warmer, sunny days in California!

My husband and I have not been avid travelers.  We simply haven't always been able to afford to travel.  Our honeymoon was spent at Toledo Bend Reservoir, because that is all we could afford, and that was a gift from Grandpa and Grandma Stevens!  The next five years were spent just getting by while Josh went to Texas A & M University (Whoop!).  He graduated in December of 2005, started his job in January and our first baby was born on January 10, 2006.  We bought a house and then baby number two came in October 2007.  We were able to squeeze in three snowboarding trips during this time, thanks to the generosity of family and friends, but we did not take our first big trip together until our ten year anniversary in 2010, when we went to New York City.

This past summer marked our fifteenth anniversary and we were able to make another big trip together.  I wanted to see the ocean, and I mean a REAL ocean...Galveston does not count!  Josh wanted to see the big redwood trees and we both wanted to see the Big Sur coastline, so we decided to fly into San Francisco and drive to Carmel and stay a few days.  It was amazing!

 

We landed at the San Francisco airport, got a rental car and headed into the city for a VERY quick sight seeing tour on our way north to Muir Woods.  We saw Alamo Square Park (seen in the Full House opener), Lombard Street (the "crookedest street in the world") and the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

We ate lunch north of the Golden Gate Bridge at a Greek Seafood restaurant that was delicious, and then on to Muir Woods to see the biggest trees we have ever seen! (I know that there are bigger, but to us, this was amazing.)  It made us think about what the Cedars of Lebanon must have been like in the days of King Solomon.

 

 

From here we turned back south for the drive to Carmel-By-The-Sea.  For those of you unfamiliar with San Francisco, as we were, there is NO HIGHWAY through town.  Yes, you read that correctly.  It's city streets and stop lights all the way through.  This was unexpected, but it did give us a chance to really see the city.

 

We arrived in Carmel just after sunset.  Our hotel, Comfort Inn Carmel By The Sea, was easy to find and so cute!  Every room has a Dutch door and there is a lovely courtyard.  The breakfast buffet is served by a cozy wood burning fireplace and the owners are very friendly and helpful.

 



 

We spent our days exploring beaches and trails, driving the Pebble Beach 17 mile scenic drive and Highway 1 along the Big Sur coastline, enjoying the sights of Carmel and visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Fisherman's Wharf.

 

Stay tuned for more about Carmel By The Sea!



Never Say Never ~ part 2 ~

As I mentioned before, I've learned the hard way about the old saying, "never say never". 

My husband and I were NEVER going to homeschool our children. We both went to public school and we felt that if our parents thought it was right for us, then it must be the right way. We always made sure to buy a house in an area with the best schools (Lindale ISD has great schools) and we NEVER thought of doing things any other way...until now. 

It all started in September of this school year. The girls were off to a great start in second and fourth grades. They had amazing teachers and the sweetest friends. We were not having any problems, but they suddenly began asking if they could switch to homeschool. They felt like they didn't have time to do the things that they enjoyed around the house, between school and after school activities. This really got me thinking. I was spending at least an hour and a half every day in the car, dropping off and picking kids up from school, which meant their three year old brother was in the car that long every day, too. 

We started researching, talking with family and friends who homeschool and praying. And praying. And praying. This was a huge decision that required much thought. Meanwhile, the girls kept asking and asking for this change. My sister-in-law who homeschools and another good friend both suggested that we read The Well-Trained Mind, which I found very helpful. 

Finally, we decided that if the girls really wanted to be homeschooled, we would go for it. Choosing curriculum can be overwhelming, but after much research, we decided on a plan that we feel is best for our girls. We are using Sonlight for Bible, History and Geography and Reading/Language Arts, Saxon for math, Answers in Genesis for Science and Mavis Beacon for keyboarding. My mom, who used to teach high school Spanish, is coming twice a week to give Spanish lessons and we are continuing piano lessons with Vanessa Chisler Piano Studio. We will also continue having horseback riding lessons and participating in Destination Imagination.

The girls will be able to participate in the East Texas State Fair Academic Rodeo, thanks to a local homeschool group that is allowed to register for events as a school. 

So, we started the 2015-2016 school year planning to NEVER homeschool...

And here we are now, "back to school" after the Christmas break AT HOME. 

I told my mom that she needed to get me a list of everything I said I would NEVER do, because now's the time!