Spearmint!!!

I am currently crazy bout SPEARMINT!!! I can't get enough. Every day I am diffusing Spearmint. Alone or with Lavender, or Mandarin and Lavender, or Eucalyptus. I currently have it in three rooms of my house.  I even take a cotton ball with Spearmint in the car! 

Spearmint is both soothing and uplifting.  It is also safer for little ones than Peppermint. 

Some uses for Spearmint Oil:

•To help all members of your household stay calm, focused and uplifted, try diffusing Spearmint, Lavender and Tangerine.

•For a sore neck and shoulders, try rubbing in a mixture of 3 drops of Spearmint and 2 drops of Lavender diluted in 2 tablespoons of Sweet Almond Oil.

•For a headache, try the same oil blend rubbed onto your neck and inhale deeply the oil left on your hands. 

Leave a comment and let me know how you like to use Spearmint. 

Dreaming of California ~ Carmel-By-The-Sea

 

Carmel-By-The-Sea is a charming, European-style village, with a Mediterranean climate, overlooking the gorgeous white sands of Carmel Beach.  Everything in town is within walking distance.  There are many fabulous boutiques and delicious restaurants and family owned coffee houses all within the one-square mile downtown area.

A few interesting facts about Carmel-By-The-Sea:

1.  There are no street addresses.
     Locations are "the corner of Ocean Avenue and Mission Street" or "look for the Tuck Box".

 

2.  No chain restaurants are found within Carmel.

3.  There is a law that bans the wearing of high heels.
     Local police no longer enforce this code that was passed in the 1920's.

4.  Carmel is home to more than 20 "fairytale" cottages that are nearly one hundred years old.

5.  When exploring Carmel, look for the more than 40 unique secret passageways and courtyards.

While there are all kinds of hotel options in Carmel, many luxurious, there are also some very nice, budget friendly places to stay, too.  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Comfort Inn Carmel-By-The-Sea.  Every room has a Dutch door that opens onto a beautiful courtyard, and breakfast is served by a cozy fireplace.

 



I could have wandered the city for days, browsing the quaint boutiques and taking pictures.  I look forward to being able to visit Carmel again one day!

Dreaming of California ~ Carmel Beach

The sight and the sound of the ocean speaks to my soul.

I am reminded of passages in Romans 11:33, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out!" and Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead".  How can we look at the ocean and not think of the power and majesty of our Lord?

Carmel Beach is where I fell in love with the ocean.  It is the place I go to in my mind to find calm;  I see the waves rolling in and folding over themselves, and hear the rushing and crashing sounds that they make.  I can not wait to experience that again.

 

With its curved mile of white sand, Pebble Beach to the North and Point Lobos to the South, Carmel Beach is a beautiful beach.  It is a perfect place to jog, fly a kite, build a sand castle or just relax and enjoy the views!

 

 

And don't forget to stay for the lovely sunset!

 



 

 

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! 

Never Say Never

I've heard this saying my whole life, but NEVER has it had more meaning to me than this year. I'm almost afraid to use the word again!

I was NEVER going to have an inside dog....until now. It all started when my oldest daughter made a Christmas wish list for her Mimi. She said that she wanted a dog, but that she knew she probably couldn't have one, because  "Momma says no inside dogs". 

Upon hearing about this wish, I began asking her questions about why she wanted a dog. As I listened to her, I suddenly had the overwhelming desire to give that baby a dog!

When I approached my husband about the subject, he stared at me in disbelief and said, "Well that was unexpected!"  After thinking about it for a few days, Josh finally decided it would be alright. 

So, Mimi began the long process of finding just the right dog.  With a little girl who suffers with asthma and has had to spend weeks on a rescue inhaler after a sleepover at a home with dogs, we knew we had to be careful. This daughter has spent quite a bit of time at a good friends house who has a Coton de Tulear (Coton). This never seemed to affect her asthma, so we asked the friend for the name of the breeder of their dog. After a lengthy process and Mimi being "interviewed" extensively by the breeder, she was finally able to go pick up a puppy. 

Then came the planning process for the biggest Christmas Eve Gift my children have ever had. Mimi worked hard to keep the surprise and make it a magical moment for the kids. I think that she felt the efforts were worth it!  The reactions were priceless. 

So here we are, loving a sweet little dog IN the house ❤️

Stay tuned for part two of my "Never Say Never" story!

Mistle"Toes"

 

One of my favorite Christmas ornaments is my little Mistle"toes" that I made when my little boy was a baby.

 

To make your own, use two packs of green oven baking clay from a craft store, flattened to the size of the baby's foot.  Press the foot firmly into the clay to make a good impression.  After you have the impression, use a sharp knife to cut around the edges of the impression and an ice pick to make a hole in each heel.  Follow the baking instructions on the package of clay.  After baking and cooling, use a hot glue gun to glue the feet together, making sure to match up the holes.  Add some tiny red berries or a little red bow to decorate and put some jute twine through the hole to hang.

 
Now you can reminisce on how tiny your little ones feet once were each Christmas!