Ringorland

Our summer was filled with the chaos of our life right now yet sweetened by friends and getaways sprinkled in between.   We began the summer in Pismo Beach with friends camping by the dunes and watching our kids ride bikes for hours, for days with no TV!

We had a summer solstice party to celebrate the coming season and because I needed a reason to have a party, dress things up, cook yummy food and take pictures of my friends {which they hate}.

We have had so much fun in our backyard this summer!  Ladybugs, dragonflies, hawks and spiders.  Butterflies hatched in their bungalow and nests were found buried under brush in the yard.  Hummingbirds visit at the feeder and veggies are growing in the garden amongst praying mantis' that are amazing to watch when captured for a few days. :)  It became a place where kids put on plays and boys {and girls} swing from trees.

Best friends were made.

We drove out of town this year more than ever before.  We wanted to see water.  We wanted to be able to think clearly.  So we headed to murky lakes and called it beautiful just so we didn't have to sit in our house for one more minute.  We drove to places we thought we loved and revised what we thought we loved about it and promised to try again next year but with a different plan.  And we drove to the ocean because as always, the best ideas are formed near big blue.   We stayed in the worst hotel ever but the kids thought it was awesome and I mean"AWESOME!" Like they wanted to stay longer and not go anywhere because they thought it was so great and I just didn't want to touch anything or take a shower, if you know what I mean.  

But, we were on a budget so we soaked in the kids happiness and took them to get a soft serve. 

We drive over the state line and took pictures.  Our kids in Nevada!  

Oh, heck... whoever says that?  

We do.

I swore that this summer I would not sit in front of a computer screen preparing for a school year that changed one month in like last year and for the most part I stuck to that.  I did very little planning which helped me feel like we are in a good place as far as homeschooling goes.  I like what we are using {it still gets tweaked every now and then} but I feel like we have found a groove.... that is often disrupted by a pretty little blond thing that just wants to do school too!

 It's the first day of autumn, the season I was born in and L.O.V.E.  We have spent so much of the last 8 months wondering what comes next for us.  Looking for work has turned up interesting possibilities for our family.

{Texas?  No.}

California has so little in terms of work for Justin yet it holds so much in terms of friends and family.  We are willing to go where there is work and right now that is venturing north, to states I have never been but look so appealing.  We send resumes out daily {here, there, everywhere...}, waiting for something, even if it's just a "thanks but no thanks".  Looking for work is hard these days.  Employers don't call back or email back and in this economy are not willing to pay what a man is worth.  It is disheartening.  We trudge forward, hoping for the best and putting our faith in a God that sees and knows all things.  Whew!  Am I glad for that, since I know nothing.  :)

Ta-ta for now, I have girl who needs waking.