The Huge-ish Life Decision

The last week of July there was a lot to do. Casey was preaching at a camp at HBU. I was trying to catch up on chores and such since we had been away at camp for several weeks. I had get us ready for New York, try to visit the Hubs a little bit in Houston, see some friends that I'd been missing, AND see a friend and her new baby boy in the hospital.

Well, in the midst if all of this, Casey and I were having some serious conversations about Braelyn's school. We really loved the school she was at last year and had enrolled her for her Kindergarten year. But we started to question our decision, mostly due to finances. See, there are a few really important things that we are trying to save for. A house being one of them. And we just got to thinking that we couldn't save the money we want to save AND send Braelyn to this school. We went around and around, weighing our options (not arguing, just thinking things through ;). Thursday afternoon (this was July 28th), Casey was at HBU and I was driving back from seeing my friend at the hospital. I called Casey and the school conversation came up. With tuition being due on Monday, and leaving for New York on Monday...we had to make a decision. When we hung up...my life was on a whole new path. The homeschool path.

Now, if God doesn't have a sense of humor, I don't know who does. It just so happened that the very next day a two-day homeschool conference was being held in The Woodlands. So I made a few phone calls (to prepare myself for the onslaught of information that was sure to assalt me upon my arrival, of course), I made a strict vow not to cry, and I went to bed early.

Friday I had spent a long time in the Classical Conversations booth. I had been familiar with the classical education approach for a while and it appealed to me very much, but I did worry that maybe I liked it more for myself as the teacher than I did for Braelyn as the student. But, I went to several sessions about CC and went home that night and did a little research. I went to the CC website to look for the groups in my area (the CC group meets once a week, plus field trips and such) and my eyeballs nearly fell out of my face because leading one of the groups was my good friend Melanie B. I clicked her name and began typing away an email explaining our crazy situation. Being the sweetheart that she is, she met me at the conference the next day and we talked for several hours about the program and homeschool in general.

In a nutshell, I went Friday morning with virtually no idea what I was going to do as far as philosophy, curriculum, HS group, nothing. And by Saturday afternoon I had a plan, a curriculum, a group and a certainty that the Lord had orchestrated it all.

So...there it is. In a matter of about 3 days we became a homeschool family.

I got a loose outline of my HS plan on Saturday and then put the whole issue (and all of our other life issues, quite frankly) on a shelf in my brain.

Went to church on Sunday.

Packed suitcases.

And left for New York on Monday morning.

I have never in my life been so ready for a vacation. EVER.

1000 More Pictures from June & July

Okay, so I'm about 10 blog posts behind so this is gonna be quick. Let's do this!

Event #4: Vail

June 21-23 Casey and I went to Vail for the Acts29 Pastors Retreat. It was gorgeous there and of course, the retreat sessions were very encouraging, but really the best part was our time with the Hydes. It was so great to just relax, eat delicious food, have meaningful conversations, have uninterrupted meaningful conversations, go hot tubbin', snack on gummy cokes and enjoy that perfect Colorado weather with dear friends. A definite summer highlight.

Dr. Hyde and myself...IN SWEATERS in LATE JUNE! (although mine is doing something weird, not sure what's happening there.)

The Hubs, Einstein & Justin

Ceases in what was probably snack stop #6 out of 12. We did a bit of restaurant hopping on this trip. ;)

Event #5: I lost some of my sparkle.
No picture for this sad news...shortly after Vail I had to take my nose ring out. I know. It's sad. Cause I just loved my little nose ring. But it kept getting this bump thing and it was driving me crazy and I didn't want to end up with a permanent bump or a hideous scar or something, so I took it out. Still a little heartbroken over that.

Event #6 The Wedding!

Yes, Erica's wedding has come and gone already! It was such a fun weekend. She was a beautiful bride and the big day was just perfect. Here's some pics.

Just look at that gorgeous girl!

The bride and flower girl. Once again, Braelyn performed her duties as flower girl with grace and elegance. She is like a professional now.

And Erica and her matron of honor...who looks a little weird. This matron of honor learned on this happy occasion that full hair and make-up do not bring out the best in her. ;)

Event #7: The Civil Wars

We LOVE LOVE LOVE this little band called the Civil Wars. We tried to see them a while back, but the guy singer couldn't sing. Sick or something. Thankfully they rescheduled and we got to see them at The Mucky Duck. A great night with great friends.

Lori, Lindley & myself.

Had to get one with Brittney.

Okay...had to get one with the Hubs too.

Phew! That was crazy crazy June & July! Not to mention summer camps. Well, I can tell you we were counting the seconds until August all summer long, cause August 1st we left for a 5 day trip to New York City. But of course, in full Cease fashion, about 3 days before we left we made a huge-ish life decision. Some scrambling and minor chaos ensued, but God proved Himself faithful once more. And then by His kindness and mercy, August 1st finally came and He allowed us to leave crazy behind and we got on a plane and flew to the Big Apple with only one goal...to have some awesome family fun. And we did!

More on all that next time. ;)