It’s that time of year when all the homeschooling materials have been gathered, fresh pencils and paper have been purchased {I always love fresh notebooks…I have a paper thing.} and plans for lots of learning in the coming year are all written down and ready.

This is where I always need to take a step back for a moment before I jump into our new year with a plan to learn it all…right now. 

I have to remember to not compare my children to someone else’s crew.  They might have the perfect looking schedule mapped out and color coded.  They might have the next three years planned out to ensure a college scholarship.  But, God gave me these boys to teach and I’m the perfect teacher for them.  Awesome! 

I want to teach my children the love of learning and the desire to explore new things until they find the their spot in this world and know they are doing the right thing.

My homeschool planning needs to allow that to happen.  Hours and hours of school can’t compare to the hours they spend discovering their dreams and learning what they need to reach them.

It’s amazing what can happen when people follow their passion. 

101 Pretty {free} Printables

101 Sewing Tutorials

That ought to keep you busy this weekend!  Have fun!

~Kim

Crates have a simply charming style that can add that extra touch to any room of your house.  I know I need about at least 10 of these now and I plan on grabbing every single one I run across in the near future. 

I never thought of turning a crate upside down and adding legs to create a crate table…love it, want it! 

Add a couple to your wall for a lovely open shelf look that only took minutes to create…that’s an awesome weekend project!

What a great touch for a guest room!

I love color and this is a fun way to brighten up your wall and help you organize at the same time.  Now you’ll be on the hunt for these cool crates, too.

These are just fabulous!  Who wouldn’t want these?!

Simply stack them for instant storage and style!

Do you have any crates?  I hope you found a little bit of inspiration from these ideas and maybe you’ll know just what you want to do the next time you see one at a garage sale.

~Kim

Seriously, when we say “Forever, Wherever”…we mean it!  This photo was taken the morning after we camped and spent most of the night sleeping in the car or standing by the fire, only to wake up to chain saws cutting down large trees all around our campsite.  Ha!  Who knew a park could have too many trees! 

I never knew being married to the love of your life could just keep getting better and better every year…it’s so true!  I love us!  We are perfectly matched and our future is beyond exciting!

Forever…Wherever!

Happy 21st Anniversary, Tim!

Happy 4th of July!  I hope you have a fabulous day full of food and fireworks!  Since I have two teen boys, that means we need to have an ginormous amount of both of those around here…ha!

Have fun!

~Kim

Tim here! (inline blog refresher: This is a “couples” blog… husband and wife write together. We usually take turns)

AJ at Ponce DeLeon Park, Punta Gorda

I’m feeling pretty good, in case you were wondering.

Want to know why? Okay, I’ll tell ya.

I’m feeling good because I’m writing here on Forever…Wherever! and I think we’ll be doing a whole lot more of that and I, for one, am doggone glad about it. Did you notice our absence? We’ve written a post or two but not much for awhile.

Want to know why? Okay, I’ll tell ya.

For me, it’s been because I kept thinking of this as a family travel blog and we’ve not been traveling as much, like at all. So I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to arise for us to go somewhere and write about it. I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.

Do blogs get dusty? If they do, that’s exactly what would happen if I wait until we start traveling the world again. It’s just not in the short-term cards. We’re so addicted to travel that we actually considered ditching it all and filling the back of the truck with camping gear (spelled T-E-N-T) and a few backpacks. We thought about it and came up with …”naaaa, let’s not.”

At least not right now.

The Here and Now

You know what we realized? We could write a “family travel blog” about the amazing area we live in for years without getting bored with it! I bet we could even make it interesting for readers too! We live in an amazing part of the world and there is so much to do and so much to see. Sometimes we miss what is right in front of us while we break our necks trying to see what’s around that next bend.

Sounds like a good way to crash to me.

So we’re not going to do that. Forever…Wherever! is a blog that will be here for many, many, many years to come. We’ll never get tired of writing here. The name is too cool.

For today, it’s about the here and now.

Here: Punta Gorda, Florida Now: Spring 2010

I think one of the first things I’ll write about is this amazing park about a mile down the road. It’s called Ponce DeLeon Park and it’s really beautiful. But in order to properly research my post, I’ll probably need to spend some time hanging out over there. Like Jacob is doing here:

If you want to read my thoughts on the Christian life in today’s world, I have a blog for that: www.iWillLead.net

And you can always find Kim in her colorful world, www.EverythingEtsy.com

I’m so looking forward to being back here writing about wonderful life again!

Our dogs are a BIG part of our family and I realized the other day that we don’t stop and take photos of them often enough. This is Miss Buttercup! Isn’t she sweet? We all love her, but I think Tim and A.J. fight over who she loves the most on a weekly basis.

She was in an awful accident last year and we thought she wouldn’t make it, but she is very tough! And the best begger I’ve EVER seen!

Both our Shar-peis are from a really nice family of show dogs, Sundried Shar-peis. They were the smart ones that opted out of the whole show scene. We are major Shar-pei fans not only because they are extremely cute, but they have very laid-back attitudes.

They’re both wondering why I am taking their photos. I think they’re looking for some type of payment for this…maybe a sandwich or something.

This is Hershey! Doesn’t he look strange here? He’s yawning because he’s over the whole photo session thing. I am always amazed at how many hours they can sleep in a day!

Hershey really loves ME! Well, he tends to think Jacob is pretty cool for scratching his head all the time, but I’m the one he follows from room to room all day. He’s starting to get a little grey in his face…soooo sweet!

Hershey is the only dog I know that can say he’s been to all the lower 48 states and Canada…he’s a travelin’ man.

If I listed all our other animals in this same post we would be here AWHILE! I’ll save the rest of the zoo for another day.

Today belongs to the dogs!!!

I’d love to hear about your awesome pets. Do you have dogs? Cats?

I know you have all been reading Nester’s 31 Days to a Better Dressed Nest! Well, Tim (Remodeling Guy and my sweet husband), is at Nesting Place today with a guest post. You can even ask him questions on Facebook. Isn’t that neat? If you are looking for great ideas and a ton of laughs, stop over there and read his tips!

Fall wreaths are beautiful, but I found a few other ideas for those stunning leaves that are all over…well, everywhere but here. I’ll just have to pretend they’re here and buy them at the store.

Making a swag couldn’t be easier, and it’s a great way to dress up a garden gate or door. Okay, I want the garden gate in the photo along with the swag!

Each leaf is so beautiful on its own. You can turn them into beautiful wall art. This is something that would be great to do with your kids!

Start by collecting a few fall beauties the next time your outside. Flatten them under a book, and then copy them faced down with a color copier. Glue your copy on a canvas-covered art board. Hang one or several in a row. What a beautiful display for fall!

This window box over the fireplace looks sooooo cozy! Inside or outside you can keep your fall leaves fresh by arranging them in wet florist foam.

Doesn’t that look easy? Window boxes are a great feature anytime of the year. {Not that I’m hinting about wanting window boxes or anything.}

If you live in Florida, this might be the best option…tissue paper leaves. Just cut out some fall leaves of your own and hang them with fishing line. Most people around here have fishing line everywhere!

Of course, any fall branches would look great in a vase! Enjoy your beautiful leaves, and we’ll keep hanging in there with our super-hot weather in the 90s! I know you’ll all be wishing you were here in February!

photos: Sunset.com/Marthastewart.com

This photo has inspired me to decorate with white pumpkins this year. The colors are so natural and not too dark for our coastal area. Maybe I’ll throw a starfish in to beach it up a bit.

We get a little crazy with Halloween decorations around here, so I have a little time to browse around before traditional fall decorations take their place around the house.

Wait until you see all these white pumpkins! You are going to want to run out and grab a few of your own.

Don’t you love this front porch?

These are the funky and creepy ones.

Elegant Baby Boo pumpkins monogrammed…beautiful!

What a pretty alternative to my usual little orange ones.

They are so pretty on a pedestal and sure to last throughout the season.

What would a white pumpkin post be without a little something from Martha Stewart. A stunning fall centerpiece! This would look great on my big table. The colors are perfect, and I can’t wait to try it!

I’m a pretty traditional person, but I’m going to spice it up a bit with a few of these white beauties this year.

Are you using white pumpkins this year?

Photo credit: Sunset.com 1 &2, CountryLiving.com 3,4 & 5, Sugarpiefarmhouse.com 6, Marthastewart.com 7