Friday, April 23, 2010

I'll take school for 800, and throw in a Biscuit!

The older kiddos have been taking their CRCT's this week. As they are in the third and fifth grades (the only two grades in elementary school that requires the children to pass every subject on the test in order to move up into the next grade level) I've felt the need to alleviate as much stress as possible for them. Of course, I've learned that they weren't the ones that needed the stress reduction...tis moi. My children are intelligent. I am confident that they've done well. We've prepared for nearly two months for this test week. Why the anxiety then? It wasn't until Ella and I visited them at school to have lunch with them that I realized where my stress/anxiety was coming from. They have one month left of school, at which point my first born will no longer be an elementary school student. I rejoice, daily, over my children's growth and milestones...but middle school? Already? (sniff, sniff) I mean, I just gave birth to the child...now middle school?

You may remember my excited, yet premature, post about homeschooling in the Fall. This is not something I just decided on a whim. I was pregnant with my first child when the Columbine shooting took place, followed by several others including a high school twenty miles away from our (then) home. I swore I'd never put my children in public school. As I became a single mother quite unexpectedly when my first two children were in their infant and toddler stages, my stay-at-home-mom status was forcibly changed and remained until after my husband and I had Ella. By then, both babes had started school. When I presented them with my "brilliant" idea to homeschool they both seemed excited about it. However, a week after returning to school from their Winter break, together they broke the news that they had no desire to homeschool and that their initial excitement was derived out of sparing my feelings. Ack. Lindsey is thrilled about going to middle school...drama club, chorus, FCA, etc. I can't take that excitement away from her. Not to mention the fact that she and her cousin have been in school together since kindergarten, and naturally she wants to be with her favorite pals.


So, back to where I trailed off. As I sat with she and my nephew at lunch a few days ago, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Ten years ago, the two of them sat contently in car seats on top of my sisters table as we chatted over crafts and such...the two of them talking baby gibberish back and forth. Each waiting to take their own turn at doing so. They are going to middle school. Middle school is three short years long...and then High school. And my sweet Ella is already calling her siblings school "her" school. When she wakes up in the morning she grabs her brothers old lunchbox and asks if we can go to her school and eat lunch with her brother and sister. She's just one year away from preschool.


It's going so fast.

But, of course, the abundant blessings certainly make up for the speed that time has taken on since I became a mother. :0)


My wonderful husband gave the children and I the most amazing surprise this week. When he didn't show up to church on Wednesday, I assumed he worked over. When we got home, he asked me to come into our bedroom. Completely odd...and as my brain was not working in a positive manner, I thought he was about to deliver bad news. Instead, he pushed a tiny black puppy into my face. I didn't even give him time to explain where the puppy had come from before I snatched him out of hubby's hands and into my arms where he was immediately covered in love before being rushed into the living room to share him with my three little ones. Squeals, hands, and kisses were immediate. He was quickly named Biscuit (after the book series) by our two youngest. He slept better than I thought he would the first night, and woke up with a happy wagging tail the next morning.





He's loved infinitely, already. :0)

Oh, and he'll never leave me to go to school! Yippeee.

Relishing in His goodness...