Back to School, Back to School

(Is anyone else singing the song from Billy Maddison now?  You're welcome.)

This week the E's went back to school.  Eva started SECOND grade and that seems so surreal.  Her teacher this year is Mrs. Petentler (Pah-tent-ler).  We've heard she is very strict, but she seems nice and Eva is adjusting.  Although today, the second day of school, while walking to the bus she said that she didn't want to go to school and would prefer to be home-schooled.  But she said the same thing last year also, and I know that it's really just her way of saying that she misses me during the day.  Goodness knows, I miss that little squirt too!  I prayed fervently about whether or not to home school her before she started school and God showed me that that was not His plan for her or our family.  So, at least for now, she goes off to school.  And as soon as she sees her BFF on the bus, she is happy as a little lark.  Her school is great.  Her principal and the school counselor are both believers. And there are several teachers that go to our church.

Eli started back to his preschool and is in Mrs. Chaloux's class (Sha-loo).  Sweet Eli.  :)  He asked almost every single day of the entire summer if he could go to school that day.  So to say that he was excited when the day finally arrived that I could tell him he was going back to school, would be the understatement of the week.  He was so happy!  It was pretty much the cutest thing ever!  His little self thrives on that kind of structured routine.  His teacher and his speech therapist both commented on how much more conversational language Eli has developed over the summer.  Not to mention that he is mostly potty trained now!  But that is another post entirely... coming soon!

So not only are the kiddos back in school, but I am about to start school as well.  It all seems a little crazy, but I believe that it is the road that God is leading us down.  It all started with as just a wish. Oh, I wish I had been an occupational therapist!  I love what they do. I thought this to myself many, many times over the last 6-8 years.  But that was as far as I ever got.  And then last year, on our anniversary getaway, Ryan and I were talking and dreaming and it turned into dreaming about me going back to school.  But, I tabled the idea pretty quickly thinking that it was a dream that was too big for us and our family.  Over the last year, it was just this thought that hung out in the back of my mind.

And then a couple of months ago, I decided to just research what it would take, assuming I would need tons of prerequisites and that the mountain would be bigger than what I could climb.  After researching, I realized that I didn't need very many prerequisites after all.  And so the wishing turned into dreaming which turned into researching which turned into planning.  Until one day, I set it all aside and declared that maybe this mountain was too big for me to climb.

You want to know why?  Because I had been trying to climb the mountain alone.  I was trying to plan everything out on my own, using my own limited resources.  And there was this sweet voice inside me reminding me that this is not my mountain to climb, it's His.  So I stopped everything and spent the next several days praying through it all and asking God to show me what His plan was.  Through that, I became more convinced that this is the path He wants us to walk.  After that, the doors have sort of just opened up.  Every road block along the way has made me stop and pray and ask God for clarity.  It seems that the very next day, the issue is resolved.

This is all a huge leap of faith for us, but we are trusting God's plan and asking Him to continue to guide us.  Even though, I will be the one actually taking the classes and passing the tests, it will be a full Team Frederick effort.

As of yesterday, I am officially enrolled in our local community college and will be taking 9 hours this Fall.  Six of those hours being Human Anatomy and Physiology.  Yikes!  I'm scared to death.  Seriously.  But I am also excited!

But if you need me in the next 4 months, I will be studying my booty off trying to learn all the minute and fascinating details of our bodies.  Wish me luck!...