A New Season

Yes...Summer is upon us. But that is not the season I want to talk about.

I am entering a new season in my life. And I am very excited.
I love that seasons in our lives change. If they didn't, I'd probably get bored. It's funny to me though, when I'm in a season that I absolutely love, I can't imagine the possibility of leaving it and moving into another season.

For the past year I've been volunteering at my local thrift store that a good friend of mine owns. I have LOVED every minute of it. I've loved the flexibility I've had with it as far as scheduling and being able to take Ruthi along with me. I've loved the way it has made me feel important outside my home. I've loved getting to know and talk often to our regular customers. I've loved working with a variety of people. I've loved that it's even allowed me to connect with people I haven't seen in years who have come in there to shop. And I've loved the perks of seeing lots of stuff come in and getting first pick of stuff! I'm so thankful that Ruthi has an entire wardrobe of adorable clothes thanks to this season.

But that season is coming to an end. It is bittersweet, because I truly do love working there. But the change came out of necessity, and now that the change is in place, I could not be more excited!

CJ has been attending a local homeschooling tutoring program for his 9th grade year. He "goes to school" two days a week where he receives all his instruction and homework assignments that will carry him through the other three days a week at home. It is fully accredited, so other than logging his hours, I don't have to stress about him getting his credits for college.

It has worked beautifully for us and he absolutely loves it. The downside is the cost involved. Unfortunately it has become difficult for us to pay his tuition without hurting our budget elsewhere. So, I decided I must do something to make it possible for him to continue there.

So, I prayed about what to do. I knew of a possible solution and just prayed it would work out the way I had hoped. The first year this program was open, I actually taught a couple of classes there and loved it. But I couldn't continue because Ruthi was little, child care was no longer going to be available and I needed to be home with her.

But now...she is ready for kindergarten. So I approached the director and co-director of the school about teaching again. GOD ANSWERS PRAYER! Beginning in August, I will be teaching 5 classes. Most of them will be K/1st grade classes, and Ruthi will be able to attend those classes. The one, possibly two, other classes will be second grade, but Ruthi will still be able to attend the class(es) in her grade level.

The classes I will be teaching will more than cover CJ's tuition, and anything above that will go toward the extra gas I'll be using, lunches and clothing if necessary. With the bonus of Ruthi getting to go too! And let me tell you - she is EXTREMELY EXCITED!!!

I'll be spending MANY hours the rest of the summer getting lessons planned and getting everything ready for the first day of school on August 9th! I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. I've always had a passion for teaching, and it's been a while since I've gotten to actually do it. I'm very thankful God has given me the talent and ability to do this. And I'm very thankful for this solution for my family.

I'm very excited to begin this new season!!!

My Preschooler

I realize it's been almost a week since I blogged. I had good intentions of posting more pictures last week.

But it didn't happen.

Obviously.

Life has a way of getting in the way of blogging. Such is my life.

I started preschool with Ruthi on the 2nd. Yes, I realize this is the 16th and I'm just now posting pictures. But you are used to that by now, no?

This child has been so excited to do her "coolwork". And she absolutely loves it.
We are only "doing school" 2-3 days a week at the moment. I will probably shift into doing more in the near future...if I can get my act together and keep up with everything else!

Anyway, here are a few pictures of our little girl on her first day of school.


She looks so big!



Had to get a shot of her "big girl" pony tail!

Working hard on her circle collage:




We were working on the letter A. As in recognizing it, and knowing what sound it makes. I had no intention in teaching her how to actually write an A or any letters at this point. I had to get up to get something, and as I was walking away, she says, "Mommy! I made an A!"
I casually say, "You did? Wow!"
Then I walked over to see what she had actually done, fully expecting to see a scribble. Instead, I saw this:

That's an actual A!!
I was surprised, to say the least. Good grief, she's not supposed to be growing up this fast!



My camera finally bit the dust. So I will be scarce with pictures until I can get a new one. I still have a few pictures to share. And I've taken a few with my phone, but they never turn out as good. Hopefully I'll have a new camera soon and can go picture crazy again!

Fall is upon us and there are too many wonderful opportunities for photos not to have a camera! Oh HONEY...are you reading this? *GRIN*