The STOP button (an update)

When i last wrote on this blog it was the first day of December and I'd realized that life was moving too quickly. I discussed the treadmill concept. Well the holidays and the automatic commitments that come with that time of year did not help me get off the treadmill. There was a week in December that i had a Christmas party or event every night...which culminated in me crying with a stranger at a christmas party. um yeah.

The following day I was late to set-up for Quade's class christmas party (that i had signed up for at the beginning of the year). I spoke with his teacher about how hard it was to get all 3 little kids in the car to get quade to school every day. I asked if in the Spring if she thought it would work for him to come only 3 days a week. She thought that was a bad idea...and of course i started crying. Then she suggested i join a carpool (yeah one more thing i need to coordinate)...then she offered to pick quade up, which is very kind. However, the bigger issue wasn't just getting him to school 5 days a week it was not having him home...he is going to be in school the rest of his life, no need to rush it!

So that conversation happened on a thursday, that Saturday we left for Houston and i had the best part of my December. This was unexpected because we were in one house with 19 of us, 9 of which were kiddos aged 5 and under. (i need to write some posts just on our christmas...).

It was such a relaxing week. I got to play with my boys, have conversations with adults, play games and hold watts a lot!

Then we came home and i had some decisions to make. I was considering pulling Quade and Price out of school and having a a home school semester. I got really excited about the idea, but a little fearful of not having any break during the week. So looked into getting a nanny to come to our house one day a week to watch all three boys. but those options didn't pan out...

I had a week to decide if i was going to take quade to school this spring, then i realized i needed to decide about next fall (because his current school's contract for the fall was due january 5th...seriously!). So i started doing research on schools in the area. I decided that proximity was most important, i also wanted a place they could all attend, a place quade could go as a 5 year old (since most 5 yr olds are in kindergarten), and only a few days a week.

Well Sunday night i emailed a school and the next monday morning i called that school to follow up...after i introduced myself saying I'm a mother of three young boys the assistant said "oh, is this Heather? I was just responding to your email"...amazing!! This was their first day back at school after the break and she was able to respond to my email.

She told me that they would be able to take all 3 boys in the fall. She then said "I don't know if you are interested in this Spring but we have a spot for both your older boys on tues/thurs". God answers prayers!!

Here is a list of amazing ways God provided in the next 24 hours:

-I was able to tour the school that tuesday (the day i had to decide whether to return to quade's school and whether to return in the fall).

-The school was minutes from our house (instead of the 15 solid minutes it took to get to quade's previous school).

-school was AMAZING! (i didn't care if it was mediocre).

-The facilities were fabulous

-The teachers were engaged with the kids and at least appeared like they wanted to be there.

-they have chapel once a week (his other school was not part of a church)

-Quade would be in Spanish once a week.

-There were only 6 other kids in the class Quade would be in and 2 teachers! (his other class had 12 kids to one teacher)

-If we were students in the spring we wouldn't have to wait in line in February to enroll for the fall.
-The director took her time and showed me every detail of the school and was so patient with the boys (who were with me...wanted quade to see it and see if he liked it before i made the big move).

So I DID IT! I HIT THE STOP BUTTON!! I called Quade's old school and told them we wouldn't be coming back. The two boys started that thursday!

Of course satan tried to get involved and tell me the lie that perhaps quade's new class was so small because the teachers were bad.

nothing could be farther from the truth! they were wonderful. loving and caring and sweet!!

GOD IS GOOD!! He knows exactly what we need, when we need it!

Bruce's mom was so helpful in talking through this decision. She told me that when something is wrong with us physically we experience physical pain. When we experience emotional pain (stress, tears with a stranger) it is another way that God tries to tell us something is wrong.

May God give you the awareness of where there is stress in your life, the strength to hit the stop button and the faith to know He will fill in all the details!