Starting Jr. High!

EEEEKKK!!!!!

Yes, that's right, our baby is now in Jr. High! 6th grade! Lord, how did this happen?

Brianna has been homeschooled, one way or another, since Kindergarten. I am REALLY excited about this year because it's the first time since Kindergarten that I am not relying on DVDs, sending her out 2 days a week to a school, or someone else to instruct her for me...well, except her dad. =D David, engineer that he is, is taking great delight in being Brianna's math teacher...at least for now. AND, Brianna is taking great delight in her dad being her math teacher...she gets him all to herself for about an hour every night. SO, it seems to be working for us all as I have been working from home and I can use that time to finish up.

We are only starting with math and science initially, but will be adding in the other stuff in a couple of weeks...

When Brianna went to bed last night the door to the schoolroom was blank and open...I stayed up a little later than the family in order to get my ducks in a row for our first day, and just when I was headed to bed I realized I hadn't done anything "special" to the schoolroom...Which I try to do every year. SO, I prayed...And the Lord reminded me of the "theme" for our year..."God is awesome!" SO, I looked up Scriptures that talked about how He leaves us in awe of Him, typed them out, printed them in different colors, taped them to construction paper, and then taped the construction paper to the door. I did a few other things, but here is the picture of the door...which was closed when she came down in the morning so she had to wait for me to come into the room with her and take these cute pictures...

I had taken David into the schoolroom in the morning before Brianna came down and showed him what I had done, and told him that historically I have made a big deal about the first day of school...hooping and hollering...that kind of thing. Brianna usually gave me the "Oh Mother, please!" look...but I've done it every year anyway. I knew I could count on My David to play along...

We had fun, and Brianna gave us "the look", but she could not help herself...she SMILED and LAUGHED! What's that??? Evidence of God's grace!!!!

When Brianna saw the closed, and decorated, door I heard "I knew it!" She came running to the kitchen and said "I knew you would do SOMETHING! I was in bed last night thinking 'I guess mom isn't going to do anything special for the first day of school this year...' and then I thought 'Of course she is, she always does!'" I asked her "Would you have been disappointed if I hadn't done anything special?" and she said "VERY." It was in that moment that I was SO grateful for the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit, who I could easily have ignored and gone to bed that night. But I stayed up until 3:30am when it was all said and done...that's not to toot my own horn...that's what happens when you don't ask the Lord ahead of time what He wants you to do, and you have to do it in the 11th hour. Lord, thank You for knowing Brianna's heart and giving her the desires of it...and thank You that You did not disappoint her on the first day of Jr. High!

The picture above is the "I knew you would do something!" face...Here are some other pictures as well...

No, it wasn't really that late...the batteries in the clock died!

Maverick gets to go to school too!

Brianna thought it was funny to pretend she lounges around with her feet up all day...NOT! (Oh, side note...This desk was the desk David saved up for and bought when he was a child younger than Brianna. He even took it to college! And now his daughter is using it! Isn't that so cool? AND, that postcard tacked to the upper left corner? That's Andrew Jackson...and that postcard was sent from David to Brianna years ago when he was on a trip to Jackson's home. On it is written who it is, that he was our president, where the home is, and what the name of the home is...I guess I never realized just how long David has been "schooling" Brianna! Isn't God so good?)

The flag was given to us by the Navy at Brianna's father's funeral...we use it to say the Pledge of Allegiance...

She's so happy she can't contain herself...just look at that smile!

I'm still organizing my desk and our shelves...it's a work in progress!

Maverick is a highly stressed dog...here he is in his usual stressed out mode...

And YES, that is a Celebration t-shirt he is wearing!

Our first day was a huge success! We stood in awe of God and His kindness to us...and that is, after all, the point of it all!