For the Record: Changes Taking Place in the New Year

Written December 14, 2011:
We have a lot going on behind the scenes of every day life. I thought I'd share a few.

The Semester was Successful:
I have finished this semester of school and I gratefully passed both classes with good grades. I enjoy the added knowledge the classes give me. But I am hoping to put my classes on hold for a few years.

Jakob Will Start Public School Again, Home School Part Time:
After a lot of prayer, pondering, and discussion we've decided to enroll Jakob into the "Big School" starting in January so that I can focus more attention on the little boys. Caleb's wonderful preschool teacher won't be able to continue teaching into the new year. So this is more reason for me to make more time for Caleb. Now that the decision is made I'm really looking forward to it.

Caleb will be four years old in about three months. He has just recently started talking in sentences. Now that he's finally talking we can work on helping him with the speech problems that he has. We are working on determining if the problem is simply a delay or if there are other things involved.

When it comes to Home School we will still have home school on Fridays as the Public School here is only Monday-Thursday. This will give Jakob the chance to finish his BJU Press Math program and all of us time to  learn about the subjects I planned for the home school year. I will miss the good times together. But Home Schooling is VERY intense and I can't help but be relieved by the decision. I do worry about where Jakob will be in his class academically. I know he'll be fine with everything. But I worry that we didn't get far enough along with reading and phonics. But no use stewing over what I can't change now... Right? He's a really smart kid and will learn quickly. That brings me a lot of comfort!

Big Plans for Leif's Schooling:
A little while back, out of the blue, Leif and I started feeling like we needed to re-look at our plans for his Nursing School. To make a long story short we've decided to have Leif apply to Northern Arizona University's Accelerated Nursing Program. This program is only a one year program that gives Leif a Bachelors in Nursing. The program at the local community college is a two year program that gives Leif an Associates degree which means Leif will have to add another year of nursing in order to get his Bachelors (which is required for his end Nurse Anesthetist goal.)  The thought of being into a nursing career within a year compared to three years is too wonderful to give up at this point in our lives.

THE CATCH???
The NAU program is in Flagstaff AZ. This means that Leif will have to move there and we will stay behind. This is why we have always thrown out the idea before now. But I feel okay about the option now. It will be incredibly hard. But the thought of moving forward is too great to give up. The application deadline is in January and we will know if he's been accepted by March. The program is very competitive but Leif is a highly qualified candidate. He took the Nursing Entrance Exam for NAU and the average score for the students accepted into the program is 70%, Leif got an 89%.  Leif is also an EMT and will be an advanced EMT before the program starts. He is also a volunteer fire fighter in our community. Leif graduated with honors from NAU with his first Bachelors degree. With all of his high qualifications I am able to put the decision fully in the Lord's hands.