1st Day of School!

Today is our first day of school, and I'm so excited!
Yes, we are starting late because of our awesome trip to Canada, though I usually start with the school calendar here. I'm not a slacker, I PROMISE!
I've been obsessively preparing over the last month for our new year, and now it's here. Emma is in 2nd grade, Jax is in 1st grade, and Justus is starting Pre-K.
We have freshly sharpened pencils with erasers not yet bitten off by Treston!
We have brand new journals filled thickly with pristine pages yet to be filled with color and words and imagination.
We have brand new books and readers, waiting to be read and learned from.
We have a new school schedule, totally different from last year's, and a new list of "Approved School Snacks."
I have brand new dry erase markers and a new eraser, which is my little indulgence each year. How I love a rainbow of colors of dry erase markers.
We have newly decorated school boxes with crayons still in the box, markers, all with their tops, and scissors, never yet used. Every marker and supply labeled with their names in Sharpie. I love to label with my Sharpie.
I have a new school closet that is the perfect picture of organization right now. RIGHT NOW.
You get the picture. I like this stuff.
Which is funny, because I hated school so much when I was little.
It was not the school supplies or learning that bothered me. I just hated going to school. That was a great irony when I ended up teaching public school for two years. The place I abhorred so much I volunteered to go back to. I really loved teaching Deaf Ed. Pre-k and K for two years.
But I LOVE, LOVE teaching my kids! I love watching them light up with something new! I love being with them, despite the craziness of this house!
Every year, when I write about our homeschooling, I feel like I need to apologize for it. That's not what I actually want to do. God led me (drug us really) to homeschooling, which was right for our family. But that does not mean that we are against every other avenue of schooling! The "evils of public school" is not what led us here. A little Emma with a unique and creative mind, totally lost in her Pre-K class, led us here. Homeschooling didn't even dawn on us. I was working with her one-on-one at home, and it was so effective, and I still didn't even think about it. God was clear, long story short, and He totally changed Rusty's mind and mine about homeschooling. There we were, doing the one thing we never, ever thought we would. We were amazed at how Emma was transformed into a wonderful pupil!
So we didn't make this decision, looking down on all other forms of education in disapproval. (The kids I know and admire most in their walk with the Lord attend public school...Feldmans...my nieces and nephews) We just followed the Lord, as so many of other parents have done in whatever they chose for their kids, and saw the fruit of obedience.
I would never in a million years do this if I didn't know God was choosing this and equipping me. I am fearful of teaching my kids for one day on my own! I don't know if we'll do this forever. Rusty and I will pray about this every year, and follow His lead. We feel confident we are where we're supposed to be right now.
So today is the day! Second grade! That sounds so big! I have three kids in school, as crazy as that sounds!
We'll use our sharp pencils today, and brand new crayons, but we all know the tops of markers will be lost next week, so I'm going to enjoy the newness while it lasts.