Note to self: Remember to blog! Life gets busy for me, I forget to blog for a day or two, and before you know it, I forget to blog for weeks at a time, and that's just not good. What few readers I had left probably don't even come back anymore to check to see if I finally blogged. I wish I could find a happy balance between blogging regularly and actually living my life. If you keep up with your blog all the time, you find yourself living your life in a constant quest to find things to blog about. Like, I could be at Walmart and the check-out girl could tick me off, and on my way out of the store, all while fuming mad, I'd say to myself "I've GOT to blog about THIS!" It almost gets to the point to where I wonder if I'm blogging my life or living my blog?!

The decision-making part of my brain is literally on overload right now. Most of those decisions revolve around what to do about Travis' school this year. We know without a doubt that we want to send him to 4-K this fall. The biggest issue right now is WHERE, and that revolves around a lot of different issues. See, we've already signed him up at Greenbrook Baptist. $110 a month, half-days, really established program...they've been in the pre-school business since before I even went there for Kindergarten, and that was a long time ago. The curriculum they use is Abecca (sp?) which is supposed to be the best there is. The principal even told us Travis would be writing his name by the time school is out. That impressed me. An added plus, they'll learn Bible verses, go to chapel once a week, have field trips, an awesome playground to play on, etc., etc. Travis is really excited about it. Michael and I were VERY excited about it when we signed him up. WERE. That is until our church, which just started a school last year, is starting a 4 & 5-K this fall. We are firm believers in supporting our church's school, plus he'd get to go to school with kids he already knows from church. BUT the cost is $180 a month, plus we'd have to buy uniforms, plus it's a 30 mile trip ONE WAY (about a 45-minute drive). They also are going to use Abecca, but this is their first year, so it's not going to be exactly organized like Greenbrook, but shouldn't we just support it anyway since it's our CHURCH? I feel BETTER about sending Travis somewhere that's closer to home, $70-month less, and very well established, but yet I feel GUILTY for not sending him to OUR church's school, ESPECIALLY after I just found out that another family at our church that lives 2 HOURS AWAY will be sending ALL 6 of their kids there. Like, if they can do it, then what's wrong with us? I have volunteered to help out in the school, and the Pastor said that he won't really know if I will be needed probably until school starts. It all depends on how many 4 & 5-year-olds sign up. They are going to limit it to 8 kids this year, but if all 8 spots get filled, that's a lot of 4 & 5-year-olds for one adult to handle by themselves for 4 hours in a tiny classroom. And if I am needed at the school, which I won't know until school starts probably, they MIGHT be able to cover Travis' tuition, which would be a HUGE help. The gas cost to get there every day is already going to be tremendous. In a nutshell, if Travis goes to school at our church, it's going to be a HUGE sacrifice. As of RIGHT NOW, Travis still has a spot at Greenbrook Baptist. But if at the last minute, our Pastor calls me up and offers me an unpaid position helping out at the school and can cover Travis' tuition, that would be a HUGE blessing, and we could take Travis out of Greenbrook and put him in school at our church, no problem. We'd lose the $70 registration fee at Greenbrook, but that'd be alright if we wouldn't be paying tuition at Grace. I hate it to be all about the bottom line, but for Travis to go to Grace, one of us would have to get a job just to pay for his school if his tuition isn't covered by my volunteering at the school. Michael is looking at probably getting a raise this fall that would cover tuition at Greenbrook, but not at Grace, and with our bills we have right now, our budget is so tight you could bounce a bullet off of it. And then comes the issue of Jacob. If I work at Grace to cover Travis' tuition, I still need somewhere to put Jacob and I'd have to pay someone to keep him. You can't exactly find someone to keep your kid for FREE these days, besides family members (sometimes even family members like to get paid), so we need some doors to open up there, too. If you are reading this, say a little prayer for us that everything will get ironed out. TTFN!