Not JUST tiny waterfountains...

As we walked through the crowded halls, Malachi ran his tiny fingers over the big, stark white bricks. His eyes grazed all the "WELCOME" posters as if IN SHOCK.

Only a handful of times had the kids even been IN a public school.

So as we walked, we ALL just held a steady pace taking it all in....the drawings on the walls, the colorful awards photos, the TINY watering fountains, even the black and white checkers on parts of the floor.

We were walking thru Hartley Elementary.

We were on the way to the "Spring Fling".

I say "we"...which means ME and 7 kids.

That right ...7 kids!!LOL

Fortunatly I was meeting my sweet lady friends there.

We walke thru the HUGE school and made our way to the "fling".

We walked into a FESTIVAL.

There were bounce houses, slides, bouncy rock wall things.

I mean THIS is heaven for my kids.

There were games and prizes.

There was MUSIC....LOUD POP MUSIC!!!!

There were snow-cones AND a cake walk(which my kids had never done, so they thought it was SOOOOO cool.)

There were TONS of kids...USUALLY when we go somewhere(well..ANYWHERE)we STICK out.

Maybe its because we have 4 kids, maybe its because we have locks, maybe its because of WIFE SWAP- WHATEVER the reason- we stick out!!!!

And there we were...standing in a playground that looked like an anthill that had been STEPPED ON!!!

I have to admit, a SLIGHT panic came over me...AHHH!!!!

Seldom is there a place we go where there are SO MANY kids that ours could get MIXED UP with the other kids!!!

Anyway...The kids OBVIOUSLY all wanted to go in different directions.

"Can I go to the bounce house?"

"Can I go to the playground?"

"Can we get a snow-cone?"

and OF COURSE..."I have to go to the BATHROOM!"

Luckily -Shainee was there at that moment and took Malachi and Gabe to the bathroom.

We played and did the games and then got snow-cones, AND candy AND cookies.

The girls got their faces painted...AGAIN!

We hung around till as SHEBA put it.."The Bounce houses were melting."

I wasnt about to take 7 kids hyped up on sugar and snow cones and Red Dye #5 home w/ me without doing EVERYTHING I could to "Wear them out".

So we were LITERALLY the last people on the slide an bouncehouse.

So FUN!!!

BUT...If Im being honest-I have to admit that it was intimidating for me as a homeschooling Mom.

It was hard to walk thru the school and see all the BIG ROOMS and "EXTRAS"...Like the big playgroundd, the supplies at the teachers fingertips, the "MUSIC" room.

I have to fight back THAT feeling...The INADEQUATE feeling.

Could I possibly teach what the SCHOOL is teaching???

Without all the resourses at my fingertips and the TINY waterfountains for the kids to drink out of??

Would it really be the same when I give the kids a "Good Behavior" award?

Then we walk out the doors of the school and I KNOW...

YES I CAN!

I can give the kids ALL those things.

I CAN teach them.

I know that those awards mean the same things to MY kids as the awards the kids get at school.

I have an OPPORTUNITY that LOTS of parents dont have.

I dont HAVE to work...outside the home.

And at the SAME TIME...

I LOVE seeing the school and all the wonderful things they are doing with the kids there.

I love seeing my friends and family with their pictures PROUDLY displayed in the school because they show traits of being TRUSTWORTHY, KIND, and all around GREAT KIDS!

Its awesome and ultimatly I come away INSPIRED.

I come away with sooo many ideas that I have to write them down and tuck them away for the future.

What a blessing this "field trip" was....

What a learning experience....FOR ME.

And to top it all off...I got to watch the kids drink out of TINY waterfountains!

What a DAY...What a LOVELY DAY!!!