back to the grind

Two weeks ago I unfortunately went back to work.  My sister-in-law, Yolanda, volunteered to watch Ella after Jessica let me know that she would no longer be able to.  Since Yolanda lives south of us and the school is north, Yolanda comes to get Ella in the morning so I don't have to back track and lose more time with my beautiful little girl.  I really appreciate it because it means I only have to leave 10-15 minutes before work starts and then I just take the freeway from school to Yolanda's house when I go to pick Ella up.  It is a really nice set up.  It will also be great for Ella to establish a strong relationship with her aunt and cousin.    

Yolanda took this picture of the kids last week.  Did I mention how impressed I am with her?  She doesn't even flinch taking care of Gabe and Ella.  I could never do it.  She is so confident and I'm pretty sure she can do anything.  The babies are only 2 weeks a part so she practically has twins.  Ella was fussy until her first nap each day of the first week, but this week she was good.  I think it just takes her a little while to adjust to new situations (she must be like her parents).   

Ella seems to be intrigued by my new position, or at least my whistle.  This job has a million perks.  Honestly, if I have to work there is absolutely no better job I could imagine.  I get to teach without all of the extra stresses and responsibilities of a classroom teacher.  I teach all of the students in the school, which means I get to see all of my past students regularly.  I only work 4 days a week so where Monday used to be the day I dreaded, now I love it!  Ella is only away from home 3 days because Gustavo has Fridays off.  I've only had students for one week and I had a blast playing all day.  This also meant that I got a good workout.  I wasn't sure if I would or not, but I'm moving around almost the entire day participating in different fitness activities.  I think the only downside is that I can see things becoming slightly redundant since I do similar things for 10 classes in a row on a 2 day rotation.  Other than that I have to be creative with space because the gym is also our lunchroom so sometimes I'll be kicked out for assemblies and other things.  I also don't have the gym for kindergarten or the last 10 minutes of one class, but that really won't be too bad.  

In all honesty, I want to be home with Ella all of the time, but working part time as the PE teacher won't be bad.  I still get to be with her most of the time and Yolanda is making my time away from her as easy for me as possible.  I feel really blessed.  At the end of the year I prayed that what was best for Alysha and me would work out.  We really wanted the job share, but now we both realize that it wasn't what was best for either of us.  Alysha needs a full time salary and PE allows me to be with Ella much more than even being part time in the classroom would have.  It is amazing how apparent Heavenly Father's hand is in my life.  I am so grateful for answered prayers.