Can you recall those moments in your life when you know God has intervened? Maybe He said, "Got ya!" or "You will love this!" There are millions, billions of times, I know, but there are just some that take your breath. One of the most memorable cases of this was when I met my friend Denise in VA over 14 years ago. She is from Maine originally. We moved to Nashville on a whim, not knowing each other or anyone else in Nashville. Now here we are, the best of friends with little families of our own who are so very close.

Here is D and I. She is a blessing!

My most recent, God intervention is a small school with amazing people. I get teary-eyed just thinking of them.

Sniff sniff..

About a year ago my husband and I began praying for a good "learning center" for our daughter. Children can learn so much in their first years and those years are crucial. Plus, I went to a great learning center and wanted a place just as nice for Jo...

Josie,

Josephine,

Boogs...

You know, this girl! (Who is growing far too quickly!)

Giggle

As God would have it, not fate, not luck, GOD... Such a school is here in Nashville!

My boss, Greg Travis,

...GreggiT,

GT,

okay I'll stop.

GT was asked to help with a little ole video shoot at a local non-profit school. When he came back to the office all he could talk about the rest of the day was getting my daughter, JoRo (he calls her) to this school. " YOU HAVE TO GO CHECK THEM OUT!"

BUT it was a Montessori School...yeah.. That meant crazy money, right? Money, money money MON-EY, Just like the song. That is all I knew of Montessori, sad but true. There was no way, not on our budget!

But when your boss says go...YOU GO!

So go I did!

Kate Riley, the Head of School, showed me around. The small campus is currently housed in a church they are planning to add onto. So cool! Kate and the school!

My jaw dropped to see what these children knew at 2, 3, and 4 years old. The little kiddos were more like little angels, they were quietly doing "their work" and liking it...Math at 4 years old....crazy math! I thought they must be drugged for a moment.

Then I thought, I was drugged!

I ran home and told my husband about this crazy cool, can't be real, school I just toured. Then I told him it was AFFORDABLE.

See Kate Riley, who is sunshine on the darkest day, wanted to start a spiritual Montessori school that was available to more young families. YAY! Dreamers and Doers ROCK!

Kate Riley-See its dark and she is sunshine...with a staple gun!

And what is Montessori...that is another story, so google it!

But basically: The Montessori Method fosters the intrinsic ability of the young child to develop, with confidence, his or her own learning processes and to develop a life-long love of self-directed learning.

Awesome, huh?!

I drug my husband to the school to check it out. He hasn't stopped beaming about it since.

So we signed up...and were put on a waiting list. Which was fine cause I really didn't know how I was going to pick-up my daughter that early from a school that gets out before I get off work.

Then I ran into Kate, last fall and she said they may have an opening soon...GULP. The stars aligned - a GOD thing happened. My boss and his wife gave me their blessing and we worked out, a work schedule. LOVE THEM!

Josie started Holy Trinity Montessori in January 2012 and what she learned in the first month blew our minds. She wanted to do so much on her own...by herself...she is an only child...they don't do that. Her vocabulary tripled and her smile did too!

PLEASE NOTE PHOTO IS OF THE SEEDS SHE PLANTED...PLEASE NOTE THE WRITING ON IT SAYS CUCUMBER OR CANTALOUPE, THIS IS IMPORTANT LATER...

When it came time for our parent/teacher conference her teacher teared-up talking about my daughter...IN A GOOD WAY. By the way, I want to be April Crook, Josie's teacher, one day.

She is the child whisperer!

See!

See how they gather round her. It's like herding cats, yet she does it gracefully.

School ended in May. Boo!

This summer, being away from HTM, left us in tears. Josie missed her friends, her teachers, her "work" and I missed that beam she had.

But this week is her first week back and I can't tell you how excited we all are; David, Josie, myself, the teachers and the children.

Josie about jumped out of the car to go inside the school. She yelled YAYYY! When we pulled into the car line. Seriously, from a dead sleep!

I cried.

There is nothing more fabulous than to see your child fulfilled. I delight in her, Holy Trinity Montessori, the teachers, the children, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, and in GOD!

Here is the plant Josie germinated at HTM, not a cucumber or a cantaloupe. More beautiful and larger than my 6'7 husband and Josie combined. Yep God say, "Got Ya" alot around here.

Thank you God for this little community of amazing! I heart you and them!

Oh and here is that crazy good video my boss GreggiT did! A Million Doors

Is this thing on? Its been too long!

Its past bed-time in The Fitzgerald home. I'm sitting in my daughters room/our living room,blogging in the dark listening to the clock and distant summer thunderstorm. I can't believe I haven't done this in forever and a day. A problem I intend to remedy. Starting Now!
Six nights out of 7, most weeks, means bed-time for everyone. Momma, Daddy, baby and all three dogs.
So why am I still up? I had to put Josie in her bed. Yes, from our bed to her bed.
“Oh no, she goes to sleep with you!”

“Yikes. Isn't that a bad habit that will be hard to break?” Probably!

What time do we go to bed you ask and why all at once and why not stop this madness? Well I'll tell you.
With renovating a home comes good and scarafice. Since 2009 we have been without space. Living on top of one another can be challenging especially with 3 dogs. Thank God for a big yard and covered porch.

This is a small patch of grass. The yard is the behind the photographer. Its pretty big.

When Josephine was born we lived all together in the living room. Yep, we had a living room, den(which was our catch all) kitchen, small bathroom and one closet, just one! While I dreaded the thought of sleeping in the same room before her birth I could not have imagined it any other way looking back.
As David, a proven Jack-of-All-Trades, progresses with the renovation we have moved our bed to the den. Then this year to an actual bedroom with a closet, a walk-in closet he built for me. I love that man!
While we would put Josie to sleep in her room for nearly all of her first year she began to become aware and realize we were still up. She could also hear every move we made! Every sneeze, every dog bark, every dish clank was clear as a bell in this small space. It has been almost impossible to get her to go to sleep alone since her little “awakening.”

Since David has to get up well before the rooster crows, he started to lay down with Josie and hum her to sleep. While I would make the mad dash to get last minute chores done around the house, he'd, of course fall fast asleep himself, sometimes before her.

Their time together was so sweet I relished in listening to them and I couldn't stand to not be in the same room, for fear I may miss a smile or laugh. I too began to enjoy all of us getting into bed together to get the littlest Fitzgerald to sleep. And so it continues, every night. Sometime between 8 and 9:30, I give up the race to get everything done and turn the lights down and all the noise off. We climb into our bed, "in our bedroom." We may read, talk, tickle, snuggle, jump around, sing, laugh and pray but we all end up holding each other and dreaming together. That is until someone gets kicked or pushed and then one of us gets up and puts Josie in her bed where she is pretty good about staying until she hears one of us up before the rooster crows.