Have I ever mentioned that it’s never dull in our house?  It’s really not.  I keep waiting for a quiet period but it seems that lasts for a few days at the very most!

Along with the high school applications/interviews/testing that has to be completed in the next week and a half for ds13, we have learned that the deadline for submitting applications for most seminaries is Chanukah.  You know, one thing I thought would be nice about having my kids in school was that I’d be clued in to things like this because everyone else would be preparing for the same thing at the same time.  However, it hasn’t played out like this since we’re looking into different options for ds13 and dd16 than their classmates so we’re having to figure it all out on our own.

After recently requesting the applicationfrom the seminary that dd16 is most interested in, it arrived in the mail today.  (We skipped her up a grade this year and she’s now in her final year of high school, which is how we got to this point so quickly.  :))  We researched several choices that we thought would be suitable for her, and narrowed it down to one program in England.  Yes, I do think it’s very ironic that we’re living in a country with so many seminaries, and we’re looking into something out of the country.  From everything we’ve heard, it would be a really good fit for her, and we all appreciated the specifics we learned from the informational booklet included with the application.

I told her last night that we’ll try to get the application completed by Friday and get it into the mail right away.  Once they process the application, they’ll notify us about the interview process with a representative in Israel.

Fortunately, dd18’s seminary application isn’t due for a while (yes, she just had a birthday – for those who noticed the change in digits :)) so we have a bit of a breather on that!  She visited the specific school in Jerusalem that she’s interested in and is pretty sure that’s where she wants to be, and I’ve spoken to the head of the program briefly to ask about the specifics.  I think it will be great for her.

Having both girls in seminary and ds13 possibly away at a dorming school for high school (though we’re hoping the new local option will work out for him) in addition to ds19 who is already living away from home is something that will definitely shift how things look in our home.  For now, though, we’re enjoying having almost everyone still living at home.

Avivah