<human>: Hey all! Simple questions, but I have only found inelegant answers elsewhere on the internet. 

25/yo male here. Never really had a relationship last a long time (a year is about my limit), never lived with anyone, never considered marriage, etc. 

Now that I'm looking to date seriously, I've met and become really fond of a girl with two kids-- she's 28, kids are 5 and 7. While she's quite responsible (goes to school full time, works full time), her parents do the lion's share of the childcare. 

Also, I'm a part-time college level instructor, and she was in one of my world literature classes over the summer (an easy A for her, she's really smart). My questions are:

1) how would you want a former instructor to ask you out? Would that always be strange? What potential pitfalls might there be? I know she liked my class, but I really enjoyed just chatting with her in my office after class. It was the highlight of my day. We even ran into each other at a bar and had a nice conversation that I was probably too tipsy to be demure during.

2) I basically lead a charmed, bachelor life. But I'm sick of it, and would like to move towards settling down. Of course, I don't know if this is the right person, etc, but is that something that might be worthwhile to express given her position as a (really hard working) single mom? I.E., to say, "I'm interested in you, and I think it's awesome that you have kids, because I love kids"? Or is that waaay too forward? Our conversations have been limited to "how are you" and "how's [kid's name]" and stuff about class.  

Thanks. I'm at a loss given 1) that she's older than me, but also was my student and 2) that she's got children at the center of her life, while my life has always been self-centered.

Summarize the given text in a few sentences.
<bot>: Want to ask a former student out who is older than me in the least awkward way possible. Also want to say that I think it's awesome she has kids, and that I'm looking for a family myself without imposing on her.