First Days of School

September 8th and 9th were big days here at the Salada abode!

On the 8th, Violet had her first day of pre-school. She's been wanting to attend for two years! So, it was a big day. As you can see, as usual, she was all smiles.

On this same day, Amelie had her Kindergarten orientation. She was glad to be able to visit her old stomping ground before heading to her new school!

Violet eagerly got in line.

Violet is one of three girls in her class. There are seven boys, as well!

Violet happily posed with her cubby after class.

The next day, September 9, was Amelie's first day of Kindergarten!

I do believe that she attends the very last half-day Kindergarten program in the world, about which I'm thrilled. She goes in the afternoon, so we have all morning to fill her water bottle, write in her communication book, and get her dressed in her uniform.

I can't fathom getting her there by 8:00am! I know that will be necessary next year, but I'm thankful for this year of transition.

Oh, and our freighbor, William, is in the same class. Aren't they cute in their uniforms?

Getting the sillies out before entering the building is a must.

Finding their hooks.

Amelie at her desk!

Oh, and for kicks, this is Amelie in her other uniform option. She came up with the "on-the-bike" pose all by herself.

Our beautiful girl.

So two weeks down and how is everyone doing?
Amelie is doing so well. She loves school and comes home extremely happy and energized. Since she attends for the latter half of the day, we've had the mornings to read, play, and run errands together with our buddy Linus(and Violet on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

Violet has been doing well also. She's so wanted to go to school for the last two years, and her dream has finally been realized. However, in he middle of her second week, reality set in and she insisted she wanted to stay home with me. Successfully ripping out my heart, she brought me to tears this past Friday morning. It took hugs from the teacher, the director and several conversations throughout the morning with Duncan, my mom, and friends to get me through. And upon picking her up? She'd had a great morning! I haven't heard any complaints from her since.

I've been more overwhelmed than I'd ever imagined as school approached. All of the driving and schedules and things to remember have exhausted me. I'm very happy with the schools we've chosen for our girls and they also seem happy to be where they are, which is huge. The rigorous schedule is just far more exhausting than I realized it would be. However, the structure has been good for me. Duncan and I are up at 6am to have our quiet times. I've got dinners planned out for each week and usually have them going by the end of breakfast. These things are necessary for our week to run smoothly! We've also planned that I'll work out on Mondays and Wednesdays and Duncan will ride his bike to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Over all, the structure is agreeing with us quite well.

I've heard through the grapevine, that some regular readers of this blog have been concerned at its silence over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, that might be a regular occurrence as I figure out how to squeeze it in here and there. Please bear with me!