"Off they go! Wheeee!"

Tuesday was the day Adele has been waiting for. All last week she'd watched her brother go into his classroom with envy, and missed him all day. But now, at last, Adele has started school!

She picked this dress out from the thrift store for her first day dress. It seems appropriate somehow.

This face, you guys. I am sure I made the same one as a child (and still probably do). This picture is my favorite:

At 7:30 Mountain Time, my 9:30 EST class starts in Virginia, so Jon covers school drop offs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He took these pictures for me as I have still not found a way to be in two places at once (the science still eludes me but I have not given up!).

This child is such a treasure. If you haven't seen her in a while, while she can barely be said to have grown in the past year, her verbal abilities have taken off apace. Both her vocabulary and pronunciation have flourished this past year. It means we no longer hear her saying "baby" for "maybe," but it also means she's able to enjoy being understood and taken more seriously, both things she really values.

Her day was splendid! Also, I've been blessed with an excellent caregiver, who is able to pick her up from preschool so that I can have three days a week with 6 hours to work at one stretch! This caregiver has a child Adele's age, a friendly dog, and has gotten on board with the project to support Adele's potty training. She loves being there, and I've gotten so much done this week. I've written almost half of my literature review (not due until December), kept up with my coursework, and made strides on my thesis, in the form of a lot of research and several pages of writing! My advisor says he wishes all his advisees were as far along as I am. I'm so grateful to any who were praying for the childcare situation. Your prayers have been answered beyond my hopes!

Last Tuesday, I accompanied Miles to his elementary school's roller skating night. Rather, I used Miles as an excuse to go roller-skating! I still love it.

Miles spent almost the last of his birthday money renting this contraption to help him skate:

He really did a terrific job, considering this past weekend was the first time he'd even attempted skating! As an avid roller-skater, I'm proud.

After the skating there was a brief sock hop! The kids whipped and nae-naed and cha-cha slid all over the place.
Ok I did too.

I wonder how much longer I'll be welcome at his school social events...

I'm so enthused about the presence of this skating rink less than a mile from our house!

 

This has been a big week for the kids making friends, both at school and in the neighborhood. I made a lot of progress on my thesis, and marked one month since I started 1-2 times daily running with the dog. I feel the positive results in my body and soul. I don't know how many classes Jon has taught so far, but it's a lot. I've seen one of his presentations; he's really making himself an asset to the school. We're all proud of Papa at CSU-P!

We are off into the semester at a run!