school days and soccer season

azalea started 3rd grade last wednesday! how is that posssible??

thatcher was able to go into work late so we could all walk up to school together. our walk went from about 1.5 blocks to 4 blocks after our move, so we have to leave a little earlier now ;) 

her new classroom is in the downstairs of the school (which is where the older kids are), so she's pretty excited about that. it's nice because by the time they get to 3rd grade they know pretty much every one in their grade, so she has lots of buddies in her class. 30 minutes after we dropped her off, we had a "family connections" meeting with ashford's teacher. it's sort of like a pre school year conference. ashford was along for it, so he got to see his classroom (again) and see where his cubby is and where he will be sitting. we also had a nice chat with his teacher. 

thursday afternoon ashford and i met up with vanessa and ewan at wallingford playground for one of our last "mid day" hangouts for a long time! 

then ashford and i stopped by venture coffee before picking up azalea from school. 

 azalea's first 3 days went really well. she's always loved school and i've been trying not to take that for granted since i'm also mom to a little boy who is a little more skeptical about the whole thing ;) 

on friday i saw a dining room table listed on craigslist that would be perfect for us, so i sent thatcher to look at it friday night and it came home with us. we'll get different chairs at some point, but it's so nice to have a big table after our tiny round one we've used the last 4 years. 

thatcher left early saturday morning for a conference in vancouver, so it was just the kids and me for the weekend. we had the last pre school year kindergarten meet up at their school playground and then headed to queen anne for azalea's first soccer game of the season. 

her team had 4 practices before the first game, so it was really fun to watch them play together. i'm so glad we decided to do soccer. it's a big time commitment (3x a week), but i love watching her learn these skills and getting to bond with her friends. after soccer, we grabbed lunch at scooters with another family. then we relaxed at home the rest of the day. 

sunday morning we took a trip to top pot donuts (yum!) then to michaels to get a wreath hanger and some craft stuff to keep the kids busy for the afternoon.

 it was cool and rainy, so it felt like a good day to just hang out at home before ashford starts school. i made dinner in the crock pot, the kids did perler beads and played (and fought) all afternoon ;) i also hung my wreath i found for free on the side of the road and got out all my fall/winter clothes out. 

monday was the big day - first day of kindergarten for ashford! i'll admit i started to feel pretty nervous/sad on sunday. i've been so ready for some time away from the kids, but the start of kindergarten is a huge milestone. never again will i have as much time with him again. and he is my little homebody and was feeling nervous about going, so i was worried about how drop off would good. he humored me for a picture out front before we left.

azalea was excited to help drop him off before heading to her class. he seemed nervous sitting in his seat in class, but he didn't cling to me or cry, so i was thankful for that. i'm so excited for him to start the adventure of elementary school!