Settled?

Everyone keeps asking if we're settled. The short answer for me is no, but it isn't a one word straightforward kind of thing. We moved August 25th and then had a long weekend and it was off to school. Off to long drives on the 401 to Woodbridge, exhaustion, errands, trying to get settled, adjusted.

I'm not settled. The garage is still filled with boxes, and trying to figure out stuff that was bought for one house fitting into a different house, it's a process. The girls rooms, the kitchens, our room, it was all done pretty quickly. The office has boxes, the main floor has boxes, the front hall has boxes, but we're getting there. I've given myself permission to take my time. We packed for three months, why not unpack for just as long or longer? I don't want to be unpacking forever, but I'm really in no rush either.

The girls are settling into their new schools. Fiona is doing really great, Kate and Alice are coming along. The biggest adjustment for Kate is the workload of grade 2 - the absence of play. For Alice the challenge has been that she constantly compares Tottenham to Carruther's Creek.  She's getting better, and she is coming home happier.

Kate had her meet the teacher on the 21st - we went to meet Madame Khattab. However, we found out the day before that Kate would move from a 2/3 to a straight 2 and that they were hiring a new teacher. Madame Khattab seemed really sweet and was glowing when she talked to Kate. She asked which one of us was Francophone! Go Kate!

Alice's meet the teacher was the 22nd, and the school was a zoo, but we had fun playing in her classroom. The girls and I had been in to meet her teacher previously, and Ms. White is awesome.

So far, we've visited the White Feather, walked by the beach, played at the park, eaten out, had a Pickering Ward Primary trip to the temple, gone swimming at Grandma's. And every once in a while we unpack something...

White Feather

 

A Fiona-Mommy trip to buy shoes for Mom and then a pop into Chapters.

Visiting the park across from Alice's aftercare at Carruthers Marsh.

 We walked from the park down to the lake.

 Dinner out at Boston Pizza. There have been a few too many dinners out lately.

 

Kate and I had a fun shopping trip at Old Navy. She pretty much picked out her whole fall wardrobe.

Pickering Ward primary had a trip to the temple. It was really great. The Primary president Sis. Yates is so lovely and had really cute activities planned.

After the visit to the temple we went swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Another walk by the water. This beach is closer to our house, at the end of the main road we live off of.

Another trip out to eat. This one tonight. It was late when we finally went out to eat at McDonald's. Kate and Fiona howled like wolves. 

And Alice wore her Bat girl glasses the whole time.

Beeton Fall Fair

What better way to pretend that you haven't moved, then by going back? I made the plans with Michelle in the summer. It was Michelle that cracked me! Up to the moving date, all through the process I just kept pushing any kind of emotion down. When Michelle told me how sad she was about the move - I can't remember when in the summer we had the conversation, but it was the first time that anything got to me. There has been so much to do there hasn't been time to be sad. I broke down on moving day when it was finally real, and I've had some sad moments the past two and half weeks, but I also wanted this day to look forward to! And here it is.

The Beeton Fall Fair is small. There are animals, a dog show, a magic show and rides. The forecast for today was rain. And it rained - but thankfully we did have a break and the girls all had some fun going on rides.

Poor Fiona, she completely had an accident and I didn't have any clean clothes for her. Ken drove up to Walmart in Alliston and then Fiona had dry clean clothes, and she got to go on her first ride. She was such a good patient girl before that. And she loved the rides! All the girls did.

After the fair we all went to Michelle and Alexei's house and the girls played, we ate dinner, and we had a lovely time. I will really truly ache for Michelle next summer when we're not around the corner from each other anymore, but I'm so glad that we can still get together and keep this beautiful friendship going!

The First Day of School

The first day! I told Ken that he had one job, this job was to ensure that first day pictures were taken, posted, and tagged! And, success!

Alice was first. Her school is the closest to our house, and her start time is 9:00. The plan right now is that she will complete SK at Carruther's Creek Public School, and next September she will join the French Immersion program at Southwood. Alice's teacher's name is Ms. White, and her DECE is Mrs. Fayaz. We were able to meet them last week and see the classroom. They both seemed lovely and I'm confident that Alice will have a great year.

Next to drop off is Kate. Kate is starting grade two at Southwood Park Public School in the French Immersion program. Her teacher this year will be Madame Khattab. Her school starts at 9:05. It was so crazy near her school that she told Ken that he could just drop her off and she would figure it out. My big girl. And she did!

Last but not least Miss Fiona. When we went to check out daycare's earlier in August, the first place we visited was Edukids on Salem and I felt the spirit when we walked out, and just felt reassured that this was her place and that all was well. Then we went and visited three other places, and the same feeling persisted. The first place was the place for Fiona. Ken dropped her off and she was okay, no tears. Her teachers are Ms. Sheryl and Ms. Bonnie. Fiona will be in the preschool program.

Ken will do three different drop offs this year. And I will do three different pickups. Fiona first at Edukids, then Kate in the PRYDE aftercare program at Southwood, and then Alice at Helping Hands daycare in their aftercare program as there was no room at her school's aftercare.

It's going to be busy running the kids around but everyone is where they are supposed to be. Everyone is in the best place for them to grow and thrive and to have the learning experiences that they need. I'm proud of my girls for being so brave and happy today.