A Fall of firsts

This has been a fall of firsts in our house--first day of school(s), first day of soccer, first day of a new job and others, so many others. I am usually so good at documenting each moment in it's moment but all these firsts which really belong to my loves have made life ridiculously busy for me and I haven't had a second to breathe and reflect and write. It's the middle of the night and I'm sitting here at the computer and come heck or high water I'm going to document these events--even if they are all bunched together in this one silly post. Here goes nothing.

Talmage started 1st grade at Westwood Charter and is loving it so much. We moved to Los Angeles the day before he started school, and while I had butterflies and tears galore he jumped in like it was nothing. He's made a great group of friends and we can't walk down the street without someone yelling, "Hey Talmage! See you at school tomorrow!" or "I can't wait to play ninjas again!" He has been endlessly positive about the school, the move, his friends, our apartment and just about everything else in life (sans homework). Sometimes you think you know someone so well, but you see them handle a potentially tough situation with such grace and strength and you realize that you know so little of the greatness within that person. That's how I feel about T. That wise little boy with a great big name is teaching me so much.

Everett started Pre-K the same week T started 1st grade and even though it's taken some getting used to he is really thriving in this environment. Ever is a natural homebody who loves to lounge in pjs for hours on end so it's been a tough transition, that's for sure, but I really felt like he needed a more formal preschool setting and a vacant spot in this FREE public, part-time Pre-K was a God-send. His teacher and her aide have been teaching at this school together for 30 years and they know exactly what they're doing and are brilliant. After a couple of disastrous drop-offs (the tears, the drama) I remembered a facebook post from a friend saying that she drew smiley faces on her son's hand and her hand so that anytime during the day that one of them felt sad they could look at their hand and know the other person was thinking about them. I decided to try it and holy hannah, it's been the best thing ever! No more tears at all, and yes, four weeks in and I'm still drawing the smiley faces every single day. It was really sweet because for the first few days he'd come home and say things like, "Mom, I wooked at my hand when I was in da bafwoom. Did you fink of me den?" or "I finked about you a wot today and wooked at my hand, did you do it too?" Now he just reminds me everyday to "not foget da smiwey face pen!" Everett is growing and maturing and he gets so excited to come home and tell me all about his preschool adventures. Watching him stretch and learn out of his comfort zone these past few weeks has been so rewarding and I am so impressed by his bravery and dedication. 

Not to be left out of fall-first-fever was Quinn, who went to her first day of childcare at the YMCA. The facility is only two blocks from Ever's school so after we drop him off I go work out while Quinny plays with the other children and all of the darling babysitters. Most of the time I come back to them telling me that she is the most active baby they've ever known but this time I came back and she had put herself to sleep in the swing. What?! How cute is that, right? She is rocking this first experience with daycare...but is still sooooo happy (normally to the point of tears) to see me when I come pick her up!

James had his first day of work (in LA, he had spent the week prior in NYC for training) and so obviously I had to take a picture! We're all so proud of him and so grateful that he is working hard to support our family, even if that means we see him way less than we wish we did (tear, tear). The kids have honed into the fact that there's a snack room and I want to see the killer view from his office so you can definitely expect some pictures in the near future of our visit to Daddy's work!

So, yeah. This is how I spend most of my weekdays--shuttling my babies from school and soccer and parks and libraries and let's never forget a slurpee stop at 7/11! I'm living the dream you guys, and I really mean it. 

These days weekends are spent shuttling as well because SOCCER SEASON!!!! Hooray! I love soccer season!

Ever is U5 and they run it in a jamboree format so all the little boys his age get together for an hour on Saturday morning and are taught by the UK trainers about ball skills for 40 minutes and then the next 20 they play a scrimmage game. It makes Everett "weawy, weawy tiwed" but it's so good for him and he loves it--especially the post-game snacks! Talmage is U7 and he's on Team Hawks. Every year he makes such a huge improvement in soccer and this year is no different. For example, he actually kicked the ball like 10 times in the game today. Yes, Mr. T touched the ball! If you saw him play last year you would know why this is such a major accomplishment and we are so proud. We love spending our Saturday's watching these chickens run around the soccer field. 

And one more of just Ever Knight. I love that squinty-eyed baby boy like whoa. You should have seen how excited he was to pick out his very own new ball, and of course it was orange! That ball is his buddy and I love watching those little feet kick it around.

Last week we had some post-game celebratory snow cones because the boys did such a good job (and Quinn only got on the field trying to steal the game ball once!). It was our first time going there so technically these pictures do, in fact, belong in this post, but mostly I've just gotta send these pictures and this adventure out to the blogosphere because it was too good not to: Brian's Shaved Ice is where it's at people! They taste like natural-sweetened silk and as soon as I finished one I wanted to order another--that good!