So, we have big changes for the year ahead. Sedona starts full time kindergarten in a few days. Half the province is doing full time this year and next year, the entire province will be implimenting full time kindergarten. She is very excited!
Chris is also starting a new job. He is leaving his job of 5 years at the alternative school and heading to the school where I have done much of my teaching. He will be teaching gr.5-7 instead of gr. 6-8. I think it will be a great change for him and he too is excited. He can also take over coaching the mountain biking club there which I started.
And I am going back to work full time for the first time since the girls have been born! I have really missed having my own class. I decided about a month ago that if a job came up at either of the girls' schools (Aja's preschool is on-site at one of the elementary schools) that I would take it. So the other day I excitedly accepted a full time grade 1/2 job. I set up my classroom the other day and am so excited. I was going through boxes that have been sitting in our basement the last 6 years and rediscovering all this stuff. I know it will be very busy, but I am feeling very excited and inspired!
Aja will continue 1 day a week at an in-home daycare that she loves, and 3 1/2 days (because my school finishes at noon on Fridays) at her preschool.
So this year is full of changes, but we are all excited for what lies ahead!
One of our neighbors had his own little pumpkin patch this year with about 30 pumpkins and they were all ready very early. He saved the biggest one for my class. The picture doesn't do it justice, but to give you an idea, Chris and I had to use a piece of plywood to roll it out of the car and then roll it into my class. 
While the girls went to Nana and Grandpa Bill's this afternoon, Chris and I got busy harvesting. I canned 40 pounds of peaches, scrubbed and cooked chanterelle mushrooms and picked a fraction of the grapes from our grapevine (we're so glad we salvaged these from my old house), while Chris prepped the gardens and planted all our garlic. 
On Chris' bike ride tonight, he found this snake that had just died (no blood or guts involved). The girls got a good half hour of entertainment out of it. Sedona thought she'd photograph Aja playing with it.
Maude and I really wanted to take Sedona and Zoe out for dinner to celebrate going into kindergarten. These two have been great buddies since they were less than a year old, and although they're not going to the same school, I know they'll still see each other often!
When I found out I got my job (which I wasn't expecting to get until after school started), I went to my Mom in tears who was visiting and asked if she could stay a week later. I had been expecting to take Sedona to her first week of school. Because of the staggered hours, I really needed someone to be here. So Grandma Lou stayed an extra 5 days and took care of Sedona, did all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, spoiling... you name it, she did it! She made our first week back a much smoother trnasition! Now it's back to reality. So far though I am really happy I made this decision- as me at Christmas and it may be a different story, but right now it feels great to be bac with my own class and getting my creative juices flowing. Sedona also loved kindergarten!!!! She can't wait to go longer than 1 hour!
