The first month of school is done! Did you survive? We hung in there the best we could but I think we’ve found our rhythm and are back in the groove of things.

Isla started grade 2 this year and after the first week of school she was finally placed in a classroom. (Because of a large amount of new students it took a while to shuffle everyone around.) She was happy to get the teacher she was hoping for and so far she’s really loving her classroom.

The classroom she’s in is a grade 2/3 split, so I’m hoping she does okay. Her teacher seems wonderful and has been teaching for quite a while, so I’m confident Isla will be able to absorb everything that’s being taught with no issues.

The most exciting school-related event, however, was Norah starting preschool! She’s been dying to go to school practically since Isla started kindergarten two years ago, so when she learned that she FINALLY gets to go twice a week, she was ecstatic!

She looks forward to going and needed no convincing that school is an exciting place to be. And she’s already learning so much! I hate comparing Isla and Norah, but Norah definitely has more “learning” to do than Isla did at this age, so preschool is definitely benefitting her a lot more.

In addition to going back to school, Isla returned to ballet classes this month and is happy to be back in the studio with her dance friends. She also started rehearsals for the Nutcracker performance that she’ll be in come November, so that’s exciting as well. Norah so far isn’t in any extracurriculars, but I’m leaning towards something like soccer or baseball come the spring. The kid needs to MOOOOVE so I think a sport would be better for her than something as structured as dance or gymnastics.

Of course, there was also the Dirty Feet trail race I ran near the beginning of the month. My legs took a solid week to recover but I think they’re back to normal now ;) I’m not sure what my next race will be – I haven’t even ran since then – so whenever I find the time/energy to do that we’ll go from there.

Kyle and I also got in a dinner and a movie just this past weekend! My mom had the girls over for a sleepover, so we got to go out for dinner and then we headed to the theatre with a friend to watch Rambo: Last Blood! The movie was everything I expected it to be, and then some, so I give it two solid Bowie Knives up, lol.

September, unfortunately, wasn’t entirely celebrations and excitement. Near the end of August we learned that Sam, our German Shepherd, was suffering from a pancreatic disease called E.P.I.. Generally, it’s more common for older dogs to contract the disease, so Sam’s case was highly unusual, but it explained why he was so skinny and not gaining any weight. Sadly, the medication to help his pancreas regulate his food digestion was a cost that was unexpected and something that we wouldn’t be able to maintain, especially on top of the semi-annual bloodwork he’d need. After a long discussion with the breeder we received Sam from, we decided that it would be best for Sam to go back to her. It was something that definitely wasn’t an easy thing to do, and I still miss him terribly, but I know he’s getting the care he needs by someone who can afford to do so.

The girls handled his departure extremely well (me, not so much), and I’m so ridiculously proud of both of them for being so grown up about the situation.

All that being said, we didn’t want to remain a one-dog house for too long, so Kyle and I began the search for another puppy. We had many discussions over what kind of dog to get – we thought about another shepherd but were still in shock from Sam’s issues – so we opted for a “Good Ol’ Labrador retriever.” We searched the mighty Internet high and low and eventually stumbled across a litter that was ready to go, so one sunny, Saturday morning we dropped the girls off at my mom’s and the rest is history …

Meet Lars! He’s the chillest little chonkster and the girls are so happy to have a puppy in their lives again. I’m pretty smitten too, potty accidents aside, lol. And Campbell loves having a friend to play with again – he’s been SO good with Lars and it’s great to see him perky again.

So, that’s September in a nutshell! Lots of ups, a couple of downs, but overall it was a decent start to a new school year! October has the potential to be an interesting month, but we’ll see how it goes!

What were some of the highlights for you in September?!