Aaaaand they're off!!!

getting dressed and ready to go...

 excited, nervous, scared, but ready to go to school...

Walking to the bus stop...

 the bus is pulling up...

 in line... Fe is at the very front of the line, ready to join in and be part of the group; Sunshine in the very back, analyzing the situation, seeing how she feels about what's happening, does she want to be part of all this??? 

Very fitting to both girls

getting on the bus!!!

I hope they'll enjoy this. I think they'll enjoy this. Now moms have to figure out what to do with 8 free hours, five days every week, that doesn't cost money.

And today we start Hearts and Horses again, this lasts for eight weeks. Then tomorrow therapy starts on the new day. Two days a week that we have to pick them up early from school, tomorrow is only a half day; we figured that if we have to pick them up early, we should do it on an early release day, H&H is a very minor amount of school they'll miss and only for 8 weeks , and I believe the benefits will far out-way the cost.

Always hoping we're making the right decisions for these girls; always end up feeling like maybe we're not, like there's something we should do differently, should have done differently... Feeling like hindsight is 20/20 but don't know the repercussions of doing things the other way(s) either... Maybe we're making the perfect choices?

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Saturday we let the girls go on a bike ride with Fe's bio family. It's much easier to have a little more trust in them these days ("them" being grandpa and a family friend). The dynamics have changed drastically and we depend on EACH OTHER to keep all three kids safe and with us; here, where they're safe and cared for. Plus, those who were aiming to make things difficult are no longer in the picture for one reason or another.

They ended up riding a total of three miles!!! That's pretty incredible for two girls who haven't ridden a bike for a year; plus, this was the first time Sunshine has really ridden a bike for more than the mountain house driveway!

They got to walk through a train engine and got cool loot while learning about train safety and bike safety and hanging our with the siblings AND afterwards, they got (a really big) ice cream and a cookie!

The letting our kids go, with someone else, someone who we were literally trained to not trust and not let have unsupervised time with our children, was a little tough for this momma, but I think they really enjoyed it and I think it was good for them. It was definitely good for Sunshine who needs all the exercise she can get.

Another one of those "are we making the right choice?" things.

In any case, they both survived and came back (in one peice).

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There are a lot of "firsts" happening this year.