"Congraduation" and other such nonsense.

1st Day of Pre-K (Sept. 2011)

Last Day of Pre-K (May 2012)

Well, somehow it happened.  Before I could stop it, Josh's preschool days are over and now he is off to Kindergarten. How this happened so fast is beyond my comprehension, but I plan on inventing a slow motion button for Emily. I'll let you know how that turns out. 

Before graduation, they had to get us nice and emotional about our sweet pre-schoolers, so they had special a "Donuts with Dad" and a "Mom's Tea" where the kids presented us with a handmade gifts and showered us with love and cuteness.

They got to go on a super fun field trip to the Arboretum before the end of school. Despite the millions of flowers, amazing glass art exhibit, and several species of butterflies seen during our morning, "rolling down the giant hill" was everyone's favorite part of the day. 

Josh was blessed with two amazing teachers this year. After spending the morning as a parent chaperone and watching them in action with the 16 kids, I am in complete awe over these women.Graduation day came and as expected, I was quite emotional.  They played Pomp and Circumstance as the kids walked down the aisle onto the stage. Not cool. Not cool at all. Thank goodness they didn't have them in cap and gowns or else I wouldn't have survived it!  Josh got so excited when he saw us in the audience and gave this priceless smile. 

He was thrilled that he graduated pre-school, or as he calls it,  "congratulated pre-school."

The last day of school was bitter sweet. Josh is so ready for the next step, but I am going to miss the sweet Christian environment he has been blessed to be in for the past 5 years.  

After the last day of school, we headed straight to our neighborhood  park and celebrated with all of Josh's buddies! 33 pre-schoolers, snacks, cookie cake, and 90 degrees of sun make for a very fun way to celebrate preschool"congradulation."

These boys (and John G who wasn't in this picture) have been school buddies since they were infants. Sadly, all four are going to different elementary schools next year. They will reunite in HIGH SCHOOL, but until then... we always have the Rattlers soccer season!

Of course, Katie was there to give Josh his first hug as a pre-school graduate. She was his very first friend! Meeting her only days after he was born, they have been together through it all. These best buds will reunite in Middle School. That won't be dramatic AT ALL!!! Especially in light of this next picture... 

 I will leave you with a snapshot of what we have to look forward to in the future. A little girl from the other pre-K class was asked to describe her future wedding and this is what she said. (Last name deleted for interweb safety, but you get the point). 

 I do love the part where my future grandkids will live in Hawaii. This may work out very well for me indeed!