Kinder Graduation

The Kindergarten Class at Mockingbird Elementary

Ms. Carlton and Ms. Mitchell presented Karis her diploma (Karis did not like getting on stage!)

Ms. Carlton had a sweet class of kids. It was fun getting to know them. 

Karis has learned and grown up so much this past year!

 

 She sure is going to miss Ms. Carlton over the summer. 

A family picture with the graduate and her cranky siblings who did not enjoy sitting through the hour long ceremony. 

Karis became friends with Makena and Talia the first week of school. It's been fun getting to know their families throughout the year. Karis made friends with all the other girls in her class as well as she was very well-liked. In their Mother's Day book, the kids had to complete the sentence "I love my mom more than ________" Her friend Vedika said "Karis"! She calls Karis her bestie.  

All the kids received a Classroom Award. Karis' was "Most Contagious Laugh"

And now we have a 1st grader! 

Big Boy Nights

And bringing in the rear at 3 years and 2 weeks, Kyle Joseph! He slept in a big boy bed without pacifiers! It took him awhile to fall asleep but he did it and stayed asleep all night. Woo hoo! Next up is potty training, scheduled to start once Karis is out of school. Stay tuned... 

Ready for Kindergarten!

Every year, the elementary school has a "The Future Is Bright" event where the students get to move up a grade for 1 1/2 hours as a preview of what's to come next year. Incoming kindergarteners are part of the event. 

Makena was very excited to go. When I dropped her off, she was a little hesitant but she didn't even say good-bye as she joined the group. She had a great time. Our next door neighbor is also going to be in Kindergarten and she was in the same group as Makena that day. There is also a boy from our church who will be at Mockingbird as well. 

This is the project Makena worked on while at school. 

I can't help but to think about where we were last year with Karis. Right around this time, Karis' longtime excitement for school suddenly turned to nervousness as she realized she wouldn't know anyone at her new school. The thought of having to meet all new friends didn't sit well with her. We didn't know anything about the school and couldn't tell her what to expect. She had never stepped foot onto the school before. It was nerve racking for all of us (but we are so thankful to God that everything turned out great and we couldn't have asked for a better year for Karis). 

With Makena, she has been at the school many times for different events, she's been in the classrooms, we play on the playground often, and she has had lunch with Karis in the cafeteria several times. Makena is excited to see Karis at school and she knows most of her friends. It makes this go-around with Kindergarten so much easier! 

No More Naps

Kyle stopped napping just before his 3rd birthday .  The girls were about 3 1/2 when they stopped napping. If Kyle takes a nap, he doesn't fall asleep until 9:30 pm or later.  He's not usually cranky in the evenings, so we have stopped fighting him to take naps. 

Since he dropped his naps prematurely, some days he falls asleep on a 10 minute car ride. 

Or on the couch while watching TV.

On a bike ride with Daddy

Or in Mommy's arms!

Last Day of Preschool

School is out! The kids had a great last day of school. Kyle's class had a pizza party and all the kids enjoyed bounce houses and popsicles. They both had great teachers and loved their time at school.

Headed home -- we're outta here!

Kyle can identify all of his friends' names and knows what letter each name starts with. 

But when his teachers asked him to count or say his alphabet, he refused to do it. We know it wasn't because he didn't know them. Little stinker!

Look how much he has grown up!

Makena received a great report card!

She has grown up so much! I can't believe she's headed to Kindergarten. 

Our Baby Boy Turns 3!

Kyle woke up on his birthday to a donut cake.

He turned three the same day Makena graduated from PreK. Be still my momma's heart! I have to admit I was about as sad as I was happy on this day as my babies are growing up too fast. 

Kyle spent the day at preschool. He shared a special birthday snack of candied popcorn with sprinkles with his friends. 

That evening, we all went to church for dinner and a special preschool parenting event so we continued our celebration the next day. When Karis came home from school, Kyle opened up his gifts. He didn't even notice that he didn't open any gifts on his birthday. He just enjoyed whatever we did to celebrate his birthday.  

When we asked Kyle what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said he wanted just the family at his party. So we had pizza, cake, goodie bags and then watched a Mickey Mouse movie. 

When I asked him awhile back what kind of cake he wanted, he replied, "pink!" I kept asking about the cake with hopes that he would change his mind or think of something else. Then one day he started to say he wanted a motorcycle cake. That sounded like a better idea to me! He was so excited for his cake. Look at that silly grin!

He kept touching the motorcycle as we sang Happy Birthday. 

Blowing out the candles.

We had a great time celebrating our sweet boy!

Our PreK Graduate

Our baby girl graduated PreK! She had a great year. I was a little nervous in the beginning of the year when I found out there were only four girls in her class, but she really enjoyed all of her classmates.

Makena overcame her "tummy aches" during show and tell (with everyone looking at her), she had her first crush on a boy, and she definitely came out of her shell as a silly, carefree, and caring little girl. She is doing great with memorizing her sight words. She is just starting to read and we'll be working with her this summer to move her further along. 

She will definitely miss her friends over the summer, but she is excited for Kindergarten. She was disappointed when she found out she wasn't going to Kindergarten next week! 

The pledge to the Bible, American flag and Christian flag. 

Karis held the Christian flag during her preK ceremony and Makena got to hold it for hers. 

They sang fun songs to show us some of the things they learned -- the planet song, the water cycle, months of the year and days of the week. 

Before the graduates received their diplomas, each child was asked what was their favorite part of preK and what they want to be when they grow up. 

Makena's favorite part was playing in The Ark and when she grows up, she wants to be a mommy. 

Hugs from one of her sweet teachers

Proud Daddy and Mommy

Sweet friends

Thanks to Ms. Kim and Ms. Laurie for a great year!

Mother's Day

I love being a mom and I couldn't have asked for better kids. They make being a mom fun and fulfilling. I can't believe how big they are getting. Although I post a lot of photos on this blog, I wish I stopped to record all the small daily things that make me laugh and fill my heart. 

Karis is maturing so much. She has come out of her shell (and still continues to do so). For those that don't see her on a regular basis, they see her as shy, but at home she's posing in front of the mirror or admiring all the silly faces she can make. She loves to dance around and be the center of attention. I love the way she shrugs her shoulders and puts her hand to her mouth as she's telling me something funny that happened at school. I love talking to her and getting a glimpse of her heart. 

Makena has become her own person instead of just copying Karis. She is silly and sweet and acts before she thinks. She has the biggest heart for her little brother and the dog -- she cares for them deeply. She chooses the strangest words, in the craziest order, when talking to me. I have the hardest time trying to understand her. It frustrates me on some days and some days, I just look at her and think she is the cutest thing in the whole-wide world! I love when she gives me a hug and tells me, "You're the best mother I ever had."

I'm having a hard time letting Kyle grow up because to me that means no more babies and toddlers in our home. He's still in his crib and I'm okay with that. We're waiting for a friend to give us her son's car bed. I told her no rush! He has just shown signs of being ready to be potty-trained, but I keep asking myself if I'm ready for it.  I love the way he calls his blanket "blank-blank" and cantaloupe "cantaloop", the way he says "o-tay", and when he says, "That feels better." when I scratch his back. I love that he lets me hug him and cuddle him and tickle him. He has the best giggles. 

Karis spent so much time making me cards for Mother's Day. She made two and couldn't decide which one to give me. She decided to give me one on the day of the Mother's Day Tea and one on Mother's Day. Makena sat down several times to make me a card but always ended up making something for Daddy instead! 

Kindergarten Mother's Day Tea

I was invited to my first Mother's Day Tea. Karis was so excited for it and so was I! I took her to school and she dropped me off in the cafeteria. After the announcements, she came back to pick me up and escort me to her classroom. We had breakfast together while enjoying all the gifts she made. 

She painted a pot and planted flowers, made a book about me, drew a flower with petals to describe me and made a poem with her classmates called "I love my Mom." Each day Karis worked on something for the tea, she came  home to tell me what she did. She even checked her answers about my favorite color, food and place to eat. She got the color right, said my favorite food was a hamburger because that's what I ordered the last time we ate at a restaurant, and picked Chik-fil-a as my favorite restaurant since she didn't know the answer and that's her favorite restaurant. 

 It took me two tries to guess which one was my picture. Hint: She knows my favorite color is purple.

Ms. Carlton read a book about a little child asking his momma if she wished he didn't cry so much, get hurt, get scared, etc. The momma said no and assured her child that she loved him just the way he is. Ms. Carlton asked us to tell our child what we wished for our child. My wish was that Karis would stay healthy all her days, for there's nothing I would change about her!