Kindergarten Graduation

Well it is official now.  I am no longer the mother of a baby, toddler or preschooler for that matter.  My dear youngest daughter graduated from Kindergarten today.  This year just flew by like no other and it makes me feel a little sentimental realizing that Brianna is growing up and my life is changing so much.

Mrs. Ball held a lovely program and graduation ceremony.  The kids sang songs, acted out nursery rhymes and books, and even danced.  There was a nice video montage at the end that recapped a years worth of activities.  Mrs. Ball presented them with their diplomas, a butterfly net and many other treasures and memorabilia.  Brianna had an amazing year and just loved learning and school in general.  She is actually a little sad to see it end.  I concur with those sentiments.

Butterfly Parade

 

Butterflies invaded Mrs. Ball's Kindergarten class today and had a parade around the halls.  They were beautiful as they fluttered from class to class in search of flowers.  Their long tongues came out and tasted the sweet necter they found on the way.

Then the whole class of butterflies released their friends that they had observed from caterpillar to chrysalis to new butterflies.  It was a super fun day at Sage Hills Elementary

Everyday Hero

In Mrs. Ball's Kindergarten class she teaches the kids about heroes. Then each child is assigned a day where everyone in the class honors them as an every day hero. Today was Brianna's turn.

She has been really excited for this day. She wanted to wear a dress to school and she put sparkles on all over face. I went to her class to be there for the event. She got high fives from all of her classmates and got a special flag pin. She showed the class a flag she created that represented herself. I got to share some special things about her to everyone and then read one of her favorite stories. Today it was Fancy Nancy. She is recently on a Fancy kick again. She has been dressing up and decorating her room and doing all sorts of fancy things. She told the family yesterday that "It is a fancy life". Anyway, we read the book together and just celebrated Brianna. The rest of the day she gets special privileges such as being the class helper and so forth.

Brianna is definitely a hero to me. She is a genuinely happy person with a enthusiasm for life. She reminds me to enjoy the simple things and be grateful for those happy moments. She is truly a gem in our family.

Just call me Mrs. Productive . .

Ok, I think I can get used to this kindergarten thing. It has been quite the day.

After family scripture study, making breakfast and getting Ryan and Brianna out the door by 7:30 a.m., I took Alyssa and her friends to school (they hate to ride the bus). I then went and had a good weight lifting workout at the Legacy Center, returned library books and got myself a drink at Harts. I then went and washed my car (by hand mind you, not those easy automatic deals), went to Checker to get new windshield wiper blades, paint and air fresheners and followed that by going to Smith's to grocery shop. After putting the groceries away, I mowed the lawn. (Well almost all of it. I had to stop with just a little left when the mower started to smoke. Oops). All this was accomplished by 11:20 a.m. just in time to go and retrieve Brianna from the bus stop. Wow, that felt good. It made me realize how much was put off while we played all summer long. Oh well.

Maybe I will go and read a book now . . . well I can't quite allow myself that yet.

A monumental day . . Brianna heads to Kindergarten

Yes, the day has finally arrived when my last child, my baby, my Brianna, sets out down the road of independence. I couldn't fathom this day ever arriving and yet here I am in the middle of it. People would always say to me to enjoy your little ones because the time goes by so fast. And like most people I politely nodded while inside I believed that it just couldn't be true. Well I am here to say that they were right. And though there were days when I looked forward to some time by myself, now that it is here I am having very mixed feelings. Although I feel a little blue I am also happy about the success we have had so far and the many adventures that still lie ahead. I may miss those cute little squishy baby feet or giggles and yet I find great pride when my kids come home after learning something new or making a choosing the right in a difficult situation. So though I silently mourn on this day, I will also wear a smile knowing that the best is yet to come.

Brianna on the other hand was soooo excited. She has been counting the days and I thought for sure she would never be able to go to sleep last night. It was like Christmas Eve.

She jumped out of bed this morning wearing a smile, put on her clothes and joined us for scripture study. She is a grown-up little person now.

I was a little nervous putting her on the bus today with no other sibling to look out for her. But she quickly found some friends and off she went.

I was even more nervous about the bus ride home since she is stop #10 of 11. She was a little worried that she might get off on the wrong stop so she asked me to follow the bus home which I did. It turned out fine since both the principle and another helper rode along with all the kindergartners and checked each one at the door. I could see Brianna with her friend Brianna in the back of the bus having the time of her life.

Once she finally got off the bus (after the 45 minute trip) she told me that she was just fine and that I shouldn't have followed her. In fact she was upset that she couldn't walk home from the bus stop since I had my car. At least there is 150 more days or so to be able to do that.

All in all the first day was a success and she loved it. She is already looking forward until tomorrow and so am I because maybe I will actually use my time to do something productive.

Meeting Mrs. Ball

Today Brianna got to go to her school for the very first time for Kindergarten evaluations. Not only did she get to meet her teacher and see her classroom but also explore the bran new school.

It is a beautiful school with all of the bells and whistles. Granted, it is not completely finished yet but when it is complete it is going to be phenomenal. Not to mention it has some of the most amazing views around. I would have loved to sit in a media center like the one they have with complete vistas of the lake and mountains. It is gorgeous and reminded me once again how blessed I am to live here (in spite of the bus headache).

Mrs. Ball is great. She seems to enjoy what she does and Brianna took to her immediately. Brianna tested high (which came as no surprise to me) and Mrs. Ball was impressed. She gave Brianna a medal which Brianna thinks is pretty cool. She is still working on finishing decorating her classroom and by Thursday it should be wonderful.

Brianna is so excited to go to school. I am starting to feel a little trepidation myself, especially about letting my "baby" ride the bus by herself. I am sure all will be well in the end once I get used to it. :)