The End of Pre-Pre-K

Last Thursday was the last day of J's preschool. He has grown and changed SO much since starting WCP last September. For starters, he is much taller. ;) More importantly, he is much more confident, less shy and even smarter than he was 9 months ago. And the BIGGEST NEWS - guess who was the first kid in his class to go down the HUGE water slide on the last day? Yup. Our little man!

The last day was surprisingly emotional for a lot of us. We combined their splash party with a surprise early birthday party for Ms. Tish. Since she is a July baby, the kiddos hadn't gotten an opportunity to celebrate the most important member of their bug class. They were already getting pizza from the school as a special treat, so we coordinated with the director to get a special room at the church to decorate and brought in cupcakes and presents. Boy was Tish surprised. She literally started crying so much she had to momentarily step into the kitchen to compose herself. Since this is her last year to teach, she was extra emotional. Add to that an amazing memory book she put together for our kiddos, and an amazing video one of the daddy's made of pictures of our bugs from the whole year, and you had one room of sappy parents.

We all agreed that since our kiddos will be back in the fall for one more year together, we had more to celebrate than be sad about. But for most of us (mommies especially), we couldn't help but get teary-eyed looking at our big 4 year olds. We are in awe that they will be Pre-K's next year...and of how much they all love each other. It was a GREAT year and one I know we'll never forget.

Looking at the memory book - the kids loved seeing their pictures in here!

Comparing the bug lanterns Ms. Tish gave them.

Watching the bug class video - it's amazing. Over 20 minutes of pictures (and a little video footage) from the whole year set to great music. The dad who made it did an awesome job of including pictures of all the kiddos and there are some precious moments in here that we would have never seen if this had not been made. It's a treasure.

Surprise Ms. Tish!

Water soaked, happy kids.

Opening her big gift - a spa gift certificate. No one deserves a massage more than this woman!

Awwww - a mug with a picture of her bug class.

The boys after splashing around.

J with Ms. Gina, the teacher's aide in his class.

One last picture with Ms. Tish. :*) sniff, sniff...