Preschool Graduation

MK is a Preschool Graduate! 

MK

It's official. MK has graduated from Preschool. She couldn't be more excited to be going to Kindergarten in the Fall. In fact, she has been talking about it since the VERY day she turned 4. On her 4th birthday her exact words were, "Next birthday I will be 5 years old and get to go to Kindergarten at brothers' school." She has talked about it non stop since. I'm not exaggerating.

MK has loved preschool and all that comes with it. She loves the take-home library and the books she gets to read; she loves all the fun activities; she loves the snacks; she loves the field trips; and she has loved making friends. It has been so funny how many times we'll be out and about and she will suddenly say to a kid "I know you! You're my preschool friend!" Everyone is a friend. 

MK has one particular friend she has been with o daycare since she was born, then to preschool,  and then to dance classes. Next year, they will be going to different schools for Kindergarten.  

Z and MK

Field Trip to the Dairy Farm

MK's preschool had a field trip to the local Dairy Farm. I signed up to go along and help out. It was a lot of fun.  We got to see a LOT of cows, how the cows are fed, what the cows eat, how the cows are milked, and more. The kids were able to feed the baby cows and pet them. At the end, they were all given some chocolate milk that came from this farm. 

MK in front of the Tractor

MK standing on the tractor wheel

It was a fun field trip. Honestly, I had forgotten all about it. MK and I dropped of the boys at school when she said "Mom, I'm supposed to wear my preschool shirt today. Miss Stacey said so." I told her we'd check the calendar when we got home. Sure enough, the calendar said it was the field trip. That's when I remembered I was supposed to chaperon. 

Happy Half Birthday

MK's 4-12 half Birthday

Today is MK's Half Birthday. For those of us who have birthday's during the summer, we get used to celebrating Half Birthday's during the school year. My sisters's still call each other on their half birthdays.

At preschool today, MK got to celebrate her Half Birthday and be the VIP. She came home wearing a birthday crown, a Twinkie, and 4-1/2 candles (because today she is 4-1/2). Once home, we lit the candles in her Twinkie for her. I LOVE this picture.

Firehouse Field Trip

The Preschool we have sent the kids to has been amazing. We love them!

Not only do they spend time learning letters and school basics, the Preschool has a take-home library, fun activities, and bi-monthly field trips.

Last week, the kids got to tour the Firehouse, and I went along.

The Fireman giving the tour was great: his son is in the afternoon class and you could tell by the excellent way he interacted with the young kids. He took the time to show how he got into his uniform and not to be scared of the firemen. Two of the kids did NOT like this. MK was fascinated by it.

Here is MK's class with their Firemen friend. MK is in the middle back with pink sweater on.

MK and her preschool group

 Here is MK in front of one of the firetrucks. The sun was in her eyes.

MK at the Firestatioin

MK wore her fireman hat ALL day. Not kidding.

Graduation! Gradutation! Graduation!

I've been meaning to post some pictures of our graduates, but life has been kinda crazy around here. Plus, R received a fancy-smancy new camera as a graduation preasant that I don't know how to work, and it took R a while to convert the pictures. (He's been a little busy letting his belly button heal.) So, without much further ado.....

Babcock Famly at Dad's Graduation

R's graduation. I know I already posted about the "after party," but the graduation itself was great. We are so proud of R and his hard work in finishing his MBA! Especially while working full-time and having a full-time family with a new addition to that family. We stayed in SLC for a few nights so that we could be there on the spot. R's mom, step-dad, sister, brother, and his brother's family all came up to support him. Thank you everyone! It really meant a lot for you to be there. And it was great seeing you all. We had the school's cerimony in the morning, we all went out for lunch, back to the hotel room for naps (parents included), then back for his Business School's cerimony. The kids all did so good. It helped that they had Mimi, Papa, Auntie J, Aunt Kelsi, Uncle Ryan, and cousins to keep them entertained, not to mention Mimi's and Auntie J's activity books.

Our next graduate.......

C's Kindergarten Graduation

C graduated from Kindergarten! I know--I can't believe it myself. The kindergartners put on a fun little program with songs they've learned this year. Then they all received their diplomas. C has loved school and has made a lot of new friends. He's learned to read, to do math, and a lot more. C loves to help and work.

Last, but not least.....

S participating in the Preschool Graduation

S had his preschool graduation. (Sorry about the quality of the photo--this is what happens when I use the new fancy-smancy new camera.) He still has another year of preschool, but participated in his classes graduation. It was a fun program with lots of songs. This picture is of the song he got to sing. He never actually opened his mouth to sing, but did all the actions. It was cute. S has loved preschool. He wasn't too sure about it in the begining, but has loved it. He has grown up so much since the first of the school year. After the program, each kid was given a personal yearbook and DVD. I love his preschool--they run such a great program with so many activities. He has learned so much. It's especially fun to watch him write his own name by himself.

Field Trip to the Fire Station

S's preschool had a field trip to the local Fire Station, and MK and I got to go along with him and his class. I bundled MK up in the stroller and tagged along. MK did great--didn't fuss and fell asleep near the end. Anyways, it's a pretty impressive building that was built only a couple of years ago. The kids got to go inside an ambulance as well as a firetruck. Each child could try on a firefighter's hat and coat, but S (and a few others) didn't want to do it. It was funny to see the other kids put it on and see how the coat just drowned them--it'd drape to the ground. The tour included the police station as well. We got to see where police officers take finger prints and interrogate suspects.

It was fun to be able to do this with him. I didn't get to go when C was in preschool. C's first year in preschool, he broke his collar bone the night before the field trip. His second year, I had to work.

Here is S examining the inside of a firetruck. I love that he wore his "fire beanie" for the field trip. It's black with red flames. Fitting, isn't it?

 

At the end, the EMT doing the tour handed out rulers for each kid. He prefaced this by asking the kids not to hit with them or play swords with them. He was talking to a group of 3-4 year-olds. Even as he was handing them out, kids were starting to play "star wars" and more. I got another picture near the end with S in front of a firetruck holding his ruler.

S at the Firestation

It was a fun morning. I had a great time spending time with S and being able to be a part of his preschool experience. He loves preschool and is learning so much. He surprises me with how much he learns and remembers. This year, his teachers are teaching the alphabet in sign language along with the written alphabet. The other night, we were sitting around reading scriptures and then goofing around as a family. I don't remember why, but C, S and I were raising our hands for some crazy reason I can't remember any more. All the sudden, S told me that that (us holding our hands up, fingers closed) was the letter 'B.' It took me a while to understand what he was talking about, but he was right. It was the letter 'B.' He's gone on to tell me what other letters he knows. What a fun kid!

Starting School

School has started!

C started Kindergarten on Wednesday. He was so excited. I can't believe he's old enough to be in Kindergarten....nor that I'm old enough to have a child in Kindergarten. He met his new teacher the week before. Last year, he didn't want to leave preschool until a preschool buddy told him that there is a playground at Kindergarten. After that, he was excited to go. He's making new friends and learning new stories.

C first day of Kindergarten

Here is C, sporting new school clothes and wearing his favorite backpack ready to go.
Today, S started Preschool. Here he is posing with his big brother for his big day.

C and S

S has been looking forward to preschool for so long! He had a hard time last year when C would leave him. In fact, C was the one to "register" S for preschool! One day last year, I stayed after preschool to talk to his teacher to see about when she was doing sign-ups for the following year. Before I could say anything more, she told me that C had told her "Next year, I'm going to Kindergarten, and S is going to Preschool." So, she already had his name down for the following year! What a great big brother.

Here is S all ready for his first day of preschool--sporting his new backpack (as big as he is) and showing off his "show and tell" item.

S first day of Preschool

S was running to preschool. We had no problems with separation anxiety or anything. Gotta love that!

S off to Preschool

I enjoyed the morning by running errands that I've put off too long, which were so much easier to handle with only 1 kid in tow. MK was great.

We have struggled in getting S potty trained in time for preschool. He has been able to do it for quite a while, but just didn't care to. I didn't make it easier--I was always so tired to really commit to it myself, then had a baby, so didn't care to spend time doing it. But we finally found what would really motivate S to do it--Preschool. As soon as we told him that he couldn't go to preschool unless he used the potty, he has been great! Nice.