Slow Down!

Yesterday, I walked our little/big boy into preschool for the very last time. What a bittersweet moment! I am so proud of him growing up and heading to kindergarten, but I am really going to miss the comfort and routine of going to this school everyday!

As we walked in, we paused to take a picture in front of the flowers. When Cade first started walking, he always wanted to stop in front of school to look at the flowers. Walking with a toddler is never a quick process, and by the time we got to the flowers, all I wanted to do was pick him up because it was just faster to carry him and I was am always in a hurry. As we stopped here for the last time, though, all I could do was think about how fast everything has moved and that I'd like to slow down a little! How did my little boy, who used to cry when I left him, turn into a big 5 year old who could not wait to leave me behind so he could be with his friends and head to their swim party? How many changes this school has seen us go through!



We've been blessed by wonderful teachers in each classroom, but the ones in Friendship have truly been some of the best. They are tasked with teaching these children the academic and social skills necessary for kindergarten, and they manage to do that while allowing them to have a great time just being kids each day. Kim, Isabel, Kari, and Tori (Cade's all-time favorite teacher; he may even have a little crush on her) will always hold special places in our hearts. The frienships made at school are such blessings too. These kids have been together so long that they are really more like siblings or cousins than friends, and they all know each other so well. Their parents have become great friends with us too, and it is just as hard on us as the kids as we all go separate ways in kinder!



I could reminisce forever, but I'm really trying to contain the sappiness here! While moving onto "big school" is tough, a wonderful result is the excuse to buy school supplies! I have always loved brand new school supplies, and have fun memories of playing school and store with my supplies. Cade and I had a special shopping trip to purchase his supplies a few weeks ago. I made him a list, and he crossed things off as we bought them. We also managed to get a Ninja Turtles folder while we were there - no surprise! Some of the supplies were pretty tricky to find, so we had to go through everything a few nights ago to make sure it was all there. Cade did great checking everything off the list!



Cade's new school held a "Meet the Teacher" night last week. The event was pretty chaotic, and all of my pictures are blurry. I'm not sure if they are out of focus because it was so crowded, or because my hands were shaking! Cade's new teacher is Mrs. Brown and she has 4 fish in her classroom. We were supposed to take a family picture at the school to hang on the wall in the classroom. Unfortunately, two of our family members were absent (Chance was at work and Annie had some special time with Aunt Sheri that evening), so his teacher was nice enough to let us submit our own photo. We took it at the Cougar football field since that is where we spend so much time in the fall!



I hope we are ready for the adventures that await us next week!