The Young and the Restless

Moving on

It's hard to believe how much this boy has grown and learned over the past year. He went from the timid boy who barely knew his ABC's to this confident boy who struts up and down the hall like he owns the school and reads books and writes complete sentences. It never ceases to amaze me how much kindergarten changes them. I thought I would be a blubbery mess at graduation, but instead I beamed with pride and the knowledge that he is ready to move on. He grabbed kindergarten by the horns, made the most of his time there and is now ready for bigger and better. I'm sad to say goodbye to his amazing teacher that we've been fortunate to have for 3 of our kids, and I'm sad to see all his cute friends go their separate ways. They all became such good friends and it can be scary stepping outside that comfort bubble next year. But for now we have so much to celebrate. Being our last kindergarten graduate, Jason and I have all the songs memorized and we sat in the audience tapping our feet to "I like school, school likes me", "First grade, first grade" and "big, big dreams". He sang with gusto, but my favorite part was watching him try to stand still for 30 straight minutes. There is so much energy packed into that pint sized body of his. Love him.

We celebrated with brunch (meaning chicken nuggets at 10:30 am) at McDonald's where he ran into a few fellow graduates.

Ryder wasn't the only graduate, it was also a big day for Jayden who graduated from elementary school. He was more than ready too. He reminds me quite often that technically he should already be in the 7th grade since I had him repeat kindergarten. What made this day even better was that he was one of only 7 students that received the presidential award for having straight A's the entire year. And what makes me even more proud is that I never ever have to remind him to do his homework or finish a project, he is so self disciplined and it is going to get him far in life. Love that boy.

They turned music on at the end of the assembly and I couldn't help but snap a quick picture. He is well loved by all his classmates and has really thrived this year. Actually, he has really thrived each and every year. That's just what he does.

They had the 6th grade clap out where the whole school lined the halls to cheer on the newly graduated 6th graders. It was the first time we were a part of this tradition and it was pretty cool.

It was so hard to tear him away from his friends at the end. He's made so many good ones and thankfully most of them will be heading to the same junior high next year.

Amidst all the hoopla I realized this was the only picture I got of Maddox, his last walk down the hall before summer. The attention was mostly on the two graduates, but I can't fail to recognize what an awesome year Maddox has had. He has had a phenomenal teacher whose teaching style was right up his alley with endless hands on projects and activities. He learned so much and soaked up every bit of information that he could. He had a few struggles this year with friends but so glad we were able to work through it and end on such a positive note. I'll always have a special place in my heart for this boy. And then there's Kylie who I didn't even get a single picture of on her last day as she rushed to dance right after school and has spent the summer so far at the studio or with friends (or sleeping), so we don't see much of her these days. I guess it's part of growing up, it just makes me sad how fast it is all happening!

We celebrated with Bahama Bucks, Maddox's favorite tacos, a movie night and the annual cleaning of the backpacks. Let the summer fun begin!