Graduation

Well, my little Noah has graduated preschool. It was such a nice ceremony--combining both the AM and PM classes. Mrs. Oliphant talked about each class and shared a remembrance of each child. What she would remember most about Noah was his excitement for Life and especially anything that had to do with school. She then presented each child with their diploma. One of the mothers from our class thanked Mrs. Oliphant in a very eloquent speech for everything she has done for our children and how she has loved them. She said everything that I would have said and I was so glad that someone thought to do that. We then presented her with gifts. She really is an amazing lady, but I think I've mentioned that before...

Here are some pictures of the day:

Noah greets his buddy Jason

Ryan, Zach, Jason, and Noah

Noah, receives his diploma and a hug from Mrs. Oliphant

Noah and his teacher

Me and my graduate

Silly Kids

I just wanted to post this picture cause it was so darn cute. All year the preschool class has taken turns hosting "Boots" the kitty and we have to journal about our time with him. So, this was the picture I took for Noah's last journal entry on his last day with Boots, whom he is holding along with his favorite stuffed animal, Spot (Boots is the black and white one). While I thought the idea was cute in the beginning, it gradually became rather annoying especially when everytime we brought Boots home he looked rattier and rattier and I'm sure is infested with all sorts of lovely germs. But the kids just loved Boots and every one of them was so excited each and every time it was their turn and we'll always have somewhat fond memories of that kitty. Boots will now be retired to the classroom windowsill with the rest of the previous years 'friends' and I'm sure he deserves the rest.

P.S. Noah's preschool graduation ceremony is tomorrow. I'll be sure to post more on that...

As Promised...

I got copies of some pictures that Mrs. Oliphant took on the field trip.

Noah is standing inside a bubble! There is a trough around the platform filled with soap solution so when you pull the ring up, a bubble forms around you. Pretty cool!

If you get your hand wet in the solution, then you can put it through the bubble without it popping.

Noah and Lily in the color house

They've discovered another new species...It's a Nurtle!

Mother's Day Tea

Yesterday, Noah's Grammy and I attended a Mother's Day Tea at his preschool. The kids colored placemats and made a tablecloth runner and painted heart pins, to which the teacher then affixed their pictures. They performed a song for us and Mrs. Oliphant read, "I'll Love You Forever", which is the sweetest most heart wrenching story ever written and had us all wiping our eyes. It was all very special and we enjoyed it a lot.

This is Noah's teacher, Mrs. Oliphant. She is the most wonderful teacher and one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. She adores Noah and he adores her. We couldn't have asked for a better teacher.

Field Trip

Today, Noah's class went on a field trip to the Children's Museum and Lily and I went along. Noah got to ride the big yellow school bus with all his friends but Lily drove with me in our car (finally back in our possession after almost 2 weeks with the mechanic--yoikes!) to meet them at the museum. We saw a planetarium show hosted by the late Mr. Rogers and got to play in the fun room, which featured a build-your-own-Lego race car with a race track, a replica of the Statue of Liberty, Formula One race car and a city of sky-scrapers all built entirely out of Legos. There was also a bubble blaster and bubble making area, a full-size whale model that you could walk in, and a room full of every kind of turtle. We saw a live owl up close and a huge boa constrictor and rattle snakes, some bearded dragons and a couple of chinchillas. All very cool.

This museum does not quite compare with the one in Pittsburgh, which we have visited the last few summers but had its own unique charm and fun. Lily had just as much fun as all the big kids and fit herself in quite nicely with them. She was rather upset with me for not letting her ride on the bus with them. I, of course, forgot the camera so will have to rely on the other more together mothers for copies and maybe someday I'll have some to post but for now you'll just have to use your imagination. My kids have definitely had a boost to theirs today!

It's been awhile...

I feel the need to post something though there just isn't much to tell you about. The weather has been so nice that we have been spending a lot of time outside recently. Last week started out so miserably but turned gorgeous the last couple of days and it happened to be spring vacation so there was no school. We were able to spend most of the day at a park with friends on Friday. Saturday I spent the day trimming the copious hedges around our house. They reside on three sides of our house and have been in need of a trim since we moved in. I finally borrowed my father-in-laws hedge trimmer and had a blast cutting all the ugly brown scraggly stuff away and now they are somewhat uniform in shape. Luke would have done it but for some reason I really wanted to. It was really hard work but it was rather rewarding. Hopefully we are going to be able to just rip out the hedges in front because they are a sorry site with dead spots and what not but we'll see if that actually happens this year.

This week I have been a helping mom at Noah's school, which is always an interesting experience. 18 little boys and girls in one room...need I say more? Friday is my last day this year (this is my fourth week) and I'm mostly happy about that--it's just been more fun then I expected it to be I guess and it also means that the year is coming to an end, which will be sad for Noah. You can definitely tell by the kids behavior though that they are getting ready for it to be over. They just don't listen quite as well, they get more excited and are a lot louder than normal and I've noticed that they just aren't as nice to each other. Noah has made so many good friends this year and I hope that he will be able to maintain some of these friendships even though they won't be going to school together any more. But then I guess that's more up to me than him.