Kindergarten Graduation!

I was counting down the days until school was out. Willa loved, loved, loved kindergarten this year once she adjusted to the long day. I loved it for her, but was more than ready to have some lazy mornings and to not have to pack her a lunch each day. One of the last days as we were throwing a lunch together at the last minute, I believe I just packed her one of those little packages of powder donuts for her main item in the lunch box, ha ha.

Mrs. Chevalier was a first year teacher, but she was really excellent. It was widely known that her kindergarten class was the best behaved. The room mom was telling me she thought it was because Mrs. Chevalier was very good about having strict boundaries and way more organized than the other teachers. Since I wasn't able to be in the classroom very much (you can't bring other children with you when you volunteer) I really don't know. But what I did know of her, I really liked. She kept everyone updated with Class Dojo and we had little interactions at pick-up every day. I felt like she really loved the kids and they could feel it.

For the kindergarten ceremony, the classes first met in the gym and sang a few songs all together. Willa was very into the actions and loved being up there. Then, they divided up and went back to their own classrooms with the parents. It was extremely crowded, but also fun to just have our own little kindergarten class together. They sang "We're All In This Together" and it was freaking adorable. You could tell they had worked on it for a long time and all the kids had the lyrics and actions down pat. Actually, a few weeks earlier in piano, her teacher was letting her choose a fun song and Willa picked that one. I wondered how she even knew what that song was, but it was because they had been practicing it for a long time as a surprise. She looked so cute and adorable and she was so excited to sing it. But now, whenever I bring it up she says she's embarrassed. I wanted to show her the video clip to show her how much I loved it and she started crying and telling me to turn it off! I guess the shyness is still there underneath her big kindergarten self. So tender! But, since she doesn't read this blog or know it exists, I figured that I might post it here for everyone to see. It really is soooo cute.

The teacher then handed out awards. Willa got something for finishing all her sight words this year. And she got the "You Could Teach This Class" award. I don't know if I should interpret that as she's bossy, or just really smart, ha ha. She's very concerned about following the rules and wanting others to follow the rules! But she has told me that sometimes when the teacher is busy, she'll have Willa test the other kids on their sight words.

 Kinder graduation was actually the second to last day of school. Here's some pictures from the last day. They got to have free dress, so that was exciting!

 These are the ladies who help with drop off in the morning. They are so nice and were so excited to see Lars after he was born!

 Willa really wanted to have a pool party, so I emailed all the parents in the class and said that we'd love to host a very low-key and informal party on the last day of school. I said that siblings were welcome, but that it couldn't be a drop-off party. Each kid needed to have a parent or guardian with them because I didn't want anyone to drown! We have about ten kids from the class plus all their siblings. It was a lot of fun! I provided watermelon and chips and everyone else brought lots more food to share. It was a perfect way to end the school year.

Dragon Dancers

The week previous to graduation, Willa had her dance recital at the school. They have a dance group called Dragon Dancers and it was a free after school activity that she REALLY wanted to do. It was almost the entire Winter/Spring semester on Thursday afternoons. She stayed after school for it and I picked her up at 4:30. It was a LONG day for her and by the end, she was ready to be done. I think Thursday was generally a tiring day, she complained about it a lot and said they had a lot of specials that day. But, when it came time for the performance she was a star and loved it so much that she is begging to do it again in the fall. We'll see about that, I just don't like having her gone so long. It was very cute (well, what we could see was cute, it was extremely crowded and we were in the back) and the theme was Candyland. She was a Lollipop. She really loved her make up and the purple lipstick!

We love our darling girl. I can't believe kindergarten is over. It feels like a magic phase of childhood is gone. I also can't believe that first grade starts in two week!!