Brooke graduates!

Gosh... where DOES the time go?

My sweet baby girl... is not a baby anymore. Though she will always be MY baby. :)

Yesterday was a big day for her. She graduated from Kindergarten! Next year she will be in 1st grade and will be in public school. So this is also a big transitional time going from the good ol' Ms Lydia days to a big school.

(some of these photos were from a 'shoot' I did earlier on)...

First Ms Lydia thanked all the parents and had the kids give the moms roses and a special bouquet for me and another mom that helped a little extra often. Plus a nice bracelet that I love! So Brooke and Brenna both got to give me something.

Then, Brooke and Noah also awarded the 'class dog' a certificate and treat (the dog is training to be a therapy dog and has been hanging out a lot at the school to get used to kids)...

Next, Ms Lydia recognized the two Kindergarten graduates... and gave them their bags of special K grad goodies and awards, certificates, and such.

The she called all the kids up one by one to give them all their presents and prizes. (she gives every kid a bag of goodies..the K grads get a little extra stuff) So here is Brooke getting her regular bag of stuff...

And when she called Brenna up, Brenna gave HER a group of flowers. An audible "awww..." came across the crowd. Such a sweet girl!

The theme of this year's graduation was rainbows, so everything was rainbow colors, etc. She got a set of rainbow colored balloons - each child got one, each mom got one, and then she had 3 for 3 children who died since she's been teaching - and we all released the balloons at one time. Apparently this was something that she did on her very first year upon opening her school, some 30 odd years ago.

Then it was time for cake! The cake turned out really nice! (the two framed pics on the table Brooke got in her gift bag too - one of her and Noah and one class picture)

And picture time! (okay, I know...I know... when is it NOT picture time at our house?! LOL) We got lots of pictures, of course, with all of her friends from school that she'll miss dearly!

And some of family too!

And as one of her graduation gifts from Lydia, she got her own graduation camera that she took pictures with.

We already developed them and here's a few of the pics that Brooke took with her camera!

And last but not least, we had to get a picture of Nutsy! Nutsy is the resident squirrel that comes out every. single. day. when the kids are out eating lunch. He is really really so tame and comes so close to the kids..its kinda freaky! And sure enough, right about 'lunchtime' we were finishing up cake, out came Nutsy. I wonder what he'll do once there are no more kids to drop goldfish and cracker crumbs on the ground for him..

After graduation was over, we took her to eat lunch and gave her her graduation 'present', this Tshirt that I made for her (that she has now worn for 2 days straight..haha!)

Here's a picture of all of Brenna's loot (of which Brooke got the same). It was a LOT of stuff! They've both already colored their monkey and have been wearing their crystal necklaces all the time!

And a few of the 'extras' Brooke got (plus a nicer photo album, 2 framed pictures that were on the cake table, and the camera). She's already got her book about me about half-way done! And that little tiny diploma that was on the cake was an actual diploma that Ms Lydia filled out for her too!

We also got Brooke's "things" from the school (and Brenna's too..since she's closing the school). When the kids first come to school there, she takes their picture and their handprints for the wall. Brooke was soooo little!!!

And here's Brenna's too (yes, she's little too, but not quite so drastic ;)

And a copy of her certificate showing her levels of education she's at upon graduation...

And last but not least, a copy of her Kindergarten diploma!

We couldn't be more proud of how smart Brooke is and how hard she works at school and home. She has such a great foundation of education going into 1st grade...my only hope and dream is that she keeps along the same path as she advances through her elementary years. I am so proud of her! My beautiful smart sweet girl! A first grader! *gasp*