Preschool Graduation

Well, it is official! Elizabeth has graduated preschool and is headed on to Kindergarten next year. Thursday, May 21st, was her graduation day! She got to wear a cap and gown. Thankfully, we didn't have to buy those. She did get to keep her 2009 tassel and receive a diploma certificate.

The program was adorable. It started out with a photo slide show of the class photos for our kids "class" starting from the 2's through the 4's. It was amazing to see how drastically some of the kids have grown up and changed. Then it went through each 4's class. First with the class photo and then a few photos of each child. It included a baby picture, a few from school, and finally their picture in their cap and gown. Very cute.

The children entered the worship center next. Mr. Music (who visits once a month at school and is also named Chris) played the graduation precession on his Saxophone. Then Mr. Chris (Pastor of Music and Worship) led them in several songs. The kids were adorable. They even played their recorders (which they got to bring home) for us.

That was followed by the handing out of the diplomas. Several of the teachers were very emotional during this part. Each set of teachers haded out the diplomas to their class. The kids gave each teacher a big hug (well, most of them did). Elizabeth was eager to get back to her seat.

At the end each child was given a carnation. I could see Elizabeth's initial disappointment when she didn't get a red one. That girl and her favorite color red! Then they exited out of the worship center.

Unfortunately we're fast discovering that our not so old digital camera is old and slow and not so good at catching shots. We missed quite a few cute photo opportunities because the camera or Katherine was not cooperating. I ended up having to leave the ceremony a few times because she as loud and squirming too much. I think she would have loved to be up there on the stage with Elizabeth.

The good thing was that both the camera and Katherine kept me busy enough that I didn't have the opportunity to shed a tear! Phew, that was a relief. There had been quite a bit of chatter between the Mom's about bawling about this milestone accomplishment during the graduation ceremony. I'm glad I escaped that one.

Afterward we returned to the classroom to get Elizabeth where we got a few more photo opportunities. The teachers were also presented with the adorable picture frames that all of the parents had chipped in to have made for them. (Many thanks to Sarah who headed up the idea.) The kids then gave their carnations to their Mom's. Katherine had run to give Elizabeth a big hug and had quickly claimed (as she decapitated it) the carnation for her own. Then we headed down to the multipurpose room for cake and refreshments. It was a wonderful day and a big milestone!

You can view additional pictures here.