Pre-K Graduation **sob**

Our Little Graduate!

Well, Jose is officially an elementary school kid now! 😥 Last Friday, he participated in a graduation ceremony with the rest of his pre-K class. They were all so cute! They sang songs (made us cry with, “I Believe I Can Fly”), said a Bible verse and prayer, and got diplomas. There was a short vocation about how God is always with you (NOTE: in Spanish, “go with God” is “vayA cOn Dios”, not “vayO cAn Dios”… ;)), the principal read a poem titled “Where the Children Grow” that the kids’ teacher first heard at HER son’s graduation, and there was also a wonderfully poignant slideshow/video that their teacher put together. It was a great little ceremony and I’m so glad myself, Squishy, Badi, and Jose’s aunts could make it. And the bonus afterward? FOOD! Lol… There were all sorts of dishes to choose from, as well as cake and ice cream. All the kids enjoyed that! 😛

Jose and his teacher

Just wanted to share one little story as well. See the picture below? Well, the mom of the little girl on Jose’s right stopped me after the ceremony to say:
“I have to tell you about Jose and *Little Girl*. She came home and said, ‘Mommy can I go to Jose’s party?’ And I said, ‘We’ll have to see – who is Jose?’ And *Little Girl* said, ‘Jose is the boy in my class who loves me. He says I’m like a rose.'”
AWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kids Say the Darndest Things!!!

I’ll start by saying that this post is NOT being made in an attempt to garner sympathy or anything of the sort. I think the situation was hilarious!! And a little creepy… Jose is way too smart for his own good sometimes! 😀

Last night, when Daddy and I were helping to get dinner ready, Jose came in to give me a hug. Then he kind of poked/patted my belly and said, “Mommy, why is your tummy so big like you’re having a baby?” Jose continued in a very concerned voice, “You should take your birth control every morning after you brush your teeth – you should get up, and brush your teeth, and then take your birth control so that you don’t have a baby.” I then showed him the mostly empty package of pills and said, “I DO take my pill every day. That’s why all of these are gone!” With brows still knitted and genuine concern evident in his voice, he went on, “You need to go to the store and get more birth control. Take it every day and then you won’t have a big tummy like you’re having a baby!” It was all I could do to not roll on the floor, in tears from laughing so hard!!! 😆

And, Jose? Yes, momma would like to lose about 10-15 lbs someday, but if it was as easy as just taking my birth control pill every day, that would ROCK!!! Ha ha ha ha ha!!

Anyway… Hope that gave you a laugh for the day! And sorry I haven’t posted any updates about Jose and/or Squishy lately… 😳 Life is just C-R-A-Z-Y sometimes!!! 😯

Summer is Officially Here!!

In our family, the start of summer is usually signified by the beginning of the swim lesson “season.”  Now, since we live just this side of hell, that “season” typically lasts from Feb/March to around October.  However, due to a variety of prior obligations and the fact that for once, we didn’t average a thousand degrees by mid-March, we didn’t start swim lessons until TODAY.  So now, SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!!!

Now, I’m not terribly excited about that simply because it means I’m going to be a hermit for the next 5 or 6 months, but for my husband and the boys?  This is the BEST time of the year!!!!  So I am incredibly happy for them.  On that note, I thought I’d post some pictures from swim today, so if you are in an area where it is still snowing, raining, and below 70 on average, you can be jealous look forward to your own official start of summer.  😉

All ready to go!

Kicks on the wall!

Getting ready to swim the length of the pool

Practicing freestyle

Jose's favorite part - jumping in!!!

Working on his backstroke

Last swim to the wall for today

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK!!!

Okay, I totally love Teacher Appreciation Week.  Wanna know why?  Because today, Jose gave his teacher an AWESOME project that we created for her.  She loved it so much that she was practically tearing up.  All the kids in the class loved it, too, and asked if they could help her eat the candy.  Lol!!!

Now, I didn’t think of it entirely by myself – I’d seen something like it years ago, and also gotten an email from a friend recently about it again, but I did “finesse” it (read: added more “candy” phrases, because seriously – you can never have too much candy) and made it specific to her.  I am SO STOKED with how it turned out.  I LOVE GIVING GIFTS TO PEOPLE!!!!!  Anyway, I’ve included a picture that you can click on to read it more clearly, but below is what is written out on the board, in case it’s tough to tell.

“Dear Ms.                                 ,

Thank you!  You are such a [SWEETART] for everything you teach our [RUNTS].  You deserve [100 GRAND][100 GRAND] every [PAYDAY].  We know sometimes the kids act like they are [AIRHEADS] and [NERDS] or like they’re from somewhere in [ORBIT] far beyond the [MILKY WAY]!!  You bring them such [ALMOND JOY] when you teach about the [WHATCHAMACALLIT] and when you ignore their [WHOPPERS]…  It must be hard to contain your [SNICKERS] when you hear the [MOUNDS] of stories those little [SUGAR BABIES] tell.  Sometimes it must seem that all you do is [SKOR] the kids’ progress, and surely there are days when you want to make like [BABY RUTH] and just run home!  For everything you do, you deserve to [TAKE 5] every [NOW AND LATER].  Thanks, Ms.                                .  You are the [RIESEN] that all of our children are [SMARTIES] instead of [DUM DUMS].  Honestly, you truly are a huge [LIFESAVER].

With many [HUGS] and [KISSES],

Our Names

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!  You are loved. ❤ ”

And I know I’m kinda tooting my own horn with this post, but I just love how well this all came together.  😀