Preschool Graduation Program Photos

On the last day of preschool, each individual class performed one or two songs and then the entire school performed a few songs together, as a whole.  Our kiddies sounded out the entire alphabet, while signing it.  It was rather impressive to see that their teachers taught them to sign the entire alphabet.  They know something I don't. The last song the entire school sang was "HAPPY" by Ferrell.  The school chose to end on a HAPPY note, not a sad one.  Enjoy a few pictures of the performance and afterwards.  I have never been able to get the lighting right in the school's church, so I apologize for the poor quality of images.  

We were so proud of Lilah and Jax and we are looking forward to the next stage of their lives!

 #thetwinsbiggestfans

 The fun Frogs class.  

 These pictures are right before they began singing "HAPPY".

 You can tell these kids were veterans because they did so well and weren't shy at all.

 A little alphabet "signing" going on here.

 Julia, below, is a friend from church, small group, and school!

 My beautiful TWO!

 More of Julia!

 More of the Happy song! This song turned them into GIGGLE monsters.

 You can see how happy this song really made them!

 I cannot believe how alive they became, on stage, in front of over 100 people.

After the performances, they had a special moment for the graduates. Jax received his certificate of graduation.

As did Lilah!

 And Julia.

 We allowed Ty to cut out of school early to be a part of this special day!

 Saying goodbye to their teachers!

We have seen Mrs. Donna a ton already, since school has let out.  Her son, Josh, and Ty have been best buddies since birth. It's helpful knowing it's not goodbye for good.

Jax stopped to take a pic with his buddy "Jack".  

 Grandad and Grandnee came to support the twins and arrived with a thoughtful gift in hand.

 It was a HAPPY, exciting day and I am so glad we were all there to be a part of it.

"My Morning Out" preschool will be forever in our hearts.  It was a wonderful experience that began with Tyson first.  He entered into the program when he was 2.  I loved the school because it wasn't just daycare.  The teachers invested a ton of time into what they were teaching their students.  I give MUCH credit to the teachers because MOST of what the twins know is from them (as far as academically).  With Ty, it was the other way around.  I had a lot more one on one time with him.  Once the twins came around, our lives were much more involved in the community, with church and sports and it is just all around MORE busy.  I relied heavily on Bethel's teachers to help teach the twins the fundamentals.  I know their hard work will be what gets them through their first year of kindergarten.  I was also pleased with the amount of scripture/bible stories they learned and I appreciated the 9-1 time frame.  Ty was also a part of a 9-12 preschool and that was just not enough time.  I was so honored to be able to have them there. We will miss everyone greatly.  

I took a bunch of photos, but the photos above were the ones that I enjoyed the most.  You can see all of the photos, below, by clicking on the photo album.  Enjoy!

Goodbye Gifts For Preschool Teachers

It's always a challenge to come up with something unique for my children's teachers.  I can't bring myself to give a gift card (most of the time) or any sort of apple/teacher type gift.  I'm sure they appreciate the latter.

In addition to the "You Are One In A Million" printable, I decided on two other gifts...chocolate and jewelry, every woman's dream gift. :) Here's what Mrs. Cheryl, Mrs. Donna, and Mrs. Kelley received for their excellent guidance during the entire Pre-K year for Lilah and Jax:

Chocolate from our "Chocolate Paper" store.

 

Gosh that selection, below, looks so scrumptious.  

1. A milk chocolate covered pretzel drizzled with heath bar.

2. A white chocolate covered oreo with chocolate chips.

3. A salted caramel truffle.  

Each teacher has a pandora bracelet, so I thought it would be a nice idea to add a charm to it. Every time they wear the charm, they can think of Lilah and Jax.  

Jewelry never photographs well for me, but above and below, are the pandora initial charms that I bought for all three teachers.  

 I didn't unwrap all of the charms to photograph them, but we bought a C, D, and K!!!

Lilah, Jax, and I also worked on some sweet, homemade cards for Ms. Kelley, Ms. Donna, and Ms. Cheryl.

In the beginning of the year, Lilah ended up in Ms. Kelley's office more often than not. Ms. Krystal and Ms. Kelley would always be so kind and loving spoil her and she kept a record of that.  Anytime she was feeling sad or needed some extra attention, she knew just the way to act to get herself to eventually end up in Ms. Kelley's office.  Ms. Kelley and Ms. Krystal always loved on her with hugs and M&Ms.

Lilah and Jax's class was called the "Fun Frogs", so they made frog handprint cards for their teachers.  Lilah's handprint is on the left and Jax's handprint is on the right.  We added some lily pads, googlie eyes, and a flower. I am by NO MEANS an artist, so I was a tad embarrassed to have them deliver these cards.  Jax and Lilah kept saying, "You are such a good artist mom!"  LOL! Little do they know. I tried to throw these cards out, but Lilah threw a fit. She was so proud of them and could NOT wait to give them to her teachers.

 The inside of the card had some sentimental frogology!

The twins loved their teachers and the school director a ton, but I think they are really excited to be out of school and to be home, enjoying the summer with mom! I ask them everyday if they miss school and they say, "NO!!!!" I am sure that is every child's answer.

You Are ONE In A Million!!!

Friday was the last day of Preschool for the twins.  There is so much to share about that day!  I'll start with one of the gifts the twins gave to the director and both of their preschool teachers!  

I found these $1,000,000.00 bills at Hallmark's register.  At first, I just thought I would give them out as gifts in a greeting card, but then I decided to take it a step further. Are you surprised?!?!?!?!

I searched pinterest for some sort of printable and found this pin. This pin leads you to the blog "It Works For Bobbi".  She offers the printable in different sizes and for free... YEAH... gotta love free.  

I love the printable on its own, but I decided to glue stick the million dollar bill to the bottom of the printable giving it a little more personality.  I had to resize the original printable and add a few extra dots to the bottom because the cash wasn't fitting on the document properly (you may see the size difference in the dots).  

Below is the finished product!

I placed the printable and cash in a frame. Walaa!!!

Recap on products:

Frames: $1.00 each @ Dollar Tree

Million Dollar Bills: $.99 cents @ Hallmark

"You Are One In A Million" Printable: FREE

TOTAL: $1.99

The teachers and pre-school director seemed to love them! Mrs. Donna exclaimed, "This is so cute! I will display this in my classroom."

Pre-K Class Photo 2014

#pictureofapicture

I thought it came out adorbs!

Thanksgiving Recipes

From: The "Fun Frogs!"

Lilah and Jaxon's teachers put together, with the help of their students "fun frogs", a compilation of their favorite Thanksgiving recipes.  Each student was responsible for choosing their favorite item to eat, at Thanksgiving, and explain HOW to cook it. When I read these out loud, I literally was crying, I was laughing so hard. 

 My little Chef Lilah

 She chose "mac and cheese".  Read how she thinks you cook mac and cheese!

 My little Chef, Jax

Jax chose to cook mashed potatoes. I have NEVER cooked mashed potatoes for my children, because they do not LIKE them, but I am stunned at how close Jax was to describing the cooking directions.  Maybe culinary institute is in his future?

 The rest of their classmates recipes were also included.  Keith's is so comical to me.

Do this with your own kids! I can't wait to hear their recipes descriptions.

Fang-tastic Gifts for Spook-tacular Mentors

I firmly believe in taking care of those who take care of you! 

So, I created some special treats for those loving mentors, in my children's lives. 

Above, "Mr. Jerry" (Lilah and Jaxon's school janitor) and "Ms. Robin" (Ty's bus driver), will receive a mason jar filled with a delicious sweet&salty combo of peanuts and candy corns, in a decorative box.

Lilah & Jaxon's "Fun Frog" teachers, Ms. Donna and Ms. Cheryl will receive these adorable, spider gift baskets.  What's inside? A glittered pumpkin, a chocolate covered pretzel stick from Fresh Market (yum), a decorative Halloween towel, and a Frog ornament. Along with a gift card to "Sweet Frogs". 

The photo below shows Tyson's 3rd grade teacher's, Ms. Zimmerman, gift.  She isn't a fan of sweets, but loves coffee, so I purchased a Starbucks gift card instead of the sweet frog gift card.

She also mentioned how much she loves beach items, so I purchased this adorable, beach keychain for her.

These last two photos are pictures of Ms. Kelley's, Bethel Baptist Preschool Director, gifts. It includes: a Halloween recipe book, warm vanilla lotion, a fresh peach, a decorative Halloween towel.  What are her gifts sitting in?  A wooden, Halloween, "subway" art.

I loved this subway art, so much, I bought one for myself too!

We are thankful for all of those mentors in our children's lives.

Being a teacher/mentor is a true gift, which takes loads of patience.