Last day of Preschool :(

And so it's here :*(  --- Katelyn's last day of preschool at Westside Christian Academy. What an amazing and wonderful year she has had. I feel so blessed that she has been able to attend this school. She learned a ton and grew so much spiritually too. Not to mention (as I've said many times before) that she had THE.BEST.TEACHERS.EVER! They treated each one of those students like they were their own but had the most well behaved class in the school. They just had it together. Oh and have I mentioned how many neat projects and themes they did over the year?!?! We are most definitely going to miss this school and these wonderful teachers. St. Paul Lutheran has some big shoes to fill!!!

They wore their swimsuits to school and had a water day. Unfortunately, it was a little on the chilly side so not the most fun in the water. The day ended 30 minutes later than usual with a school BBQ.

Ms. Christine and Katelyn

With Ms. Heather and Ms. Christine.

Fall and Spring....Goodness she looks so much older!!

What a great year! I can't wait to see what the next school year brings...but in the mean time we have some busy months ahead of us!!

{Field Trip} Dickerson Park Zoo

Katelyn's preschool class took a field trip to the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield today. She rode the bus and Will and I drove separately. I didn't think Will would make the 80 minute ride sitting on my lap and I didn't want to chance it.

We ate a picnic lunch before we went into the zoo. The grass was wet from rain so we had to eat on the bus. Not the most ideal but we managed.

We were promptly greeted by several peacocks and boy were they noisy!

Katy and Katelyn skipping to the next thing.

Katy, Peter, Liam and Katelyn

Ms. Heather asked them to show her their best animal noise. I think Katelyn roared. Not too sure though.

And then we got to do what Katelyn was the most excited to do! She asked the second we walked into the zoo if we could feed the giraffes.

Loving it!

Look at that tongue!!

These were the most rambunctious giraffes I'd ever seen - even compared to all the other zoos where you can feed the giraffes. They had it figured out how to stick their head as far as they could through the fence. She had a blast feeding them and of course wanted to get more crackers.

Best friends

Kathleen and Katelyn

And then it was time to ride the train that took us around the little pond 2 times. Kind of a disappointment. Front Row L-R: Kathleen, Rileigh, Katey, Katelyn. Back Row L-R: Peter's Mom Maddie, Lee, Peter

And it was a fun day at the zoo that ended just in time for the rain to move in. Katelyn rode home with Will and I instead of the bus. The zoo was just the right size. We could do the whole zoo in 3ish hours and feel like we saw it all!

Westside Preschool Art Show

Tonight was the last family night at Katelyn's school. It was an "Art Show" and each of the classes posted some recent art work.

Her bird house that had spanish moss in it for a nest.

The talked about dinosaurs for a week and during that week each of the kids made their own volcanoes. I wasn't sure what they were going to do with them...well is what they had planned. I should have known her teachers had it all figured out!

She poured baking soda, vinegar and red dye into her volcano and.......

it erupted!! She loved it!

Looking at more of her artwork with her teacher, Ms. Heather.

Dinosaur eggs

And then the kids got to make ice cream sundaes. She only ate a few bites because running around the gym with her friend Kathleen was much more fun!

Valentine's Day Shenanigans!

Here are our Valentine's Day shenanigans! What a fun, busy, lovely day!! Katelyn was sooo excited to go to school this morning and had a blast. I'm sure she had her sugar intake for the week just in one morning. But that's ok.....Valentine's day is only once a year!

She wrote her name on all her valentine's. It took a bit but she did really well.

Shirts that I made for the kids. They looked so cute in them ;)

Valentine's Morning. Katelyn was SOO excited to leave for school. Will was pretty stoked for Vday too...can't ya tell?! hehe

A little picture before Daddy headed off to work.

And even Mommy got a picture with her Prince Charming :) Love my boy!!

Katelyn with her friend Katy at school. They were both very excited for the party and excited that they were both wearing matching shirts....the color that is.

Passing out Valentines to all her friends. In other words - CHAOS!!

Katelyn with her buddies...Katy and Liam and their loaded Valentine mailboxes. (Katelyn's box wasn't holding up too well.....she lost the letter 'T' from her name. Guess we'll be making a new one next year!)

Friends from school....Ethan and Kathleen and Ethan's sister.

The LOOT! Fortunately some people didn't give candy...but pencils instead.

Once again....Katelyn has A-MAZ-ING teachers. They are always coming up with the cutest things. This is the valentines card that she made for us. ADORABLE!!

And then we had a little Valentine gift for the kids too.

Will wasn't sure what he was supposed to do at first and then once the paper from the bag started coming out, he dug right in.

Katelyn got Peter Pan -Diamond Edition. (I had to put the DE on here because she has been calling dvds by their name and then adding diamond edition to the end of all the titles because she's heard it on tv. It's hilarious!) She was so excited and couldn't wait to watch it. We almost couldn't get through dinner!

And Will got a new John Deere tractor that makes noise when you push the buttons on top. (Shh don't tell him that it was supposed to be his stocking at Christmas but got forgotten! He has plenty in it anyways, so this worked out perfectly!)  His favorite one to push is the one that says "Nothing Runs Like A Deere." He was so excited to push the buttons. I just loved his reaction.

And there you have it. That was our day yesterday in a nutshell. Crazy, busy, and fun! It was wonderful to be able to spend it with those that I love the most!! I love my little family so much! I hope your day was equally as special!

Preschool Christmas Program

Katelyn's preschool had a Christmas program. They've been working on Christmas songs during Music class for the last several weeks. Each class got to sing a song and the whole school sang "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" together. Of course, they were all just adorable!!

Walking in for the program. (Her class sang a snowman song)

Waving - ready to sing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas"

Just her class now

Here I am!!

The whole class. The boys sang one verse and then the girls sang the next verse.

Boys:
I'm a little snowman
Short and fat,
Here is my broom
And here is my hat.
When the sun comes out I'll melt away.
But I'll be back another day!

Girls:
I'm a little snow lady
white and round.
In my hat and apron
I don't make a sound.
When the sun comes out I'll melt away,
But I'll be back another day!

Our little snowlady with the apron and hat they made in class. Once again, the teachers outdid themselves. None of the other classes were this cute! :)