little S is movin' on up

i can't believe it, i know i say that all the time, but i just can't believe my little baby S is ready for kindergarten. 

my girls have all gone to the same preschool, and had almost all the same teachers.

all of them have brought in a new baby sibling as show & share at some point. 

the teachers remember S as a brand new baby... and now here she is, all finished with preschool. 

we had a very special class this year, as we have had every year. but some of the classes, especially when they are smaller, give us an opportunity to bond on a deeper level with the kids and parents. we had only 8 kids in the class this year and S was the only girl! all the boys called her their little class princess. she kept them all in line , or at least tried to i'm sure... :) 

p.s. she wore this same outfit probably 2 times a week, every week, since november in which she received it as a birthday gift. she also wore her red cowboy boots, i'd say, almost everyday.

in february of this year, one of the sweet little boys in the class, Ben, passed away from cancer. it was so heartbreaking. several of the kids and parents went to the funeral. his mother was so amazing. she spoke so clearly and beautifully about her only child and son. she told funny stories about him and how brave he was through all of his treatments. she finished by declaring her love for him and said goodbye in all the sweet names she used to call him. benny boo, ben ben, benny bop, etc..... i'll love you forever.

 she just recently, for the last week of school, came back and organized a treasure hunt for the kids on their big water day. she buried all of ben's little toys, cars, trucks, anything small, in the sand and all of the kids got to dig for treasure. the kids each took home a little baggie of "ben's treasures". he was such a sweet boy with AMAZING parents. my heart just breaks for her. i am thankful that she shared her son with us, gave the children the experience of love and loss. and most of all gave ben another community that loved him and will miss him.

 the kids like to think of him running so fast in heaven and his legs not hurting anymore. i like to think that too.

so to say the least, we will really miss this community of parents and kids. it was such a sweet little group.

 i'll be off for a year and then have mr. R start up for 3's preschool.

gulp.

the parents arranged gift cards and flowers for the teachers. but S wanted to give them something just from her. i found this "bloom" idea on the internet somewhere, but i couldn't find the source to link back too.

anyway, i already had a round template in photo shop, typed in S's name and typed "thanks for helping (insert your child's name here) bloom :) happy and simple. then ran over to trader joes, picked up one of their cute little flower tins and viola... a cute little gift for the beloved teachers. S also hand crafted some beautiful drawing and cards that i'm sure are hanging on the teacher's refrigerators :)