One year down...

A few weeks ago Ella finished her first year of school. Only preschool, but still, it counted as her first year of school in my book. I know that kindergarten is truly there first year, but since I'm at home with the kids, going to school, even if for only two mornings a week, is a significant step for us and for them. We all came to school for the end of the year program.

I have a picture of the whole class, but one little girl right in the middle chose that moment to lift her dress up. Way up. You can't see her face, and I'm sure her family would never see it, but even so I'm sure her mom unknowingly appreciates me not posting that one! So instead here is another of Ella with a beautiful smile on her face.

And another one. About a week later, right before bed she asked me if I saw her up on stage "smiling so big." She told me that her belly was going thump thump thump. I asked if she was nervous or excited - of course she replied - excited!

She wasn't the only one who was excited! Catherine sat there beaming the entire time - clapping after every song - she even sang some of them the next day (and week).

Here is Ella being a bumble bee - or a mosquito. Not sure which in this picture. I'm pretty sure she's a mosquito...

Finally here she is receiving her "diploma" for her completion of the three year old program.
Not sure what's going on with her dress there - looking a bit disheveled.

On the way out with a backpack full of end of the year projects, I realized that we also had our first report card. It was simple and basic - just "+" for good and "N" for needs improvement. I felt so proud of Ella when I saw that she had all + 's along with some areas that were noted for being extremely good. For example, apparently she has excellent scissors' skills. I thought back to all those times that she shredded every piece of paper in sight with her new found love of cutting and realize that she was basically studying - not driving me crazy with the amount of clean up I had to do. If only I had known.

Also, the teachers wrote a little note about Ella. It was all positive and the first line read "Ella is a sweet and happy little girl." My heart swelled with pride for my Ella and I just wanted to give her a big squeeze and let her know how proud I was of her. Literally thirty seconds after I read those words, Ella started what would become a wopper of a tantrum over a misunderstanding about having a friend come over. It was so ironic that Matt and I continually repeated to each other "sweet and happy little girl" as we tried to deal with Ella's out of control behavior.

I am proud of her and so glad she did so well in preschool. If we have to have occasional tantrums, I'm glad they are at home rather than at school. My new mantra will be "sweet happy little girl" as I spend the summer listening to her whine about not being surrounded by friends. Fun times ahead!