Graduation day!

 Our littlest guy just graduated from kindergarten.  Amazing!

His school holds a graduation ceremony, oddly a week before school actually ends – so the kid graduated and then went back to school the next day.  🙂

Regardless of the strange timing, my parents came up to join us for the ceremony.  I had bid on and won (I was the only bidder!) front-row seats during the winter carnival, so we didn’t even have to get there an hour early to save decent spots.

Charlie had been singing the various songs he and his classmates would perform for months, but it was still tremendous fun to see our dude sing his heart out up on those risers.  We could actually hear him!

Notice there’s a kid blocking our view of Charlie??  He was so proud that he had grown enough since Christmas that he was no loner in the front row!

They sang songs ranging from “This Land is Our Land” to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” recited the pledge of allegiance, and a poem about all the things they’d learned in kindergarten (did you know the white stripes on the American flag represent purity and innocence?).  And then it was time to cross that stage…

A little coaching on where his thumb goes when shaking hands, and he was done!  A kindergarten graduate!

Mrs. Hins 2016 kindergarten class, from left to right:  1 – Megan, Thomas, Molly, Daniel.  2- Evelyn, Charlie, Isabelle, Vincent, Stella.  3 – Anna, Caleb, Ayub, Elias, Kilen.  3 – Tabitha, Margaret, Abubaker, Vienna.  (Charlie talks a lot about who is tallest; according to him Vienna is the tallest person in kindergarten.  And she’s a GIRL!!!)

After these munchkins graduated, they sang the Middleton classic, to the tune of Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”  Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today.  I want to be a part of it – first grade, first grade!

Charlie had a great year with his teacher, Mrs. Hins.  She was everything you need a kindergarten teacher to be – kind, patient and firm.  We enjoyed it when she sent us little notes like these:

• I had patriotic music playing softly while they worked.  The National Anthem came on and I turned around and Charlie was standing at his table with his hand over his heart, facing the flag!  So stinkin’ cute!!!!
• I think Charlie is ready to go into public speaking!  He does such a nice job sharing his show and share.  He speaks so his peers can hear him and it seems as though he does practice or know what he’s going to say ahead of time as he is very fluid in his delivery!  So cute!!!!  🙂

After we ate some cookies and took a few pictures, and poor Scott had to go back to work, we headed outside to play on the playground and wait for Zach to return from his field trip.  Then it was time to celebrate with some blizzards!!!

While my parents were here, they got to experience what our life is like these days… Zach’s baseball games Tuesday and Wednesday night, and Charlie’s Thursday night.  And while I didn’t take many pictures, I did get a few of my dad and the boys enjoying their new bubble machine!