Graduation programs

Angela

Angela's wonderful preschool had a graduation program last week.

She wore her fish dress...

...and held up an orange.

With some fellow graduates outside. This wasn't the best picture of the grads, but it was the most random, which is why I picked it. I don't know who the kid behind the tree is.

Here they are singing the goodbye song. There were lots of other songs, but this one was the shortest by several minutes. And you get the idea.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth's class held a graduation program! Having volunteered in her classroom for the past year, I became really attached to these kids. I might miss them more than she does.

Hardly a picture taken of her during that day doesn't look something like this:

With Dad:

And Mom:

At the last day of school, the kids signed each other's arms, shirts, backpacks, and anything else that wasn't expressly forbidden by parents:

They signed in Sharpies. Those names are still quite visible.

I have so many videos from both events and not enough time or bandwidth to put them all here. But I will share the links to where they are hosted with those who are interested. It's mostly a bunch of little kids singing off-key at the very top of their lungs and while I think it's some of the cutest footage ever recorded, I might be a little biased.

Mom and Dad, I know I don't even have to ask you. I will send you the links as soon as they're ready. :)

That about sums it up...

This morning:

Me, to the kids: "I'm going to go do my work now."

Angela: "While we ..."

*thinks*

"...eat and drink and go potty."

"Once school ends, I'm going to have so much free time..."

Must I believe the lies??

School ended nearly two and a half weeks ago. It seems like I've barely had time to breathe.

And our summer starts in one week. One more week of elementary school! Cripes! I'm not ready for this.

Summer in the desert means either getting outside before 9 am (after which it's simply too hot), playing in the water (parks or pools), or staying indoors with the air conditioner running (and risking utter boredom). Successful summers mean schedules, structures, having things to do, and not wasting time.

Summer does not bring out my strengths.

Anyway, while I procrastinate planning for summer, here are some pictures!

I keep finding cryptic anonymous messages on my whiteboard:

And after we saw "How to Train Your Dragon," there was this:

I thought the red eye was appropriate there.

The kids took possession of the camera, and the results were...

Lots of pictures like this:

and this

and THESE

Mom caught in the act of indulging in some light reading:

Self-portrait of the camera thief:

Where's Angela?

Haircuts!

This is not a real update. Not yet. But I think I might get disowned if I don't post these.

Elizabeth's new haircut:

And Angela's too:

I found this picture on my camera. Elizabeth took it.

There are others she took, too, which I will post soon, when I officially update this blog.