Graduations

I've attended 3 graduations in the last week. Tristan is leaving middle school and heading to high school in the fall. I'm totally not ready to have a high schooler, but ready or not...here it comes!! Alicia is leaving the elementary school and heading to Tristan's old middle school. I seriously can't believe she will be in 6th grade. Adelaide is leaving pre-school and heading to Alicia's old elementary school to begin kindergarten. Holy Heavens!! I will also be sending Avery to Addi's old pre-school in the fall, so all 4 kids will start new schools!!! I hope we will all survive the anxiety and change!!!

We started the graduations with Addi's. They had a little music program followed by spotlighting each of the graduates as they wore a very cute cap and gown. They received a Children's Bible as a gift from the school. Addi loves it and keeps it in a special place so Avery can't get to it. Afterwards, we were able to go down to her classroom for refreshments and photos. It was very nice, and Kindergarten can't come fast enough for her! She is so incredibly excited!

Her teachers called her "Addi Jean" during the end of the school year. So cute.

Getting her "diploma."

She was disappointed when we unrolled it and discovered it was just a plain white piece of paper rolled up and tied with a ribbon.

Question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Answer: a teacher

Adelaide with her teachers, Ms. Julie and Ms. Amy

Next was Tristan's 8th grade graduation. Tristan asked me about 20 minutes before it was time to go, "Do I have to go?" I had made an early dinner and canceled a meeting because of the graduation, so I responded quickly with a, "Yes, we're going...you're going." Not long after getting there, I thought to myself, "why did I insist on us coming???" You have to understand Tristan's 8th grade class alone has over 300 kids and it seemed like they were giving awards for every little thing!! So, shortly after Tristan received his certificate, I bailed with the girls while Daniel (who didn't attend ANY of his own graduations until med school....so he was DYING) stayed until the end to bring Tristan home. I was glad we went so I could hoot and holler when they called his name...it got a little smile out of him.

Today, was Alicia's 5th grade graduation. They had a little music program where they sang and played their recorders. A few of the 5th graders also shared memories from their time at the elementary school. It was well done, and only 30 minutes!! Alicia looked beautiful in her sparkly dress. Afterwards they had a DJ and a party in the gym that the parents could stay for, but I bailed as Addi had ballet, and Avery was about to drive me bonkers! Bleachers and an 18 month old don't mesh very well.

Now the only graduation left this year is Daniel's from his fellowship. We will go to that at the beginning of June. He is definitely eager to be done. It's been a long, hard road, and I'm sure it is still far from over, but it's these milestones that help us to see the progress we are making. I'm so proud of all our graduates. They have all worked so hard to get to this point!