Big Days For Seth

Can whoever pushed the 'fast-forward' button please stop? I would like some more time with my little boy, but apparently he's determined to keep growing up. I love it and I hate it.

May 23rd was a big day for Seth--preschool graduation. I'm not super keen on the whole 'graduation' at the end of every school year fad, but the transition from 'preschool' to 'school' is worth celebrating! 

Our original plan was for a lovely day at the park followed by a picnic lunch, but we had a nice rainstorm that changed our minds. Much to Seth's delight, Plan B was a morning at "the pumps": one of his favorite places in the whole world.

Cheesy smile, eyes closed, shirt (and possibly shorts) on backwards.

This is a great summary photo of Seth's preschool year.

Someone else was pretty thrilled about this graduation party venue:

This was actually a pretty relaxing trip for me. Usually I'm following Catherine around, defending her from being trampled or helping her climb, but this time she was Miss Independent. 

I love that my kids actually like playing together (most of the time).

After our 90 minutes of jump time was over, we had a small ceremony for all of Miss Katie's students (she had a class of 3-year-olds and a class of 4-year-olds). 

Seth is on the ground next to Angelina, who he still claims he's going to marry.

I missed Seth receiving his 'diploma' because I was messing with my camera (get your priorities right, Megan!), but I did get a nice picture of him with Miss Katie after it was all over. 

(She looks like she could be Seth's mother)

Seth ADORED Miss Katie, and so did I. If I could guarantee that all his teachers would be as awesome as Katie, I would send him to school in a heartbeat. 

Seth graduated with quite a few accomplishments that I'm proud of. He's a very smart boy and loves learning new things. He's also made a lot of progress with his over-stimulation issues--I haven't seen him cover his ears during Primary in months! He's also a very sweet boy--he always tells Miss Katie how much he loves her and that she's the best teacher ever. He also made it through the entire preschool year without getting sent to time-out (at school, that is. Home is a different story). He loved school, he loved his teacher, and he loved his friends--that's what preschool is all about!

Seth, now officially a kindergartner!

Due to the impending birth of his little brother in September (you know, right at the beginning of the school year?), Seth got a head start on kindergarten beginning the first week of June.

Since we're homeschooling, there was no big transition to mark the beginning of kindergarten--no school bus ride, no new backpack or school supplies. So we celebrated by making chocolate chip pancakes that morning!

Official first day of kindergarten photo:

Official first day of kindergarten for Catherine, too: 

She participates just as much as Seth does, so might as well get her in the picture, too!

(For my reasons for homeschooling Seth, you can read my post here: http://megansworksofgenius.blogspot.com/2013/06/why-im-homeschooling-my-son.html. And for a little picture of how school went our first day, go here: http://keepingitclosetohome.blogspot.com/2013/06/first-day-of-kindergarten.html).

I can't believe we're already in "big kid" territory. I'm constantly surprised by what Seth figures out and the things he can do. I would love to take credit for it all, but I can't! I just feel lucky to be his mom and to help him figure out his world.

Just for fun--here's Seth with his good friend who'll be homeschooling with us in the fall! So glad he'll still be able to learn with his friend (and to make new ones)!