The Pomp of Various Circumstances...

Today was the first official day of summer.
And I am TIRED.

Okay, so, summer break actually started last week. But, it was a holiday weekend, JC wasn't working, etc. So, it just felt like a long weekend and therefore, today is officially the first day of summer.
...though yes, I do realize that the actual first day of summer is not until the end of June but if you have EVER lived in the Valley of the Sun here in AZ, you know what a joke that concept is. So...again...today was the first official day of summer.

Now that we've established that.
Last week held all kinds of festivities, endings, new beginnings, and so forth.
Here is a sort of long, sort of drawn out glimpse at it all.
As is my way.

Event Numero Uno - -
Preschool Graduation!
James' preschool graduation to be exact.
Because he starts kindergarten in the fall. Because he is five. And because time moves at lightning speed once you have kids. Why didn't anyone ever tell me?
(Except for the hundreds of moms, including my own, that actually did...repeatedly...)
Anyway, I am determined to stay on track...
So.
Preschool Graduation. See?

In he walks for his little ceremony. SO darling.

See him all lined up amongst his friends? There at the back, squinting in the sun.

They did the whole program, just like last year with Bethany. So cute. Recited all their little stuff they say every day. Here, James shows that he knows how to use his "listening ears."

I am going to take a time out right here and share the little poem they start their day with that he was reciting right there. It is just so sweet and they are so cute saying it. It goes as follows:

I will make today the best day ever
with the things that I say,
the things that I do...
I will use my listening ears,
kinds words,
gentle touch,
helping hands...
Be your best!

(That last part they yell at the top of their lungs and I love it.)

Each child got a turn being spotlighted by the teachers. Miss Ashley gets to do this part.
I think because Miss Jody starts crying as soon as they even walk in in their little robes.
Me too a little.
Anyway...
Here is James during his moment with Miss Ashley.

He tends to get a grimace-face going when attention is on him and/or he is unsure of a situation.

Until Miss Ashley teases him about his grimace-face and then we get this:
Trying-not-to-laugh-grimace-face.

And then finally we get the real deal.

And he kept his smile around long enough for a couple of pictures with his adoring teachers.
(And a little girl he endearingly calls "Paige-y" who just really wanted to be in all the pictures.)

While the rest of the kids had their turn, he got a little restless. It is a long time to sit still!
They all did great though!

They showed us a couple more things they learned to do this year, like say the pledge of allegiance and sing, "You're a Grand Old Flag."
Cue grimace-face.

They ended with "The More We Get Together."
("the happier we'll BE.")

Then they released them.
Hugs for family.

"It's a proud proud day."
(challenge to my family - - name the movie)

Pictures out front with some grandmas!

And here we have our new preschool graduate.
I am sorry, but I think he really has to be the most handsome five year old boy in the entire world. There is no way he can't be.
...and yes, I realize that every single other parent out there feels this way about their own child...

After we told him he was done taking pictures and could go have refreshments, he was so excited, he lost his bearings and ran to the house next door. Here, I caught him running back over, laughing at himself.
I love how he is so willing to laugh at his own silliness.
(Like the other night when my mom came over to watch the kids and told James she was going to babysit him...he got really strangely nervous and was unsure about being 'babysat' on such short notice. He seemed to have an issue with the idea. Being babysat did not appear to be something he felt adequately prepared for. Until it finally came out that he had mixed up his words and thought she was intending to 'baptize' him that evening while Mom and Dad went out. He still will start cracking up when we remind him of his confusion. I will too, actually. I find it quite hilarious.)

I caught a sneaky shot of him while Daddy was gathering his treats.

So, yes, he got down to the goods...

had a few social moments...

then climbed into Daddy's truck (which he was super excited we had brought), and we went home. Fun day.

Two Evergreen Graduations down, one to go!
Though we're not in any hurry!

NEXT manner of business.
The next day was Kindergarten Graduation!
Bethany has had a glorious year in Mrs. Standage's class at Houston Elementary and she and I both cannot believe it has come to an end!!!
It was a lot harder to get pictures at this event because the classroom was packed full of happy family and friends and the boys were with us too, so it was busy busy busy!
But here she is among all her friends and classmates.
There is just something special to me about these kids in her very first class, entering elementary! I feel like I will always remember them.
(Notice how she is surrounded by boys. Boys were the majority by a long shot in her class!)

There's a happy, ready-to-graduate girl!

They had a small ceremony where they sang a little song, and all got their diplomas from their principal, Mr. Louzek. It was fun for them!
It was all over pretty quickly, and once it was, I let James have a turn with the camera. He wanted a turn oh-so-badly.

So here is what he captured:
misc...

my hand/Ben's head...

The boys' shoes...

Yay! Our beautiful graduate!

Some striking blue eyes...

and...a...chair.

I caught up with Bethany as she was giving some sweet hugs to her little friend. (Nobody was there for her and she seemed a little sad, I wanted to hug her myself!)
I love seeing Bethany with her friends. She really is very loving and compassionate. She is a really good friend.

One last picture with Mrs. Standage!
She has been such a blessing to Bethany!
The kindergarten experience was a pretty darn good one and a lot of it was due to a great teacher who was always loving and kind to the kids, who has tried and true methods of helping them in the most important ways, and was always willing to listen to my "I don't know how any of this works" questions and concerns! We have gained a great friend in Mrs. Standage!

I captured what I do believe was the first time Bethany ever signed a yearbook.
Big milestone, you know. Those yearbooks are a big deal. Or at least they are eventually!


Even with how fun the little graduation was, my favorite part of the day was when Bethany decided to show James around the classroom in preparation for him to (hopefully!) be there next year.
She took his hand and walked him around.

She showed him the little light chart, where their behavior is monitored.

She showed them Mrs. Standage's little docking station for her ipod...haha, I am sure this plays some sort of role in their day to day business!

Then she pointed out their calendar and all the fun stuff they go over in the morning. It was really sweet. My favorite thing is seeing them be considerate of each other. I don't think that anything could ever be more favorite than that. :)

It was a fun, happy day!

THIRD order of business.
My baby sister graduated from highschool that very night.
HOLY cow. Weird. And really fun. :)
She sang in the choir. Lower right hand corner there.

There she is on the big screen!!!
Right under the green banner.
What were those banners all about anyway...?
Whatever they were for, I am just glad they didn't cover her face every time she was on the big screen! They sang wonderfully!

Here she is, leaving the stage after getting her diploma. Happy day!!!

We couldn't find her for a long time afterwards...then when my mom finally found her and they were finally approaching, as you can see, my dad...in true my dad form...pretended to be on an important phone call, too busy to greet her.
It was quite funny.

Yay for Laura!
(Okay, I was completely fine during that whole night, and up till now, and then as I just looked at this picture, I got emotional. Awesome.)
My parent and my littlest sister. I like them.

FINAL event of the week.
Last day of school!
This was the day that summer vacation (sort of) started.
Don't make me give you the explanation again.
You know it really started today.
Anyway, I got some pictures of the boys in their usual after-school activities.
While we wait for Bethany to get out of school, they play with Tyler. Tyler belongs to Rockwell, who is in Bethany's class. They are in our ward and have become our little friends this year. We sure have enjoyed getting to know them and having someone to experience this first year of school with! (Great, what, now that I got emotional about Laura's graduation, I am just going to get emotional about everything I talk about? Geez, this probably means it's time for bed...haha)
Anyway, the boys looked forward to playing with Tyler every day.
They explored the greenbelt and took turns bossing each other around.

They found treasures just about every day...

And did a lot of jumping off rocks, dancing on rocks, chasing around rocks...

And most graciously sitting on rocks and letting me take their sweet little picture.

And there she is, ready to go home, no more kindergarten for her!
(She informed me she 'almost started crying' that day at school because she was going to miss her kindergarten class and teacher. So cute.)

That day when we got home, we were hot and tired.
We solved the problem with popsicles gifted to us by the primary president in our ward. She brought them a treat for singing in the stake primary choir at stake conference. It was so nice.
Especially since singing in the stake primary choir at stake conference mostly entailed standing up on the stand singing the words that you happen to know because mom had to be there early to play prelude anyway. They really did a great job though. And it was really sweet of her to recognize them.
Ben with his cherry popsicle.

Bethany and James with grape.

They're both favorites.

Here is Bethany, a little later in her room, as we were working on cleaning off her headboard.
She found her classroom phone book, which reminded her that she can hopefully keep somewhat in touch with her friends over the summer.
I say hopefully and somewhat because, darn it, that kind of requires me to do my part in assisting her in being social and I am just not good at that! Haha, looks like I need to step up my social game for my kids' sakes!

Anyway...so there you have it...all the days that led up to the beginning of our summer!
I am glad it's here.
It's going to be a great one!

P.S. I have pretty much given up on proof-reading my posts. So, if you ever notice something amiss, feel free to let me know. I may or may not fix it anytime soon...