Last Day of School, 2013

Today was the last day of the 2012-2013 school year. It's amazing to reflect on how big these kiddos have grown, and how much they've learned! We've been amazingly blessed to have two fantastic women who have been more than teachers to Evan and Drew; they really have loved them and nurtured them all year long. We are desperately going to miss being in their class, but are relieved we will be able to see them every day since we're at the same school. Evan has promised up and down that he's going to hug Ms. Stephanie every single day and nothing could tear Drew from giving some love to Ms. Tanya and Ms. Megan when he sees them. He's been practicing his running tackle/hug and has it down quite well, so they better watch out!

Both boys wanted to make creative gifts to tell their teachers how much fun they had during the year, so we've been working hard on the perfect gift. After several discussions, we realized Drew had lots and lots to say about Ms. Tanya, so we put it all down into a word collage around her name. We wanted her to remember how special she is and all the fun things the class did together.

Ms. Megan, Tanya's daughter, got a picture of thanks too. Way back when Drew was in the baby room over a year ago, Megan had been telling her mom, "I hope Drew is in your class!" She got a new baby doll last Christmas and named him Drew, because she loves him so. She's always around to play with Drew whenever she's not in school, and lucky for Drew that meant almost a full summer with Megan!We wish she was a little older and lived closer so we could call her for babysitting :)

Evan took a bit longer deciding what to make/give to Ms. Stephanie. A bouquet of flowers? A photo of them together from when she came to watch his t-ball game? He almost decided on a book, but then changed his mind, thinking he'd like to keep the book to read about all the fun times he and Stephanie had together. He would however like to give her a picture from the book with all the things he wanted to say. So, mommy scanned in the picture (them holding hands on a sunny day) and collected all his happy thoughts about Stephanie, and presented her with the final product. (Yes, he did make the book and yes, we did copy it for her also.)

We hope they all realize what an incredible difference they've made in our lives, and how grateful we are for their presence, patience, creativity, and love.