Joshua's Preschool Graduation

 On Thursday, May 17, Joshua officially graduated from Calvary Preschool. Here he is with his diploma!

For dinner that night, I made Easy Shepherd's Pie, and our babysitter arrived right on time at 5:30. (Caleb opted to stay with her along with Ryan.) Meanwhile, Daddy ironed Joshua's shirt when he got home from work so our little man could look dapper in his outfit. Mamaw bought him new shoes, and Daddy got a picture of them next to his shoes.

We took Joshua to his classroom just before 6 pm, and Mrs. Perez had already arrived. Since we had plenty of time, we took a few pictures together. Aren't they so handsome? 

Mamaw was already there when we got to the sanctuary, and she had good seats right in front where we needed to be. Mr. Ken had dropped her off since her battery had died, and we took her home. :)

They started off with a welcome and then a longer-than-necessary sermon for those who may not be saved. While I appreciate the thought behind the service, I think those in charge forget that the auditorium is filled to the brim with young children. So, it's probably better to keep these things shorter rather than longer.

Eventually the kiddos graduating were asked to enter, and they did their Bible verse and songs (which we got some video of). Joshua did all the hand motions and sang every word. I can see how much he's matured over these past three years at Calvary! In the picture above, you cna see Joshua with some of his classmates, and his cousin Daniel is in the yellow shirt - his class was positioned next to Joshua's class.

Then after the program, they announced each name, and the child who was called got to come down, shake hands with the teacher and receive his diploma. We weren't able to get close enough to get a picture of this exchange, but it looked like Mrs. Zimmerman said something nice to Joshua. When I asked him later, "What did your teacher tell you tonight?" he responded "OUCH!" I'm sure that's probably not what she said, but it cracked us all up.

After the entire class got their diplomas, the children were allowed to come sit with their parents while the next classes were called. Joshua got pretty bored at this point since his class had gone first. We took a few pictures of him with us.

Then after all classes were done, we posed for these pictures together. We are so proud of our young man, heading off to kindergarten. Joshua says that now that he's graduated it's officially summer. Sounds good to me!

When the service was finally over, they invited families to go to the fellowship hall for cookies and water (which parents were to bring in 1-2 dozen cookies to share). I wish they had done it more like they did last year, where the cookies were set up in the hallways next to the classrooms. We didn't get to say goodbye to his teacher or any of his friends/classmates because we didn't see anyone in all the crowds together in the same area. Such is life! He had an amazing year at preschool this year. I'm especially thankful for his teacher Mrs. Zimmerman and all that she did to make this year special for him. I feel that he is well prepared for school, and I'm excited for him! Congratulations, graduate Joshua! I'm sure this is the first of many times I'll say this for you! Praise God for bringing you through each phase of life - we love you!