Luke's Preschool Graduation

Luke is a preschool graduate.  He, and 28 of his friends, graduated from preschool last night.  They still have three days of school left next week.  Those days include "Water Day" and a picnic. 

 Handsome Luke ready to go

 Luke really had some amazing teachers this year.  He was in a class with 14 kids, and his two teachers, above, Miss Ginny and Miss Renae, were really, really great with him.

 All lined up at the back of the church waiting for his turn

I thought their gowns with the sewn cross were really sweet.  He and Alex attend a Methodist preschool near our house.  This isn't our church (just too small and no nursery/Sunday School in the summer), but we LOVE the preschool.

The preschoolers sang several songs.  It is always so sweet to hear them singing about God.  Alex knew all the words too since he goes to school there as well.  He sang (rather loudly) from our seats and "entertained" everyone around us.

 The two classes of Pre-K students

 Getting his diploma

Afterwards, the preschool had cake and punch for the families.  I had to take this picture of Alex (notice we are at the orange table...Alex is obsessed with orange).  He is sitting with his VERY favorite friend, Adeline.  She is in his class, and she also has a brother in Pre-K. He talks about her non-stop, and they absolutely love playing together.  You can imagine that when I was asking Alex about friends for his upcoming birthday party, she was at the top of the list.

Way to go, Luke!  We're so proud of all you have done this year.  It's really awesome to see him writing his letters well and learning how to read.  He used to hate any sort of instruction, but he's now bringing me his beginner reader book that I have for him, asking to work on his reading.  He also loves to sit and practice his letters, and even six months ago, he hated to do that.  He's definitely ready for kindergarten.

Wildlife

Wildlife abounds in our backyard.

 Sunday afternoon, Edward found this little bunny on the other side of our fence.  The lot behind us has not been built on yet, so this bunny was in the grass there.  Well, something had happened to it, and its back legs were paralyzed.  I don't know what is up with our family finding injured bunnies, but the kids are always so sweet with them.  Luke really enjoyed holding the bunny, and the bunny, while scared at first, really calmed down.

 The kids left some grass clippings and water out for the bunny, but we knew it wouldn't live long.  The kids were worried the bunny would eat our vegetable garden, but we told them it couldn't move that well.  The bunny died overnight.  Edward and the kids buried it in the lot behind us.

 We also had our butterflies come to life.  An earlier posting, I discussed our caterpillars, and all five turned into butterflies!  The kids were delighted.  Luke really loved this project.  Thanks for the Christmas present, Clay and Karen (maybe we'll return the gift idea when Wes gets a little bit older).  It's been a big hit and "the gift that keeps on giving the whole year" as Eddie would say from one of my favorite movies, Christmas Vacation.  Luke checked on them all the time.  He keeps telling me he wants to be a "Soldier Pet Doctor," and he just might.

Holding one of the butterflies...with as rough as Luke can be on things, he is always so sweet and caring with animals, insects, and such.  He did a great job with the butterflies.  We saw them flying around our yard for a couple days after we released them, so hopefully they have now found their way.

Garden Update

Growing like crazy...

The Butterfly Habitat

Luke was given a butterfly habitat for Christmas, and we waited until now to "grow" our butterflies.  While we had a mild winter, I was always afraid to order our larvae, thinking it would surely get cold  Well, now that it's warm for good, the larvae were ordered. They came in the mail a couple of weeks ago.

 Luke with the package.  I kept telling him not to shake it.

Checking them out...since this picture, they have tripled in size, formed their chrysalis, and they are in the process of becoming butterflies. I moved them into their "habitat" to wait for the transformation.  Luke has LOVED every minute of the process.  He checks on them multiple times during the day (as he does with the veggies growing in the garden).  He can't wait for the butterflies to emerge.

Playtime at Nana and Pop's House

I've had trouble getting these pictures uploaded to Blogger, but finally, they are all on here.  We all had a nice visit at Nana and Pop's house, spending time at the park and outside in general.

These two love hanging out together.

Alex and Knox enjoyed throwing dirt.

Alex wanted to play softball too, so I helped him.

 Then, most of us climbed up this great rope structure.

 It's like Little House on the Prairie.

 Aunt Jennifer was sweet enough to braid Madison's hair, over and over again!

 Family picture