I did not realize the last day of Molly's pre-K class would be so emotional for me! You have to understand that she had one of the greatest teachers ever this year. Really, this is probably one of the best teachers she will ever have. That may sound silly to you (after all, this is just pre-K!), but you just haven't met Mrs. H. I knew Mrs. H would be a great match for Molly when I was checking out preschools last year and had a chance to chat with her. I knew that she would love my Molly, get her excited about school, and help her learn to be a little silly too (our Molly girl can be quite serious at times!). Not only were my expectations met, she went way beyond all I had hoped! I have seen Molly build confidence in so many areas this year. She has learned so much, made some wonderful friendships, and has become pretty silly : ) Mrs. H taught these kids academically, socially, and emotionally...and most of the time I don't think they even realized they were learning. They thought they were just having fun! Some of the things they learned...ordinal numbers, counting by 5's and 10's, venn diagrams, graphing, sight words, writing letters and then words, manners, listening skills and so much more! I hope every child has a chance to have a "Mrs. H". Kindergarten has a tough act to follow, and we are praying for just the right teacher for Molly. I'm also hoping that Mrs. H sticks around so Ellie will have her in a couple of years.

Today also marks the end of Molly's preschool days...which means the beginning of her elementary days are just a few months away. Yikes! I cried all the way home from preschool today (didn't really expect that!), so it makes me wonder just how hard the first day of kindergarten will be. I'm hoping it won't be as bad...after all, endings are harder for me than beginnings.

I feel like Molly and I both went through pre-K this year. Mrs. H prepared both of us for kindergarten. I know that Molly is beyond ready, and I am getting there. Change is hard. Transitions are hard. But, I see that after I get past those first couple of weeks, we will be excited about all the new opportunities. Oh how I've been blessed to raise this beautiful, smart girl! And blessed some more to raise her wonderful little sister and brother too!! (More on them in another post...)

Here are a few pictures to see how Molly has grown and changed this year...

September--Molly's 1st day of Pre-K!

Molly and Mrs. H

Molly and friends at the pumpkin patch field trip

Molly's preschool Christmas program

Molly and Mrs. H on the "100th day of school"

Tooth #3 is missing! She lost this one about a week ago and looks so much older. She told us that she looks like a teenager although we are thinking it is more like 1st grade : )

Molly loves to read! The other day she didn't even make it up the stairs and read here for almost an hour. : )

Mother's Day Tea

Molly with the girls in her class at the Mother's Day Tea. (I do have pictures of Molly and I at the Mother's Day Tea...those will come soon.)

Molly today, on her last day of pre-K. It was beach day, hence the swimming suit. Since we don't actually have a beach here in the midwest, we do a lot of pretending : )