Kindergarten is over!

Kindergarten days seemed a little long at times, but the weeks and months flew by and it is already over! I remember at the parent meeting at the beginning of the year they said Noah would be reading by the end of the year and it was was so hard to imagine. Guess what? He can read and spell and write and so much more! It is crazy how much they learn in kindergarten!

I didn't know much about the kindergarten teachers so I was hoping (and did lots of praying) for a good fit for Noah. I am not saying other teachers would not have been good, but Ms. Damon was a PERFECT fit for Noah - and well for me too! This was a big change for our family. Our first child was going to school. Our kids were not going to be together all day each day. Noah was going to know people we don't know and do things we may never know about. Ms. Damon always answered my messages - even when I am sure she thought they were silly questions. She never made me feel like a bother and always made sure I understood everything going on. Noah was not a bad kid - he is really good 80% of the time but when he would get in trouble Ms. Damon gave him the right amount of discipline to get the point across - she made sure the important things were important to him and didn't dwell on little mistakes. Noah has shed some tears this last week realizing that he would not get to see Ms. Damon every day any more, but really that is a good thing - it shows how much of a good year he has had.

I also prayed that Noah would make friends in school. He is really good to play alone, but I wanted him to also experience friendships. Of course Noah says everyone in his class are his friends but he says his best friends are Aly, Ty, Aiden, Kadience and Connor. He would tell me what all they would play at recess - and that made me smile. I am hoping they get to carry on their friendships in the coming years! Plus - I like all their moms so getting to be around them all is a bonus!

Ty, Noah and Aiden

Noah and Connor in a sack race together

Kadience and Noah

Noah and Aly watching a program together

I am SO glad I was able to help with Noah's class so much this year. I was at every class party and read to the kids every other week. I also made it to the year end field trip. These are things I literally dreamed of when we were trying to have a baby all those years. Dropping my kid off and picking him up. Eating lunch with him. Watching school programs. It has all been so much fun!

Reading to Noah's class

Harold and the Purple Crayon activity!

Another highlight of this year was working in the volunteer room on Fridays. I have Fridays off of work so I decided to sign up to volunteer. I had no idea what that meant exactly, but something was telling me to do it. I quickly realized why I was being told to do it. It was all the friendships I made there this year. There are some really amazing people at that school and I looked forward to being there every Friday! Especially to see Tricia and Amber!  Tricia is the volunteer coordinator and is just one of the nicest people you will meet - she is going to do anything to help anyone and always made me feel appreciated! She even came to Noah's ballgames! She is definitely good people :) Amber is the other mom volunteer on Fridays and her son was also in Ms. Damons class. I loved having another mom to text with classwork questions or even just mom questions. Also, Amber is a therapist and I may have used her a time or ten for that - like I said, this was a year of changes for me and I am SO glad God put her in my path to help me.

Next up is summer break. Noah will be going back with Ryan to visit with Mrs. Laurie some days and with Meme some days (since she is a teacher on summer break too). I am hoping to get to take him on some special trips since this is his first real summer break - maybe Branson a couple of times, camping, and I would love to surprise him with a Legoland trip (maybe) - we shall see what the summer brings. For now, I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I have a first grader!!