Another Preschool Graduate

 May was an exciting month for one special little kid. This kid is no longer a preschooler. His name is....

ELI!!

 His last year of preK ended about a week ago & I truly can't believe it is already time to send this little fella (that I was just snuggling in my arms, wrapped in a hospital blanket)  off to Kindergarten in the fall. Where.Does.Time.Go?

Ugh. I can't dwell on that now.

Back to the happy, "glass half full" side of this story.
No more preschool tuition. Woot Woot!
No more driving 20 minutes to preschool twice a day/3x a week. (Saving on gas money. Woot!)
My boy has made friends, loved his teachers, & is EAGER & READY for Kindergarten.

We have been so blessed by the preschool program that both our boys went to. We have absolutely loved all the teachers we have had (so much so that we requested these lovely ladies for Eli since Jackson had already had them & they are FABULOUS). They truly love the kids & the kids love them. What more can I ask for but for my kid to feel loved & accepted? Who wouldn't want to learn in that kind of environment? Thank you Mrs. White & Mrs. Hensley!

 

The graduation ceremony was adorable. The kids filed into the sanctuary in their white caps & gowns to the official graduation march.
 
I told myself that I wasn't going to cry this go round. That I had already done this & knew what to expect, so I wasn't going to cry. They sang a few songs & I held it together great! I was so proud! Here are the songs that they sang... Each video is a different song & I couldn't choose just one. They are all cute in their own way (either cute signing, funny lyrics, etc...) Plus, I figured the grandparents that couldn't be there would like to see what they missed! (ADORABLE, I tell ya!)

First up was "Good Morning to You." Eli is in the center of the front row. Just look for the khaki pants & black shoes hanging out the bottom of the gown. You can't miss him then! Second verse is the best because it is silly & Eli has a hard time with silly when he is nervous (& it shows in all these videos!)

Next up was the "Number Rock" & Eli got more into this one! (They all did, actually!)

Then they sang "God is Good to Me" & they did some great signing & a cute little stroll on this one!

Then they sang "Let's Love One Another" (so sweet!)

And then "God is So Good" and another great job of signing! My little man is great at sign language!

But then, they sang my favorite little kid song...
and I fell apart. Couldn't take any more. I had to let the floodgates loose! And as luck would have it, my camera SD card blinked "full". Grrr.
 So, no video of them singing "Little Me."

Then it was time to hand out diplomas. Eli stood there, patiently waiting his name to be called. And off he went to get his diploma! He's a graduate!

After the ceremony, there was a small reception. We didn't eat anything (Although I grabbed a cupcake for Eli to go!). But we did stop in to see the self portraits that the kids made and say some goodbyes. I love this self portrait. In fact, I love it so much that it is already framed & in the hallway!

And I had to take note that his picture was next to Lilli's picture. Almost as if they are holding hands.

 The real life Lilli & Eli aren't holding hands, but I think they would if we gave them half a chance. Of all the kids Eli talks about, I hear Lilli's name the most. He has even created a profile for her on his LeapPad. Yeah, he's got a crush for sure! She is one sweet, shy, cutie though!

 Congrats to our little man! We are so proud of you!

Fairy Tale Ball

 Today was Jackson's Fairy Tale Ball at school. This has been talked about in the Moss household for about a month now. Jackson has been so excited. The ball was a cooperative effort of the 2nd grade teachers, along with the PE & Music teacher. They are studying a unit on Fairy Tales in the classroom & so they learned the Waltz in PE and a special song about a waltz in music class. Then all their hard work was put together in the Fairy Tale Ball.

They walked in through the door of the castle...

 

  

Then they all stood on the bleachers & sang/swayed to a song about Teddy Bears Waltzing...

 

But, the best part was after the song, when they all lined up with their partners & began dancing the waltz.

 Melt.My.Heart.  

  

I thought I had the tears under control.

And then he did this....

 

Oh.My.Word. Floodgates began all over again as soon as that twirl happened. It was the most precious thing I have ever seen. 

Here is the video of it... (I added a few captions to help you find him & to know when a twirl was coming up, but they don't appear in the correct place unless you view full size, or on Youtube site!)

After the kids finished dancing, they announced that they we were to head to the dance floor because our kids were going to teach us the Waltz! What!?  

Yep... Tears again, as soon as he showed me where to put my hand in his...

 

Here is a video that Randy took of us waltzing together... A little blurry at first, but then he gets it together!

Man, I don't think I could love this kid one iota more!

 

After the waltz was over, they started the Chicken Dance Song! It was so funny! No pictures of that, but don't you worry- we shook our tooshies!

Eli was very excited when it was all over, because- well, you know- he has to get a big hug in! Huggiest kid in history, that Eli!

 The most handsome 2nd grader in that gym today was my little man. You didn't have any doubts, did you!?

 And we had to sneak in a picture of him & Mrs. Daves. I don't think he could love a teacher more than he loves this woman. She dotes on him, loves on him, hugs him, calls him wonderful and amazing. And then she tells us how she "wants to just keep this one." I wish we could keep HER for about 4 more years!! :)

 

And here is the official dance partner picture. Jackson & his friend, Hannah.

And here is our family! We managed to snag someone to take our picture & everyone cooperated! Miracle in & of itself!

What fun today was! Maybe Jackson can teach me the jive next!!

Big Milestone!

Big news around the Moss house:

Here is your hint....Yep.
You guessed it! Eli is no longer using training wheels on his bike!!

I really think it was more of a confidence thing for him than ability. He liked knowing he wasn't going to fall. But when you have a big brother who wants to get out there & help you....It's hard to refuse the offer! Jackson literally taught him how to ride all on his own. And I think that is so special!

Everything from using the brakes, to putting your foot down so you don't fall when stopping- all Jackson's doing. The only thing I helped with was showing him (in literally one pep talk/take off) that he really could take off all on his own.... He just needed the encouragement to see for himself. And he thought I was holding on to him!

Voila! A new independent bike rider over at our house!

Here's a video of him riding!

Eli's Entertainment

My child is very imaginative. We listen to him talk to himself all day long some days, totally engrossed in his own play schemes. Sometimes he does things that seem odd, and then upon further inspection is pretty inventive.... Enter: Today's video!

I had come upstairs to get started folding some laundry and Eli hates, i mean HATES, to be on one level of the house all by himself. So, naturally, he picked up his cars & headed upstairs with me. This is where he ended up....

Blast from Valentine's past

I was cleaning out my old photo folders on my computer tonight (because my computer is starting to get bogged down & run slow...) when i came across this old video. I have no idea why I didn't post this last year, but I just had to when i came across it! This is classic Jackson right here, people! This was just last year, but whoa, has he grown since then! His face looks so "baby" here to me even though it was just a year ago!

And excuse the mismatched table. We refinished the table but never refinished the leaf (yet) & it must have still been in place from Jackson's birthday....

Enjoy! I giggled several times! And make sure you watch until the end to hear Randy's advice to Jackson... classic Randy!

Randy Bon Jovi

Who needs Jon Bon Jovi, when you are married to Randy? This video is just a little snippet of my life with him. And this is one of the reasons I love him so, because he keeps me laughing. And i am sure this is a side of him that many of you could have never imagined. Those of you who only see him in his shy, reserved self. But, at home, he lets loose...... Here's the proof. This was the boys bath time & I couldn't resist recording once he started singing....

A White Day-After Christmas!

We woke up the day after Christmas to 9, yes, NINE inches of snow! It was so pretty & I love how snow makes everything so quiet outside. It is amazing how quiet it gets!

Ready to get to work out here! Look at me, Mama!
The snow was almost all the way up my boots....And it WAS up to Eli's knees!You couldn't pay me money to roll around in the cold, wet, snow like this:Me & the boys....

They had a blast pelting each other with snow balls!All snowballs are NOT created equal!Zack also warmed up rather quickly to the idea of running around in the snow. He was a crazy, wild animal out there!
This was literally the ONLY shot i got of him standing still & i took a bazillion trying!The day after the snow fell, we drove over to Mema's to sled on her driveway. As usual, it's a great spot & the boys had sooo much fun!
Here's a great video of them sledding, over & over again once the driveway melted a little & got good & slick! Enjoy!

Eli's Preschool Party

Eli had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party at school & was so excited for weeks building up to this party. From years past, when Jackson was in this age group- i knew they would be singing. So i made sure i had my video ready! Here the class is singing Jingle Bells & We wish you a Merry Christmas... Eli is on the far right, singing, but in a very shy manner!



And here are the photos of him with is class eating lunch...

and eating his sugary treats...

and this is the "reindeer" he decorated with a brownie, pretzels, & m&ms... Cute!

Early Holiday Gift

As an early little holiday surprise, we took the boys to see Disney's Toy Story 3 on Ice at the RBC center in early December. We kept it a secret until we were on our way there & they were soooo excited once they learned what we were doing! We were able to get discount tickets through our friends Daniel & Randi via Duke & it was such an awesome show! We were able to get 2 tickets for Marie & Kaleb too & all the boys were thrilled!


BUZZ! He came in with style, as you can see!

Buzz & RexJesse, Ham, Woody, Stretch, & an army man
Here is a video of the opening song "You've Got a Friend in Me" where Andy is singing to the toy Woody....

and this is a video i couldn't resist - mainly for Emma & Leah- they LOVE this song & thought they'd enjoy this with scene with Jesse & all the toys dancing!
** Edit to post: Apparently I uploaded the wrong video! This is still a video of the show -( some dialogue between Buzz & Woody about Buzz thinking he is a real space ranger) but I must have the other video of the Miley Cyrus : Hoedown, Throwdown song on my other camera! Whoops! Sorry!