Ethan's Shadowbrook End of Year Party

On Wednesday, Ethan said goodbye to Shadowbrook :-(((

It was his very last day in the 4 year old class and they ended the year with an outdoor party.

First, some pizza...

 Next up, a hunt for seashells in the sand

 Followed by a water war

 (Ethan is in the very wet navy t-shirt squirting his buddy Mason)

 Then a little playground time

 And some bug chasing with butterfly nets. 

They're scoping out the bugs from here :-)

The chase begins...

Then Daddy asked him what he planned to do with the bugs after he caught them. 

Ethan wasn't too sure about the answer to that :-)

And some bubbles, which mostly entertained Caden and Sadie

 At the end of the party, I put the camera away to help with clean-up and completely forgot to take End-of-Year pictures with Ms. Janice and Ms. Tamara. So, I did what every other overly-emotional mommy does who is devastated that this chapter of her child's life is coming to an end and I emailed them to ask if I could bring him down the next day while the teachers were doing year-end wrap up to take pictures with him. Thankfully, they adore him(which some days completely baffles me ;-) and were happy to let me bring him back down for goodbye pictures. I'm totally going to the doctor this week to get on meds for my cry-fest!

Ms. Tamara and Ethan 

(He wore his Alabama shirt in honor of her)

Ms. Janice and Ethan

 As we were walking out and he was saying goodbye to everyone, he saw Ms. Joy, the Music and Movement teacher, at the door. Joy stopped to tell him how much she was going to miss him next year and he looked at her and said, "Ms. Joy, just remember how much I love you." Oh my gracious, in his pure preciousness, Joy, myself, and the Preschool Director, Ms. Carol, all started crying.

Ethan has such a sweet heart. He has already said that he will have to go to Ms. Janice's and Ms. Tamara's houses to go visit them since he will not be there in the fall and they have wholeheartedly told him to come on! Janice and Tamara have each told me repeatedly throughout the year that they love that he was placed in their class. Their love for him and his big personality in his little body as well as all of the other teachers at Shadowbrook that call him by name and make small talk with him whenever they see him regardless of whether or not he was ever in their class makes the end of his preschool years here so difficult for me. I thank God for every day here with these wonderful ladies that love my children so much. We could not have asked for a more nurturing and loving environment for either of them. A church-based preschool/MMO program was the one thing that most stressed me when we left Texas and moved home in October 2011 and God abundantly provided a gracious blessing when he placed us at Shadowbrook. 

Even though he was in a Pre-K class this year, we have decided it best for him to transition to a full day program before beginning Kindergarten especially considering his July birthday. This fall, Ethan will begin full day Pre-K at Duncan Creek Academy. While moving on to new adventures should be exciting, forgive me if I'm not quite there yet and still mourning the thought of leaving Shadowbrook.