The End of Preschool

Both kids have had such a wonderful experience at Union Center Preschool this year.  They have both grown, matured, and learned so much.
Emerson has blossomed into a little girl who gives her teachers hugs and tells them about her weekends and things she likes.  She has learned letter and counting skills that will help her greatly in Kindergarten.

Landon has made great strides in making friends with others and playing together.  His daily job was always to find a friend to play with and then tell me about it when I picked him up.  He continually amazes me with his gift for numbers and is reading on his own now.

 On Sunday, June 1st, Landon and Emerson graduated preschool.  They learned songs, got to tell about what they wanted to be when they grew up (Landon-teacher helper, Emerson-princess dress designer), and received a diploma and devotional book.

Emerson and her BFF Tessa.  They played together every day.

We are so proud of our graduates!

Miss Sam is so loved by these two.
She has the patience of a saint and always had great insight into our children.
We will all miss her!

Today, June 6th, was the last day for them to attend preschool.  I got a little teary eyed on my way to pick them up, but I am so excited for our summer together!  Here are some pictures from their last day.

Em wanted to dress like a cowgirl on her last day.  She wore a cowgirl hat, boots, and her Bible School shirt from last summer! ;)

 Here's a side by side first day and last day.  I don't notice the day by day changes, but boy, they sure look more grown up!

And I just couldn't resist this picture again from their first day.  I love that they are holding hands and look SO excited!

Summer Fun, Here We Come!!

Sunburst- Run For God

Matt has been training the last several months to run the 5K at the Sunburst Race in South Bend on May 31st.  He did a really good job running several times a week.  We are so proud of him and his hard work!  He met with the church group (Run for God) at 5:30 in the morning to be at the race by 7:15.  Amos, Jess, Grace, and Tyler led runs and Bible studies Saturday mornings for the group to train.
The kids made signs to support Daddy and his running.  Landon made a running map and Emerson drew Daddy running faster than Peter Rabbit.  Way to go Matt and all the other runners!
Kristina trained and ran the marathon...which is totally crazy! :)  She ran for 5 hours!  Me??  Well, I fully support all runners, but I am not a runner! :)

Emerson's 5th birthday

Emerson Elizabeth turned 5 this year!  It's so hard to believe, yet so amazing to watch kids grow.  Emerson is such a sweetheart.  She is kind, caring, and thoughtful.  She's always been a good problem solver and loves to help out.  At the moment, she really loves princesses, Barbies, and My Little Ponies (sounds a lot like my childhood! :)).

Emerson had quite a birthday weekend.  Her birthday was on a Friday and then her party was on Saturday.  She chose to go to Steak and Shake for her birthday dinner.  She is totally enthralled with "Frozen", which was the new Disney movie that came out late last year.  So she wanted a "Frozen" party.  She was also super excited because she got to invite her own friends this year, Tessa and Avery from church.

She's been wearing her Elsa dress quite frequently!

Pretty excited about designing Barbie dresses.  She's said she wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up.

By her birth tree...looking more like a senior in high school than a 5 year old!

She could hardly wait for her birthday party Saturday afternoon!  We had a great time decorating.  I was excited to use my snowflakes in May! :)  There were tons of ideas on the internet and Pinterest.

 Em and her friends disappeared upstairs and when they came down, they were all dressed as princesses.  The girls kept the dresses on through the party.

 After presents, the girls played outside on the playset.

 Then it was time for cake.  Do not let the cute Elsa on top fool you.  She took about 1 and 1/2 hours to assemble! :)  Matt decorated the rest of the cake with the snowmen, snow mountain, and frozen lake.

Happy Birthday, Emerson!  We are looking forward to see you grow and change in the coming year.