preschool graduation

today was hayden's very last day of preschool. he's been going to the b. beck center since january of 2005 so i guess it's time to move on.
mom was kind enough to come over bright and early this morning to watch talan so that i could go to hayden's school and participate (take pictures) in their "graduation" activities. unfortunately it had rained a bit in the morning and we were expecting storms to move in a bit later (which we still haven't seen) so they had to move the party inside.
i got there when the kids were doing their morning routine, all of them dressed in tie-dyed shirts that their teacher had made. we then all headed down to the gym for the "special guest." i had been thinking that maybe the special guest would be their old teacher, mrs. bauman, who left for maternity leave in february. when i pulled up to the school and was walking in, i noticed a clown getting out of her car. awesome.
all of the kids were actually very excited to sit and watch the clown routine. after, they all got up and played with the parachute they had been sitting on. then they were able to pick stations like trampoline, basketball, pin the nose on the clown (which i was in charge of), bean bag toss and body painting that the clown did for all of the kids. hayden ended up having the clown paint a snake on his arm...his shirt sleeve is still rolled up to show it all off.
everyone then all sat down for a story about kindergarten, they gave their teacher a present, and then sat down for snack. cheese, crackers, grapes, watermelon, cookies, and cupcakes. but the favorite thing for most of them were the rootbeer floats. hayden, of course, would not mix his ice cream with his rootbeer but he was just as excited as the rest of them to have one cup of rootbeer and one of ice cream.
after snack we all headed outside to play for a bit where mrs. bauman and her two children came for a little visit. hayden really didn't care about saying too many goodbyes, as he just wanted to get home to show grandma his painted arm. hayden's teachers will be coming over to the house on june 3rd for an "in home visit" to go over all that he learned this year so maybe he'll give them more of a goodbye then.
and so the last day of preschool is over and i have about 3 months to prepare myself for sending him off to kindergarten. even though i'm wondering what in the world to do with him all summer long, i know that it just won't be long enough.
congratulations on graduating preschool, hayden!!!

last bus ride to preschool:


the jannie annie show:




parachute fun:




pin the nose on the clown:

body paint:

she was a very nice clown, although i'm sure that's what they said about john wayne gacy, too:
ariana and hayden:
reading a book about kindergarten before snack time:
ms. hornyak opening her gift that all of the kids signed:
oh, boys. zachary, justin, hayden and elijah:
he loves rootbeer:
ms. karen, hayden and ms. hornyak:

always with the slides:
bianca and hayden. hayden's not that short, bianca is just that tall. hayden LOVES her and talks about wanting to go to her house all of the time:
hayden, his teacher for the first half of the year, mrs. bauman, and her baby, drew:

bowling comes to an end...again

yesterday was the bowling party for hayden's bowling league. the kids were able to bowl for over an hour, they had pizza and pop and got trophies (which were different than the ones from the last session). hayden, of course, had the highest score of all of the kids and made it to all 15 weeks. we've decided to take a break over the summer but we'll most likely sign up again in the fall/winter seasons.

another spare!:
getting his trophy:
the new trophy:
hayden, devon and jenna wardwell (i went to school with their mom):

field trip to kindergarten

the other week we went to kindergarten registration. as if i don't blog, i totally forgot my camera at home. not that there was anything too interesting to take pictures of, but ya know....we registered for kindergarten!
well today, hayden's preschool class took a walking field trip over to macgowan school where he, and most of his classmates, will be attending kindergarten next year.
we went into one of the kindergarten classrooms and heard a story and sang a song with them. then we headed back outside where they all got a popsicle and then ran around the front lawn. hayden was quite upset that they didn't get to play at the kindergarten "park" but we had to get walking back to school so the kids could eat snack and then get on the bus.
the school seems really nice and it's only a school for kindergarten and 1st grade which i really like. the preschool program he is in now will actually be moving to that building next year as well, so his teachers will get to see him sometimes. we met the principal who seems VERY sweet and i have been told wonderful things about her.
we had always hoped to be out of redford before our first kid started kindergarten. doesn't seem like that will be happening. but at least i have heard that the kindergarten/1st grade program is actually one of the best anywhere around. our new goal is out before middle school!!!
almost every year in school there has been 1 kid that hayden has problems with. if he ends up getting in trouble, the other kids name usually follows. this year, it's justin. i think the two are just a little too similar and even if they aren't fighting (which i believe they do) they just get each other in trouble. hayden and justin were in close proximity to each other almost the whole day today and there weren't any problems. back in the class justin held up a book and said "hayden!" and hayden said "that's ok, you can read it today justin." then he looked at me and said "wasn't that nice of me?!" well...i guess so, although why would you have to tell him he can read a book when you aren't even on the reading rug?! oh he loves control.
hayden is very excited for kindergarten and thought that since we went today, he starts tomorrow. we've tried explaining that it doesn't start until after summer. september 5th to be exact. and that seems to close for me.

heading over to macgowan school:
justin, ariana (i love her), hayden and tommy:
the principal showing the kids into the kindergarten classroom:
story time in kindergarten:

hayden's class enjoying a popsicle:
talan and his scrunchy face came along too:running around:
his teacher, mrs. hornyak and his new principal (i don't know her name now, but i'm sure i will VERY soon):
we all stopped at this house to see the HUGE fish in this little redford backyard pond:

a hard day's nite

we have a newish bedtime around our house. 7pm. and it is magical. nobody ever told me i could put my kids to bed at 7pm and i wish they would have.
basically, hayden stopped taking naps during the day which led to an even more cranky kid. on top of no napping, he wakes up at 6am sometimes even before that (he's not supposed to leave his room until 7, although he's been trying to change that rule lately, like today being downstairs before 6am i believe). even though he can more or less tell time, when we told him we were changing bedtime from 8pm to 7pm, he didn't fight us at all. weird.
i look at it like this. if bedtime was 8pm, that meant he started getting ready at 8pm. so by the time he got changed, went potty, brushed his teeth, had a book read to him and then finally fell asleep it was about 9pm. so starting at 7pm just means he's getting to sleep around 8pm. there are some nites he is so tired that we don't hear a sound from him after putting him to bed.
he's a super active kid that never stops so he still would take naps if he actually laid in his bed. but these days i just hear him in there playing and about an hour later he "sneaks on me" by crawling as quietly as he can down the hall, into the kitchen and to the basement stairs thinking i don't hear him. the days that we go somewhere, he typically always falls asleep in the car because he really is that tired. he just refuses to give it up when at home.
so last nite dave put him to bed and we heard him in there playing. it's rare that he does that at nite but i just decided to let it go as i figured he'd be out in no time. dave and i were watching our thursday nite lineup on tv (which is a big one!) and i thought i heard hayden. suddenly he pops up from the side of the couch and starts giggling. it was pretty funny. so we send him back to bed. and we hear him playing some more.
after a bit i didn't hear anything. i looked at dave and asked how much he bets he had just crashed on his floor. a little while later i got up and noticed he had a little light on in his room. so i open the door to turn it off and check on him and this is what i find:



he even built a ramp out of his pillow and stuffed dog. quite creative. even after a full day and at 9pm.