Last Day of Kindergarten

OHMIGOODNESS!!!

I've got me an almost first grader!!

WHAT THE HECK?!?

When did this happen?? What is going on?? Where did the time go?? Seriously!!! 

I swear (!!) just a couple months ago I was picking up Cookie from her daycare (the pre-kinder days) and now I'm picking her up on the last day of her kinder year!! 

OH...... MY...... GOODNESS!!! 

**Breathe, Crystal, breathe** 

I think I'm starting to hyperventilate...

~~~~ a good ten minutes pass~~~~

Okay, I'm back... had to pull myself together. I feel like I'm going to walk to the kitchen and come back to a sixteen year old!! I feel like I'm totally taking on that Asian stereotype--I can't go anywhere without a camera in-hand or around my neck. If you thought I was crazy at taking pics before... oh... OH (!!)... you have no idea the damage I can do to a camera's memory card! 

As of late, I find myself uploading from 3 different devices nowadays. In any given night, you'll see 3 USB cords connecting 3 cameras and me at the keyboard either reviewing or editing (actually, both) pics and videos and then I'll eventually get to posting them up on this here blog. I'm not about to miss out on any moments with Cookie!! (As if you couldn't already tell, sigh...) With all the technology that surrounds us these days, I better look into investing in data memory for the thousands upon thousands of pics/videos I'm going to have... and a little tidbit for ya--in Cookie's first month of life, I had taken almost 300 pics!! Granted, I'm nowhere near that number these days, but it can get a bit up there... yikes...

Ever since I met my wee one, I've been told by numerous parents about how quickly time passes and before I know it, burping, changing diapers, sleepless nights, first words, first steps will only be distant memories. They pretty much are now and Cookie's only 6! Who knows what I won't be remembering by the time she's 10, 12, 15, 18! That's another reason I record and have a camera on-hand at all times... LITERALLY! (But I bet most of y'all kinda already knew that, didn't ya? Hehe. And if not, then we must have just met, haha.) 

When I had gone to pick up Sophia at school, I was kinda sad myself (okay... more than "kinda" but let's not talk about that now) that Mr. V won't be Sophia's teacher anymore. She loves him and so do I. Of course, I didn't spend nearly as much time w/ him as she did, but there are times that you get a person's vibe... and I can feel it and from the bits I've seen - that he is definitely one of those rare teachers that's made a mark in Sophia's life... as anybody can tell by the letter she wrote for him (below). I feel fortunate that Sophia began her school life with a teacher like him!

Reading her letter to him makes me want to cry... she mentions how he is "the bestest in the whole wide world" and how she will miss him when she's in first grade, then asks if he will miss her... (excuse me as I wipe my tears... so bittersweet!). She ends it with "I love you the mostest." AWWWW!!! How endearing is that?? Seriously!

~~~I'll be right back... gotta grab another tissue.~~~

What I don't understand is why can't the school just move up the teacher and the class all together?? C'mon! Is that so hard to ask for?? Just to have one teacher for all 13 years of school?? Hahahaha! I know, I'm being dramatic; but this is the process you'll have to bear with me as Cookie hits highlights in her growing up... and I ain't gonna lie, it'll probably get much uglier than this down the line, haha.

Along with having to say good-bye to Mr. V for the summer, we also had to say "see ya soon!" to Sophia's after-school care teachers (who are freakin' AWESOME and a half!!!!)

Again, I cannot stress enough how grateful I am that Sophia was under the care of such wonderful teachers/individuals!! Though Cookie's developed a bond with all four teachers, her strongest bond is with Ms. Karen (far left)--Sophia will mention how she lovvvvves Ms. Karen... it is SO SWEET!! Absolutely warms my heart!!! This program did so much for all the kiddos... can't tell you how many shows I've been to and to even hear of the things they teach the kids... nothing less than awesome!! 

Okay, I'm sorry... I feel like I'm just repeating myself over and over and being all sorts of emotional. For the rest of this post, I'm going to try to calm it and tone the dramatics down a bit... BUT, I ain't promisin'... cause it's unlikely to work out that way. So, just a little warning... haha...

Back to Sophia and some various shots...

Just a quick snap with Ella (Shahaf's sis) before leaving for summer break

One of my MOST FAVE sounds in the whole wide freakin' world is to hear this cutie laugh whole-heartedly... need to capture it to make it into my ring tone, hehe... nah, I'm not that obsessed about my kid......... uh... actually, yeah I am... and I'm cool with that, haha.

Had NO idea she was doing this face! Was totally cracking up after looking at the cam to see how the pic had turned out, HAHAHA!!

We walked out of the store having found an awesome deal on this purchase, hahahahaha!!

Um... yeah... not sure what's going on here. And that man in the back is totally pic-bombing, haha.

Your guess is as good as mine... I don't know why Eli's posing like that either, haha! Maybe I caught him while he was getting ready to pose...?? Oh, well... random awkward pics are okay, too.

YAY! Mama and Cookie... LOVE!

And lastly, we ended the evening with one of Sophia's fave things.........

ICE CREAM!!!!

Couldn't have it any other way!

Okay, folks, that's it for now. This mama is t-i-r-e-d! But had to get this posted--been sitting on this too long. There's so much more I want to post but trying to do my best to get it in chronological order... but I can see that not always happening. Ah, well, we'll see...

Anyhow...

Thank you for checking out this closing chapter of Sophia's life... 

'Til the next time...

:::LOVE:::

Cookie & Mama