As of this past Wednesday, there's a Pre-K graduate in the house! As Quincy, from Little Einstein's says, "I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!" Gosh, it FLEW by!!

Sending her off, that very first day, was the hardest day of my life (and probably hers, too!). To me, it was worse than labor. Ha! Ever since she was born into this world, school was always in the back of my mind.

Being a past teacher, there's SO many things that I know and SO many things I'm picky about, when it comes to sending my kids to school. I'm SO grateful, that in the end, we found the best place for her to start her blossoming education in.

When I dropped her off that very first day, her hands out to me, screaming and crying, "MOMMY!! HELP ME!!!" as her teacher walked off with her, my heart was a mess and my tears were abundant.

But, every day after that, she fell more and more in love with school and I fell more and more in love with her JOY for school. It made me SO, SO happy when she never wanted to miss a day, even when she was sick, and when she ran inside every morning with a BIG smile on her face when I dropped her off. Oh the JOY that filled me!!

Her (and I) have grown SO much during her Pre-K journey.It's funny, because I was trying SO hard to capture her entire body in her last day pictures, like I did on first day, but she's grown SO much in height. I didn't have a chair around to stand on. And, yes, these pics are all posed...something I'm not fond of doing. But, I'm glad I did. ;)

SO, teeny tiny on that first day!! And, now, her dress has a permanent white spot from her fun days at school doing Art projects! :)

Every day, while she was at school, I'd set an intention that she LOVED school, LOVED her friends, her friends LOVED her, she LOVED learning and that she's always surrounded by teachers, friends and caregivers who uplift her, LOVE her for WHO she is and help her inner confidence SOAR. And that I would let go of my "she's at school without ME!" fears and stay in faith and trust that she's fabulously growing in the best, nourishing care, just like I have and still am.

When she first started, she was always touching her hair tie, like this...

One teacher even asked me about it and I told her it's a comforting thing and she most likely gets it from me. I didn't realize how much I touch my bobby pins in my hair, until after I saw her doing this. Ha!

Once she got more into the flow of school, this hair tie comforting passed. I know she's going to do this her first few weeks of Kindergarten, though. ;)

She started out never wearing bows. After the third day, she came home asking to wear bows, and after that weekend, she wore them every day. Awwwweeeeee!! I, personally, LOVE them on her. I was shocked at myself, because I'm not a mom who wanted to put big bows in my daughter's hair. But wow, I've fallen in love with her love for them.

What I LOVE the most is how now, she LOVES wearing her socks high. I LOVED doing this, too, when I was her age. LOVE that she LOVES it, too!

At her mid-term report, her teacher told me every single intention I had for her; she loves school, she's well-liked by all her classmates, she's social and loves learning. Oh, thank goodness!!!!

A few weeks back, her assistant teacher told me, "Camille is so enthusiastic. She does everything with so much joy and enthusiasm. You can tell it's her personality. I just love her."

When she told me those words, I walked out with happy tears. Every single word is EXACTLY what I strive to instill in my children. And, not to mention, it's been AMAZING to see the friendships she's formed.

I know that one of the most important ways I'm doing this for her is through mindless, doodling play. I know, that because I give her time to relax her mind through doodling, it's showing in her school work.

What I know about the education system, I'm crossing my fingers, that her LOVE for school continues for many, MANY years to come. Especially as she enters longer days in Kindergarten.

I said, "What are you doing??? The pledge???" as I snapped her last day of school pictures. I didn't ask her to do this. Ha!

She got all giddy and laughed and said, "YES!!!" She gets a little shy when I watch her do something that she learned at school. Awww!

Oh, I could SAVOR this all day long. It's these moments that I wish I could witness everyday while she's at school, with her classmates. :)

In the end, after dropping her off each morning, and hearing all her friends call out to her, "Camille! Camille!" when they saw her walk through the door, my mama heart calmed and it continued to fill with SO much JOY and happiness. Just like hers!

Especially when she'd come home everyday and talk all about her day and pretend to play with her friends from school. SO, SO CUTE!

When I look back on that first EMOTIONAL day, I now see it as just a blur to how much growth and soul nourishment we both were filled with throughout the year. That day though, will always be forever engrained in my heart. I can still SEE the fear on her face and FEEL exactly how her and MY emotions FELT as I type about it and think about it. It still makes me wanna cry.

But, after that day, and throughout the year, I learned to let go and stay focused on the nourishing growth my kids will go through while out in the big o'le world without me. Because, I sure did grow and I'm still growing, too! And as for Camille, she's definitely grown SO much into her independent, happy self. Just the way life's supposed to be, right? Right!

I'm hoping baby bro transitions much smoother though. I think he will since he would scream and cry when he couldn't STAY in her classroom. Oh man!!

Pre-K was such a special time and I'm sad that the year has ended, but, I'm SO excited for her journey into big girl school this August.

Yes, I'm a little nervous with the transition; new school, new teachers, new routines, new friends (oh man, because she LOVES her friends at Pre-K...I wish they could all be with her in Kinder), but I know now, that after that first day, again, she'll be filled with SO much inner growth and soul nourishment.

And when conflicts arise, in school and outside of school, it's all there to help her (and I) grow more and more into WHO she truly is and what she truly LOVES!

She, too, will tell me, that she's excited for Kindergarten, but she's a little nervous. Awww! I tell her, it's normal to be nervous. Whenever we start something new, something we've never done before, it's exciting, but it can also make us nervous. But, once we start, we meet people and do things that bring us lots of FUN! (Words that I need to remind myself with, daily!)

And let me tell ya, I'm definitely nervous (and excited!) about having her away from lil' bro and I for a longer period of time come August, so I'm doing everything I can to SAVOR these slow, summer days at home with her.

But, what I know for sure, now, is that once we all get into the Kindergarten flow, that long period of time will helps us ALL grow, just like her Pre-K days did for us!

My blogging may slow down a bit in June and July, but when time opens up, I'll still be here, sharing inspiration. I still have SO many blog posts lined up to share!!

So if you happen to notice that I haven't blogged in a few days or weeks, it's because I'm taking that extra time to love up my little one's, especially my soon-to-be Kindergartner (aaahhhhh!! SO bittersweet!!)

Oh, and I'll be doodling a lot, too, so my mind is calm and ready for our first day of Kindergarten transition day!

Until next time...

Life IS full of growth...SAVOR it up!