A Year Come and Gone?

Here I sit in Shulamith's kindergarten classroom, listening to her test a sweet (and very smart) little girl named Kaitlyn. I've been here at school with her several times since last May, but it's been a full year since the kindergarten testing week. In this particular week, kindergarten is cancelled, so the teachers can test each child one-on-one to determine his or her level in math and reading and overall readiness for first grade.

As I sit here, I can't help but ask, "How can a whole year have passed?" Really, it seems like just a bit ago, I sat here at this same computer and listened to her test each of her kids, one by one. By about the third child, I'm quite sure I could administer the test myself. Just like last year, I've been doing various things to get Shulamith's classroom cleaned up and ready for summer. I've pulled down many creative art projects from the walls. I've sprayed and wiped down all the shelves. I've organized books. And now, since I can't think of one more thing to do, I find myself here at my blog. This is in sharp contrast to when all the kids are here. There is absolutely no down time then. They are adorable but seriously high maintenance. Keep in mind...I'm used to students who are just a tad older.

Friday, I got to do two activities with her class. First, we made acrostic poems using the letters of their first names. They did an awesome job! I am beyond impressed by how smart these five and six-year-olds are and by how much they've learned over the course of the year. Each time I'm here they can do more. In the afternoon, we did readers' theatre productions. Shulamith took her lower readers and worked on "The Gingerbread Boy," while I worked with her higher kids on "The Three Little Pigs." We made hand puppets for each of the characters and then went to all the other kindergarten classes to perform our plays. So fun!

And now it is testing week. With only one child here at a time, it is so quiet. I will need to bring something to do tomorrow; Shulamith will have a full day of testing, and this classroom is about as clean and organized as I'm going to make it. After school tomorrow we get to look at more real estate. We looked at nine houses on Saturday, and we're scheduled to see a few more tomorrow. That process deserves a blog post of its own, so stay tuned. At this point, I'll say only this: It feels strangely surreal. After wanting this for so long---planning, hoping, wishing, waiting---it's now happening. We are actually in the process of moving to Utah. Wow.

Ah, Kaitlyn is finished with her test, Shulamith's last test of the day. We're off to pick up Isaiah for a birthday dinner celebration. Isaiah's birthday was April 15th, Shulamith's was the 30th, and Matt's is coming up on the 19th of May. It's a 3-birthday celebration!

A year come and gone so fast I hardly noticed. Do you think time could slow down just a little? Please!