Something kind of big happened last Friday, Logan had his last day of preschool. In the fall he will be moving on to Kindergarten, thus an era has ended here in Mommyland. My kids are school aged, there are no more preschoolers and probably never will be again.

Logan’s first day of Preschool (nearly 3 years old)

I look at the photo above and I wonder how this happened? Logan is my little guy, how can he be finishing his time as a preschooler?

But then I think back to the little boy you see above and I look at the little boy before me and I am astonished at how much he’s grown. That little boy you see up there was still in diapers and he still slept in a crib. The little boy living in my house now snores like an old man in his big bed and the diapers are long gone. He can write his own name, he knows his address and phone number and can color inside the lines.

There are things that haven’t changed though, I’m still his best friend and he still loves to give unsolicited hugs and cuddles. Man I hope that never changes.

Sure his big brother came before him as a preschool graduate but it’s different now. We spent five years inside Calvary Lutheran Preschool, the teachers feel like family. They have become the loving aunts who looked after and taught my boys so many important and interesting things. The realization that I will probably not see any of them ever again is heartbreaking.

Some other things that have become dear to my heart are disappearing too. There will be no more homemade birthday treats to bring to school (our school district doesn’t allow it), no more Christmas shows, no more Mother’s Day Tea. Our twenty minute drives to school where we chat and sing will be replaced by a walk down the driveway to put him on the bus with his brother.

It’s bittersweet as we close out this chapter in our family’s story and get ready to start a new one. I know there are so many wonderful memories to be made and I’m very much looking forward to them all but I will always look back at these past few years with a fondness. Our family has changed so much but at the same time we’re still the same.

Good bye preschool, and thank you for the memories.

Logan’s last day of preschool (5 and a half years old)

On this day, ten years ago I graduated from Penn State. I can tell you what I wore. I can tell who from my family was there. I can even tell you, although with a little bit of shame, that I cried when I received my degree.

I walked with my classmates a decade ago. That’s nearly 1/3 of my lifetime ago. It feels like just yesterday and a full lifetime ago all at the same time.

What have I done?

In the years since my graduation I’ve worked for Fortune 500 companies. I’ve also worked for a Fortune 200 company. I’ve created communities. I’ve helped others. But I have to say that the accomplishment I’m most proud of in those ten years is my family.

What’s next?

My hopes for the next ten years? I want to continue to use that education in business and marketing to grow my reach online. I want to continue to build on the communities I have started and do the things that I love. Even more than that, I want to raise my boys to be good men like their father. Maybe by the time I’m writing about my 30th anniversary from Penn State I’ll have two PSU graduates of my own.