Hey there Sweet Shoppers! Jen Tapler here with my first “Days of Bliss” Blog Post. I have to say, I know it’s been going for awhile now and it’s really not all that new anymore, but I’m still super excited about this new-ish format and lovin’ stopping by the blog each day and getting a glimpse into the daily lives of the talented ladies that make the Sweet Shoppe rock!

This time of year is so busy, probably for everyone in the U.S. as we are all winding down school years, gearing up for summer vacations, finishing up that Spring Cleaning that didn’t quite get finished a few months ago (ahem…tell me I’m not the only one??), etc etc. The last few weeks in the Tapler household were especially crazy as we wrapped up a 2-week visit from my mother-in-law and celebrated my son’s Preschool Graduation. Dean is an only child so I don’t have prior experience with these things other than my own, but it seems to me that things like this get a little bit over-done in Hawaii. If I remember correctly my preschool graduation likely consisted of the teacher handing us a little slip of paper on the last day of school after snacktime and then quickly snapping a polaroid photo of me in a paper graduation cap which she then sent home with me that day and that was that. Well, things are quite a bit different these days (at least here in Hawaii). Dean’s preschool graduation was held on a Friday evening at the Wailea Marriott Resort Ballroom (this is a VERY upscale ocean-front resort in ritzy Wailea where room rates are currently a minimum of $500/night – so this was NOT your local VFW or Community Center rec room type of place!). Dean’s class – the Dolphin Class – prepared for their Graduation program / performance for several weeks. They put on about a 30-minute performance before the actual graduation ceremony and I have to say, it was stinkin’ ADORABLE!

The ceremony started with all of the children entering the ballroom wearing their home-made Superhero capes with the Superman theme music playing! (Dean’s cape, handmade by yours truly, was blue with red pom-pom fringe, a black felt jewel-outlined “shield” with his name on it and a star underneath – it was so cute!). Once they reached the stage, each child walked across and did a slow turn at the front before taking a seat. They sang a song in Japanese, then a Superhero-themed song with a “hip-hop” type of dance. Next, each child came to the front and told how they thought they could be a “hero” and make the world a better place – Dean said “My name is Dean and I will help people that are sick”. The class then sang “Maui: Hawaiian Super Man” by Isreal Kamakawiwo’ole while dancing hula. Then (my favorite), they sang “With My Own Two Hands” by Jack Johnson and Ben Harper. After their performance, the children went out of the room to change out of their capes and into the most adorable little caps and gowns. They then walked onto the stage again in a formal processional, this time to Pomp and Circumstance, and received a “diploma” and maile lei. After graduation, many of the children exchanged congratulatory lei and we had a few lei for Dean as well, as is tradition in Hawaii. It was so cute to see Dean loaded down with lei, so proud of himself! He made plenty shakas for the camera!!

I haven’t yet officially scrapped all of the photos from that night yet, but I did want to share a few of them with you (please excuse the poor quality of the photos – unfortunately it was very dark in the ballroom and none of my photos turned out very well). Since I don’t have a layout to share, I quickly loaded a handful of my fave photos into Janet’s All These Photos 1 Collage Templates so they look somewhat nice and pretty for sharing here on the blog (I LOVE using Janet’s Collage Templates for quickly and easily sharing photos on my family blog!). The papers are from Dani’s Super Pop. Also, please notice that my son is wearing long PANTS – this is a BIG DEAL for him as this is the first time in his entire life he has ever worn long pants!  And no, he did not wear “real” shoes – he doesn’t own real shoes and I refused to buy them for one occasion! He (along with every other kid in his class) just wore his regular old rubber slippers (flip flops to those of you not in Hawaii).  He is a Maui Boy.

As part of the graduation ceremony, each child was given a photo of themselves in their little cap and gown. I decided to make a cute little hybrid altered frame to hold this adorable photo and Dani’s Super Pop kit was released at the perfect time – I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect kit to remember Dean’s Superhero themed Preschool Graduation!!

And that wraps up Dean’s Preschool Graduation! He’ll be headed to Kindergarten in August at Pomaika’i Elementary School in Kahului, which is a brand-new school just around the corner from our house. We’re excited about the completely Arts-Integrated curriculum and have heard wonderful things about the principal and teachers. We hope this will be a good fit for Dean and our family. Dean’s preschool experience was amazing and I can’t believe how much he thrived in the last 2.5 years at Children’s Garden. They had so many fun programs including weekly Hawaiian and Japanese classes (Dean already has a very good grasp of both of these languages) as well as hula and I am fascinated at how much the teachers there have fostered a love of learning in such young children. One of my greatest hopes is that Dean’s love of learning continues to grow in the years ahead.