Another Year Over

Yeeeee haaaaaaa!  Let summer vacation begin!  No more lunches...no more folders...no more lunches...no more permission slips...no more lunches...no more backpacks...no more LUNCHES!  I know it is trivial, but I hate packing lunches.  It's not that it is hard, I just hate doing it!

So anyway, this time of year always make me sad ~ especially this year.  Zachary goes to 7th grade.  A new building, a new schedule for him.  He's excited tho.  I love my guy.  He received the award for "Most Christ-Like Boy" this year.  I am so proud of him!   

Josh had to say good-bye to his friends (for next year anyway).  He (along with Sarah) is going to the neighborhood school next year.  That makes me sad too.  He really wanted to go last year but (for whatever reason), we didn't let him go.  I think now the reality is setting in that he won't be with his old friends next year.  He's having second thoughts.  We told him to give it a year.  If he doesn't like it he can go back to his old school next year.  I think he will be fine.  He makes friends easily.  He is such a positive, upbeat kid with a generous heart.

Sarah....sweet Sarah will be changing schools too.  She is excited.  Her graduation was one of the most heart-wrenching emotional things I have gone thru in a long time ~ lol~! No really...I have been thru K-4 graduation twice already, but this time was especially hard.  There was not a dry eye in the house!  The poor teachers were crying as they called out their names.  I made the mistake of reading the inside of the program right after I got there.  It was a letter from the teachers to the parents.  I am going to copy it and make it a prayer for all my kids teachers in the years to come.  I pray they all will feel this for their students.   Here's what it said:

We give back your children, the same children you confidently entrusted to our care last fall.  We give them back pounds heavier, inches taller, more responsible, and more mature than they were then.

Although they would have obtained their growth in spite of us, it has been our pleasure and privilege to watch their personality unfold day by day and marvel at the splendid miracle of development.

We give them back reluctantly, for having spent ten months together in the narrow confines of a crowded classroom, we have grown close, have become part of each other, and we shall always retain a little of each other.

Ten years from now if we meet on the street, your child and I, a light will shine to our eyes, a smile to our lips, and we shall feel the bond of understanding once more, this bond we feel today.

We have lived, laughed, played, studied and enriched our lives together this year.

We wish it could go on indefinitely, but give them back we must.

Take care of them, for they are precious.

Remember that we shall always be interested in your child and their destiny, wherever they go, whatever they do, whoever they become.

Their joys and sorrows we'll be happy to share.

We will always be their friends.

With much love,
JR K Teachers
Can you see why I was a puddle through the whole thing?  This class is so special.  No really...they are a great group of kids.  The all got along, and were just really an amazingly sweet bunch.  Everyone - parents included - just "clicked" this year.  They are so special.  I'm going to miss being with them.  Ava will be in that class next year, so I get to do it again.  I just hope next year is even more amazing!  Is that possible tho?  :-)

My kids were blessed with amazing teachers this year.  They love their students and have their best interests at heart.  I love them all and am eternally grateful for them and the impact they have made on my kids lives this year.  Love you ladies ~ so very much!  Hope you have a happy, restful summer!

Toddlers and Tiaras

Yes -- now THIS is the real deal.  Forget that show on TLC (or whatever channel it is on).  Watching that show is like watching the aftermath of a bad accident.  You watch in awe and think it is so bad but you can't not watch!


No, this is about the most beautiful little (and big!) girls dancing to "Aurora's Wedding".  (QUIZ: Do you know which princess is named "Aurora"?  You are not allowed to answer if you have a little girl under the age of 9!  If you don't know, I'll tell you ~ at the end of the post!)  Maybe it was because one of them was my own.  Nevertheless, even though it literally was "a dark and stormy night" outside, the performance inside all but made up for it. 

Mrs. Carrie Jean is an amazing woman.  She choreographs the entire ballet - which incorporates the tiniest little jumping beans up to the most graceful ballerina.  Being able to do that and do it well is a feat in itself.  :-)  She truly loves these girls (and boys!)  She invests time ~ lots of time ~ and with little compensation.  She teaches them scripture and prays with them.  She brings it down to their level.  In December, she had a "Mommy and Me" class (which btw kicked my butt was not as easy as it sounds).  At the end she told the kids the Christmas story using miniature candy bars (like, the 3 wise men [aka "Three Muskateers"] found the babe ["Baby Ruth"]).  I love how she calls them (the three and four year-olds) "little ballerinas".  Even at the recital, she is out there on stage with them and when it was time for them to run off you could hear her calling, "Run to me ballerinas!"  Precious I tell you...or maybe I am just sappy.

Before the performance, she went to every room (each age group had their own "dressing" room) and quoted their Bible verse and prayed with them.  That just warms my heart! 

I am so very greatful for Carrie Jean.  She invests so much into the lives of these kids and she does it selflessly and with lots of love.  Thank you for being Christ's servant!