Dear 2016-2017 School Year

Dear 2016-2017 School Year,

You showed me that 5th Grade truly rocks!

 
 

You gave me so many sweet, and sometimes even silly, smiles.

  

  

   

You let me see my students show their love for our weekly chapel time. And you helped me see growth in their love for Jesus and the truth of His love.

You gave me a class full of truly hard workers, each talented in so many ways.

 

 

 

You confirmed what I already knew... I had a class full of kids who loved reading!

 

 

You gave us a great TA this year. This guy worked so hard all year and my 5th graders loved having him with us during 5th period every day!

You brought us fun sports matches.

  

And speaking of sports, you showed us how much fun we could have celebrating the Cubs winning the World Series. Fun, even for a non-Cubs fan such as myself :)

You showed me how well my crew could work together.

 

 

 

In November, you brought us H2November, a day full of water, no classes, and lots of fun!

You brought us all sorts of fun reasons to dress up :)

 
 

You allowed us to embrace our home cultures/languages and celebrate our differences...

 

 

 

And speaking of international coolness, you let me go to a party celebrating the birthday of the Sultan of Oman. You also gave me a cool reason to get all fancied up for a change :)

In December, you let us put on a fun Christmas play.

 

  

  



And we continued the Christmas festivities in our classroom.





 

 

In January, you brought us Spiritual Emphasis Week at school.



 

 

 

And in February, we found ourselves celebrating Valentine's Day.



 

 

Not long after that, we participated in our school's Olympics.



 

After Spring Break, we had Elementary Camp.

 

And then our 4th and 5th graders held a Living Wax Museum. 



In May, we went on two field trips. We went to an International Fair type place.

And then we also went to our local school for the Deaf.


 

 

Throughout the school year, you allowed me the joy and privilege of interacting with all of our elementary kids through speaking in Elementary Chapel and leading Kids Club.

  

 

  
   

 



 

And finally, on the last day of school, you gave us a fun party and a fun way to promote these precious 5th graders on to the big ol' world of middle school.

 

But most of all, you showed me just how blessed I was to call this squirrely crew my own.

All in all, you were a great school year. Thanks for the fun memories!

What's Up May

Happy Last Wednesday of May! 

Oops... I'm a day late posting. Let's try that again...

Happy First Thursday of June y'all. Can you believe how fast May flew by?! Today I am joining Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer  for their monthly What's Up Wednesday link-up. 

 

Every month we answer the same few questions based on how things are currently going in our lives. 

The questions are...

 

What am I eating this week?

Last night, a co-worker and I got invited to the home of one of our families for dinner. It was an invitation to help the family break their fast (as part of this special month of Ramadan). It's an honor to be invited and we both left, saying what a truly lovely evening it was. We were given this pack of dates as a gift on our way out the door. They're great!



What am I reminiscing about?

I posted the picture below on Facebook last week. It's hard to believe it's been 14 years since I graduated from high school. Since graduation, we've spread out all around Alabama and beyond. And sadly, not everyone in this picture is still with us today. It may not have been completely 100% perfect, but life was indeed much much easier. So I've been reminiscing a lot about life during my high school days :)

What am I loving?

I'm loving this picture of my oldest niece that my brother sent me last week. She recently had her very first dance recital. Isn't she the cutest?!

What have I been up to?

I took my 5th graders on two field trips this month. They had a blast at both!

What am I dreading?

Saying bye to these kiddos tomorrow - One of my kids said he was going to take bets on how many times I tear up talking about how awesome they all are. He clearly knows me very well :)

What am I working on?

Working through a crazy long To Do List of things that I need/want to have finished before leaving Dakar at the end of June for a few weeks in the States. New things are being added daily and at times, the stress is CRAZY. But then I take a deep breath and realize I can only do so much. Then I re-prioritize things and life's good again :)

What am I excited about?

As sad as I am to see my 5th graders go tomorrow, I really am super excited about starting this new adventure God's called me on. I am so incredibly excited to see this dream God placed on my heart way back when finally become a reality. All sorts of plans and details have been falling into place. It's been so incredibly exciting to see! 

What am I watching?

I've been on a Brady Bunch kick lately. Thanks to an amazing sale price, I bought the complete series over Spring Break. So I've been slowly working my way through it.

What am I reading?

I'd love to say that I've been reading something incredibly fun and exciting. But alas, I have not. All of my "free" time this week has been primarily centered around getting things ready for my 5th graders. I want their last week to be a special one. ...even if it's secretly breaking their teacher's heart at the thought of those goodbyes tomorrow :)

What am I listening to?

Nothing new -- Anyone have suggestions? My taste in music is quite eclectic. There's very little I do not like. So as long as it's clean and not "yelling" at me, I'm happy :)

What am I wearing?

What am I doing this weekend?

Tomorrow is the last day of school for my students. I'm going to be hanging out at a friend's house most of the afternoon. And on Saturday, I'm planning to work in my classroom, getting it ready to be packed up. My goal is to do as much as possible of that this weekend. That way I can solely focus on the necessary computer work I need to do next week. Anywho - I'll head to church on Sunday. And, then as always, because weekends are the time for that... I'm sure I'll take a nap at some point :)

What am I looking forward to next month?

Not having to set an alarm clock...

And all the teachers out there said a big AMEN!

Past that, I'll finally be able to start setting up my new Special Ed. classroom. I'll spend some time with friends. And I'll also get to head back to the US of A and see my family, connect with supporters, and pick up the rest of the supplies for my new class.

What else is new?

Not a lot...

And lastly, each month, there's a special question to answer. May's question is...

What's your favorite vacation spot?

Anywhere with these people right here...





Although, I'm sure London will always be my happy place :)