END OF SCHOOL YEAR FAVES

Happy Summer, everyone!!

I am so happy the Summer season is upon us.  My last day with the kindergartners was Wednesday and my teenager's last day was Tuesday.  We are very happy to be on summer vacation now until September 10!! Our high school has graduation tomorrow morning and we know a few teens who will be graduating. The end of the school year is about as busy as the holiday season around here! But......I was able to find FIVE FAVES from this past week among the busy days and evenings, and I'm sharing them by linking up with Susanne, who is our gracious hostess. 

FIVE FAVES

image courtesy of Sake website

• FATHER'S DAY!  Last Sunday, besides being the first day of Summer/Summer Solstice, was also the day we give honor to the fathers.  I made reservations for the 4 of us at this Japanese restaurant where we had so much fun watching the chef do his thing as he prepared 4 hibachi dinners for us.  Dave chose the Hibachi Salmon and Scallops, the girls had Hibachi Salmon/Steak and I had Hibachi Chicken.  It was so much fun and Dave loved that the girls are now willing to eat Japanese food.  It was a fun and relaxing Father's Day for him.  We ended the day by going back out for our fave frozen yogurt after a very relaxing afternoon. I also called my dad (and Dave called his) to chat with him for a little while. He is doing well but is very forgetful.  All in all, it was a great father's day for the dads in my life and I thank them for all that they do!

Evening Sunset

• EVENING COLORS!  Monday evening was simply perfect.  The weather was cool, the daylight long due to summer finally being here, and the humidity was super low so we had all the windows open for sleeping.  I was sitting on my swing with a book and iPad and snapped this photo when I saw the moon come out. It was about 8:50 pm. It's not the greatest quality since it's with my iPad but but the swirls of pink, purple and blue were stunning to me.  I think it's such a blessing to live in the Northeast where we have these amazing sunsets even here in suburbia.

from the K class:  Megan, Alexis, Sam, Cecilia,
Kameron, Dylan, Christian, Jacoby,
Madison, Isabelle, Colin, Jillian, Ben, Tytus,
Leah, Taylor, Benjamin, Demetri, Johnny, Oliver

• CLASS GIFT! At our class party this week, the room parents gave me a gift from the entire class of students!  (very generous of them since I really only work closely with the 9 special needs children.  The other 11 were gen ed kids who don't have special needs although I do help them out at times, too and lead large group activities from time to time during the week).  The gift bag included a gift card to T*rget, a beautiful beach towel, with a matching insulated drink cup, and a copy of a fave magazine.  Another student got me the little bamboo plant you see in the photo.  It was very generous of these parents to do this.  I felt very honored.  I thank God for my job!

flowers from Sam

• GIFTS and FLOWERS!  Oh my goodness.  Wednesday was the last day of school for our district and many students brought me gifts! The teacher I work with bought me a beautiful pot of mums which I have on my deck and neglected to get a photo of...they are a light purple in a pink pot.  He also gave me a gift certificate to the movies and a very generous cash gift.  I felt a bit overwhelmed with his generosity.  One student, an adorable little boy, gave me these flowers and a nice card he handmade; and two of the little girls gave me a gift certificate to the local mall, and to the tea shoppe I love.  Two of the special needs boys I worked with all year gave me a gift certificate to a local grocer and to a local department store.  I felt very blessed indeed.  It was all very unexpected.  We have some very generous parents in our school district.  

A having fun on the bars

B  loves to climb!

• LAST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN!  Because our public school district has a policy of not allowing us to post faces on non-school websites,  I can only show you these 2 adorable 6- year- olds who were literally the only 2 who didn't "pose" for my iPad. Our kindergarten class went outdoors for the first hour of the day on Wednesday, before their ice cream party, and we had a blast.  It was the perfect early summer day. No humidity, blue sky with white puffy clouds, full sun, nice breeze.  The kids were so much fun to play with! I have thoroughly loved this class...from all the gen ed kids to all 9 of our special needs kids who made so much progress since September.    I think this has been my favorite class to work with in the 8 years I have now been at the school.  The end of the year for a teacher is always a bit bittersweet. I'm thankful to have known these precious children...this class will always hold a special  place in my heart.

BONUS FAVE:  SO GRATEFUL to GOD that the brake job I badly needed done yesterday only included the front pads and rotors.  The back brakes are perfectly fine.  Which is a real blessing for us as the front brakes were over a third of my paycheck.  But they are done, and the dealer threw in a free car wash for me!!  Now...I have to start saving for 4 new tires before August.....it's always something.  I'm just happy I have saved up some money this year.  

SECOND BONUS:  HIKING POKE O MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN!  You can read about that here.  Next Friday, because I will be traveling for our 25th Anniversary out to Cape Cod, my FFF will be FIVE of my FAVE photos from that hiking trip.  Please do pray that the FBI, NYS Police and local ADK rangers will find those escapees!! We hiked in the next town over to where they broke out of prison and this past week we discovered that they had been in a cabin just a few miles from where we were hiking!!! God's protection.......

Did you have some faves from your week? What are they?  

HAPPY WEEKEND!