golden springtime: seeing summer

It was almost painful getting to the end of the school year this year, we had such beautiful weather, and big to do lists that started earlier than normal. Plus, I'm switching school districts, so that brought on extra work to do, and lots of emotions.

These beautiful May days, with lots of playset time, sidewalk chalk and flowers waiting to be planted made it hard to focus on school.

K helped me make a chain to countdown the days until summer.

And she made some bracelets for herself.

She continues to be very artsy-craftsy, which I love. She colors and/or paints everyday. She chooses bold colors, and fills the pages with her art.

Our completed chain.

K also made a chain for her 'work' (totally imaginary) and managed to keep track of exactly how many days she had left at her job until summer. Thank goodness her chain is longer than mine was. I got to go on vacation earlier than little miss. T cut down a chain for me each day, while K took care of her own.

We collected treats for the troops at my school this year, to benefit a sailor in the Navy whose daughter I had this year. The entire school was invited to write letters to the crew, and they did an excellent job. I took this picture to remind myself of this task. I was tearful just reading the few that I looked at. The students thanked the soldiers for giving up time with their families to protect us. Just beautiful. My class made a personalized military craft for each crew member, A's mom came in to help us do this. This was a great way to end the year.