The Last Day of School

Whew!  Another year down.  We are all ready for the break from the busy routine that summer brings.  However, there was a bit of a gray cloud hanging over us today.  We all knew this was the last day at these schools.  Next year will mean a new town, a new house, new schools and new friends. 

 

Last night Hannah's friend called her to see if she would want to do Crazy Hair Day today.  The school usually has one during Field Day, but did not this year.  Her friend received permission from her teacher.  Hannah thought this was a very fun way to end the school year.

I don't have any pictures of Rachel and Aaron from the morning, but I vividly remember dropping them off.  As Rachel was getting out of the car, I realized the next time I drop her off at school, I will be sending her to high school!  WHAT?!?!  How did that happen?  Someone clearly did NOT think this through.

 

I took this picture while waiting in carpool to pick up Hannah.  Each year the students who don't ride the bus line the sidewalk to wave goodbye to the busses. 

 

After all the kids were out for the day, we continued our yearly end of the school year tradition of going out for ice cream.

 





 

PK took off today so he could join in the celebration.  

Fixer Upper

We are about two months from our next big move.  A big difference this time around is that we are home owners.  We had to decide what to do with this house.  After talking to a realtor this past week, we have decided to rent it out.  We are just too far under on it.  However, I love this house and am happy that it is still ours, even if someone else is going to be calling it, "home."

We have spent the last two weeks doing some deep cleaning, organizing and home improvement projects.  There will be more to come, but we have made a tiny dent.

My aunt is visiting, so she helped me give the front porch a fresh coat of paint.  It is amazing what a coat of paint can do.

This side had not yet been painted.

 

The other side after a little paint.

 

Aunt Mary hard at work.

When we first moved into this house, the basement was just concrete.  We had a contractor finish off the room that is now Rachel's and another room that is a utility/storage room.  I painted Rachel's room as soon as it was finished.  The storage room was still just drywall.  PK and I painted it this week and he put in a baseboard to finish it off.

 

The work we did made the house look so nice, but also made the move more of a reality.  It made me sad to think about someone else enjoying it.  Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose." kept popping into my head.  The preparations for this move aren't going to be easy, but in the end it will all be good.

I took a pencil and wrote the verse on the drywall before I painted.  A little therapy.

There is one Bible study by Beth Moore that I have done at least three times.  It is called The Patriarchs.  In one part of the study Beth mentions Abram being called by God out of the land of Ur.  She said to her, Ur is an acronym for Usual Routine.  Abram was called to leave his usual routine for the life God had called him to.  As I face this move and being sad to leave our usual routine, I have pondered this portion of scripture, so on another area of drywall I wrote, "Abram was called out of the land of Ur.  Sometimes we are called out of our Ur (usual routine) by the God of Abraham.  It isn't always easy or even comfortable, but stepping out in faith and in obedience to the One who called us into being, is always the right thing."  Then I painted over it.  More therapy.

The Ray Reptile Rescue Strikes Again

I was leaving the house to pick Rachel and Aaron up from school when something caught my eye.  It was a turtle.  It must have fallen off the top of the retaining wall and landed upside down. 

 

Hannah suggested using a shovel to turn it over since we didn't know if it would be aggressive or not.

 



When Aaron got home, we determined it was a harmless box turtle.  The two members of The Ray Reptile Rescue got to work.  They put the turtle in the wagon and pulled it down to the pond.  They said when they put it down it quickly jumped in the pond and swam away. 

Bridging

Hannah bridged from Brownies to Junior Girl Scouts.

 

Before

 



 

Hannah's good friend, Libby, was able to come along.

 

One of Hannah's leaders putting her Junior vest on

 



The girls made stepping stones.  Each one had one of the Girl Scout Laws written on it.

 



 

After



Eighth Grade Formal

Rachel has been talking about the Eighth Grade Formal since the beginning of this school year.  She and I went shopping for her dress a few weeks ago.  We went to ELEVEN!! stores before we found the one.  The school sent home a letter stating all dresses must have straps.  Rachel didn't want a long formal because in her mind that is for prom which was fine with me.  However, we had a hard time finding one with straps.  Actually, I don't agree with the policy because having straps doesn't mean a dress is appropriate.  We found one with one strap and it worked out well.

Most of the eighth graders were checked out early the day of the dance to get ready.  This is a picture of Rachel striking a pose and acting silly before she started the process of getting ready.

We took a few pictures at our house and then went to Rachel's friend Remy's house to meet up with some of the other girls.

This is one my favorite pictures we took there with all the girls.

This is Rachel and a few friends at the dance.

After the dance she went with about ten of her friends to Brusters for ice cream.  It was raining pretty hard, but it didn't seem to bother them.  They just sat on the tables under umbrellas.  This picture is Rachel and her friend Sarah.  The hat was not part of Rachel's outfit.  It belonged to.....some boy!!

Rachel's friend Remy had several friends sleepover afterwards to celebrate her birthday.  Rachel had a great time all around.

A Very Merry Unbirthday

Hannah has two teachers in her classroom this year.  Mrs. Anderson is her teacher, but because there are some students who are in the special education program in her class as well, there is a special education teacher assigned to the classroom.  Her name is Mrs. Possiel.  She and Mrs. Anderson try to team teach.

During the school year, students can bring in treats to share on their birthdays.  Toward the end of the year, Mrs. Anderson encourages those with summer birthdays to bring in a treat and celebrate an unbirthday.  Mrs. Possiel happens to have a summer birthday and Mrs. Anderson asked if I would help plan a surprise unbirthday for her.  Right up my alley.

I immediately thought of Alice in Wonderland and the Hatter's Tea Party.  Aunt Mary helped me make peanut butter and jelly finger sandwiches and I made turkey pinwheels.

 

I collect teapots, so I took in a couple of those and we used them to serve juice.

 

I made little tags that said, "Drink This" and tied them to the teapots.  The signs by the sandwiches said, "Eat This."

 

I ordered top hats and hot glued tuelle and ribbons to each one.  Each of the students got to wear one for the party. 

 



 

Hannah is in the red shirt sitting next to her best friend, Kayla.

 

I took a piece of vellum and printed a message for Mrs. Possiel.  It talked about Alice falling down the rabbit hole and that one of her adventures was the tea party.  It told Mrs. Possiel to hurry through the door so she wouldn't be late for a very important date.

 

I printed the words to A Very Merry Unbirthday and taught the students the words.  When Mrs. Possiel walked through the door, they sang it for her.  She was very surprised and happy!

Literalist

Aaron brought home a progress report a few days ago.  His grade in social studies was a bit on the low side.  It wasn't awful, but he is quite capable and he wasn't doing his best.  He lost screen time until the grade improved.  The kids' school had an online program that allows parents to see every grade as soon a teacher post it.  I told Aaron he couldn't have screen time back until he had an acceptable grade posted.

Following is the conversation we had this evening.

Aaron:  Mom, can we check online to see if my grade for my essay in social studies has been posted.

Me:  Yes.  What did you do it on?

Aaron:  (In all innocence) Notebook paper.

I laughed so hard I cried.  He wasn't trying to be funny.  I guess I should have asked something like, "What was the subject matter?" or "What was the topic?" 

In his defense, we had talked to him about how sloppy his handwriting can be.  He has been told many times that we don't blame the teachers for giving him a poor grade if he doesn't take the time to do his neatest work.  I'm quite certain that is what was in his head when he answered.

And...because years from now I know I will read this and think, "What was the topic?"  His essay was on the Aztecs and whether historians should emphasis their agriculture or human sacrifice.  His argument was for agriculture.

The Buffet

I distinctly remember the buffet being moved into my grandmother's kitchen, but I don't really remember the kitchen without it.  It fit perfectly in its spot between the refrigerator and the wall.  If you didn't know better, you would just assume it was built in cabinets. 

For some reason, I was always drawn to it and have said many times that I would like to have it.  It is simple as far as design goes.

My uncle brought it down when he brought Aunt Mary or he brought Aunt Mary when he brought it down.  Whichever works.

PK and Uncle Dennis carried it in and placed it under the window in the kitchen.  Feels like it is home.