I love yard sales ...and other end of the year shenanigans!

I know, I know, I've been MIA on this blog for most of the month of May. But you know how it is during the last month of school, frantically trying to squeeze everything in before the last day. Not to mention, we had two huge end of the year events: our annual water day & picnic and our super cute Kindergarten luau! Both events are pretty big productions and planning and prepping for them took up just about all my time! Our Kindergarten luau is our Hawaiian-themed promotion ceremony. We sing 6 songs, present the kids with a certificate and lei, and celebrate making it to the end of kindergarten! It's so fun and the kids just crack me up with their dance moves. I gotta admit, I always get a lump in my throat when they sing the last song...

I have loved every one of my classes dearly, but this group was the best class I have ever had. This group was something special. They rarely got into trouble, begged for weekly group hugs, threw spontaneous surprise parties for me to show how good they were being, loved each other, helped each other, and were so kind to each other. They randomly started chants ("Try your best!" was a favorite) and songs whenever the moment presented itself. They were super hard workers and smartie-pants... I got to do more amazing things with this class than any other because they were just so wonderful and well-behaved. I was completely and utterly spoiled by them... and I shed a few tears to see this group go. And I know I'm in for it next year, because you KNOW how these things go in cycles... one amazing year, one gray hair inducing year, and so forth... ha.

I have yet to fully feel like I am on summer break yet because I did not get to organize and clean out my room when I wanted to this year. The last Friday we were at school, we got a last second notice that they were going to be cleaning our rooms for the summer that following MONDAY. And, well, my classroom still looked like kids could come back and go to class the next day. So what did I have to do? Shove everything in whatever basket, cabinet, and container I could find and shove all my furniture to one side of the room. I was having a small panic attack at the fact that my room had become even more disheveled and disorganized! So I am waiting until I get the notice that they have, in fact, finished cleaning my classroom for the summer so that I can go back in and organize everything for the summer. When I finish that, I can finally relax and enjoy my summer. It was frustrating not to have the extra time to do it after the last day of school, but what can you do? 

One very exciting thing that occurred today is that my aunt stumbled upon a yard sale. But not just any yard sale, a retiring teacher's yard sale. A retiring teacher that had amazing things in her classroom yard sale. Folks, I cleaned house. I want to go back tomorrow and buy more books! They are all in impeccable shape and only 25 cents each! Do I have a problem? Possibly... but BOOKS! Here's a picture of my haul. I got a Caps for Sale big book, a huge multicolored pocket chart, Chris Van Allsburg portfolio picture set, Lakeshore rhyming words pocket chart set, popsicle sticks, magnet men, Dr. Seuss reward chart set, and 21 paperback books for $16. Sixteen!!! Thank you retiring teacher. Thank you. You have made my entire summer already.