It's Over, thank you.

The school year is over.

It's time for night games, Friday Friends Breakfast, popsicles, swimsuits, fireworks, time with cousins, watermelon on the deck, falling into bed exhausted as a cool breeze blows through the window.

It's been such a fantastic school year for my children.  

When I realize that some of my children spend 6 hours a day outside of 

our home learning it becomes very real how important a teacher is. 

 I love a teacher who takes my child's strengths and makes them grow.

  Who expects the best from my child, but loves them at their worst. 

I feel so lucky to have had such wonderful teachers in my children's lives this year. 

Here they are on the 1st day of school and the last, and a picture with their beloved teacher.

Aidan's teacher is coveted by many.  I wish she could follow him through High School. 

She loves him, laughs with him, and teaches in a way that gets him excited to learn. 

She hugs him and eats at his cheeks. 

He has excelled at reading and spelling.  Just the other day he came to me and said, 

"Mom, why don't you ever use idioms when you speak?"

When I read to him he says things under his breath like, "simile... metaphor". He loves to write little animal facts down on slips of paper throughout the house. 

How long elephants live, what kind of tracks a beaver would leave.  

He loved going to school and spending time with her. He soaked it all in. 

What a fantastic year it's been for him because of her. 

I was so grateful that Chloe had a teacher that understood her.  

Chloe felt at ease at school and became more confident in a lot of areas. 

 I have to credit her teacher with creating an atmosphere that allowed her to grow in those areas. She made some new friends and had an excellent school year.  At the end of the year award ceremony in her class she was awarded....Most Athletic Girl.  

While this came as a shock to me- it shouldn't have.  She loves to play sports- and the boys do not intimidate her.  She can often be found out front shooting hoops with Asher and his friends. We now share the same shoe size Women's 8.5.  She is growing up and turning into a beautiful young lady. 

Asher has a lot of natural ability.  He is a quick learner and sometimes this can lead to laziness. If things come easily, you may not have to work at hard to fill the status quo. 

Asher's teacher reminded him how hard his father has to work at school, 

and Asher should honor that and work just as hard.

 Asher's teacher was exactly what he needed.  

She recognized his abilities.  She pushed him to be better, do better, choose better. 

She encouraged him to make the kind of friends that will lift him up. 

She gave him responsibility and trusted him. 

She didn't bail him out when he didn't finish the task, but instead let him learn from his mistakes and 

loved him anyway.  She was wonderful for him.

Oh my Cole boy.  He went to his first year of preschool.  Cole learned so much this year.

He learned his alphabet, colors, shapes, and began reading.  

He learned that sometimes you have to "think about it", if you're not making a good choice.

Often when I would pick him up he'd say, "I didn't even have to think about it today!"

His teacher was so patient and really loved being there with these little kids. 

She helped him set a good foundation for all the learning years to come.