The End

Well, not sure if I should laugh or cry, rejoice or sorrow, be ready or reluctant, sleep or stay up late per the usual schedule... I've done some of each of those in the last 24 hours and it still hasn't quite hit me yet that we've reached the end of the year!  Today was the last day of school.  And the last day of seminary.

First, some photos of the cute ones from their final days:

Travis on his last day of preschool.  *note: getting a picture of this kid looking even remotely in the camera's direction is an accomplishment.  Hoping for a smile is pretty much like hoping for a lottery win.  I like this pic b/c he's doing his current squinty thing.  It's hilarious -- he squinches up an eyeball and uses it (instead of a finger, say) to point to things.  I believe he is pointing out his umbrella in this pic = prized souvenir from preschool that day.  The sound of the week was "ch" and the umbrella was from his beaCH cupcake.  :)

  With his beloved Ms. Cindy and Ms. Anne.  These two ladies have been wonderful with Travis - they're both so sweet and he loves them.

 Sophie had her kindergarten awards program and it was adorable.  She's loved her teacher this year, as well.  Here's her whole class (with two extras) after receiving their certificates.

Sophie received the "Ravenous Reader" Award for her class.  :)  Amen to that.  Getting her dressed in the mornings lately has been difficult b/c she won't put her book of the hour down long enough to pull a shirt over her head!

 After all the classes received their awards, they had a special surprise for the parents.  Sophie had been telling us about our big surprise for a while - she was mega pumped for it.  Turns out the kids all sang this cute song with hand motions about being one voice and growing big so fast, etc.  A real tear-jerker for pregnant people in the audience. (oh wait...)  ANYWAY, Sophie had a little solo!!  It was the cutest thing ever.  She marched right on down there, grabbed the mic and said her line. 

It was a nice way to end the year and I'm so glad she's had a good experience with school this year.  She is super excited to be a 1st grader now.

And, like I mentioned, today was also the last day of seminary.  My last day in a long while (ever?) since I won't be teaching next year.  A fact that made it especially bittersweet.  We had a breakfast to celebrate our last day and everyone was surprisingly picture happy!  I took my camera to class one other time and no one (mostly the girls - aka 90% of my class) wanted their picture taken since they come to class, oh, about 4 minutes after rolling out of bed.  But today they were all for the photo ops = made me happy since I wanted photographic evidence of this year and was going to take their pics whether they liked it or not.  :)  The whole crew came along this morning.  Sophie has been begging to come with me since school started and I'd promised her that she could come on our last day.  Then, Bryce was my hero and offered to come cook the breakfast (along with a few other wonderful parents), so Travis and Bridget got yanked from their beds this morning, too.  Family party!

Anyway, some pic of my class... Here they are.  Aren't they so adorable - in all their sleepy glory?  I am going to REALLY miss seeing them every day.

 a favorite.  :)

 

 so cute!!

 Sophie was thrilled to pieces to get her hair done by one of the "big girls"  :)

 and this one just kills me b/c although they're trying to be ridiculous, they have no idea that they're doing the HAPPY TRUCK FACE! (Moorheads know what that means)

 group shot (minus two) with our Warrior Princess who is wearing the whole armor of God

Sheesh, these pics make me wish I'd taken other pictures at the beginning of the year.... before the lovely 20+ pregnancy pounds made their appearance in my face.  Sigh.  The joys of pregnancy. 
 

and here's my support group this year.  :)  I would not have made it though this year without these 2 ladies - fellow teachers (for the freshman and juniors) in our building.  We shared ideas, gave moral support, cheered when one of us got to bed before midnight, emailed almost nightly comparing notes and thoughts, etc.  They have been a HUGE support for me - esp b/c I've realized this year that with seminary (and probably many other things that I've never experienced), you just can't quite relate unless you've been there.  And these girls were definitely there in the trenches with me.  Um, good trenches, that is, but you know what I mean.  :)  We joke that we'll continue to send each other emails at midnight every day just b/c... it will be weird not to!  Love these ladies.  

And finally, a pic of a timeline we did in class several months ago -- it only goes through King David, but it's one of my favorite visuals and I needed a pic of it before it wound up in the round file.

Ok, so that was our morning - so much more I could say, but it will have to wait for later.  It has been a challenging year and some months.  Challenging, wearing, draining, exhausting, and more.  But it's also been enlightening, thrilling, motivating, fun, strengthening and wonderful.  Physically, I may be pretty worn out, but spiritually I am living in color.  Never thought 22 teenagers could do that to you -- shows you what I know.  :)  So this is the end of my 15-month seminary-teaching-phase-of-life.  I suppose a new phase is beginning, but time will tell what that ends up being called.  So I will try to collect myself and prepare for a new phase, run a couple victory laps for having survived the awesome insanity, kiss my husband for supporting me, shed some tears for the teens I'll miss and then... go take a long winters nap.  G'night.