End of first year

Well, I'm not doing so well with the whole blog thing...I'm going to blame it on the end of the year! ;)
Speaking of end of the year, we only have 2 days left of school!!! I cried Sunday thinking about it all, but this week I've kept it together pretty well.
Exciting news: I'm team teaching again with Mrs. McSwain AND I'm getting my own classroom!!! I will have about 20 kids and we'll swap during the day. For example, I'll teach reading and then my students will go to her for math and hers will come to me for reading, etc. I have decided that my classroom theme will be "underwater". I have ordered and bought so many cute things. I can't wait to get in there and get busy! I also went on ebay and won a few auctions. I ended up winning about 5. I payed $189.00 and got 214 books. If you divide it equally, each book cost 88cents. That's awesome! Another 1st year teacher gave me the idea to email parents and ask for book donations, since many of them are finished having children. I have had about 20 books come in. I hope that I can build a decent library in my new room. I have enjoyed being with Mrs. McSwain, but there's also something about having your own space and your own things. I'm so grateful for this experience and for my principal's leadership and wisdom. Today we had our class party. I knew we'd be stressed out with different end of the year things, so I asked 2 of my parents to head up the food, cake, and such. Well, they did a wonderful job! We had a chick-fil-a tray, fruit tray, veggie tray, snacks, drinks, and a delicious cake. We made personal classroom awards and another parent made a slide show for us. We are so blessed to have the parents we have! My parents/kids gave me some of the sweetest gifts. One of my parents had a book made of all the pictures from this year. It's absolutely wonderful and I am so thankful that she did that for me. I pray for many more wonderful years of teaching.

What will I do this summer? ....Well, I'll be cleaning and organizing our house, and will be up at the school any chance that I get.

I plan to start my Master's degree in the fall.

Matt and Ethel May are doing well. Matt is still working on our walkway, and as soon as it is finished, I will post before and after pictures :)
We also plan to build a storage shed and re-paint the house a different color.