Each life that touches ours...

June is normally a very happy month; summer vacation begins, we celebrate lots of birthdays, honor our fathers on Father's Day, and spend time swimming, and doing all of the wonderful things that come with summer vacation.  Unfortunately, this year June has had its share of sadness.

On Ron's birthday, we heard that my dear friend Barbara Becker lost her 4 year battle with ovarian cancer.  I have often asked myself if I would have fought as long and as hard as Barbara did.  I don't think I have the tenacity or courage that she had.  While I grieve for her, I am so thankful for the plan of salvation that was made possible because of the atonement of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I believe that Barbara is now at peace, pain free, and eventually we will meet again.

In addition, we lost our sweet adopted dog, Sassy.  We took over care of Sassy from my parents.  She was actually my father's dog; but, he now need to use a walker to get around.  That, coupled with the tubing from his oxygen tank, are enough obstacles in their house for him to deal with.  Sassy just seemed to always be underfoot.  So, we took her in hopes of providing Buddy with a playmate now that my sweet Daisy is gone.  Unfortunately, Sassy developed diabetes and subsequently lost her eyesight. Ron had really become attached to her, and it was heartbreaking to watch him come to the decision to have her put to sleep.  My poor Sugarbear took her to Doc Ray today.  She too, is now pain free, romping around with Daisy, Burgess, Bodo, Jack, Tara, Pepper, Momma Dog, and Charlie.  Oh how bittersweet it is to love those sweet, furry creatures!

Thankfully, while life is wrought with trials and challenges, we find joy in the moments with family and friends.  From picking tomatoes at a friend's garden, canning vegetables to add to our home storage, learning new games, having sleepovers with donuts in the morning, and making funny faces.  

These are the things that fill our hearts with love and joy; enough to soften the sadness and grief. 

picking tomatoes at Mary's garden...

Sophie's American Gothic pose...

Maggie picking with her baseball glove...

jars of spaghetti sauce...

sleepy girls waiting for Poppy to bring them donuts...

learning to make domino trails...

watching them fall..

and doing it over again...

making a domino bridge for fairies to cross...

making silly faces...

more silly faces...

and poor mommy slaving away in the kitchen...

Oma and Buddy aren't much help.

June hasn't come to an end yet; and, we hope to have more happy moments with family and friends.  Knowing those are the things that bring brightness and joy in the darkest times.

May??? Where did it go?

Today was my last work day of the school year.  I had to go in and tear down the classroom and turn in all of my paperwork.  Thankfully, Ron came in to supply the manual labor so I was able to get 8 hours of work done in less than 6.  

I headed home, stretched out on the couch and TOOK A NAP!! Sweet~

I figured I ought to get one thing marked off my to do list, so I am updating the blog.

Between work, family, traveling most Sundays, and life in general, May simply disappeared before I knew it. 

Here is a quick recap using what few pictures I managed to take this month.

One of the things I wanted to do in our tiny back yard was make a place for the girls to play. Ron and I cleaned up an area near the shop that was covered by a portable storage building.  We gave that away to Holly, and it opened up a nice area to use for the girls.  Leslie gave us the plastic play cube, but they still needed their own place.

The girls play area before...

We found some cute chairs at IKEA and used those as our "inspiration" for the paints.  We painted some old flower boxes, a cheap bench from Big Lots, and now the girls have a cute place to play and grow pink flowers.

... and after.

It is also the perfect place to eat popcicles!

Two cute girls!

I have been quilting some of Mom's quilts now that the quilting machine is at the Temple house. I just haven't had much time to make my own quilts.  A friend from work is getting married in June, and another one is having her first baby in July.  I knew I wanted to make some simple quilts for them before the school year ended, so I took a couple of days off and got them finished.

The first one is a simple summer throw quilt that I made for Alana.  Leslie and I both loved it and it was hard to give it away.  I guess I need to get one made for myself this sumner,

Alana's quilt...

 The next 3 are simple baby quilts made using 3 yards of fabric and backing.  You cut the 3 pieces the same way and then mix and match them to come up with 3 different looks.  Sara is an animal lover so I used this cute frog print that I have had forever.  

Baby quilt 1 went to Sara...

Thankfully, I have 2 spare quilts left for future gifts!  I think this summer I will make up 3 more using boy prints. 

baby quilt 2...

and baby quilt 3.

 Toward the end of the year, there are several things that take up a chunk of time at school.  One of them is the normal end of year assessment cycle. YUCK!  The second is our annual science fair.  FUN!! 

The 4th and 5th grades are expected to have each student complete an investigation independently.  The lower grades are expected to complete class investigations.  Once we have gone through the scientific process, completed the investigation, and created a display board, the school has a campus wide science fair.  

This year my class won the first place ribbon for second grade.  We did a really cool swirling milk investigation.

Dawn dish detergent dispersing the food coloring in different liquids.

 The next big event for the family was Miss Maggie's graduation from Pre-school!  Leslie enrolled her in a program that was 3 days a week, instead of enrolling her full time in the public school system.  She wasn't ready to send her to school full time.  It was a great experience for her and I am very impressed with the things that she learned there.  

Sophie waiting for the graduation ceremony to begin...

Leslie & G with the happy graduate...

Aunt B and Seth with the happy graduate...

Poppy with the happy graduate...

Uncle Ryan with the happy graduate...

Uncle Scott with the "I'm tired of taking pictures" grouchy graduate.
They opted to make grouchy faces.

And of course a picture of her teacher, Mrs. Bickford.  

In a town the size of Killeen, it is at times amazing how it can truly be a small world.  I met Mrs. Bickford at the local community theater before watching Pinkalicous.  Her children attend school where I teach and I discovered that her daughter was in my animal enrichment group!

And of course, the end of the school year means our annual end of the year party.  Last year, I started a tradition for the second grade teachers.  I decided to have a candy bar and nacho's party.  The teacher across the hall found out what I was doing, so she threw one together as well.  Everyone else loved the idea so this year I think most of us had candy bars for our parties this year.  

The little buckets I got last year at IKEA (love that place) weren't quite enough.  So, this year I found some cute plastic pails and scoops at Target.  The table cloth was the perfect touch!  I used beach balls and inflatable pool rings last year as part of the decor.  I just didn't seem to get my act together soon enough to get them inflated this year.  I guess I really need some kind of little pump for my classroom.

Anyway, the students LOVED it!

The candy bar...

 And, as part of my going away gift, I improvised on an idea I found on Pinterest.  These cute water bottles were in the Dollar Spot at Target.  I got one for each of the students and attached a little tag that says, "I hope you have a cool summer!"  

... my going away gift.

So, now I am caught up (at least for a little while) with the blog.  Ron and I don't have any exciting plans for this summer; but, I am really looking forward to getting caught up on my sewing, quilting, crafting, cleaning out closets, and just general every day chores.