Busy last day of school!!!

      The last day of school = WAFFLE morning :) I always make yummy waffles for the kids at school. Everyone is invited, and it's in honor of all of those who have summer birthdays.
      This year I made over 200 waffles!!!! I love that I have kids who even come to school to just eat a waffle, and then head out for the day at the lake or whatever.
      Then we had the retirement lunch for Pat Messinger. This, of course, was bittersweet. SO, sweet that he is able to retire and do the things that he will enjoy doing (hunting, fishing, spending time with his family), but so sad to no longer have his smiling face wish me good morning every school day (along with every person in our school that he welcomes and wishes a good day!).
      It felt good to be a part of this experience! I feel so lucky and honored to have worked with Pat, albeit only five years.
      I have learned so much from him. He's such an amazing teacher and friend. I hope that I can impact students the way he did, as I continue teaching for the next twenty years.
      I owe a lot to Pat, too, on a personal level. He has been such an incredible inspiration to both of my sons.
      Back to school after the lunch (and some tears), and I spent the afternoon cleaning and readying my classroom. It feels like I am preparing for hibernation from teaching :)
      Of course, the last day of school also equals our end of the year school BBQ. I love this event because it's fun to hang out with the people we work with and also all of their families. It was fun to watch all the little girls play dress-up, run around, and plan super cute "shows" for us!! LOL It's nice to have entertainment at our BBQ!
      And, what about the food?!! Holy cow! I always say every single time that we should create an employee cookbook!!!! I love, love, love eating at the BBQ every year because I try something new that I just love to eat, LOL!
      We did end up leaving the BBQ early because we headed down to the fairgrounds to watch the famous Lipizzaner Stallions! Fun! And, there were several ever people who also left early to caravan down to see the show.
      I was so impressed with the skills of the stallions and their riders. I am not overly familiar with dressage, but it's impressive!