All done!

(Here's Kai watching his `Fifi and the Flowertots' dvd. It is the only tv he will watch, too bad its only 10 minutes long! There is a fun song about milkshakes in it and that is what is making him smile:) His hair is a little crazy from his nap, I know)

I finished teaching on Monday and now I have to go in 6 more times for meetings, invigilating exams, marking exams, and finishing report cards. Gary and I can kind of rotate days so we only need to pay for 3 days of day care. Tonight we helped my dad cut and weed eat his lawn. Kai rode on the riding lawnmower with Opi and LOVED it. He stood up the whole time and thought he was steering it himself.

Kai is def. turning two and we have found that providing him with options saves a lot of time and energy. We allow him to choose between two coats or two types of cereal (his new favourite cereal is rice `peepee's' (Krispies)) etc and therefore we don't get the dreaded `no' from him:) I don't know if this is what you are supposed to do but it sure works well! He is def. a lot of fun and is a lot more playful with Gary than he used to be, just running at him and giving him hugs. He also loves to wrestle with daddy. I don't know where his energy comes from, maybe its the 3 hour naps. Maybe we'd all be like that with a 3 hour nap:) I just find it so interesting how everything is so amazing to him. He gets excited when he sees a spider or when he's holding two spatulas (he announces over and over `Two Spatulas!!!'). I def. did not know that word when i was his age. HOpefully the power cord for our new video camera arrives soon so that I can post some video of our crazy energizer.

Finally, I got a few really sweet emails and notes from students over the past two days which have just brought tears to my eyes. I'm all about words of affirmation and their encouragement and admiration is just so uplifting. It makes you realize that all the work you do, the personal insight you share, and the role model you are in the classroom really does affect lives. I love teenagers! I was able to teach grade 9 and 11's this year and they were fabulous. I know how hard, emotionally, grade 9 can be and I wonder what goes on in their hearts and minds. I recognize that if I was a responsible student who appeared happy and yet was struggling so much with who I was, I can only imagine what some of them go through. Being a teenager can be tough. I love that we have time each day to check in with our students and pray with them for whatever is on their hearts. I love that they share what is going on in their lives. I love that they (mostly) enjoy being in my classroom. I love that they feel comfortable enough to ask questions or make comments. I love that they get excited about science. I love those kids. Each and every year, I feel sad about the kids I will no longer be teaching but then I get to meet a whole other group that makes me smile:)