.i hate goodbyes.

Back tracking just a week or so, I'd like to recap a few special things have happened.

Last Friday evening, hubs and I met up with his parents at a baseball game. Before the game, Bebo Norman gave a live show which was awesome, then we got to meet him. He was a genuinely nice guy. It's always fun to meet someone you've been listening to on the radio.

At the game, since Mother's Day was 2 days away, we gave my mother-in-law her gift. I took a slight risk this year and got her a Razorback necklace and a skinny-banded zebra-print wrap watch. She ended up loving both things, especially the watch, which was the item I wasn't sure if she would love or not. Score for me!

We spent the actual Mother's Day with my family. After church, we headed to my brother's house for a cookout. We had grilled chicken, potato salad and strawberry shortcake. We celebrated my mom and sister-in-law. My nephew was the star of the show once he woke up from his nap. I can't get over how happy of a baby he is. He just lights up a room. I was thankful for the family time.

After the cookout, my husband took me home and put me to work. We've lived in our house for almost 3 years and finally, on Mother's Day, tackled the eyesore that was our front flower bed.  We spent almost 5 hours outside pulling weeds, leveling dirt, adding soil, laying that tarp stuff, planting shrubs, and adding mulch. My husband did most of the hard labor, but I helped when I could. It was good quality time together. We had the radio playing while we worked, and when it was finally all finished, we gave each other high fives and felt super proud of ourselves. Here is a before and after of our flower bed:

And finally, the reason I titled this post: "I Hate Goodbyes." It was our last day of school today. :-(

I remember posting about this last year, talking about how sad I was to say goodbye to my kids. This year is no different. It's just part of being a teacher. You fall in love a little more each day, let them run you ragged, get frazzled and long for Summer break to arrive. Then the day comes and you say goodbye to each sweet child, clean an empty classroom, drive home in silence with each of their little faces in your mind, and cry because you wish you could have just one more day with them. One more day as their teacher. One more day to pour love and encouragement into their hearts and minds, to make them realize how important they are. One more day to laugh and be silly with them. One more hug. One more kiss.

I will be ok, and even though I will miss them for a long time, next year will come and I will fall in love all over again. I've learned from being a teacher, that there's endless room in my heart for each and every child I teach. I've also learned that my teaching style is both nurturing and silly. I love to love, and I love to jump right in there with them and play, play, play. This week, I dressed crazy for Wacky Wednesday and enjoyed a bounce house with the kids. Behold, silly Miss Marfa: