Summer Break

 As the dust was settling from final paperwork at school.  I got to switch my focus from school to home.  I decided to start my spring/summer cleaning in the kitchen.  It took me hours to scrub, polish and organize all the piles I have been saving until I had more time to go through them.  It always feels good to get the deep cleaning done.  Windows and curtains are done in all my downstairs rooms.

 In the summer I usually try to make some extra spending money from things I collected over the year to help curb the teens extra things.  Sports fees, excursions, drivers ed, etc.  So I scour garage sales and see what I can come up with.  Ebay and Amazon become my office.  I usually end a making a few hundred dollars to use on the extra expenses.

 Sylis is getting so big.  He is jumping up or learning how to climb up onto things the cats usually just ignore.  He is starting to get his red shiny coat too.  He is supposed to be full grown by October.  He is eating a lot and his wild natures are coming out.  He tried to raid the trash can so we had to put it up where he can't get to it.  He also will run off with things and "bury" them in the couch cushions.  Then he digs them up by scratching them out of the cracks.

 One of my students gave me this pot of flowers on the last day of school.  She was one of the positive things from this school year.  Most days I was devoured by negative behaviors.  Students pushing their rights, entitled to reasons why they are learning what they are and how it will be useful to them in the future, testing and breaking every rule, pillaging the classroom and taking what they thing they deserve, no matter the owner.  Then making every one's life miserable when they have to suffer the consequence of their own poor choice.  I didn't get to pay much attention to the students who did everything I asked of them.  This particular student told her mother this was the best year ever for her, she learned more than she ever has in the past.  Wow!  I couldn't have had a better compliment after making it through this group of students.  She was such a pleasure to have in class.

 I was most excited about this find at the garage sales.  Dakota asked for a thermos for soccer, a blue one to be exact (Kayla's is red).  Found this one for $1.  :)

Kayla and I enjoyed a few girls only days while the boys were on their high adventure trip.  We did a lot of cleaning and she is in a geometry class for summer school, so she did a lot of studying.  So we decided to go see a movie and have a bit of fun.  When the movie was over she asked to stop at her favorite store in the mall.  We went in just to view the latest styles, not to buy.  We walked out with next years prom dress.  Why?  Because it was $30, regular $172.  I couldn't pass that up.  We are now in the market for a silvery bolero jacket to add some sleeves for modest and then we are all set.  I'm not sure why the Ohio retailers think our teenage daughters don't want to dress modestly, but they never have anything with sleeves.

We checked modestprom.com, but $30 vs. $300+, guess it's easier to add the jacket and save a few hundred dollars.  I love the beading on her dress and this one has the best neckline I've seen yet.

We only need to take a few inches off the length for our petite little fidget.  (She calls it fun-sized!)  All in all, it was a great first week off with a lot of fruitful endeavors.