Where Have I Been?

No, I didn't fall off the face of earth. No, I didn't get abducted by aliens. No, I'm not in the hospital. It's the end of the school year and I've been WORKING, WORKING, WORKING! The first four weeks and the last four weeks of the school year are BUSY TIMES. Oh, I'm not complaining. I know how lucky I am to be one of those teachers in California that still has a job. Plus, I'd much rather be busy than bored. Our last official day of school is June 18th, and my last work day will be the 19th. Then, I'll have so much time I won't know what to do. Just kidding....I'll be crafting and reading all summer long. And, tending to that darn money tree that has yet to bloom.

DD will be graduating from 8th grade next Monday. Then, it's off to high school. Actually, she won't be OFF anywhere. She's still going to be homeschooled. She just won't be an elementary school student any more so she won't be in my "official" class as I am only certified up to 8th grade. I'll still be her teacher though as all homeschool parents are their child's teacher, but she will have to answer to another teacher in addition to me for high school. Confusing enough for ya?

Here's a good one: DD absolutely LOVES playing with the Community Band. She LIVES for Monday nights when they practice. Now, her graduation ceremony is scheduled for Monday night. She asks me at least once a day if she can just skip graduation so that she won't have to miss band. OI! I'm all for enthusiastically pursuing your dreams and passions, but I'm drawing the line on this one and I say, "NO!" Band happens every week. Graduation is once in a lifetime!

I am the "official, certified" teacher for eight of the 40 8th graders who will be graduating on Monday night. I wanted to give them all a little something, but what can you do when you have no extra cash. Well, since I'm the queen of turning nothing into something right out of thin air....here's what I came up with:

At Dollar Tree, they had a package of 12 of these cute little handled boxes. They were plain white so I got out my trusty stamps and stamped a confetti pattern all over them with blue ink (our school color). Then, I designed a little tag on my computer that reads, "Reach for the Stars! Congratulations" That is tied to one of the handles with some skinny blue satin ribbon. Next, I cut blue tissue paper into squares. I put little bags of M&M's in the center of two tissue paper squares and tucked them inside the handled boxes. There you have it. Graduation favors for all 8 of my students. Total cost...$2!