Beautiful Day!

After so many days of gray skies and rain, today's beautiful sunshine and blue skies were a welcome change.  We got to school in plenty of time and Dakota and I set up the room for our class.  I had twelve out of the fourteen there today and four of them still had reports to do on their Amazon animals, while the rest had Amazon Gazette "make up your own animal" mini reports.  We breezed through them rather quickly and then sat together on the carpet while I taught them how to sing The Rainforest Grew All Around song that went with my book.  After the first time I gave them all index cards with their "part" and when we sang through again and their part was mentioned, they had to stand up and put their card over their head.  Then everyone standing turned round and round for the verse.  This was a big hit and the kids had alot of fun with it.  Afterwards, we worked together on an Acrostic poem, with just about everyone participating well and we came up with a great piece of work.   I just couldn't keep them inside any longer, so out we went and over to the "playground" where the kids got 20 minutes of running and kicking soccer balls and jumping rope.  Most of these kids have been together going on three full years now and even though they only meet once a week, they definitely behave like your typical class.  There are the leaders and the followers.  The joiners and the loaners.  But the relationships are easy by now.  They know each other's personalities and which ones mesh with their own.  The girls definitely stick with the girls now and the boys with the boys.  My oldest student is 8 1/2 and my youngest still just 5, but together they are my class and I love them passionately!  Many of them will also be in my class next year, but some of them I will lose, and I'm going to miss them so much!!
     While Dakota went on to his Magic School Bus class, I took my little ones upstairs to read an easter story and do some marble painting.  Then it was outside for them too.  It's just waaaaay too nice to stay inside!  Got a nice email surprise when I got home too.  My daughter, 33.5 weeks pregnant with my first granddaughter, took some beautiful pictures of herself and posted them for me.  It is still so hard to comprehend the changes life is putting before me, but I am really excited for all of us and I am enjoying the anticipation of a whole new little life joining our family very soon.