Where did February go?

Wow. There are only two weeks left of school. Graduation is on the 22nd. I can't believe I am just about finished with my first class of students. It has been an incredible year, I was blessed with an amazing first class. February was such a busy month. We had open house, which I think went pretty well. I only had about 18 parents and grandparents this time, so not too bad. We also had parent interviews (parent-teacher conferences). Those all went really well. I loved showing the parents that I met with how much their child has learned over the past year. They have all grown up so much. I can't believe these are my last couple of weeks with them.
The past week or two has been really tough. There is some stuff going on with some of my kids and parents. It has the ability to really wear me down, that's for sure. At this point, I feel like all I can do is pray for them and hope for a good outcome.

In more exciting news, I finally went skiing. I had never been before. We went last week and..well, I spent most of the day on the ground. It took three other people to get me up once, haha. At one point, this Japanese ski instructor came over and worked with me for a while. He kept making me snow plow, and let me tell you, doing that for a long period of time really starts to hurt your legs! I would say that my first time skiing wasn't the most enjoyable.
However, I decided to give it one more shot. We went again this past weekend, and..I loved it! I found out that the ski boots that I was wearing last week were way too big! That made a huge difference! I also figured out how to ski back and forth, and how to stop. My goal for the day was to be able to get myself up, and..I did! I don't know if those boots made that big of a difference, but..wow, it was a completely different experience! I also used poles, which made me feel a little bit more balanced.
We did the bunny hills a few times, and then we decided to do a bigger hill. Joey, a guy who was skiing with us, assured me that the slope we were going to wasn't any more steep than the one we did the week before. So, I hesitantly agreed. We finally got to the top, and well..he was wrong. It was way steeper! I seriously stood at the top of that slope for like five minutes trying to get the courage up to start heading down it. I finally did, and I fell several times, but..it wasn't so bad. I have decided that I am a fan of skiing!

In even more exciting news..Sarah and I randomly decided to go to Tokyo this next weekend and go to Disneyland. We got a really good deal on train tickets and hotel. I am really excited! And, then like a week and a half later we are headed to Thailand. Which, we haven't even planned at all. Whoops. Oh well, it will just be nice to be somewhere new. I am really excited for both trips!

Then, we come back and have one week to set up for the next school year. I will get a brand new group of kids. I am excited and nervous still about this next year. I know that there will be such different personalities and dynamics in my class. I think this next year will be more challenging, but.. I think I am ready for it!