One Memorable Kick Off to Summer

So let's recap....Saturday:  Rochester Rockets State Champs with Chad at the helm

Sunday: Adorable Puppy

A combo pic of our Saturday and Sunday!  :) 

And as far as I knew...we just had to 'get through' Monday's teacher institute, turn in our keys, attend the community reception for the girls' team and boom!  It was summer.  Monday was a Monday.  Nothing special...besides the end of the school year I mean.  (that's pretty flippin' special ;)

We got up Monday morning, and Mom and Dad had agreed to stay overnight and keep the boys for us while we worked on Monday.  Chad and I headed off to school, where I worked all morning in my room, ate lunch with the elementary staff, and headed to the auditorium for the end of the year awards assembly.  It was all the typical end of the year stuff....until...

I leaned over to whisper to my team mate Carrie and my team mate Kristen sitting on the other side of me slaps my leg and shushes me as they're starting the music for teacher of the year.  I was totally confused, because Kristen is a lot of things, but a shush-er is NOT one of them.  ;)  :)  :) 

She says, 'quiet.  I could be winning this award.'  As I see my flippin face up on the flippin projector screen.  And I of course am dumbfounded.

And once I got over the dumbfounded, I was mad at myself for wearing jeans for the first time on this day since my employment with the district.  Hey, I had to be ready for the Rocket Reception people!  UGH!!!!  When I got on stage, our superintendent handed me the crystal apple and said, 'Take that Chad!....the Kutschers have had a heck of a weekend!'

Well, I. would.  say.  My goodness.  

And of course, my parents were there since they were 'conveniently' in town for the puppy reveal, and so were my other parents ;) Larry and Chris.
So humbled to work in a district with such great educators, and to be recognized is something I could only dream of happening many years down the road!  

There are no words.  

Here are my adorable boys and me in my stinkin' jeans ;) after the ceremony.

and here's the only pic I have from the Rocket reception: Grant and his friend Kami...who has big plans for the two of them, which entail a specific type of flower for their wedding, and living with her parents in HER room.  HA!!!!  The Kutschers are all for this wedding...and of course Brian and Heather, you're fitting the bill for those flowers.  Maybe you can get a deposit in now and lock in a price.  It's not a bad idea really.  I mean by the time the wedding rolls around, they'll be way more expensive.  Just a thought....scoffs the parents of the future groom.  ;)  

 and so...some more pics of the baby...who, yes, is chewing on a real pacifier, because he wouldn't stop chewing on US.  

Another night of crashing on the floor pays off for a pretty much silent night

...followed by an early morning start on laundry...with my new assistant.

And we can't kick off summer, without paying tribute to someone very important.

Friday...that's right, the day that prefaced that heck of a weekend, was Grant's last 'Tressa day.'  Grant has had Tressa days since he was teeny tiny... buckled in a seat that I carried him into her and plopped him down with a diaper bag, buckled in a seat that she toted him around for preschool drop offs and school events.  And soon he was out of that seat, but still at her side for more school events, orthodontic appointments, doctor's appointments, visits 'down to town' for lunch with the Mindy and Lynda and to Papa Randy's office, Disney meeting breakfasts, and errand running.  He was at her side for Wii time, and lots of baseball and soccer games in her living room...for more preschool drop offs and field trips, playing outside at the park or at school, in fast food drive thrus, and for a few 'Todd stay at home days'.  Friday marked an end of an era.  One that was hard for me to swallow.  One that I was relieved to be distracted by packing and heading to Chicago to watch the girls play and wrapping up loose ends to finish a school year.  If I hadn't been distracted, it would've been a weepy day.  

I will remember the phone call I received from Tressa, fall of 2010, forever. At that point, we were acquaintances.  Landon and Creighton were friends from church and because Mrs. Monari had been so kind to volunteer Tressa to drive Landon back and forth to Good Shepherd from LaVella's house.  And at that point, I was also considering my options.  As of September 1, LaVella wasn't able to care for the kids...her health was not strong enough to take care of herself AND babies.  And as I saw it, there weren't a lot of options besides a) quitting my job to stay home and take care of my kids or b) putting both of them, with Grant being not even a year old in, in a daycare.  And I didn't like either of those.  Tressa called me and said she just couldn't let me put the boys in daycare after everything Landon had been through, and if we could find somebody a couple days a week, she'd be willing to keep them the other days.  

THANK.  YOU.  GOD.  for answered prayers.  

...and good friends....that you strategically plant in our lives.  Thank you for all of those 'Tressa days' and thank you even though they're officially over, we'll still have Tressa.  

(tears wiped...nose swiped....deep breath...next topic) <3 p="">

Now to another guardian angel....

Landon was blessed enough to be in Mr. Stuckey's second grade class this year.  And to say that he had a good year would be an enormous understatement.  Landon grew up so much in second grade.  He became comfortable in his skin and less of a nervous nelly.  I mean, he voluntarily moved his car this year! (which went something like Mr. Stuckey saying after he'd warned the class of talking that whoever was just talking to move their car....and Landon got up and did just that.  'but lots of kids were talking mom, not just me.  I was helping someone sitting next to me because she didn't understand the directions.  But I was talking.  And no one else got up to move their car.  And I was talking so I moved my car.  And then some other boys did too, and Mr. Stuckey said that because we were honest we could all move back to green and the girls in the room who were talking who didn't move their car shouldn't feel good about not being honest.')  Be still my heart.  I was so proud I took the boys to Freddy's for dinner.  That's right.  I rewarded my kid because he moved his car....but not really....really because he was honest, and he had gotten over something that meant so much to him before...being perfect, and never moving his car.  He learned a lot.  He became more independent.  He became more....grown up....which I'm not that happy about ;)  but I am super proud of.  And that's because of this guy, who created an environment where Landon felt comfortable enough to stretch himself in.  And even though Mr. Stuckey was on a bus headed for the state tournament on the last day of school, we still got our 'last day of school pic' with him.  Landon will have lots of memories of second grade...and we're so grateful for Mr. Stuckey.

....and to end this super sappy, grab a tissue post....

quite possibly the cutest picture I've ever taken. 

Boom.

Now THAT'S a blog post up to the old school standard!