May in Review

    

     One of my favorite features of my planner is that it has a month in review section for each month. I like having the prompt to take a look back on the month and remember some of the highlights and big events as well as favorites (anything ranging from books, tv shows, games, music, and food). 

    May was a very full month. It was Joel's birthday, we had family visiting for a bit, and it was the end of the school year. I definitely felt spread thin for parts of the month, but overall, I'm really proud of how I ended the year at work. There were lots of fun end-of-year projects like Wonder Week, a memory book, and our beach day! Hopefully these projects felt like a good way for students to look back on the year and celebrate how far they've come.  I feel lucky to have had such a wonderful group of students in such a strange school year that ranged from virtual to fully in-person and everything in between. 

    Other highlights of May included Joel's birthday! For his birthday, I gave him A Gentleman in Moscow and Pandemic Legacy. I got two copies of the book so we could read it at the same time, and we ended up going out for Russian food and discussing our favorite scenes. We've been loving to play the game together (which is also set during the Cold War--between watching The Americans and reading the book, we've been kind of obsessed with consuming media about the USSR for whatever reason).  

    This month I've been amazed by Avi's language development. She's starting to say short phrases like "eyes closed" or "up we go." We just got back from the park a little bit ago, and it's great to see her exploring the playground more independently. She's getting more confident with climbing the play structures. She's still loving her animal figurines and reading together. 

    Joel's mom visited last weekend, which was so fun! We all went to a farm nearby called the Bee Hugger, and there were lots of different animals to feed. The hotel she stayed at had a pool, which Avi enjoyed playing in. It was such a treat that Joel's mom watched Avi overnight, so we could go out to dinner and have a mini-vacation. This was our first night away from Avi. 

    All in all, it was a good month if a bit exhausting towards the end. I'm looking forward to lots of time with family this summer!