40 Years...

January 17th marked a very special day... It was 40 years ago, on that date, that my mom began her teaching career in the small town I grew up in.  Since that date, she has dedicated herself to educating and nurturing all of the children within our community.  As a child of a teacher,  I remember spending many evenings after school, weekends, holidays, and summer vacations in her room helping her to get things organized or put up bulletin boards (I think my sister, brother, and I became quite knowledgable about putting up bulletin boards by the age of 5! :)).  At the time, it was the most annoying thing ever... Imagine being stuck at school when school wasn't even in session! :)  But, as I get older, and now that I'm also pursuing a career in education, I now fully appreciate all that my mom did.   My mom has worked tirelessly putting her heart and soul into her career.  She loves teaching and working with children.  She gets so much joy out of watching children develop into responsible citizens of our community.  And through the years, no matter how crazy things may have been at home (it can get rather crazy raising three children, and we definitely didn't make it easy on her! :)), she never gave anything less than the best in her classroom, and her students have gone on to accomplish many great things because of it.  She has truly made a difference in the lives of so many people within our community.  I've always admired what a wonderful teacher my mom is.  I can honestly say that I've never met another teacher with such drive, dedication, compassion, and determination in all of my schooling.   My mom is my role model, and I can only hope that I can make half of the impact on my students throughout my teaching career as my mom has on hers.

In order to mark this very special occasion, my sister, brother, dad, and I decided to host a surprise luncheon for her.  It was a small gathering of teachers and it was held in the teacher's lounge of her building.  We made the decorations, organized a tasty smorgasbord of food, prepared a scrapbook which we filled with comments and memories from her past students and old coworkers, and dad ordered her 40 long stem roses to mark each year of her teaching career (and they were absolutely gorgeous!!)... And we managed to do this all without her knowing! :)  On the day of the luncheon, my sister and I stealthily set everything up (and we were very jumpy in doing so for fear that she would walk into the lounge at any given moment! :)).  Mom's principal also worked with us in getting her out of her classroom and giving her time during the day to enjoy her luncheon.  And, when she walked into the lounge, the look of surprise on her face made it everything worthwhile. :)  After all that Mom has given to our community over the years, just being able to give something small back to her, meant more than anything. :)  And, to top off an already exciting day, the weather managed to take a turn for the worse that afternoon, and school was actually cancelled at 12:30...  So, Mother Nature apparently wanted to show her gratitude for mom's 40 years of service as well, by giving her an afternoon off! :)

So, thank you, Mom, for being a role model to so many and for being such a dedicated teacher through the years (as well as a wonderful mom throughout!! :))  You have made a difference in the lives of so many, and for that we are forever grateful!! :)  I'm so proud of all that you have accomplished!  I love you, Mom!! :)

The set up...
The decorations were all handmade by my sister and I... From the banner to the centerpieces.
Gotta love being crafty! :)

The smorgasbord of yummy food! :)

40 long stem roses from my Dad... Absolutely beautiful!!
(I found that I kept standing by them and smelling them throughout the day! :))

The cupcakes we made...
Apples and chalkboards!!  :)

The centerpieces...
How creative is my sister for coming up with this?! :)

More centerpieces... 

The surprise!! :)
Mom was definitely not expecting any of this, so the look on her face was pure shock! :)

Mom and Dad... :)

The girls! :)

Kaden really enjoyed the festivities as well! :)

Our family... :)