Today Darrell, Nathan, and I went to the Chalk Festival in our city. It was amazing what these artists were creating with chalk. They had food, music, and various city organizations. We live in a great place, the weather was beautiful!
This boy, Michael Chen, lived nearby and went to my Mom's school. He passed away recently, but had participated in this event for many years in the past. The entire festival was dedicated to his memory.
The colors and shading are unbelieveable. These are beautiful, brightly colored roses.
There were over 100 artist in attendance. How can so many people be so creative?
Some were cartooney (is that a word) and some were more realistic looking...all were amazing!
Look at these colors. My back would be killing me if I tried to something like this, and I bet my fingernails would not be happy.
I made Nathan sit on the other side so you can see the size...you can tell he is really happy to be there.
Two of the loves of my life. The third on is too cool to go to Art Festivals with us.
Okay, so I knew it was coming, but it's still hard to swallow. Apparently the "powers that be", whoever that is, does not believe that teaching parenting, life skills, and English classes to poverty-level families is necessary. My job is in the "fluff" category. Maybe the people who make these decisions should come into my classroom for one day. They should see the differences we make in the lives of these families. If you're listening Mr. Schwarzenagger or President Obama, this is an open invitation. Come and look in the faces of the little children who will no longer have someone to love them, encourage them, and believe in them. To give them a box of crayons when they don't have any, buy them shoes when theirs are so small their toenails are bleeding, or to find them dental insurance when their teeth are rotting out of their heads. Please come and see the confidence that "my Mommy's" have on their faces when they help their children with their homework and go to parent conferences with me by their side encouraging them to fight for their children. Come and talk to the Mommys and children who could not speak one word of English at the beginning of the school year, and are now having conversations with me in English. I'll miss my families terribly. They have truly accepted me into their lives, I know all of their ups and their downs. I have been there for surgeries, deaths of family members, and new babies. I PRAY TO GOD that what I have given to them over the past several years will stick with them. 
