The beginning of the end (of the school year)

It's May.
In my book--I mean, calendar--May is a busy as December. It's all the end of school stuff that fills Christa's life to overflowing, while filling up my calendar.
Teachers squeeze in "just one more" field trip--or sometimes it's the first field trip of the year. There are Olympic Field Days at Christa's school too, where we all hope "springtime in the Rockies" cooperates and means sunshine, not snow. Throw in the varied special projects that all of a sudden are deemed "must-do" and it makes for a busy life for a first-grader and her parents.
Meanwhile, Christa is starting to think less about school and more "It's almost summer!" thoughts. Me too. While May fills up, I'm trying to determine how busy Christa's vacation should be. Too slow and I've got one bored 7-year-old on my hand. Misery personified. Too much and I'm a miserable mom.
I've already got one project for the summer: Sorting through the pile of Christa's school papers that accumulated in a basket by my desk. Sure, some got thrown away through the year--when she wasn't looking. But, one day while she's at camp or Vacation Bible School (VBS), I'll do the real work and separate the "keepers" from all the rest. It's never too early to think about what might go in her high school graduation memory album.
But, for right now, I'm concentrating on surviving the month of May.