This Was ONE MORE WEEKEND!!

What a weekend! There are alot of pictures in this post- it could actually be several posts, but I put them all in one. We have had a fun few days!On Friday, I took cupcakes to Karlee's preschool class to celebrate her 4th birthday. One of the sweetest moments was when she saw me at the door she grinned and waved and then looked at her little friend and said, "That's MY mommy!" I teared up on that one! Then it was the last day of classes for this term with my ESL students. We begin a new one next week. I am not sure who my students will be and to be honest, I can't imagine them topping this group I have had. Above are my Reading 5 students. They are from Japan, China, India, Turkey, Africa and Egypt. Very intelligent class!Here is my Listening 2 class. This class bonded so well together- one of those very unusual situations. They were from India, Nepal, China and Japan and they were hilarious!Listening 2 students againSurya and Satish kept trying to do bunny ears behind me so this time right when the picture was about to be taken, I did it to them! ha! They thought that was hilarious! We really do learn things in class - ha!

For Karlee's birthday, her best buddy who lives out of state, came to visit. So we did a pajama party with a frog cake (Karlee's request) with Mallory and cousin Emma. She had a fun time!
They decorated pillowcases.
Emma, Karlee and MalloryKarlee loves her some frogs! Now, two of my female Indian students wanted to put me in their traditional dress. So, I went up a few days ago to their dorm and they dressed me in bangles, make-up, jewels- you name it I had it on. I am blogging this picture to show you their dresses- are they not gorgeous?!?!!!?Friday night, there was an Indian festival and my students asked us 100 times to attend so we joined in. Thanks Jason and Shelley for celebrating this with us! You are huge sports! Above is Bagyshri dancing (in the pink)- she was amazing. This young lady is 18 years old and all the way across the world from her family and everything she has ever known. These students have more courage than I can even begin to imagine.And of course, we joined in. Kalie is behind me. We had an amazing teacher ha- she was patient to say the least. Drew danced too but he had the camera and we didn't get a shot of him. We will next time!Jason, Shelley and Mallory danced too- Kate is in Jason's arms.
Then off course, this was the 3rd Saturday in October. And in this family, it means a House Divided! Kalie and I are avid Tennessee fans and Drew is Alabama all the way. Karlee started saying Roll Tide this year, so she converted to Drew's team. Kate I think said go Vols- maybe because Karlee wasn't- ha! Anyway, we tailgated Saturday morning out in our yard and then watched the game with family and friends. Friday night, while we were out, my dad put these signs up in our yard! Drew and I fought over those staying in the yard- it was so funny.
I have to admit, she looks quite cute in her crimson.

Jason and Shelley before the horrible game....
Drew the lone Alabama fan....
Kate had on orange and a Tennessee hat at times during the day...Mallory and Karlee

The group- divided but always friends!

Saturday night, we had a night out. I won't even go into all the details but we had a great time.

Then Sunday night, just topped off an already awesome weekend. My Listening 2 students had asked if they could cook for me. So, we planned a party for the end of the term. We picked them up and for 4 hours they cooked in our kitchen. We had amazing Indian dishes and Chinese dumplings- the girls even taught me how to fold them the right way. I was so excited. Above is Kate learning how to make them too.

Chintan wanted to ride our lawn mower so Drew got him set up. They all took turns- it was so funny! Satish and Hiran wanted their picture made with the little girls. Eloise had met my students a few weeks ago and joined in on the party. Kalie had been driving them around on the workhorse. The guys took turns driving this as well.My job was to make homemade ice-cream. Kate discovered the mixing bowl and stayed there for quite some time. Mayur is posing with her.This cracked me up. I had the wok out for the Chinese students. They ended up using the stove. We must have been running out of counter space becuase Surya is squatting on the floor cooking over the wok. And by the way- that fish dish he is preparing was out of this world!
More of our rabbit ears obsession. This is me with Qien, Satish, Ai Li, Surya and Hiran.
We told them to make funny faces- obviously this is only done by Americans. Our families and some friends joined us for this feast- actually I still have tons of food in my fridge- so please come and eat! ha! This group of students have been such a blessing to me this term. We pray for them and the plans God has in store for their lives.