Birthday Part II

The Birthday Girls- Kou Shao Wen (me) and Wu Da Fei (Diana)

This weekend Christy joined Diana, Richard, Ryan, and I for tennis! After tennis Christy and I decided to have our annual birthday dinner celebration!

Last year, Christy and I had Diana over for a birthday dinner and Diana and I celebrated our birthdays together. (our bday's are almost 2wks apart). Christy and I decided to carry on the tradition by having Diana over again this year. We served another one of Christy's recipes- honey bake chicken- and one of our favorite fall desserts- APPLE CRISP! We even stopped on our way home to buy 2 pumpkins to put on our table! :)

After dinner and dessert we watched TAXI together and then we had to take one more picture! Christy decided that we each had to take one thing off of the table to pose with!

I LOVE birthdays!!!! :)

International Day

Last Wednesday was International Day at our school. It was a great celebration of the Father's creativity. My students came dressed in their beautiful traditional clothes... unfortunately we Americans mostly resorted to jeans and t-shirts :( I wore my Red Sox shirt and favorite jeans for the morning and then changed into my sari late morning. (I had to wait for Mrs. Mithal to come and help me!

- My beautiful girls in their hanboks~ Heather, Sara, Sally, Maria, Louise

- My boys! Some came in their traditional clothing (Danny had to leave for Korea so he did not wear his) I have a little more diversity in my classroom compared to last year- I have 11 students from Korea, 1 from America, and 1 from India. Some of my boys chose to wear their tai kwon do and soccer outfits....

~ Brian, John, En Pa, Chris, Joseph, Danny, Eshatva, Jae Yoon

In the afternoon, parents join us and bring food from their home country. After the meal, students, teachers, and parents headed outside to watch some cultural performances.

~ Sara with her younger brother Joseph and mom

~ Eshatva, one of my students, played his casio and sang India's national anthem!

We were thankful for some warmer weather since this year's performance was held outside!

Highlights of International Day included:

~ Tamaki performing a traditional Japanese dance

~ a traditional Korean clothing fashion show

~ The Chinese teachers version of a Chinese opera

John performed an amazing song on the er hu (a traditional Chinese instrument) This was probably one of my favorite acts :) Maybe someday I will learn to play the er hu...

ESLA reunion!

Another great thing about International Day is the chance to see past students

Me with some of my girls from my ESL class last year!

Happy 18th Birthday Sam!

Today is my brother Sam's 18th birthday! I wish I could be there to celebrate it with him, but I am here and he is there... so I am wishing him 'zhu ni shengri kuaile!' and look forward to celebrating him when I come home....

G- Ilyatwthabnrfmtyfaea HA.... i owe you one!


Then<--- wasn't he sooo cute?!?!?



















Now-------> first day of senior year...

Early Birthday Party

Last night Jenny Lea, Amy, and I celebrated our birthdays. I know, it's a little early to celebrate my birthday, but we wanted to have an Indian theme and this was the best date for everyone. Pictured above is Jenny Lea, Amy, Donald, our chef for the night, and me. Donald, one of our new teachers, and his wife agreed to help us cook Indian food! Sadly, our favorite Indian restaurant went out of business last year, so we were all excited to have the opportunity to eat and celebrate the Indian culture!

To help us prepare for the evening, Eshatva's mom came to the school to help Amy and I put on our saris. Eshatva is one of my 4th graders. Mrs. Mithal (red sari) and Eshatva were unable to attend our birthday party because last night was the beginning of the Festival of Lights (Diwali) and she was hosting a big celebration at her home.

<---- Eshatva and I just after I put on my sari!

<--- The "birthday girls" Amy, Jenny Lea, and me.... giving the peace sign in honor of our Korean students!

Guests

Angela, me, Lisa, and ChristyDebbie Sue, Jenny Lea, Maravic, me, Amy, and Leanne

<--- one of our TA's beautiful daughter!

Students and Flat Stanley....

You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but we were in the middle of playing math games when I took these pictures of John- He decided that he would do a photo shoot for me! John makes me laugh every day! He has a great sense of humor and is a fun person! John was one of my students from last and I am enjoying him again this year!

Me and the boys! Sometimes we are accused of having too much fun in our class!!!!

I have no idea why!!!


FLAT STANLEY....

Amber, my friend from IWU, sent me her son's Flat Stanley! My students have had a great time writing about Ben's flat stanley's time in China. They have made him clothes and accessories, taken him to all of their specials and Chinese classes!

<--- Brian and one of our Chinese teachers, Garbo

Maria, Louise, Sara, Brian, and Heather with Flat Stanley playing math games------->

<---- Louise and Sara with Flat Stanley playing math games!

Happy Birthday Wu Da Fei!!!!

Last Monday was my TA's birthday! I have been fortunate enough to work with Diana last year and this year!! She is a fabulous TA and friend! If you notice behind Diana you will see my beautiful Chinese handwriting! I actually know enough characters to write a decent birthday wish! hooray! (My students had to help with 3-4 words... I knew the pinyin (chinese phonetics) but not the characters....)

FLAT 4th GRADERS

Brian, Eshatva, Sara, Heather, Jae Yoon, Danny, and Joseph

B-Brian, Sara, Heather, Jae Yoon, Danny, Joseph

F- Sally, Maria, Louise, Chris, En Pa, John

This year my 4th graders are corresponding with students in Marion, Indiana. One of our projects was to make a Flat Stanley to send to our penpals.... however, some of my students just couldn't part with their flat selves...I will have to come up with an alternative for those students. My students' enthusiasm for writing to continues to grow with each letter. We are doing our letters electronically which helps cut down on the delay between letters! :)

POLAR WORLD!

Aaron, just outside of the Polar World entrance

This morning I met up with the Hedrick Family to go to Polar World!Aaron earned this trip by completing his Victory Drill. I was actually pretty impressed. They even had a dolphin and seal show! It took us morning to see everything! It was fun going to Polar World with kids and seeing their excitement :)

After Polar World, I met up with Diana and some other friends to play tennis! It has been such a looong time since I have played. I think I may have been 6th grade! I definitely need some more practice

After tennis, we all met up for dinner. But the best part about today was calling our friend Melissa! Melissa taught in Qingdao for 7 years... (she taught 2nd grade last year) She went home this year, but is preparing to come back and work in kunming next year. Diana and I have been looking forward to calling her this week. Below is a picture of Charles and Kathleen talking to Missy!

Karoake! After dinner, we all went to a nearby karaoke place...

<-- Geoff, Richard, ( one of my TA's from last year) and Carl (friend of Diana's)

All in all it was a great day!

Just to make you laugh....

Angela, Lisa, Me, and Christy

Happy Autumn.... a little early!

During my personal day this week I went to Starbucks to get my Christmas Blend Coffe, sent to me by my dear friend Amber (thanks!) grounded
(I mentioned in an earlier blog how Christy and I begin celebrating Christmas in the BER months...) While at Starbucks I spotted these beautiful mugs! I just had to buy them;) I figured since we couldn't have all the fall colors of home, we could at least enjoy our coffee and home made cider in orange mugs!
<--Christy and I made some homemade apple cider last night and enjoyed some warm cider on our balcony.

Former Students.... and current students
Today we celebrated Mr. Miller's (principal) 40th birthday. I took the opportunity to take some pictures of my students from last year. I miss seeing their beautiful faces every day! I have been spoiled this year in that I did get to keep 5 of my students from last year... I just couldn't resist getting in a few pics.... This first one is of my with Lee Keon-- in the back, this year's students- Jae Yoon, Joseph, John, and Brian

Julia came to my class last year after Christmas Break. Today her mother stopped me in the hall to tell me that Julia was going to be transitioning out of ESLB and into the 3rd grade classroom! I am so proud of her! Also exciting, Julia made a decision last year in my classroom but I was unsure of her understanding.... the week before vacation her current teacher came in to tell me that she had raised her hand during book class and made the decision and seemed to have a good understanding of what this decision meant! PTL!!!!

My girls.... Annie and Sandy!

Jae Yoon, Joseph, Brian, and John waiting to sing Happy Birthday to Mr. Miller....

JaeYoon, Eshatva, Chris, Louise, and Sara

Wordless Book

This week in book class we have been talking about Omnipresent and how our father can be everywhere at once. This week we have also been learning about the wordless book. Many of my students had already heard of the wordless book and were able to give good examples/illustrations for each page. After I had gone over the wordless book, I had my students break up into small groups and practice telling the story of the Wordless Book. They did an amazing job! I then had 5 students tell the story to their classmates. Their homework tonight is to go home and share the wordless book with someone in their family. Most of my students this year come from like-minded homes, some are the only believers in their homes, and others have yet to make a decision.

"Better Is One Day" lyrics:
How lovely is Your dwelling place Oh, L--- Almighty For my soul longs and even faints for You For here my heart is satisfied Within Your presence I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings

Chorus:Better is one day in Your courts Better is one day in Your house Better is one day in Your courts Than thousands elsewhere

One thing I ask and I would seek To see Your beauty To find You in the place Your glory dwells

My heart and flesh cry out For You, the living G-- Your Spirit's water for my soul (My thirsty soul) I've tasted and I've seen Come once again to me I will draw near to You I will draw near to You

Better is one day, better is one day, better is one day Than thousands elsewhere

The above song is one that we have sung the last few Sundays at fellowship. I often think of Chris when I hear this song and how he is already in His courts.

Memories....

Philipians 4:8- Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious- the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse

Having some technical difficulties, so my blog is in two pieces. For some reason Blogspot will not let me put as many pictures as I would like in one blog... so I got around it by splitting my blog up!

I have many memories with Chris....I remember our silly fights, his laughter, the way he knew just how to push my buttons... all the things siblings do! I am thankful for the family I have been given and for the time I had with him.

Me making pumpkin cookies in honor of my brother Chris- a family favorite. Christy and I often celebrate our siblings by making things in honor of them or watching a movie that makes us think of them. This week the movie will be Polar Express- One of the few books Chris actually asked for....

This is one of my favorite first day of school pictures of Chris... wearing one of my favorite AE shirts