We love our cardinals!

We had our LAST pep rally of the year last week! It was so much fun! It was an "I heart Cardinals" theme to go along with Valentines Day and it turned out so cute!

 These 7 middle school girls got to be in the pep rally because we had the Competition squad perform! They did GREAT!! It was so fun to see it all come together! We have another competition this weekend and I hope they perform as well as they did at the pep rally- it was awesome!

 Katy had taken her senior sign home so I asked her to bring it up because we were going to hang up all the senior cheerleader signs....but she forgot:( SO my wonderful talented friend Lori made her a sign:)

 We played "love letters to Kelly" and had a faculty member give advice to people on where to go on dates (FWC basketball and soccer games of course!) how to show your wife you love her when you are a coach and up here at school all the time (give her roses in front of the whole school of course!) and a creative way to ask a girl to the prom (in front of the whole student body and with flowers and a sign of course!) The kids all thought it was really sweet and funny!

 The seniors giving a pep talk to the girls! I cannot even imagine cheer without them:(

And, of course, Patton wanted in on that pic! It's nice to be done with pep rallies for a while but I really do love them! We've already started setting dates for try outs and camps for next year:/ Crazy!

Adventures with Paul!

We have loved having sweet Paul live with us! He is really funny and this weekend, especially, he has really opened up and laughed A LOT! Wednesday and Thursday he seemed really down. He was tired, we'd gotten an email from one of his teachers about his struggles in her class, and I think he was homesick. But for whatever reason on Friday he was all smiles and we really did have a great weekend with him! We took him to the middle school D group on Sunday night where the Woodwards had heated their pool! He LOVED it!

 He had never made smore's before so he was really excited!

 It hasn't all been easy- he gets frustrated when the boys wrestle and just doesn't really understand that:) He is constantly telling them to "stop fighting"! Which they do argue but that doesn't bother him as much as the physical wrestling: )  Which is funny because he was the champion of noodle fights in the pool:) anyway- In school the other day he was asked to tell something about his host family. He said 1)They are LOUD- times 2!! and 2) the boys fight a lot.   Nice.  I'm sure we'll get hosts of the year! So we are still adjusting to having him here but overall it has been a good experience:) One thing Paul LOVES to do is sleep! And so, of course I've taken his picture while he sleeps:)

 At Grami's house during a bday party for Jonathan

At church in the playscape at Bridge's bday party:)

 At a CHEER COMPETITION!!! Do you know how LOUD those are???:))

 You can only imagine what he thought about a cheer competition!!:)

 We play games some nights before bed- he loves Uno- he said we should have a bet and whoever loses has to do the dishes! I loved the idea! But then it came down to me and him-- and he totally LET ME WIN! But I talked him out of him doing the dishes- it was the thought that counted!

 We took him skating and he LOVED it! They have roller blades in Korea but not the old school skates- he asked me to take a picture of one so he could put it on facebook and show his friends and family back home!

 He was really good at skating so I asked him if they have skating rinks in Korea. He said, "no- in Korea it is free, we skate on the street"  Makes sense.

We are blessed by Paul and this whole experience and I am glad we're doing it! So thankful that the weekend is almost here again and we can just relax and have fun as a family- we've been too busy lately as usual! We're going to the Tim Hawkins concert (christian comedian) on Saturday. My kids LOVE him and I can't wait to watch them watching him!!

WELCOME TO IHOP!

International House of Polk! We've had a CRAZY wonderful week around here! Chandler's facebook post just sums it up: Went to school with a Rwandan, came home with a Korean! I'll try to explain:
Tuesday was the kids first day back at school from the break. We had spent several evenings with our good Rwandan friend, Felix, over the past 2 weeks and Chandler wanted him to come to school with her so he could see what an American school looked like! Not only did she take him to her classes, he got to be the speaker at chapel!

 He did an AMAZING job telling the kids about his story from the genocide. It is an INCREDIBLE story! We were so blessed to get to spend time with him and get to know him better. We look forward to seeing him again soon and maybe getting to meet some of his family members soon!

 We took him on a tour of the school and while we were looking in on some classes the principal pointed out the new foreign exchange students we have from South Korea. I mentioned to her that we had emailed a request to host one of the students in our home but had never heard anything back (I figured they must have known us and said Don't give the Polk's one!!). Anyway she couldn't believe it and asked us if we would still be willing to host one! Jeff and I looked at each other and said SURE!:) SO Paul came to live with us THAT DAY!:) I RAN home and got all of Parker's clothes out of his room and literally threw them on Patton's bed. I put new sheets on and Paul had himself a room! 

 He is just a doll! He speaks very good English (or should I say "speaks English well??:))and is really funny! He talks non stop! (don't tell the other host parents but we totally got the coolest one!) He gets along great with the kids and honestly it's been a pretty easy adjustment. We are probably even nicer to each other now because he is here!:) It's a lot harder to yell at your kids when you have a little 11 year old Korean student looking at you! On the second day here he noticed that we have COWS in the field next to us! He thought that was really cool! He thinks our car is HUGE, he thinks we are SO busy- because we are, and he will try anything to eat. I don't think he's had his American name for very long because sometimes I say his name 3 or 4 times and then he's like oh yeah, that's me!:) And the kicker was when Parker said "Hey Korea- want to go outside and play? Oh I mean Paul??":)

 He loves to play Wii with the kids and is really good at Just Dance! (I have to sneak pics of him because he gets embarrassed!)

 The Stites kids came over and played soccer with him!

 Tonight we got to skype with his mom! We were all stuffed into the craft room so we could watch. They were talking and laughing and we kept thinking- what in the world is he telling her?? Mom- these people are CRAZY!!! Probably.

 I'm sure we'll have many more adventures with our new "son"! He even has a "P" name so he fits right in with the boys! He's met all of the cousins and my mom on this side of town (except Bret) so I'm ready for him to meet the rest of the Polks!

We have also been making BIG plans for the summer!!! I am SO excited! More to come on that! We're dreaming BIG and trusting the Lord and it feels really good! I am so thankful to have an amazing husband and kids!! Can't wait to tell about the kids "presentation" they made for us- but it will have to wait! Gotta go iron 4 uniforms!