Purim!

At 12 noon I went over to my parents' house to wait for my students. I was dressed up as a gas station attendant, and my family had even bought this Little Tykes gas pump to sit by our door.
One by one the students began to come.
Or should I say two by threes? No girl wanted to walk in herself. The students all came in with a couple of friends.
C.O., M.L., H.W., and G.S. all walked in together. They each gave me their mishloach manos, we took some pictures, and then they ran out laughing.
M.L. was a chessboard and her brothers were chess pieces. They were adorable!
C.O, had given me a very cute picture frame that said "Super Teacher", with a nice poem in it.
G.S. had given me a small thing in school, and she had just come 'cause she has a crush on me. LOL
H.W. gave me a small bag with apples and apple cookies inside. Nothing special.
The next ones to come were S.F.F. and T.J. They were dressed up very cute, and brought yummy goodies with them.
S.F.F. had a tray of chocolate covered rice crispies smeared with marshmallow fluff. My family loves that stuff. It was gone in a matter of minutes.
Next, S.G.L. walked in, all by herself. My family thought she was adorable. She handed me a stunning mishloach manos made especially for me. It had a "teachers are a class act" mug, and a cake, as well as a cutting board. Her mother had written a nice note about how I was a "cut" above the rest.
A while later R.S. came by. Her parents gave me an envelope with $20.
L.K. and M.P. came together looking very cute. Our picture came out blurry, but it'll have to do. My camera was giving me problems all day. My 17 year old sister was my photographer, and she couldn't figure the camera out. So L.K. and M.P. will be getting blurry pictures.
L.K.'s mishloach manos was stunning! It was a potpourri theme and it smelled up the entire room. LOL. Her parents had given me an $18 check.
M.P. looked adorable. Her costume matched her mishloach manos. She was dressed in green stripes. Everything in her striped basked was green.
My family could not get over the girls. They kept pointing out that my students were all taller than I was. -Sadly, it's all true. :)
C.S. and her sister came together. C.S. wasn't dressed up, but her little sister was a "Molly" doll, form the American Girls Collection.
Her parents wrote such a nice card and they bought me a hand blender for being the "perfect blend" of a teacher.
My parents had to agree that C.S. was the cutest so far.
When C.C.K. came, my siblings disagreed. They said she was the cutest.
She came together with L.O. At that time, my 12 year old brother (who had dressed up as a very convincing girl) was in the middle of changing in to a t-shirt of my sister's. In the middle of the dining room he took off his shirt. I was so embarrassed. My students couldn't stop laughing. I have a feeling that the entire school is going to know about this soon.
L.O.'s package had a really nice poem thanking me for all my hard work.
M.L. in 7b came over very excitedly. This girl would sleep over at my house if I'd let her. She gave me a nice basket that my 5 year old sister wanted to keep, and she was thrilled to be able to take a picture with me.
The next three to come were B.G., A.L., and R.R.
B.G. had given me a very nice heart shaped glass bowl, and chocolates that said, "#1 teacher."
R.R. brought over a home made potato kugel. (My brother claimed it all for himself!)
D.T. and E.F.G came together, and I was not surprised!
D.T.'s parents sent me an $18 check.
E.F.G. was dressed as a cowgirl and looked very cute.
E.S. came herself looking adorable, She brought along a nice thank you note and $25.
She definitely is in the running between C.C.K. and C.S.
C.S.A.'s picture also came out blurry. She ran in pretty quickly. I saw her 12th grader sister waiting outside for her.
Her mother had written a beautiful poem and given me an Artscroll interlinear Tehillim.
B.E.D. was dressed as a Victorian lady. She was so precious. She smiled a huge smile for the camera, and she got put into the running too.
M.R. turned up wearing huge eyelashes. I didn't let her leave until everyone saw her. Her mother, the cutest lady, sent me a nice picture frame.
S.J. and T.K. came together as usual. S.J. was a stewardess, and T.K. was Pippi Longstockings. T.K. even had a little stuffed monkey (Mr. Nillson) pinned to her shoulder.
T.K. had gotten her hair to stand up using a hanger. My sisters couldn't stop examining her head.
S.J.'s family had send their mishloach manos in a tiny suitcase that turned out to be an airplane meal. That was so cute!
It was already 3 pm and my students had stopped coming. I had 6 mishloach manos left over.
The twins, E.T. and Y.T. hadn't come, and neither had C.K., T.K., R.H., F.G., and F.F.
F.F. had given me an $18 gift certificate in school Sunday, so I didn't expect her to come.
R.H. and T.K. I wasn't expecting either.
C.K. lived far, and F.G. was the type not to show.
At 4 pm, I was getting ready to leave, T.K. came over. I think she was shocked to see me still there, but she gave me her bag, and even smiled for the camera.
Her parents also wrote a nice card and sent over a decorative perfume bottle.
I was surprised she came.
At the end of the day I had gotten some nice things, but that wasn't the point. The parents didn't spend a lot of money, but it was nice to see that they appreciated at least a little bit of what I do. It's the thought that counts.
So now I have on more day off before school on Thursday.
I plan on enjoying to the fullest.