The week before Christmas was the week of Christmas programs this year. The week began with Ben's program on Wednesday morning, December 18th. Ben's 5/6 class told the Christmas story at the final preschool chapel of the year. Ben was selected to play the role of Joseph because, according to his teacher, he could sit still and wouldn't act silly.
Before the program officially began, unbeknownst to me, Ben's half birthday was celebrated along with the half birthdays of a good number of his classmates.
Here he is beside Evie, who played Mary,
and they both look weighed down by the burdens of the important roles they are about to play.
Once the program began, Joseph and Mary took their place at the manger
before the angels arrived to sing a few songs.
Then it was the shepherds' turn to tell their story before
the wise men arrived bearing gifts.
Once the program was over, Ben was relaxed enough to smile.
Here is the entire cast otherwise known as Ben's class.
After the program, Ben's class held their Christmas party in their classroom. I stopped by for a quick hug and picture
before I moved on to get some last-minute Christmas shopping completed.
Early the next morning, it was Eleanor's turn with her school's Christmas program. Eleanor and I had to be there at 7am (I was helping get the speakers dressed) so with Thomas in California, it made for an early morning for all of us! Ben and I spent the hour before the program's 8:15 start backstage assisting the female speakers with their robes and sashes.
The 5th grade of the Lower School, just like Ben's preschool class, told the story of the birth of Jesus.
Every child in the Lower School was present and positioned according to their grades. Below, you can see the third grade to the upper left on the stage, the fifth grade in the center stage and the fourth grade to the right on the stage. The pre-firsters are sitting off the stage in the middle (they are hard to see) with the first graders to their left and the second graders to their right.
Eleanor was one of ten fifth graders tasked with a speaking role. She was the last speaker of the program
and she said, "
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with
Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him. When they had opened
their treasures, they presented unto him gifts: gold, frankincense, and
myrrh."
On Friday morning, it was time for Hayes's "holiday" program. His class joined half of the second grade, third and fourth grades and all of the fifth grade in the main campus's gym for the hour-plus performance. When it was second grade's turn, Hayes and his peers
sang two songs in French, "Noel Jazz" and "Canon de Noel" and then ended with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in English.
By the end of the third school program, we were ready for Christmas break to officially begin!
Once they ran down the stairs, they came to the immediate conclusions that (1) Santa definitely came to Beaverbrook and (2) he didn't bring coal! We plowed through Santa's gifts and all of our presents well before 8:30am. 
The photo below shows how early our gift-opening took place, as it was still very dark outside. 
By the end of the afternoon, the girls had joined the boys' game. 
After a Thanksgiving-like Christmas dinner with the extended Lee Family, it was time to head home as our Christmas 2013 drew to a close. 
