Christmas in Florida

We arrived in Florida in the early evening on the 23rd.  We recalled that we had not been down to Florida for Christmas Day since Ben was born and were eager to remember (and introduce to Ben) what a Florida Christmas was like.

We began our Christmas celebration by attending church for the 5:00 service on Christmas Eve.  We were looking quite dapper so we decided to take some pictures before we left home.  

We then came home to eat a wonderful meal provided by one of my parents' friends who also happened to be my elementary school Challenge teacher.  (The kids got a kick out of that fact.)   Papa made some final touches to the table

while Thomas devoured some raw oysters the friend brought over as an appetizer.

After dinner, the kids begged to get online to check out the NORAD Santa tracker.  They followed his every move as he traveled over Asia, Africa and Europe!

In addition to tracking Santa, they took in a college bowl game

before it was time for the boys to open their one traditional gift on Christmas Eve.  (In all of the pre-Christmas hustle, E had opened hers back in Atlanta so she was already dressed in her Christmas pajama bottoms.) 

Once the pajamas were opened and then donned, the kids were ready for bed . . . 

but not before a reading "The Night Before Christmas".

(Hayes struggled to fall asleep that night due to his excitement/anxiety about Christmas.  When we checked on him around 11pm, he was finally asleep.)

The kids were energized Christmas morning.  With the set-up in Mimi and Papa's house, Hayes was on the main floor while Eleanor and Ben were upstairs with us.  Hayes could walk out of his room and see what Santa brought while Eleanor and Ben only had to look over the ledge in the loft and look down on the family room.  They were kind enough to wake us up around 7:30 to tell us that it was time for the day to start.  The kids perused their gifts from Santa

and I caught E spending some time catching up on the latest teen gossip. 

Around 8:30, Thomas began working on our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of eggs, grits, bacon, sausage balls, toast and fruit.

Then, once we were all well-nourished, it was time to open presents.  We moved at a slow-and-steady pace which allowed me to get some good shots that morning. 

 As you can see in the picture below, Mimi and Papa gave Ben this year's Hess truck and space cruiser.  (This year's design marked the 50th anniversary of Hess toy trucks.) 

Later, some games of H-O-R-S-E were played out on the driveway

 

before we departed for Christmas dinner later that afternoon at the Rudloff's house.  With the Rudloff's house located on the river, we took advantage of the late afternoon lighting to get some pictures. 

When it was time to eat, the kids found their own table out by the pool

 

and quickly befriended the Rudloff grandchildren for some competitive games of football on the driveway and then Xbox inside. 

When we arrived home after dinner, it was hard to believe that everyone wasn't ready to hit the hay.  We watched a little bit of a football bowl game before Christmas 2014 came to an end. 

Pre-Christmas Christmases

With Mimi's recent diagnosis of EHE cancer, we decided to switch things up this year and spend Christmas in Florida.  Because of this schedule change, we celebrated an early Christmas with Grandmommy and Granddaddy the Saturday afternoon before we left.

 

We had an early lasagna dinner with Granddaddy and Grandmommy and opened presents before our family headed to the Alliance Theater to see A Christmas Carol (hence the kids were dressed for the theater). 

Can you guess what gift the boys got after seeing the box below? 

I don't think Hayes guessed accurately when he saw the size and shape of the box. . . but Ben was pretty quick to figure it out and even wanted to take a few swings in his grandparents' family room.  Yikes!

E got in on the present-opening fun and discovered some earrings in the box here. 

I just had to include this picture because it shows Ben exactly as I think of him - loud!  I cannot recall what he was saying or singing but I'm sure it was at a louder-than-appropriate volume. 

Then, the Monday night before we drove to Florida on Tuesday was the night that the five of us exchanged our gifts. 

 Ben was beyond thrilled with his gift to us that Thomas opened - a painted tile he made at school.

 

In addition to what he created at school, Ben also handmade gifts for each of us.  He gave me $2 and an eraser, and he made a Steelers cheering foam toy out of one we had in our dress-up chest for Hayes.  He drew Eleanor a picture.  

For Thomas, he made this coupon. 

In Ben words, it says the equivalent of "Things I can do for you.  Do the dishes.  Do the utensils.  Feed the dog.  Sweep the floor."  Another highlight of the gift exchange before we headed to Bantam Biddy for dinner was that the boys both received dress shirts and Christmas ties to wear Christmas Eve.

 

Surprisingly, both boys were rather excited about this gift. 

In the end, I think we all relished the opportunity to celebrate Christmas a little early, especially knowing we had more coming once we got to Florida!

Gingerbread House Decorating

The Saturday morning after the last week of school in December, we attended the Watsons' annual gingerbread house decorating party.  Since the Watsons have hosted this party for the last few years, our kids have learned the drill.  The main difference this year is that the Watsons are currently living in an apartment while they look for a house closer to school. 

There are generally two tables - one for the older girls and one for the younger boys.  This year, Hayes moved up with the sixth grade girls  (including Eleanor)

 

while the other third grade girls and the two kindergarten boys, including Ben, sat at the second table. 

After spending more than an hour decorating their houses, our three posed by the Christmas tree for a picture with their work. 

When the kids needed a break for the detail work of decorating, they'd venture to the photo wall and ham it up! 

 

The two youngest participants sure do enjoy each other's company. 

I didn't get a group picture of the three third grade girls and one third grade boy in attendance but the big girls wanted a group shot.  

 

This party always kicks off the winter break in such a festive spirit.  Thank you Watsons!

Hayes' Christmas Program

The Friday before Christmas break, Eleanor and I went to the main campus to see Hayes' holiday program. (E was done with her semester exams, and Ben was in school at the primary center.) Half of the main campus population participated in Hayes' program while the other half of the school sang in a program earlier in the morning. The four third grade classes sang "Bonne Annee" and "Dreidel".

 

Hayes seemed rather energized by our presence.

 

After the program, Eleanor and I walked up to Hayes' classroom where E took this picture of the two of us in the hallway.

 

Happy Holiday Break!

Ben's masterpiece

Ben came home from school this week suddenly talking about a project he did in art earlier in the school year. He told me that his teacher had liked his work so much that she had asked to keep it for a while. In Ben's mind, "a while" had passed and he was ready to being his work home to show me. I told him that he should just tell his art teacher that he wanted to bring his work home and see what she said. 

In typical Ben fashion, the next day as he walked in the front door from school, the first words out of his mouth were, "Mom! I have something to show you in my backpack!" Somehow, over the next few chaos-infused minutes (as they always are when the boys walk in the door) I didn't see what Ben had to show me. Instead, this picture was left on the family room coffee table. 

 

I asked Eleanor, who was there reading on the sofa, if this was Ben's "masterpiece" he had been eager to show me. She replied with a quick,"Yes," and returned to her book. I thought Ben's work was interesting but not exactly keep-worthy. 

 

Later that afternoon, I was up in Ben's room and spotted this piece.

 

I called Ben upstairs and asked him about this picture. He said, "Oh yeah. That's the picture my art teacher gave back to me today when I asked for it. Don't you like it? One guy is playing the guitar while the other guy is holding a sign saying 'Go'."

Now I understand.  Yes, this picture is keep worthy!

Birthday Locker Decor

In Eleanor's middle school, the girls celebrate birthdays by decorating lockers.  At the beginning of the school year, each girl is assigned a classmate, and she is then responsible for the locker birthday decorations on that classmate's birthday.

With Eleanor's birthday falling over the Christmas break, her classmate chose to decorate E's locker the Friday before semester exams began. When Eleanor arrived at school that Friday morning, she found her locker looking like this . . .

Note from Neighbor

It is always reassuring as a parent when you find a note like this in your Christmas card from a neighbor . . .

Visit to the Governor's Mansion

This December, Ben and all of his kindergarten classmates took two fun field trips marking the holiday season.  For one field trip, they went to the Center for Puppetry Arts to see Rudolph.  Then, I chaperoned the field trip that took the kindergartners to the Governor's Mansion to see the home decorated for Christmas.  I was eager to attend this field trip as I've never been to the Governor's Mansion.  Also, I've been hearing about this field trip since Hayes' kindergarten year when his December field trip was canceled.

As we walked in the front door, Mrs. Deal, the Governor's wife, was there to greet us.

After walking through the foyer, we toured the formal dining room, the state room, the library and the informal eating area before we were directed down to the basement to see a school chorus perform holiday songs. 

In the end, the tour reminded me of our White House tour in D.C. a few years ago . . . rather overrated when you consider what it could have been.  Ben was thrilled to have me there as a chaperone though and that made the experience worth it!