More Christmas fun

We continued with Christmas celebrations with our friends doing a breakfast with Santa at the Battlehouse in downtown Mobile. It was perfect - easy to get in, get our food, the kids loved feeling fancy, and we barely had to wait to see Santa and Mrs. Claus.

 Michael sitting with the kiddos :)

 The hotel is just gorgeous

 No tears here! They were so excited to see him and of course couldn't remember anything they wanted to ask for once put on the spot.

  

   

 The whole fam

 Close-up with just Santa

  

 This tree is huge!

Slightly better family pic. I think Charlie and Ryan were over pictures at this point. 

 Trying our best for a group shot

 

 Sweet friends, they had the best time.

 They had this fun photo prop set up in front of the tree

 The full effect

 Love these ladies

 The guys wanted their turn!!

  Annoying couples shot, courtesy of Ryan!

 We continued our day of fun since the weather was gross and the kids were having fun, we just moved the party to the hotel bar/coffee shop.

 Someone wasn't as amused as the rest of the gang.

Later that weekend, we had a ladies ornament exchange at Alecia's.

Alabama is celebrating their bicentennial over the next year, so the 3rd graders were able to take a field trip to examine the exhibits set-up showcasing the history of Alabama. I was glad to be able to meet Ryan's class there. He was surprisingly very into it.

 He took so many notes, read all of the displays, and was very interested in the history.

 Love this boy. I think what they were most excited for was the fact that for lunch, we got to go to the Eastern Shore Center where they could pick out whatever restaurant they wanted to go eat it. Ryan and some of his buddies chose Newk's. It was cute to see them all trying to decide where to eat; think they just loved the independence!

 The Hospitality crew serving the teachers for the PTA Christmas Luncheon. Always a good time with these friends.

 Feeling festive

 Ryan and Charlie had their party on the same day. Wes went to Charlie's and then they met us over at the elementary to finish up Ryan's.

 Ryan's room mom did such a nice job planning their Christmas party. It was really a lot of fun for the kids.

They had a race to "wrap" a Christmas tree and enjoyed lots of laughs. 

 Charlie came and crashed the party. He just makes himself right at home in the boys' classrooms.

 but I do love how the school lets siblings partake in all of the fun so I don't have to miss out.

 Each child brought in a small trinket or toy to stuff all of the stockings. Apparently, Mrs. Prater said they have been so anxious and excited about this all week. Once she gave them the go ahead, they dove right in!

 All of the (dollar store) loot :)

 Thankful for this lady! She is truly the best!

 I usually bake something every year for a lot of the staff, bus driver, librarians, etc. B wanted to help me this year which was nice because they are a lot of work!

 This is one of their favorite things to do when we stay in on a weekend night. Order pizza, move the table into the living room, put on a movie, then have popcorn and candy after!!

 B had his party one of the following days. Mrs. Gipson made it a really fun day for them getting to watch a movie and have snacks in their PJs.

 His sweet class

 We came up later for their pizza party and book exchange

 Books have been exchanged

 Best buds - Barrett and Bradley 

 I just adored the gift that they made us in class. It was so pretty!

 More homemade ornaments for the boys' tree

  Before the holiday break, the Kindergarten class went to Westminster to carol at the retirement center.

They had been practicing in music class for quite some time.

 Gipson's class

 It's like Where's Waldo - can you spot him?!!?

 I'm sure these two were going to miss each other over the break

 We kicked off the Christmas break with the TNT Christmas party at Hot Wheels and they do a little gift exchange at the end.

 He did this all on his own - my very own, real life, Elf on the Shelf

 I always say we are going to do a gingerbread house, but then we never do. So, one rainy afternoon, I finally caved. At first, my OCD was not letting them just do what they wanted.  

 I finally let go, and let them do their thing. They made a huge mess, ate way too much icing and it was all fine in the end!

 Proud of their finished product

 Love it!

Now, we were all ready to kick-off the break!