Before heading to bed, the kids set out cookies and whiskey for Santa and milk and carrots for the reindeer. They were going to leave Santa some beer again, but I thought that he might enjoy some whiskey instead. I just had a gut feeling that the whiskey would sound better to Santa.
Big Red has come and gone! He thoroughly enjoyed the cookies and whiskey and the reindeer enjoyed the milk and carrots.
Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you have a safe and happy day.
Well, we have had a week of wet weather, however it's turned beautiful lately and today was no exception. We got a call in the morning from Grumpy asking if the kids would like to dig potatoes out of his garden for Christmas dinner. They jumped at this opportunity and had a great play while there. When they returned home we had some friends over and they then helped pick beans out of our garden for dinner tomorrow night. They are turning into good little gardeners and are DEFINITELY ready for "Big Red" to show up!
The other night we woke the kids up after the sun set and went for a drive to look at some Christmas lights. Now I know that this is common in Michigan, but over here it doesn't happen too often. These houses looked good, the kids liked them and a few of them even reminded me of displays we would see back in the states.
We were lucky enough to see a Santa stop at the park across from our house. Santa road to the park in a fire truck and passed out gift bags to all the kids who showed up.
How clever is my wife?! She turned gingerbread men over and created some cute reindeer.
We had the pleasure of attending the Tirimoana Primary School prizegiving assembly on Tuesday morning. This assembly celebrates student achievement in each of the year levels and some of the school's top achievers for the year are acknowledged. There was singing, kapa haka (Maori) performances and lots of certificates. It was a very enjoyable assembly and neat to see all of the kids doing exceptionally well at school this year.
The two pictures above are of Talor's good friend Rhys. He performed with the kapa haka group and did a very good job!
This is a picture of the two winners of the Most Improved certificate from Talor's class. The boy on the left is Akshay and the girl in the front is Alize.
Talor won the Initiative Award. This is an award given out to one person in each class for, "showing independence, actively assisting others in the classroom, using their creative ideas and problem solving skills." He looked quite nervous but walked to the stage, accepted the award from one of the local intermediate school's principals and then stood so the whole assembly could see. We are so proud of his hard work, dedication and love of school. He is growing up so fast and is doing so well. Congratulations Talor Jonathon!
I had to throw this last picture in here too. It may be blasphemous, but it felt good knowing that Bo Schembechler was looking down on the nativity. FYI - I have since moved Bo since Shell wasn't impressed.
A week or so ago we spent an evening in a nearby park for a Christmas celebration. We met one of Talor's friends (and his family) there and had a nice time eating a picnic and listening to music. It was a nice way to start the season.
These are just a few random photos of Layla playing at her kindy. She has made so many friends and enjoys going each day.
Layla modelling another of Shell's fantastic creations!
This is a picture of Layla and her kindy class singing Christmas carols...I believe we have titled this picture, "Singing for Old People." It's not PC, but it works.
Last week Friday Layla and Shell went on a kindy trip to a rock climbing place. There were a variety of walls for the kids to climb and they all had a ball.
Here is Layla getting strapped in and her friend David.
