S.Claus Pays Visit to 6th RTB

Amidst his busy holiday schedule, Mr. Claus found time to drop in on the families of the 6th RTB on 13 December. We fried turkeys (apparently the only way to turkey in the south - go figure) and brought side dishes and ate until we were ready to burst. Santa read Christmas stories, handed out gifts, and led the little ones in caroling. He even brought one of his jolly elves along to help. Santa was a hit with all and so was his elf, who bore a strong resemblance to MSGT. Simpao in a pair of red Ranger style PT shorts............hmmmmmm.........

A fabulous time was had by all and at the end of the evening Santa ordered all to "Have a Merry Christmas! Hooah!" That's our kind of Santa!

But Do You Recall, The Most Famous Reindeer of All?

Our most famous reindeer made her show stopping debut on Dec. 15th at the LJPS Pre-K Christmas Program. The program was held on the morning of the last day of school. While my students were watched by another teacher, Duane and I got to watch Kaitlyn and the rest of the Pre-K perform a few songs. Kaitlyn's numbers were Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Reindeer Pokey ( a very cute version of Hokey Pokey in which the kids shook their "reindeer tails"). All of the kiddos sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas in both English and French as their finale, followed by bow and blowing kisses to their adoring audience. It was, quite frankly, the most riveting holiday program I have ever attended. :) We can't wait until next year's program!

Ice Skating in Florida???!

Yes folks, there is ice skating in Florida. OK, so it's an ice skating rink set up once a year in a big lighted tent on the Fort Walton Beach Landing on the edge of the Gulf. It sits right next to a huge playground and the City Christmas Tree, overlooking the water. It is the place to be for kids this time of year. Kaitlyn attended the birthday party of a Pre-K classmate there this weekend. The kids went ice skating, rode a train around the landing, ate pizza, cake, and ran around the playground. I was shocked to discover that my 4 year old daughter has a boyfriend. Her little classmate Aubrey apparently has told his parents that Kaiti is his "girlfriend" and he is going to marry her. When asked if Aubrey is her boyfriend Kaiti looks at us like we are crazy and says "No!" Aubrey stuck to Kaiti like glue at the party and she convinced him to ice skate and get face paintings. Poor boy. Kaitlyn just lets him chase her. Duane is rather pleased with this arrangement. He figures if there are to be boyfriends, they should be doing the chasing while his daughters remain blissfully ignorant. Don't know how long that will last...........

Here are a few pics of Kaitlyn and Aubrey with Aubrey's dad at the rink and in the train car. The pictures should give you a good idea of Christmas in Florida - cold but sunny.