The Johnson Journal: Christmas Programs and Gingerbread Houses

While the boys have plenty of sing a longs left in their elementary career, this year was Nadya's last. Boo hoo. I still remember her first year. Cute pigtails adorned with red bows, as she sang (yes, she sang!) and I sat amazed that she sang considering she had only been in America less than five months. Five months and there she was wearing a Hannah Montana hoodie singing American Christmas songs and smiling the entire time at me. I have my days where I wish I could reverse time and hear that cute little accent one more time. (I'd take a few more smiles too!) I can't reverse time, but I do have pictures.

And what a difference four years makes. Now she stands proudly on the top step, pig tails are long gone and so is her accent. The hoodie has stayed, but she wouldn't be caught dead in a Hannah Montana one! She was not hard to find. Top row, third to the left, BLACK hoodie, no bows.

They sang a few songs and then performed another number with the lights off while waving colored flashlights around.

The younger grades sat around the perimeter of the auditorium which wasn't so great for my viewing. The program went in grade level order which meant I would be there for the duration of the sing-a-long. Alex and Carter's class went right after first grade and right before second grade considering they are a first/second split. Alex was right up front. Super easy to spot. Carter???? Can you find Carter? It's like the Where's Waldo book. Do you see the kid in red towards the back right hand side of the picture? Look closely to his right and you'll see a sliver of a blue arm shooting toward the ceiling? Well, that little sliver would be Carter. Argh! One of the tallest kids in the class (Alex) was placed up front, while one of the smallest (Carter) had a nice spot on the back row! Front or back though, they both sang their little hearts out.

See there he is... A few kids moved for a split second and I snapped up that photo opp! Next year, you can count on me coaching Carter ahead of time to move towards the front if he gets placed in back again. :)

Later that week, we decorated Gingerbread houses. Kris and her clan joined us again and she came fully stocked with supplies. Hallie made a cute remark about how much Kris must love holidays because she always goes all out. We had everything you could think of and then some. The kids loved it! And it went to good use too. I particularly enjoyed the cinnamon Santas! Here's a small sampling.

The kids happily worked on their master pieces and great ~~mess~~ fun was had by all!

Poor Nadya... It just wasn't her night. She had a few cavities filled earlier that evening and her mouth hurt and her cheeks swelled up like a chipmunk. She looked a little pink and was generally feeling Blah! She was almost finished with her house when it took a turn for the worse and collapsed entirely into a pathetic pile. We all counted to three and shouted "Boo Hoo" and she proceeded to rebuild-only to have it happen again. I think she overloaded the roof both times (darn shredded wheat!) but she had a great attitude about it. Below you can see her creating her house and then the after math. Do you like her half crooked smile and chipmunk cheeks? Poor thing. I am happy to report that she woke up the next morning feeling much better.

Hallie was a master decorator and had a great technique for making icicles dangle from the roof. She did it so well that others were asking for her to do theirs. And of course, her house would not be complete without her signature touch of green.

Alex and Carter both had decorated their own larger gingerbread houses earlier that week. They each spent their own money on it. I guess that is what happens when there are four of you and you get tired of sharing. You spend your own money on your own gingerbread house. In the past they either got smaller houses or they had to share decorating a larger one.

Here is Carter's house. He copied the box exactly down to the last colored dot. Hallie helped with the icicles but they had been picked off and munched on previously.

So after warming up on their big houses, the boys jumped right in on the smaller ones. Alex did a beautiful job on his and luckily I snapped a picture up when I did because it wasn't long before his house crumbled to pieces as well. Again, we all counted to three and shouted "Boo Hoo!" It was nice that Alex could laugh and move on. Kris and I decided next year we would frost one night and decorate the next. Hopefully, that will give the frosting time to glue the pieces together and we will have fewer causalities. Here are the before pictures.

And after-

Carter added at least one of everything (if not two) to his house. After he finished it, he proudly held it up and named it "The Neighbor's House!" Our neighbors go overboard for Halloween and Christmas (but we love it!) and cover their house with decorations so we all thought that was pretty clever. Carter insisted on having his house in his room. I am pretty sure he munched on it for few days before I finally pitched it in the garbage can.