Afternoon With Santa :)

My boys have been anxiously waiting on this day to get here!   I think the notes about Afternoon with Santa went out to the children before Thanksgiving, and my boys have been asking me about it over and over.

Finally!  Today was the day!  All the children were escorted by Santa's elves to the school cafeteria where it was decorated as a "winter wonderland" of snowflakes and Christmas trees. 

This is the third consecutive year that the school has sponsored the Afternoon with Santa.  When all the children arrive at the cafeteria, they are quickly seated in front of the puppet show.  Here is Shane with his best friend since birth, Colt Coleman:

The puppet show - lip syncing to Alvin and the Chipmunks :)

After the puppet show, all the children were given their choice of snacks from a very long table loaded down with little sandwiches, various chips and 3 kinds of dip, doughnut holes, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and little pigs in a blanket . . . just to name a few. :)  See below:

Here are Shane and Colt chowing down on some goodies:

Here is Alex with two of his friends waiting for their turn at the food table:

And while the children were eating their snacks, guess who stopped in to visit . . . .

The children went wild when they saw Santa and a loud roar sounded that made poor Santa hesitate before actually entering the cafeteria.  He told me that when they started screaming, he almost turned around and left!  They were very excited.  But after all Santa was the main attraction.

See Shane with his arm in the air waving above his head . . . When he saw Santa, he started waving at him and yelling, "Hey Santa!  Bring me a tractor!"

My children are so timid. . . . lol!  Here is Zach in line to get his food.  He's so sweet.

Alex and Neal enjoying their snacks.  Look at those pretty blue eyes.

And here is Zach with Colby and Cleve . . .

Here is the whole group of third grade boys . . . They are used to me taking pictures . . . can you tell?

Shane with Santa:

Aaahhh . . . the best thing about pictures with Santa . . . chocolate!

Face painting!  My friend Laycee was doing the face painting and she had already told me that she was limiting what they could get on their faces to a snowman, Christmas tree, Rudolf's red nose, etc.  Simple Christmas designs.  When she asked Shane which one did he want, he stated emphatically, "a dragon".

Here is his dragon. :) 

Alex and Santa:

Poor Santa.  Alex got up in his lap and pulled his beard almost off his face and then pulled his Santa hat down over his head.  You can't tell that from the picture, can you?  Notice the way Santa is holding his arms!  Luckily for him, Mr. Santa is actually related to us, otherwise, I'm sure he'd be on Santa's Naughty List for sure!

All three Ferrell boys with Santa:

Look at Santa's eyes.  He looks so tired . . . I guess 65+ children sitting on your lap in less than an hour can do that to you . . .

Of course, today's picture of all 3 boys with Santa is so much tamer than LAST year's picture  . . . with the SAME Santa:

It's a wonder he didn't hang up his Santa suit for good after that picture.

I didn't get a picture of Zach with Santa with my personal camera, but there was someone photographing all the children with Santa, and we'll get those pictures sometime this week.

Of course one of the best parts of Afternoon with Santa is all the fun crafts the children get to do.

The people in charge did a fabulous job with the food, the crafts, and the activities.  We had a great time and can't wait until next year's Afternoon with Santa! 

Today was the last full day of school for the year!  Yea!  We will be going to school just until 11:30 for the rest of the week and end the 2011 school year with their class Christmas parties on Friday!  Busy, busy, busy Christmas holidays!

Y'all be safe out there!  It's super foggy outside on this December Tuesday night!

Tina and the Ferrell boyz