Bay Village students share their favorite traditions

The holiday season has arrived, with all of the magic and wonder that make this time of year so special. It is a time for rejoicing, connecting with loved ones and creating memories that will last a lifetime. For the Observer's annual last-issue-of-the-year feature, students from Mrs. Martha Fisher’s third-grade class at Westerly Elementary in Bay Village share favorite family traditions.

Christmas at the Tree Farm                         
Thunk! That’s the sound of a falling Christmas tree. Every year we go to a tree farm and cut down a Christmas tree. We have gone to a couple of tree farms in Medina and Wellington. We cut down our Christmas tree with a saw. This year we got a white pine. There is a tractor that tows a wagon where people sit. Behind the wagon where the people sit is another wagon that carries the Christmas trees that the people cut down. There is a little shop where you can buy antique Christmas things and snacks. This year when we cut down our Christmas tree, it was 65 degrees outside. You also get free hot chocolate! Doesn't that sound like fun? Riding in a wagon, getting free hot chocolate, and cutting down a Christmas tree! Best Christmas fun ever!
– Caden P.

Our Elves
It’s past Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming. That means ELVES! I think our elves are pretty fun and crazy. Last year we had two elves. One had a white outfit and the other had a red outfit. Last year the red one’s first hiding spot was on the railing in the foyer by the stairs. He also hid where we keep all our special family stuff. Our white elf’s spot was in the music room. One day the white elf hid on the spot no one could get too. He did not come down. He is still there today. This year our two elves are red. The first place one of our elves hid was the box thing that held pencils, pens, markers, and crayons in the kitchen. Then the elf hid in the dining room near the fruit. The other elf hid in the lamp in the living room. The other red elf hid in the tree. It was in the foyer. Then he hid on the chandelier in the foyer. Our Christmas tree fell down. I think it was the elf on the chandelier who caused the tree catastrophe. My elves can be crazy!!
– Thomas H.

Snow is Falling On the Best Family!
Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way! Every year my dad reads the Night before Christmas to my family. Then we watch a movie. It's usually Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer but sometimes we will watch Elf, Frosty the Snowman and more and, of course, we eat popcorn. Then put out 3 cookies for Santa and 8 carrots for the reindeer. We take turns putting out the cookies and the carrots, youngest to oldest – Corinne, me, Isabel, then Jimmy. By now it's pretty late but then we decorate the rest of the tree. On Thanksgiving we decorate with just our red ornaments. We wait until closer to Christmas to finish putting up the decorations. While decorating we listen to Christmas music. My dad is always so bossy about where to put the ornaments, same as my sister Isabel. Then we finally go to sleep except for my sister Corinne and I. She talks to me all night so I have to play a Christmas Story on our iPod and finally she falls asleep. Freedom! That’s my Christmas Eve!
– Emma B.

So Many Christmas Trees
Fun! Fun! Fun! It is finally Christmas. I can get a Christmas tree. Every year I have so much fun going to my uncle's tree farm. I get to cut down a Christmas tree with a jigsaw. First I get a sled because Christmas trees are way heavier than you think. Sometimes I bring a jigsaw or sometimes I borrow one. It is super boring and tiring because there are so many trees! It is also cool because I sometimes find old fashioned tractors and my mom or my dad takes a picture of it. When I find a tree and bring it back, my cousins arrive. My cousins are five boys. They are all older than me but our favorite thing to do is rough-house with each other. Afterwards we would all watch people put the tree on two machines: one shakes the tree and one drills a hole in the tree. Next we would help my cousins find a tree for them. Finally we would all go to a restaurant for a delicious meal. Next step, tree decoration. Can’t wait!
– Danny M.

Merry Barry Christmas!
Merry Barry Christmas! Do you know what that is? It is when we celebrate every year with our family. Mum (my grandmother whose name is Mary Barry) produces a video of a bunch of photos from the whole year. Our cousins come over and we have fun watching it and laughing at ourselves. When it’s over, we exchange gifts. We get dressed up and go to church on Christmas Eve. Then, we go to parties on my dad’s side of the family after church. We go to parties on my mom’s side of the family on Christmas Day. We have up to 23 people at our house. Crazy! It’s a lot of fun and we get to stay up until 1:00 a.m or 2:00 a.m. We have so much fun on Christmas! I love our Marry Barry Christmas and all of the fun parties.
– Caitlin H.

25 Day Countdown
Yay! Yay! Yay! I'm so excited because the countdown of 25 day stockings! Everyday we pull out a piece of paper from one of the stockings that has stuff to do. Today the stocking said to email Santa. Yesterday we had to make a snowflake. One stocking told us to read under the Christmas tree. Another stocking asked us to give people who don't have toys a present. We also had to put Christmas lights outside and decorate the house. The stocking tells us to bake cookies for Santa Claus. It also tells us to get presents and go to the Christmas Story Movie. The 25 day stocking countdown is the best!
– Samantha F.

A Fox Family’s Christmas
HO HO HO! Christmas is so much fun at the Fox house. Every year on December 1st our elves come and watch us. Who are the elves, you wonder? Our elves are named Tippy and Snowflake. They watch us to make sure we are good little kids for Santa. Then we put up our tree. We put lots of ornaments on the tree. Some are shaped as hearts, stars, and even more. While we do that we listen to Christmas music. My mom and I make a mess in the kitchen by making Christmas cookies. We shape the dough as stockings, gingerbread men, trees, and more. Then Santa puts presents under our tree. My elves so far have been on my gymnastics beam, my piano, in my tree, under my TV, a storage closet, little wooden sleighs, wooden words that say “Merry Joy Believe,” and more. They have hid in a lot of places so far. My elves are very clever. Christmas is so much fun at the Fox house!
– Kellen F.

Lights on the House
Glow, glow, glow! Do you put lights on your house? I do every year. This year my mom let us have color lights! First we do the trees outside. One is green lights and the other is red lights. Next we do the bushes. They are just white lights. Then we put up our blow-up polar bear holding a penguin trying to put the star on the tree. It is five feet tall! Next we put up lights that shine on the house. The one on the side of the house shows snowflakes rotating in a circle. The three at the front of the house that have different settings. We have it on the Christmas setting that is red, green, and white. Then we put lights in the doorway and the garage. One, Two, Three. The house is so bright. There are lights on the trees and shining on the house and even on the garage and in the blow-up polar bear. I hope putting lights on our house is a tradition that lasts a long long time.  
– Madelyn L.

Christmas at Grandparents
Did you know my cousins come to town for Christmas? Do you have cousins that visit you at Christmas? My cousins from Oklahoma come for Christmas. Their names are Maggie and Holly and they are both older than me. My other cousins, Natalie and Juliette, are younger than me and they live in Bay Village. We all celebrate Christmas Eve at my Nana’s and Papa’s. We have stockings with everybody's names. For dessert we have hot cocoa and ice cream. First we open our stockings then our presents. Then we open presents from Nana and Papa. They know just what we like. I love Christmas at my grandparents.
– Camille C.

The Day That is Christmas
Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas is a jolly time! On Christmas Eve we go to my Grandma and Grandpa McCready's house. My ten cousins and my two uncles and aunts are there. We do Secret Santa with my cousins and it is a total mess in there. We eat a lot of ham and I love ham, m...m...m that is delicious. On Christmas Day we go to my Grandma and Grandpa Lewellen’s home. Next Uncle Kenny, Aunt Stephanie and my little cousin Reese from Columbus arrive. Finally Uncle Ricky and Aunt Jill with my other cousin Stephanie come. We play tag with my cousins. Even though it’s not a lot of people we still have a lot of fun. We also play hide and seek. Good hiding spots are hard to find. We open presents. I like watching my little cousins’ reactions as they open presents. It is so funny. That is my wonderful jolly Christmas.
– Ethan M.

A Holiday Tradition
I’m counting down the days until I see my cousins in Iowa. We meet at in a hotel in Iowa all together. First we go swimming in the hotel’s pool and play all kinds of games. Then we do something called white elephant. It is a gift exchange and we give each other socks or books. After that we give gifts to family members. Next we play card games or watch a movie. I have lots of fun playing with my siblings and cousins. As soon as we’re done, we all head upstairs to our room and we have a party all together and have a good time. Then after a weekend of fun, we head home.         
– Jake B.

A Long Christmas
Bake Bake Bake! Mess Mess Mess! That is the sound of us making cookies for Santa. We bake gingerbread and Christmas shaped cookies with my aunt. On Christmas morning at seven o'clock we get up open our presents. Our grandma and grandpa come too and bring their own presents. My aunt comes to my house to sleep over for Christmas and have fun with us. We go to church in the morning. Next we go to eat Christmas dinner at my uncle's house. Christmas is Fun! Fun! Fun!
– Jack M.

Christmas is So Much Fun!
Christmas Eve and Christmas is so much fun. My brother, cousins, Callie and Gray, my brother, Jack, and I eat dinner. After eating we play tag and other games too. Next we bring our presents downstairs and open them. Sometimes we get M & M’s or Skittles. My brother and I mostly get Legos sets and our mom and dad get calendars. The next day on Christmas we make our gingerbread house with our cousins, Grandma, and Grandpa. It's so fun. Finally we also watch Boss Baby or Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and eat popcorn. Christmas is family fun.  
– Luke B.

Cousin Catastrophe
Fun! Fun! Fun! Spending Christmas with your family is so cheerful! Every year my family does something with the rest of my family. So far, we have only done three main things: stay at my house and family comes over, or we go to other family members’ houses, or we go to a restaurant with family. We usually don’t go to a restaurant. At someone’s home, most of the kids go in the basement and play, while the adults stay upstairs and talk. Most of our cousins are younger than me. We like to play tag, hide and go seek, and what my four year old cousin calls “monster,” a tag game. When family comes over to my house, it’s hard to handle our dog. He has lots of energy and can annoy our family members. Going to a restaurant isn’t as fun. Although either way is still fun to do! I really love spending Christmas with my family. I hope that you do too!
– Barbara S.

Lights
Lights, lights, lights! Our Christmas tree lights are so bright with lights. First we put our lights on our Christmas tree. Our lights are white, red, orange, blue, green, and purple. Also the white lights can start blinking and the colorful ones can start switching back and forth. All the beautiful Christmas lights make for a beautiful tree.
– Kai B.

Cousins’ Craziness
Merry Merry Christmas! Some of my cousins travel from North Carolina to spend Christmas together with us. We go to my Papa's house and have a sleepover. Sometimes their elves come to my Papa's house. Every year we get to pick out of a hat and get a gift for them. Last year I got my aunt. Sometimes we do a surprise like go to Kalahari or other fun stuff. My cousins and I love to dance to a song called All I Want For Christmas Is A Hippopotamus. We have a big dinner together with ham and macaroni and cheese. We play a games like Uno or a baseball game outside if there is snow. We also play hide and seek. I have a little room where I hide and I was the last one found. Every Christmas is the best for me!
– Emery Z.

The Christmas Cabin
Every year my family and I go somewhere for Christmas. Last year we went to Florida for my birthday and Christmas. This year we are going to a cabin with my best friend. The cabin is so big. The cabin has nine bedrooms, three bathrooms and there are three floors and a basement. It has so much space.The cabin is decorated with lights and a beautiful Christmas tree the reaches to the high ceiling. The cabin has a hot tub and a pool inside. We all have matching pajamas. Amira and her parents and her sister do too. It is going to be an awesome Christmas and birthday. We are having a little Christmas party. We are staying for two days. My dog is coming too and there is a dog park and dog house. It going to be an awesome Christmas.
– Aleiyha A.

Our Christmas Cookies
It’s all most Christmas so it is time to get ready. My family gets ready for Christmas by making cookies with my grandma. Once the cookies are done cooking we let them cool for about 5 or 10 minutes. After cooling, we frost them. Some of them we will turn into sandwiches and some of them we will stack together, one big, and one small. While we are frosting we listen to Christmas music and we put a lot of sprinkles on the cookies. I will also make special ones for my mom, my dad, my step-mom and one for my step-siblings Sadie, Luke, and Greer. I will also eat all of the crumbs from the cookies. Yum! Yum! Yum! I hope I can make Christmas cookies a yearly tradition for the Parks family!
– Piper P.

Christmas Party!
Every year we have a family Christmas party at the University Of Dayton a week before Christmas. The party begins with my great, great grandma, Marie Zimmer, and her 8 children. It's really fun. There is a hallway to play with my cousins in and a bowling alley in the basement. Santa comes and gives everyone a present and then my family goes to my grandma’s house to spend the night. In the morning we sometimes celebrate an early Christmas with my grandma and open presents from her. Santa comes to my grandma's house on Christmas Eve. It is really special because it only happens at my grandma's house not at my house. Santa gives us something small like a pencil or a card game. He also gives us a colorful candy cane. The next day we open our real presents from Santa, and eat breakfast. Christmas is special at my grandma’s house.
– Abby V.

My Elf Jake
Where is he? Where is he? I am frantically looking for the elf on the shelf. Who is he? Today we found him in the living room. My elf’s color is red and my elf is blushing. My elf's name is Jake and he comes after Thanksgiving. Every morning he is in a different place and he wears a Christmas sweater. At night he goes to the North Pole. He gives us gifts. He goes back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Jake watches us to make sure we are behaving. We have a lot of fun trying to find him.  
– Andrew W.

It’s That Time Again
I count down the days until it's Christmas. Here are some reasons why. Every Christmas my family does this thing about a slug called Rupert. He's supposed to slime your presents and you can defeat him with a can of beverage and burrito as a weapon and my dad’s the one who “fights him.” We also make gingerbread men for Santa to eat. We first get cookie dough, then mold it, and we place it in the oven. Next we decorate it. At Christmas we put my sister’s and my cookies under the tree. A couple days until Christmas we go to my grandma's house in Wooster and we sleep there for the night. When I wake up in the morning I get to eat my grandpa's delicious pancakes. The days before Christmas are fun!
– Uly P.

Westerly Elementary School Students

Mrs. Martha Fisher’s third-grade class at Westerly Elementary School in Bay Village

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Volume 10, Issue 24, Posted 10:00 AM, 12.18.2018