School Christmas program (and baby in a box)

Last Thursday, Dan and Ben performed in their school Christmas program.  They LOVED wearing their new Christmas pajamas from Granny!  The preschool class sang first, followed by the kindergartners and then the first-graders.  Then all the kids stood in a giant circle around the audience and sang the final song.  Dan and Ben have been practicing for weeks and knew all the words and hand motions perfectly.  And unlike last year, Dan actually performed them on stage! Ben decided it would be more fun to put tinsel on the head of the kid in front of him.  Next year....

Not to be outdone in the cuteness department, Hannah liked hanging out in a box while my mom wrapped presents:

Decorating the tree

Thank goodness that my mom was here last week!  There is no way that my tree would be decorated, Hannah's stocking would be finished, the presents would be wrapped, and our Christmas cards (all 112 of them) would be mailed.  She was my helpful Christmas elf and I hope she can come back every year before (and during) the holidays.

Dan really enjoyed putting the ornaments up and asking about where each one came from.  Ben, well, he was not so interested.  In his defense, he was in a bit of a post-nap funk while the decorating was happening.  Hannah was a good helper too--she just sat and watched and posed cutely for the camera.

Pancakes and Tree

Dan and Ben's school had a Pancakes with Santa fundraiser on Saturday so we trekked down to support the PTA.  And to fill our bellies with pancakes.  The boys are not the best at waiting in line (in fact, they are the worst at waiting in line), so we didn't actually get our pictures with Santa.  Maybe at the squadron party on Friday.  Those are usually the best ones anyway--poorly lit hangar, overstimulated children, grease and oil everywhere.  Aaaah, Christmas!

My mom is visiting for a week so I gave Zach a belated Hanukkah present: he didn't have to come with us to get a Christmas tree!  My mom pushed Hannah in her stroller around the heated tent while the boys and I froze, looking for the perfect tree.  And before you assume that I'm a total wimp (actually a safe assumption), it WAS pretty chilly as the sun went down--45 degrees and windy.  In my defense, we were cold because I haven't broken out our winter coats so we were all just wearing jackets.  Oh, wait, that's not much of a defense.....

Here's what a $58 tree looks like in California!

Thanksgiving

Now that our guests are gone, I can put my feet up and write a post about what a great time we had on Thanksgiving!  Zach's brother, Tom, flew in from Buffalo, with his girlfriend, Christy.  They arrived on Tuesday afternoon after spending a few days in Los Angeles.  Dan and Ben were thrilled to see them and insisted on a trip to the rock pile to welcome them to our home.

On Wednesday, we made a trip to the Safari Park so Dan and Ben could show Uncle Tom and Aunt Christy all their favorite critters.  Tom and Christy wanted to see lions and tigers and elephants, but Dan and Ben forced them to look at Madagascar hissing cockroaches and pythons instead.

That night, Zach's cousin, Tom, drove down from LA with his childhood friend, Erik, who is a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton.  Confused yet?  The six of us grown-ups went out to dinner in downtown San Diego and had a great time.  The kids actually behaved for the baby-sitter, so maybe Zach and I will be able to hit the town a little more often.

Thursday was spent prepping and cooking and running the dishwasher (three times in one day!).  Well, I did those things while everyone else relaxed and had a great time.  We don't have a television, so the football fans in the group found other ways to entertain themselves--board games, soccer outside with the kids, reading.  Lauren and Jesse came over for the whole day and then two of their friends came for Thanksgiving dinner that night.  It was a really great day of being with family and friends.

(Sorry for the lack of great pictures--we were having too much fun to worry about documenting everything!)

School Thanksgiving Party

Dan's preschool Thanksgiving party was on Friday (since they have this entire week off) and I helped out.  Ben's party was on Thursday (since some kids go M-F, some only go MWF, and some go Tu/Th, there were two parties--lucky for Dan, since he goes every day).  I didn't help out on Thursday, so I don't have any pictures of Ben, but I did sneak away from my station for a bit to grab a few shots of Dan and his friends.

Ben played at a friend's house while I was at school, but I had Hannah with me.  She slept in her stroller and played around in the reading area.  The stage she's in now is one of my favorites: she can sit and play and reach for things, but she can't go anywhere!

Dan and Gavin

Gavin, Dan, and Ryan

Mayflower craft

Dan and Anna Higgins

Corn taste-testing

Making mashed potatoes

Enjoying the feast!

Happy (belated) 238th birthday, USMC!

The actual Marine Corps birthday is November 10th, but Zach's squadron held its Birthday Ball a little early this year, on November 1st.  And I'm a little late posting about it, since it's November 12th.  Oh, well!

The Ball was at Pechanga Resort and Casino, a little north of us in Temecula.  We didn't spend the night because my sister was watching all the kids and we thought that might be a little much for her on her first big baby-sitting job.  Lauren survived and so did all the kids, with just some minor bruising (Ben whacked Dan across the face with a pail, standard stuff).

It was nice to have a night out, but the Ball isn't always the most fun.  Long ceremony, uncomfortable uniform for Zach, not-great food, etc.  Since we're pretty new to the squadron, I only knew a few people.  Next year will probably be more fun.  I just love getting dressed up and having my hair and makeup done.  I rented a designer dress this year from Rent the Runway.  That's definitely the way to go since I'm probably not ever going to own a $600+ dress.  But I can rent one for the night and feel like a million bucks!  (I wish I'd taken a picture of the back of the dress because it was draped and open-back and my favorite part.)

Love the sparkles in the sunlight,

With Gaby and Liesel (Gaby's dress is from RtR too!)