Unfortunately the school called early yesterday to say Henry wasn't feeling well. So around 10:30am we picked Henry up for the day… which made me so sad that he was going to miss his Christmas party (although he didn't seem to mind at all). Peter and I still went in for James's class party at 2:00pm.
James is such a good boy. He was so kind with Peter and genuinely seemed to love having him there.
The class played a few games of Pass the Present (when the music stops you unwrap a layer or pass left or right). Pete was right in the mix, helping James play.
I debated bringing Peter with me but I am so glad I did!
This entire past week has been all about Christmas around here. I love it!!
The third graders put on a lovely Christmas musical on Tuesday evening.
Here they are singing "Winter in America" with James helping out up front…
And a few more…
James, Henry, and Peter exchanged Christmas gifts with Nicolas and Gabby yesterday…
Where's Pete?
There he is.
These kids are a funny bunch!
Chris and I also decided to have a small "Christmas party" at home on Wednesday evening, just the 5 of us, since we'll be traveling home to MD tomorrow. Someone may have bought a few larger items that someone else was annoyed concerned about packing in the car…
OKAY, IT WAS A MINI TRAMPOLINE AND GO-KART!!!!!
haha… you get the idea.
The boys also bought each of their brothers one small gift. They were so excited to open each others presents!
But the HIT of the gift exchange was none other than….
The Rubber Band Loom!
SO excited!
We've already made about 10 bracelets! James is excited to exchange and share them at school today. Speaking of which, Henry and James have their big Christmas party today. Hope to share a few pictures from that before we leave tomorrow.
Peter was the first of the boys to have a Christmas party at school this year (the big boys' parties are on Thursday). Parents were invited to hear the children sing Christmas songs and to decorate cookies.
Waiting for cookie supplies...
Some of our very good friends--
Finley and Eileen
Eileen and I meet up at the gym almost daily
and have become very close. The boys enjoy playing
together at school and in the gym day care too.
Peter has been SO excited to take his hot cocoa snowman home!
Mrs. Hickman, one of Peter's fabulous teachers.
I absolutely love Peter's preschool, his teachers, and his classmates. We had a fun morning together!
No… unfortunately not ours. But last night we got to babysit baby Adelyn, our friend's 6-month old daughter. The boys woke up yesterday and said, "Today's the baby day!!!" They were beyond excited to have her here and so very gentle with her.
Adelyn didn't spend one second alone the entire time she was here...
How sweet. Hard not to imagine them all
with a baby sister of their own to protect!
Could they get ANY closer to her???
Apparently so.
Biggest brother James, trying to
remember the days when Pete was this tiny!
Henry wanted to do everything for Adeyln--
carry her, feed her, change her, give her toys.
He was just amazing!
Henry and Peter hardly let the other have a turn holding her.
It looks like Peter is about to take Adelyn back.
And now you see Henry creeping in on Pete's turn...
A protective Peter and an encroaching Henry...
Oh! Here's Henry.
Poor baby, the boys wouldn't let her play for a second without a protective hand…
Or hug...
Awwww….
The good news is that Henry and Peter finally fell asleep. And so did she…
I think we wore her OUT and imagine she slept through the night for Christina last night!
Last night Chris and I went to our Battalion Holiday Ball. It's always fun to get dressed up and spend an evening out, without the boys. For the first time ever, I rented a dress from Rent the Runway. For those unfamiliar, the company offers hundreds and hundreds of designer gowns you can "rent" for a 4-day period and then return. Of course that means you're spending money on a gown you don't get to keep forever but… I have several in my closet that I bought outright and still don't wear so I figured it was about the same!
We had a great time. The guys Chris works with are such a fun (and funny) group. The only bummer was that drinks were $9 a pop (for cheap wine and beer)! What in the world?! We're in Fayetteville, not downtown Manhattan. Not to worry though. We brought cash and splurged. ;) (And a few of the young guys brought in cases of beer wrapped in holiday gift wrap and stashed under the table. Gotta love a soldier!)
It's hard to make out the dress in these pictures but it had a very pretty sequined neckline and a cool "back."
Christina and Ray (We get to babysit their baby daughter tomorrow night. The boys and I can't wait! We'll all get our "baby girl" fix hopefully!)
Meredith and Mike
Chris bustin' some moves on the dance floor!
Me, Chris, LTC Larson, Ray and Christina
MAJ Mofu (the S3) and us
I always think I take more pictures than I actually do but… you get the idea. We had a really nice evening and I'm glad they planned this before Christmas break and the quickly-approaching deployment!
Last night we took the boys to Fort Bragg's Annual Christmas Tree Lighting. It was raining off and on all day yesterday, but fortunately stopped right around the event start time… and even warmed up to about 55 degrees which made it nicer to walk around.
The kids got to hug scary animals Rudolph…
Santa and Mrs. Claus rode up on a firetruck to greet the children...
Last year we waited too long to get in the Santa line, but we learned our lesson and moved into line right when we saw him arrive. So this year we were near the front.
Look how peaceful our time in line was...
That would be hot cocoa all over James.
Even with only a 5 minute wait, it was clearly
beyond our children's ability level to move quietly and gracefully.
Cort probably telling the kids to knock it off.
A great looking Santa and Mrs. Claus!
James looks unsure; Peter looks ecstatic; Henry looks scared.
Don't you love the "special shirt" Henry chose
for the occasion? He put that on right after school to meet Santa.
After meeting Santa, the kids ran around the different activities that were set up. There were bounce houses, a cute little train…
… and a really cool sledding hill the kids LOVED!
Nicolas and James waiting their turn…
it was a man-made hill with steps on the side of it for
the children to walk up, grab a sled, and go down!
Frosty was at the bottom of the hill,
ready to catch the kids.
Okay. Maybe Peter didn't love it quite
as much as the big kids...
The big kids would've sled down
all night if we'd let them. It was basically
all the fun of sledding without the work!
The kids had a really good time and I'm so glad we went!
I am a stay-at-home mom to 3 energetic, funny, sweet, and crazy boys. I married my best friend, Chris, and love our life together. The Army is sending him overseas soon so I thought this blog would be a great way for him (and the grandparents!) to keep up with our hectic life. Unfortunately the Army keeps us too far from family and most of our friends so hopefully this will help us stay connected.
