Staying busy

 Once Brian left, I knew I had to get busy.... The last time his squadron was tasked to go do their job, was for the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, and they were gone 3 weeks. If he was going to be gone 3 weeks, he would miss not only Thanksgiving, but my birthday and all the fun holiday festivities too. However, what mattered most is that he makes it home for Christmas- and before his parents and brother arrive on December 17, which is 3 weeks and 1 day from the day he left...

 So to get my mind off all this crap, I decided to have some fun!

First up- Macy's annual preschool Thanksgiving luncheon. I pulled Tate out of school so that I did not have to go alone! Here is our little Indian-

She knew all the words to the "fat turkey" song this year!

Then we all went to Brian's work Thanksgiving feast. Boy do I hate going to those events without him... Thankfully, there were lots of friendly faces in the crowd and at the VIP table where we had to sit, without him. Awkward!

Friday night I went out... To a fundraiser auction for our Fisher House on base- think Ronald McDonald house... This annual auction raises thousands of dollars each year when people bid on artificial trees! I teamed up with my friend Chris this year to create a "Beers of the World" tree. It was a slow start, but the result was amazing and our squadrons really came through with LOTS of donations!

But the first to donate was my neighbor, an engineer at our local Budweiser plant-

From those cans of beer, my husband got creative and made some ornaments for our tree- 

THEY CAME OUT AMAZING! 

When it came time to go set up our tree, Chris and I were really impressed!

There was a TON of beer (someone counted over 330+ cans/bottles of just beer alone!), plus lots of beer themed ornaments and merchandise. I love these guys that I made- 

We had hoped that it would bring in a bunch of money for the Fisher House, and set the opening bid at $150. Last year, the all time record tree sold for $750! Well, let me just brag for a minute because we came darn close- $600! And it was the highest priced tree for the night! Chris and I were ecstatic-

I think this sign, that went along with the tree,  is very fitting for the holiday season-

 After the auction, I went out to dinner with friends and only wished that Brian hadn't missed 3 great events that day...

Saturday we headed down to Kristen's for some "cousin" fun. We got there and the kids all disappeared. We sat and chatted, with a glass of wine, while Kristen made my favorite chocolate chip/oatmeal cookies. Then we headed over to her parents to meet their new puppy, Maggie and ended up taking the kids out to Mexican for dinner. And what an enjoyable dinner it was- 2 moms, 4 kids- we (finally) got this!

We let the kids stay up late and play some video games-

Before a slumber party all together-

Sunday morning was a treat! We joined up with Riley's girl scout troop for a tour of California Pizza Kitchen restaurant, followed by make-your-own-pizza!

 Wes was a tad sleepy from the late night pizza party, so we promised him 2 pennies if he would let me hold him, while Kristen was busy with the girl scout troop, AND he had to smile for a picture... This was the best he could do-

And not surprisingly, he did not want to be in this picture-

All the kids-

Time to make the pizzas-

Finally, all 4 kids!

We hated to say good-bye so quickly, but it as a perfect little excursion for us. And as an added bonus, on the way home I took the kids "window shopping" through Toys R Us! We don't have one close to us and I needed some Christmas ideas! They loved every minute of it.

Monday we teamed up with the Clarks and headed to Six Flags. There was practically no one there, the weather was amazing and every ride was open, no lines! 

Even the animals were cooperative- 

Macy wanted to have a picture with a character, which rarely happens!

Today was another fun day, filled with lots of playdates! They barely even realized that we were supposed to go to Fresno today... Maybe I will be able to pull of this surprise after all!