Super Saturday

Our battalion had a Christmas party this morning at a beautiful venue on base. The kids had a GREAT time! And I was excited for them to finally get to wear these dresses I found on Zulily in August. =)

Carly and her sweet friend Kristlyn...such pretty girls!

This is Bree, sweetly asking for a pink sword. Hilarious!

The second Gunny Claus walked in, Bree glued herself to his side. It was so funny! We were a little doubtful about how she'd be, but um...clearly it was not a problem. And how cool is this guy?! He gave the kids ornaments that say "MCB North Pole." Love that! So clever!!!

This is is point where Carly is asking for a REAL unicorn, not a TOY unicorn.

While Bree broke it down, saber style in the line.

Bree's rad gingerbread guy.

They had four different craft stations as well as a candy bar...all that was in addition to breakfast, a card-making station for while the guys are in training in January and Gunny Claus. It was a great event!

Then...we finally got our tree! Paul wanted to wait this year because we're going out of town. We did find out at the tree lot that most trees at big retailers are cut in September or early October, and these were all cut the week before Thanksgiving. So, as it turns out, we really didn't need to wait to get a fresher tree...BUT...since it's the week before Christmas, we got a giant tree for $25. The original price was $85 which is still below what we had planned to spend...sweet! I love a good deal, especially when I end up with exactly what I wanted. The girls had such a fun time running around the tree lot, too!

When we got home, no one was hungry for lunch because of our big breakfast, so the girls went up for a nap and I made laundry detergent. I know...the greeny-ness is about to kill me, but I thought we'd give it a try. You can find a million recipes on Pinterest, but basically all you need is a bar of laundry soap (I used Fels-Naptha this time, but I think I'll switch to Kirk's Castile next time b/c of the scent), washing powder, borax and big bucket. I'm also using lavendar oil again b/c I don't just love the way Fels-Naptha smells. It made TWO GALLONS of soap! Oh my gosh! I'll let you know how it works. Oh and you grate the soap - that's what this next picture is. =)

Our TREE!!! See what I mean about giant? And this is right after we untied it so it hadn't relaxed to its Griswold-worthy girth. I'm stoooooked. We're going to have to use a ladder to get our topper on! Tonight, while we're watching Elf and eating popcorn. Yay, Christmas!