Ok! This is definitely my last 2016 recap blog post, especially because part of our Christmas celebration happens on New Year's Day. After this one I'm going to try to do a recap of our 2017 spring time. One of these days I'll actually be blogging our current adventures... haha! I looked back at my
Christmastime 2015 post and I thought I was behind when I posted that one just a month after Christmas! Oh man, little did i know what "behind" really looked like. ;) Adding another kid and a puppy really changes things!
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| Jane loved the photo booth props! |
We kicked off our Christmas Holiday season with the Little Hearts Home School Christmas party. Jane isn't technically home schooling yet, but we try to read books that teach letters, numbers, colors and shapes at least once a day. I am definitely planning to home school my kids when they get older. The local home school group, HEART, (of which I am a graduate!) has a group called Little Hearts. It's a group for toddlers and pre-schoolers that offers activities and events for the youngest of home schoolers. They held a little Christmas party at the local public Library in the beginning of December. We each brought a snack to share and a book wrapped up for a gift exchange.
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| Yummy Cupcake! |
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| Tongue out for maximum concentration! |
They had little crafts all around the room for the kids to do. We ended up with 3 ornaments to add to our tree! We got some snacks after completing the crafts and sat down to listen to a few Christmas stories. Most of the kids started to lose interest after the second picture book. ;) Then it was on to the book exchange! Jane was excited to open a present and was pleased with her book. I think we all had the most fun with the little photo op spot with Christmas props!
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| She needed a little help with placement |
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| Adorable!! |
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| Which hat should I wear?? |
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| Sleepy Rudolph! |
It's really fun and kind of surreal that my kids will be apart of the same Home School group that I was apart of growing up. I remember going to the Heart Christmas party when I was younger too! I was a member of HEART when it started and my mom was very involved and we went to a bunch of co-ops and were very active members. I hope my kids enjoy home schooling as much as I did!
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| Pretty Ornaments! |
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| Presents!! |
I think Atlas decided to learn to crawl just so he could go check out the presents and the ornaments on the Christmas tree! If we were in the living room he would always head over there and normally pick up the same present to look at. Both Jane and Atlas did really awesome about the presents. I had them out and under the tree from December 1st to Christmas day and none of them got opened prematurely!
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| Best lights on the block! |
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| Had to stop and say hi to Olaf! |
We went on a few walks throughout the holiday season to see the Christmas lights around the neighborhood. Jane was a big fan! Some how she knew the difference between a normal blow up snowman and an Olaf. I was pretty impressed. Atlas loves walks so he was happy, not sure how much he cared about the lights this year. I have a feeling he'll like them next year!
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| Little Christmas Light Helper |
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| Little Christmas Light Watcher |
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| Finished Product! |
It took me a couple of days, but I think I got every bush and tree lit up in our yard this Christmas! Jane really enjoyed helping me get the lights out and Atlas really liked watching the activity. Almost all of the lights I used are about as old as I am. My dad let me have all of his old lights. Almost every night I had to fiddle with a sting of lights to get it to work again. I think it's time to replace them. I'll try to do it slowly so I don't feel like I'm spending so much at once!
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| Elephants are so cool!! |
Christmas Eve is finally here!! We set off to Mimaw and Pappaw's to spend a little time with them on Christmas Eve like we do every year. I've been going to my grandparents on Christmas Eve ever since I can remember. It's fun to keep up the tradition with my kiddos.
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| Great Mimaw with both of her great Grandchildren at the time. |
I was pretty impressed that my grandparents at their age still managed to get a Christmas Tree put up. I have many fond memories of putting that Christmas up with them. Christmas Eve used to be a busy time with lots of Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, presents and food. Now it's quiet with just me, my grandparents, my mom and my kids. It's still a special time. I wonder if Jane will remember going when she's older.
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| Atlas and Jane really enjoyed the Hammock |
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| Happy boy! |
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| Mimaw and Jane colored some Christmas pages together |
After spending some time outside coloring and swinging on the hammock and enjoying the mild Christmas Eve weather together we headed home. Not long after we got home, Kokoo, Akuya and Uncle Joseph came over to celebrate Christmas with us! We had Tamales and Chili Con Queso for our Christmas Eve dinner. A traditional dinner for the Daniels family!
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| You mean this big one is for me?? |
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| Big sister was pretty impressed too. |
We started opening presents as soon as we finished dinner. The kids got to open their presents from KoKoo, Akuya and Uncle Joseph but they had to wait until Christmas morning to open the rest of them. :)
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| Oooo Phone! Thanks Uncle Joe! |
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| Fun Lion riding toy! Atlas likes to feed it. |
The kids played with their toys for a while afterwards and then it was time for bed and to say goodbye to Kokoo, Akuya and Uncle Joseph. They had to get home to finish packing so they could move to Dallas the next morning!
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| Sam opening his stocking |
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| Jane loving on her new toys! |
I always do a candy stocking for Sam and he usually goes through it on Christmas Eve. We end up sharing most of the candy. :) Jane was in love with her Elsa doll and foal. She had to sleep with them in her bed that night.
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| Christmas Eve Selfie with Jane |
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| Christmas Morning Selfie with Atlas |
I've been taking a Christmas Eve selfie with Jane since her very first Christmas. I decided to start a tradition with Atlas of taking a Christmas morning selfie with him. Hopefully I'll keep it up through the years! It's so fun to watch them grow through the years!
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| You mean I can open these now?? |
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| Christmas Morning is here!! |
The wait is finally over! Christmas is here! It's so much fun to watch the joy on your children's faces on Christmas. There's nothing quite like it. I remember the feeling myself of opening presents on Christmas morning when I was young. It's just a special moment of childhood. Atlas seemed just old enough to understand the fun of opening presents. This was the first Christmas Jane could open all her presents independently.
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| Time for stockings! I meant to do them first but forgot until a few presents in. |
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| Candy and socks! I think she has a candy in her mouth here. ;) |
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| Atlas was enthralled with this bus |
I think I put too much candy in Jane's stocking. She kept stopping to have a piece every few seconds. haha! Atlas stayed pretty fixated on the bus from his Wind-Up Bus book through most of the unwrapping.
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| Reading his new Construction book with Dad |
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| Jane realized she matched her Elsa doll in her new towel |
I love Christmas morning at home with just our little family. I love the quietness and the slowness of getting to take as much time as we want with each gift as we go. I think this was the first year Sam and I didn't get each other something for Christmas. Mostly because we just bought things for ourselves on online Black Friday sales instead. ;) It worked great!
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| It's a movie!! |
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| Watching The AristoCats with her Frozen friends! |
The last present had to be Jane's movie because we knew as soon as she opened it she would want to watch it and wouldn't want to open any more presents. That's exactly what happened. :)
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| First time painting nails with Jane! |
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| Swingin with Dad |
We had a lazy Christmas afternoon. Jane and I painted our nails with the polish from her stocking and we played in the back yard for a while. As you can see from our attire, it was another balmy Christmas day in Texas. The kids and I went over to my parents for dinner on Christmas evening and we took another walk around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. Jane even took a skinny dip in the pool before heading back home and going to bed. ;)
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| The day after Christmas. playing with toys and watching their new movie. |
It was a wonderful Christmas day. It just keeps getting more fun as the kids get older! But wait... there's more! We still haven't had our Daugherty Christmas on New Year's Day. :D I love having another Christmas on New Years! It spreads the short Christmas season just a little longer.
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| Around the bonfire on New Years Eve! |
Scott and Anna come in to town and usually stay a couple of days around New Years. The kids and I also stay the night while they're visiting so we can get the most quality time together! It's a big sleepover with games, laughter and lots of fun!
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| The kids didn't like the loud noises |
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| Time for Fireworks!! |
The Daugherty's love fireworks! We always get a few fireworks for New Years Eve! I was just watching a home video of me and my cousins doing sparklers together on New Year's Eve when I was Jane's age. It's definitely a long standing tradition that we'll keep on going! Jane held a roman candle(with help of course!) this year and really liked it. But after a couple of loud blackcats she was ready to go inside. Atlas didn't like any of it. Haha! Marmee stayed inside with them and they enjoyed watching from the window.
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| Decorating graham crackers :) |
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| Preparing New Years Day dinner |
Jane's not quite ready for a decorating a whole gingerbread house, but she really enjoyed decorating a few pieces of graham crackers! Jane is always ready to cook with Marmee! She did a great job poking holes in the potatoes and helping wrap them up to get them ready to bake. She's always upset if she doesn't get to help cook. I might have one of those Chopped Junior kids on my hands. :D The other night Jane told me she wanted to be a firefighter when she grows up so people don't get hurt. She said she had to get older so she could drive the fire truck. Maybe she'll be a firefighting chef! ;)
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| Yay superhero! |
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| Definitely Dad's clone |
Thanks for our gifts Scott and Anna! They are perfect!
Great Mama and Papa arrived New Years afternoon and we got straight to the presents! Jane and Atlas definitely had the most presents to open. Jane helped Atlas with most of his since he was little disinterested in opening presents that day.
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| Wait... what is it?? |
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Jane wearing her new Cinderella dress from Mama and
Papa and opening the last present. |
I gave Scott and Anna a mini shuffleboard because I knew they love to play games and it's a perfect two player game. I almost wish I had gotten one for myself. It's pretty fun to play and it reminds me of Tejas days! Jane opened the last present and it was just a clue since the actual present was a little big to wrap.
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| And How do we get it down? |
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| How did it end up on the roof?? |
The clue was a doll house slide and we told Jane that her real present was outside and she had to go find it. My dad had thrown the box up on the roof and he told Jane that Santa Claus missed the chimney! ;D
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| The inaugural slide! |
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| Waiting for her slide to be put together by Pappaw and Great Papa |
We all definitely enjoyed our delicious dinner. The Daugherty Grill never disappoints! ;) Shortly after dinner Pappaw put up the swing for the kids to try out. It's safe to say they love it! Atlas has trouble taking turns he loves it so much.
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| Finished off the night with Star Wars! Atlas and Jane were very interested! |
We had recently seen Rogue One, so we thought it would be fun to watch the beginning of A New Hope again to finish off our holiday. It was pretty cool to see how well they connected. We love Star Wars! I think I have a couple of Star Wars fans on my hands! Merry New Christmas from the Daugherty side!!
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| Look at that wonderfully chubby smile!! |
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| Christmas Joy! |
It was a wonderful Christmas season. It's hard to believe it's already June! Christmas is only 6 months away. In a way it makes me excited! In another way I'm thinking to myself, "Wait, I'm not ready for Christmas again yet!" ;) Haha! I love Christmas, but I also love that it's only for a short season. It just makes it more special. I'm looking forward to Christmas 2017, but I'm also looking forward to all the adventures and good times we'll have in between now and then.
Merry Christmas from the Daniels!
Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
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