As soon as the Thanksgiving clock strikes midnight, the Christmas season is in full swing. It's my most favorite time of year. I love all things magical about this time of year. I'm thrilled the girls are getting old enough so we can start doing fun activities with them, and not to mention we can start really forming new traditions with them. We had so much fun this year - I tried my hardest to plan little Christmas activities, and they're at such a fun age that we just enjoyed it.
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| lap filled with little ladies |
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| when you hang out with Daddy for the day, you get to wear Star Wars Halloween shirts |
We had picture day at school!
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| Ella and her twin-baby-elves |
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| little mommas holding onto their elves |
Not only was it picture day, but it was an important day for "da-da"! He had a big interview for a promotion. I snapped a picture of the girls dressed up pretty and their handsome daddy.
They must have been his good luck charm (or, realistically, his stellar work performance), because HE GOT THE JOB! He's now a fancy GS-12. Buddy always said that he worked all his life to become a GS-12. When Daniel first started working for the government, Buddy started talking about him becoming a 12. In a way, I think it was a little goal he set for himself to make Buddy proud. I know that he's looking down smiling with SO much pride for his grandson. And not to forget Daniel's dad. He loved seeing his children succeed, and I know it was hard for Daniel to not be able to call up his dad when he got a great promotion. He has a whole troop of people rooting for him, but he misses the every day successes in life to celebrate with his dad.
We wanted to celebrate, and it was too last minute to get someone to watch the girls, so we had Chipotle! We splurged and ordered guacamole... and we joked that his raise meant that we could occasionally order guac :) ha! We don't need much in life, but guacamole is definitely a bonus.
And because I'm cheap and cannot shell out hundreds of dollars for a school picture, I snapped a picture of the halfway-decent shot. Ironically, the girls were HYSTERICAL, wanted nothing to do with that wagon, and they had to call Daniel to come help out. He did pretty good :)
I always love looking at lights. Driving around to see the tacky and the tasteful and everything in between has always been one of my favorite things to do. I remember doing it with my parents, and it really is a good memory. Well, we still aren't there with our girls, mainly because they're still rear facing in their carseats. Fortunately, we have great neighbors who do a great job of decorating for Christmas, so we took the girls over after dinner one night. I can't say that they loved it, but they did enjoy it!
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| pretty Sydney Ann |
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| momma and her girls |
Our next big Christmas adventure - picking out a Christmas tree!
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| this is the one! |
Last year I started a tradition of giving the girls a Christmas box on the day we pick out our tree - complete with Christmas pjs, a book, hot chocolate, and something fun! This year I found the most adorable book + felt Christmas tree, that the girls can play with and decorate on their own. They really enjoyed it and it was a great addition to our Christmas decorations! This year's book is called The Gift of Nothing. Mooch the cat desperately wants to get his best friend, Earl the dog, the perfect gift. He decides to give him the gift of "nothing", which of course is everything since they have each other. I mean, come on, how perfect is that!?
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| Sydney needed some extra sleepy snuggles |
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| cute little Christmas tots decorating their tree |
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| Tacky Eckerts 2016 |
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| lovely girl-friends |
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| we had fun not being parents for a night :) |
We hadn't seen my family in what felt like forever since we had been busy prepping for Thanksgiving in PA and coming home to get ready for the holiday season. Kelly requested the girls wear their fancy Matilda Jane Platinum tops, since Abby had a match.
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| matching cousins! |
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| so adorable |
And as soon as we snapped 100 pictures of the cute cousins, Derek said "Kelly's pregnant!".
S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E!
No, really, a surprise baby! Haha. It's about to get wayyyyy crazy, loud, fun, and exciting.
Baby Overstreet - coming 7/11, National Slurpee Day.
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| Papa reading to Sydney |
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| Abby desperately wanted a picture with Figment. Momma is in the background looking at ultrasound pictures |
After we ate a good lunch, all the kiddos napped and parents watched a very adult movie, my mom and I headed up to visit Granma since it was her birthday! She had to miss lunch since there were lots of germs creeping around. Gotta look out for those fragile old folks! We took E&S, since they are guaranteed to put a smile on the birthday girl's face.
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| Sydney & Ella helping Great Granma Fails open up her presents |
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| ...and now Sydney & Ella ARE the presents! |
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| Fails-Trevillian-Sink girls |
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| Ella ate Santa's cookies |
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| E |
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| Sleepy Syd! |
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I turned thirty. Weird. The ABSOLUTE BEST part of my day was the very beginning. Daniel went in and got the girls and brought them into our bed. They had played for a few minutes, when Daniel gave me a kiss. Ella then leaned over and gave me a kiss, and Sydney then gave me a kiss! They did this over, and over, and over AND I LOVED IT. Best ever game of Monkey See Monkey Do, and made this momma's heart swell so big. Seriously, the best ever birthday gift.
Daniel and I took the day off, sent the girls to daycare, and ran errands wild and free. We ate good, hot meals in peace. The Olive Garden server thought I was too young to drink. We bought Christmas gifts. We had a hibachi picnic on the floor after the girls were sweetly snoozing. It was really great.
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| Sink ladies in vests |
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| my birthday could not get any better than my lap filled with babies! (and obviously, they are TEETHING! ugh.) |
Daniel picked the girls up from daycare and took them to the store to get me birthday cupcakes. I watched TV and took a nap :) Since I hadn't eaten dinner yet, they enjoyed the cupcakes first.
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| Momma and Syd-girl |
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| Ella was a happy girl! |
We were going to see Santa the next day, so I had to find something for the girls to wear. We decided on these amazing smocked dresses made by Aunt Jackie + Grandma Stella.
We stripped the girls and headed upstairs to bed - but first, had to peek at the new Christmas lights outside <3
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| S |
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| E |
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| amazing hibachi picnic with this stud |
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| being squished by Daddy is the best! |
You know me, determined to make memories and try to come up with fun activities. Daniel always has to endure the brunt of these activities, particularly since I'm pretty ambitious :)
Today's Christmas memory: baking and decorating sugar cookies!
*DISCLAIMER: Sydney slept longer, thus giving her the "nice" shirt privilege today! They both love to switch off on the Naughty and Nice roles :)
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| Helping Da-Da |
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| time for sprinkles! |
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| they literally threw the sprinkles around. up in the air. like crazy girls! |
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| Sydney said "all done!" and Ella said "get in my belly" |
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| hahahahah, typical scene |
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| the best da-da in the world |
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| sneaking a peek at the cookies |
The girls seemingly had fun baking cookies. We learned some lessons for sure, but they tasted good. After a good long nap, it was time to go see Santa.
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| staying occupied with Macon |
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| Uncle Daniel/Da-Da knows the secret sauce |
We have been practicing saying "Santa" and "ho ho ho" since Thanksgiving. The girls have it down pat... they point to Santa on their PJs and like to say his name. When it was time to sit in the big guy's lap, they... well, let's just let these photographic moments speak for themselves.
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| "You better not cry... you better not pout..." Ella & Sydney don't seem to want Santa Clause to come to town |
And, of course, the torture continued when Grandma Georgia wanted a picture with her grandchildren
Our fun-filled weekend came to a screeching halt when we woke up Sunday morning... and instead of getting ready for Emmett's birthday party, we doctored up Sydney's pink eye.
But it's okay... we clearly needed a day to just chill out. Ella and Sydney agreed.
Sydney wasn't feeling to terrible, so we decorated little Christmas trees.
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| Ella doesn't have much intention of decorating her tree... rather, her belly |
Sydney did a great job putting her tiny M&Ms
And decorating Ella's belly
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| cute little elf twins and their cute little Christmas trees! |
When did we get hair that's long enough to get tangled and brush!? Daniel does such a great job of brushing and styling their hair. He really does put up a mean pony tail. These girls are lucky!
Unfortunately, Sydney's pink eye turned into so much more than pink eye. Some sort of flu-like virus came to town, and it was AWFUL. Not only was Sydney super sick, but she kindly shared with me. But little ones are much more resilient than us big ones. I was in bed for 3 straight days. Sydney on the other hand.... well, she still had to hustle.
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| When you're sick, but you still gotta hustle |
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| sick snuggles |
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| look at that sweet little thing, bless her heart |
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| a must have when you're sick: lots of pacifiers at your disposal |
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| a little Puff snack while we're waiting to see Uncle Gary |
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| playing with Daddy's old Brio train set |
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| "I'm not Small, I'm Elf Size" |
No truer shirt has ever been worn by these two petites, ha!!
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| aww :) |
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| quick little nap together |
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| adorable little reindeer |
I bought these shirts a year ago :)
Dear Santa, My Sister Did It
...I think I'll continue buying the next size up each and every year.
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| Ella just can't... |
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| ...she just can't. |
And for today's outfit, they both slept equally as well, so they each picked out their own shirts
And by the looks of it, they probably picked wrong, hahah!
You know, life with two toddlers is... exhausting. But in the midst of the hustle and bustle, we had to squeeze in a tacky-light trip! We picked ONE house (because honestly... that's plenty, and they have no clue otherwise). The girls were in awe. We picked a great house that had Star Wars lights, a blow up Minion, and a surprise visitor - SANTA! You can guess how that went over.
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| Ella's the cutest |
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| "Look, Ella!" |
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| Sydney cried, Ella tried to get far away - but in the end, they gave Santa a high five. That was a fun surprise! |
And what the tacky thing to do after the tacky light tour? Go to McDonald's for French fries and hot chocolate, of course!
Celebrating Christmas Adam with donuts!
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| donuts make good finger accessories |
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| I couldn't find Ella... and here she was, playing so nicely in her little house |
We had a little catastrophe. And it's not really just a catastrophe, I'm just having a very minor pity party. Our Baby Sink Tree bit the dust. The irony of it sucks a little bit. A living thing, an evergreen at that, to represent a precious little baby that we lost - died. We think it might have been diseased, so I probably didn't kill it, so that helps, maybe?? Anywho, I knew it had to be replaced, so we did just that in November. And so we continue our Christmastime picture next to the Baby Sink tree.
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| doesn't get much sweeter than this! |
Daniel and I celebrated our engagement-anniversary at Bonefish. I LOVE this tradition we've started, and look forward to it each Christmas season.
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| who can't help themselves when they indulge in bang bang shrimp, delicious bread and dip, steak, and lobster?! |
Then we woke up, and it was Christmas Eve
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| <3 |
Christmas Eve tradition (blended tradition from my family and Daniel's): opening up a new toy!
Extra bonus: helps to keep them occupied on such a fun and busy day!
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| the evolution of unwrapping a present |
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| small little Magna Doodles! |
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| and boy did they stay occupied! They played with them for a long time! |
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| Christmas Eve family selfie. Partially pictured: magna doodles |
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| "If I stand on this chair, I can reach YOUR magna doodle" -S |
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| The Couringtons came over and we exchanged gifts (the girls got discs for sledding in the snow, rightfully so from them). And they were wrapped up like little burrito-presents |
Daddy had special little helpers for his Puppy Chow. They each had their own little bag and did their best to shake it up.
After naptime, we had to get dressed in homemade suspender skirts from Aunt Kelly so we could head off to Nana and Papa's for Christmas Eve dinner <3
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| This is Us. |
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| such cute matching cousins |
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| Abby taking all three of the little ones for a spin in the wagon |
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| haha, look at Sydney's cute face |
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| Seth giving Syd kisses |
We had lots of fun. Our family gatherings are always loud, filled with the pitter patter of little feet, lots of giggles, and it's just crazy! The dining room table is filled to the brim, and dinner isn't quiet - it's hectic. But it's awesome. It'll be so much fun to add another little one to the circus!
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| and the matching continues! cousins are all ready for Santa |
With all the hustle and bustle of so many family obligations at Christmastime, sometimes you've gotta stand your ground and look out for your own family unit. I love that our families live in the same place, but sometimes that's hard when you feel like you have to be everywhere all at the same time. Something that I've decided is important to me on Christmas Eve is I want to put my little tiny ones to bed. I want to read them 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, smother them in kisses, and tuck them into bed after we tell them that Santa will be here soon! One day they will be SO excited they won't be able to sleep. I want that. I know it's selfish, but I'm the momma and I have that right. I don't want to stay at someone's house until it's too late and have our girls fall asleep in the car on the way home, and we have to quietly try to transfer them from car to crib. That's not my Christmas Eve. This year, that meant that we had to skip the Christmas Eve party at Georgia's house. I know Daniel wasn't thrilled, but this isn't permanent. One year, sooner than we think, they'll be able to stay up past 7:30, and we'll be able to do more, but for now - we enjoy our little toddlers, and we come home to tuck them into bed.
And as a side note to that, my mom is a saint. Her hope is that we protect our family unit, and knows how important it is for us to create our own traditions. I hope that one day I'm just like my mom, and want the same things for my girls. If for some reason I get a wild hair when Ella and Sydney have their own families, please remind me of what's important. And point me back to this blog post.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled picture updates:
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| 'Twas the Night Before Christmas {in the Sink house} |
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And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from 1 to 92
Though it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you |
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| Momma reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas |
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| I need nothing else for Christmas |
Once we tucked in those sweet girls, it was time for Santa to come! Daniel has seriously been looking forward to this for WEEKS.
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| Daddy's goal: a BIG presentation |
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| look who we caught! |
After a night filled with visions of sugarplums, we woke up, and it was Christmas day! We took the girls downstairs and told them that Santa had arrived. Ella didn't have a problem going to check out the goods, but Sydney thought her not-so-BFF Santa was actually IN the room! She stood here shaking her head no and was very apprehensive. I finally picked her up and showed her, and she didn't have any hesitation to play with her new toys.
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| Santa? No. |
We had lots of fun! The girls can open gifts, which is cool, and they don't want to open them all - they want to play with whatever they open. So we took our time opening and playing and eating breakfast.
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| new mini-power wheels, Minion of course! |
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| Ella was a pro at unwrapping |
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| Sydney is exciting and saying "Star!" |
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| Doodle Pros (upgrade from Christmas Eve) and a brand new tee-pee! |
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| Shopping carts were a huge hit - they love to go 'round and 'round the house, and unfortunately also enjoy running INTO each other |
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| looking up at the cool light |
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| this momma's heart is happy! |
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| adorable Christmas girls! |
Daniel wants to go Christmas-overboard, I, on the other hand, do not. We also don't agree on how much Santa should wrap, so we had lots and lots of compromising this year. The girls didn't get a TON, even though I'm sure it looks like it. They got little power wheels, a snow sled, Doodle Pros, outdoor toys, a tee pee, glow sticks, and some coloring supplies. Their stockings were filled with Puffs, pouches, and a toothbrush! All of their favorite things.
After unwrapping gifts, eating our traditional Christmas morning breakfast (sausage casserole), and getting ready - off to Grandma Georgia's house we go.
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| teamwork |
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| helmets to go with our new balance bikes! |
The girls unwrapped gifts, ate lunch, and went down for a nap. The "grown ups" then unwrapped gifts - and it was really nice and enjoyable! We were able to see what everyone got without keeping track of our monsters, and also visit and spend some good time with our family. After naps and a snack, it was time to head over to Nana and Papas!
Another fun time at Nana and Papa's. It was loud and crazy, but lots of fun with so many little ones. We started a new tradition (potentially), and ordered Chinese for dinner. I was trying to ease the burden from my mom after she does so much cooking already, mainly prepping a fantastic Christmas Eve dinner. It was a fun change, and maybe it'll stick!
We really had such a great Christmas, and I know that the volume level, squeals, and excitement will only go up from here!
Here are some fun presents that need documenting :)
Daniel's dad always decorated the bottom of our live Christmas tree so we could turn them into ornaments. Daniel came up with this amazing idea in 2011, knowing that his dad used to paint and sell something similar in his younger years. I've always loved it and look forward to it each year. His siblings also started to commission their dad to paint their trees. It was a fun tradition that everyone was super bummed wouldn't happen this year since their dad is no longer with us. I knew I had to come up with something good for all of them, but wasn't sure what it was. When it hit me, it took a little bit to figure out the logistics, and I'm THRILLED with the outcome. I used Mr. Sink's handwriting and had someone burn it into their tree bottoms. "Merry Christmas" came from an old ornament he painted, and "Love Dad" came from an Easter card I found.
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| our collection of ornaments :) |
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| ornaments for my mom and sister - pieces of wood from the "original" Baby Sink tree <3 |
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| family "celebrations" calendar for Grandma Stella - boy, we have a big family! |
Post-Christmas fun:
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| We got the girls quite a few "chore" toys - like snow shovels, rakes, and brooms. it's a good thing Sydney knows what she needs to do to earn her keep |
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| <3 <3 |
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| the most adorable set of twins celebrating with all of the Staley's at Grandma Stella's |
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| Jacob is entertaining down the hall |
And before we officially say goodbye to December and the Christmas season, we had to root for our HOKIES in the Belk Bowl!
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| TOUCHDOWN! |
