Daniel's Birthday!

Daniel turned 6 in January! He was really excited for his birthday. He really wanted to have a party with a few friends this year but didn't have anything in mind. He said "give me some ideas...and I pick the first one," which made me laugh. A friend gave me some ideas but then finally Daniel said he really wanted to have s'mores cupcakes which got us thinking about doing a "camping" party. That is exactly the kind of stuff Daniel just LOVES - outdoors, animals, bugs, nature etc. It turned out really fun! I would even do this party again. There are a lot of things you could do and it was really fun. Happy Birthday to my awesome Daniel!

I gave Shannon and Daniel this wood board and a glue gun one night and told them to go gather some sticks in the yard and make a "Camp Daniel" sign. It was a fun project for them and turned out really cute. We put it outside for everyone to see as the campers came up to the door.

 We had trail mix, s'mores on a stick, and s'mores cupcakes. Daniel collected the sticks from the yard for the centerpiece and helped me put "Camp Daniel" labels on the water bottles.

 Every camper needs a pillowcase. The kids decorated them with colored sharpie permanent markers when they first arrived.

 Lucy watching all of the crazy.

 Decorating pillowcases.

 Trail Mix and Camp Daniel water bottles for a snack.

 The kids had 5 minutes to create a masterpiece using marshmallows and pretzels. They were really creative and made cool towers, monsters, trucks etc. Of course they thought the best part was eating it when they were done!

Jeremy's marshmallow monster.



 Gift bags to send home with the kids: $1 mini flashlights, a bandana, trail mix, a water bottle,and a couple plastic bugs.

 Campfire stories and S'mores on a stick: Since it was January all of our activities were inside. We made a "fire" and they each took turns telling stories (which were hilarious), while they ate their s'mores on a stick.

Just a few things I LOVE about Daniel:

His tender, sweet heart

His endless creativity: can make anything into a project or a piece of art.

His infectious smile

He takes his job as "big brother" very seriously and is very protective

He's very responsible

His great memory

Loves learning: He wants to know everything about everything

All the great notes he leaves for me

His confidence

His funny sense of humor

We love our Daniel!

A gift from Grandma Kathy.

Museum

Over the Christmas break we took the kids to the Museum of Natural History in NYC.



Big Girl Day

Nora is potty trained! Over Thanksgiving she made the transition and we are SO proud of her! I told Nora since she was a big girl now that we needed to have a big girl day - just the two of us. So over the Christmas break we got our chance. She dressed up in fancy clothes and she got to wear some of my jewlery and we walked over to a little place called the Drawing Room near our house which is a little tea room that we've fallen in love with. It's the cuttest place. We had some herb tea and cake and got to chat - just the two of us! It was the best.

Outside the Drawing Room.

 We can only be serious for so long.

Christmas Day

This was our first Christmas staying in Connecticut and not being with any other family. We did miss being around family but it was nice to stay at home and be together too.

 

 Coming down the stairs Chrismtas morning.

 Daniel asked Santa for a drum set. It was one of the only things he wanted and Santa delivered.

 Ready for church on Christmas day.

 I just love Nora's cute little face in this picture.

 Nora doing her make up.

 Santa also brought this castle. It turned out really cool and they loved coloring it.

Daniel got a lot of Legos. Shannon and Daniel put this aligator together.

More Christmas Fun

 Daniel was selected from his class to lead the song "Up on the Roof Top" infront of his whole school for the holiday

sing-a-long. We were so proud of him. He wasn't nervous at all and did a great job!

 Nora watching her brother at the sing-a-long.

 Daniel up on the stage.

 We didn't decorate our gingerbread house until pretty late. I love how it turned out this year.

 We used cereal for the roof. Daniel made the chimeny with the smoke coming out with a jolly rancher and pretzels. So fun!

Christmas Tree Decorating Night

We always get our tree the day after Thanksgiving because I like to get into the spirit as early as possible! The tree we picked out this year was pretty but deadly! It was so prickly we had to wear gloves to put lights on and decorate it! Good to keep kids from playing the ornaments though!

Decorating the tree is a really special family night. 

I made this invitation (an idea from my sister's friend) for the kids a couple of years ago and I just use the same invitation every year b/c it's easier for me, but they love it.

I'm telling you, this tree hurt so bad. It was even too prickly for Shannon.

He broke down and put some gloves on too.

 Fresh baked ginger cookies and milk by the tree before bed.

 Our elf this year was a girl elf the kids named Elfie Telfie

Holiday Stroll

At the beginning of December we kicked off the season with the Holiday Stroll in Greenwich.

They had horse and carriage rides down Greenwich Avenue.

 While we were on the ride they told us all about these huge draft horses that were pulling the carriage. They came in for the event from PA, I believe. Horses are apparently very smart. They said they can find there way home from anywhere and after riding a route once they have it memorized, including where to stop and go. They also said they can sense when it's the last ride of the day even without a signal. These particular horses Duke and Dan, are apparently famous and have even been in movies. Daniel loved that one was named Dan.



 Daniel with the horses Duke and Dan. Dan was aparently the older, wiser, calmer horse and they team him up with Duke because he's a good influence.

 We stopped by McArdle's, a local florest that has live reindeer outside their shop during the month of December. They are really cool.

 There was an ice sculpture contest.

We're still not sure what the deal was with this gal but Nora was fascinated!