Project 365: Days 355-365

I can hardly believe an entire year has passed so quickly.  My 365 Project for 2015 is in the books. This year has been full of ups and downs. We lost an amazing woman, my grandmother; our daughter grew from a baby into a toddler, a beautiful little girl; we found out we're having another little girl in February; we explored, we learned, we spent time with friends and family. This year has been amazing, and I reluctantly end this bittersweet 365 project with images of the most wonderful time of the year, one of the best Christmases we've ever had as we watched it through the wonder of our daughter's eyes.

I plan to do another 365 Project in 2016. While this year, except for December, I followed Erin Hensley's Finding the Light themes every day to the "t," next year I plan to be a little looser with it but still participate in Erin's group regularly. Thank you for all who followed this project and supported me. ♥

355.365 We built a gingerbread house like we always have with you. But you just wanted to eat all of the sugary decorations and you spent most of the time crying and screaming while Daddy built the gingerbread house by himself. You took credit for it in the end, though.

356.365 We took your cousins and you to the Santa Train. You were unsure about it all, but you enjoyed chowing down 2 hot dogs at Coney Island afterward and riding in the backseat of the car with your cousins.

357.365 We baked sugar cookies, and you got to lick the beater of for the first time. You're a big fan of icing. You licked that beater clean.

358.365 I showed you how to cut out the sugar cookie shapes, and then I let you do it on your own. You took bits of dough and made a little pile of it on the cookie sheet, and then you took bits from that pile and created a new pile on the counter. Back and forth, you were meticulous in your method.

359.365 Mommy iced the cookies and then helped you sprinkle them. You then took the sprinkle container and dumped it upside down on two cookies, emptying the container. But don't worry, you picked up every stray sprinkle and ate it.

360.365 On Christmas morning, we opened our stockings first. Santa brought you Daniel Tiger figurines, and you could hardly believe your eyes. It was hard to keep you interested in opening your other gifts after that.

361.365 Santa brought you a new Daniel Tiger book, and you had Daddy read it immediately and then 5 times after that.

362.365 We forgot to lay out cookies and milk for Santa before we put you to bed Christmas Eve, so he just got his own. When you saw that he didn't finish them, you thought you'd better do it for him.

363.365 You got a new sled for Christmas, although I'm not sure we'll ever get snow this year. No matter. You just had Daddy pull you around in it, or you put your Daniel Tiger figurines in it and pulled them.

364.365 Just before the sun set, we went for a family walk on our road. You kept lifting your legs high in the air like you were marching, and then you and Daddy took turns showing how you march.

365.365 You and your cousin had a dance party in the playroom while everyone else played Apples to Apples in the other room.