~A Warm December~

I can't believe how nice the weather has been to us this winter. We have gotten the opportunities to do lots of fun things so far this season. December so far has included a second trip to Cincinnati with Mom & Dad, a Bridal Shower, Great times with Great friends and getting ready for Christmas - TWICE! Long story - Read on!

My Mother-in-Law Vicki gave me this hat and I had been saving it for a special occasion! She got it when she was in Paris and offered it to me to wear. I thought it looked cute with my white winter coat while hunting for the "perfect real tree". We decided to go to Oakland Nursery somewhere I used to go every year with my Mom and Dad on Mother's Day, to pick out flowers for the front bed.

~There was an Ice Sculptor there and it was soooo much fun to watch him work!~

There were lots of other activities to partake in and one of them was a carriage ride. Tommy and I went around and I just had to pet the horses after!

Our "First Christmas Tree" of December 2011 was this 11 foot tall Fir. Yes, we took this sucker home!!! Notice I said first...

That night I made lots of homemade cookies for us as well as an upcoming Christmas Party. I got creative with cutting up Mint and Peppermint Hershey Kisses for them! Boy of Boy they were good!

~Not bad, Mrs. Feisel, not bad! Lol!~

I never got a photo of just the 11ft tree by itself, decorated but got one of me and some of my friends with it. Left to Right: Me, Lauren, Emily, Bethany, Kyla and Kara. The girls came over and we made GLITTER Shoes. Yes, there's more where that came from. But, that's a future Blog Post!

Brooke had her 7th Birthday Party at Menchies in Dublin! Menchie himself even came out for a little while. The girls all had so much fun hanging out with him, picking out what ice cream they wanted, decorating t-shirts, playing with their prizes, watching Brooke open her gifts and eating cake that had 5 cool characters on it! I think that it was a great idea to have the party there. If you have not been before it is worth it! The host of the night was amazing with the kids as well. I give them 5 stars, hands down!

~Tommy being silly with Menchie!~

~Brooke and her friends at the best birthday party ever! :) Xoxo!~

Jill, Courtenay, Me and Kara after The Party. All the "Big Girls", the little ones were already buckled up in the Jeep.

For many many years we have gone as a family to The Living Christmas Tree at Grace Brethren Church. It has become a tradition. This year I invited 12 other people to come along! We all went and took up a row in the church. I had the kids I watch there (with their parents) and the were very engaged! If you have not been before you must go next year! They change the plot of the play each year to some how revolve around Christmas and have 120+ cast members with lots of music, animals (including camels and donkeys) and two HUGE Christmas trees that fill 60 choir singers!!!

~Me with The H's, the kids I nanny and their parents!~

~Theo, Kyla, Ryan, Kara, Me & Tommy~

~The Four Of Us~

After A Living Christmas Tree the four of us went to the Kahley's to Celebrate Christmas with them. Hannah makes our gifts every year and this year she made Cookies! They were so yummy! I put a "Beauty Basket" together for her and she loved it. It had shampoo, body wash, make up brush set, glow in the dark nail polish, a necklace, eye make up remover and candy of course! I love you Hannah and I am so proud to call you my sister! Xo!

My Rents wanted to go to IKEA in Cincinnati this month, of course I went along! We had a great time, the three of us, in the truck on the way down laughing and telling stories about what all has happened so far that month. We ate breakfast there, each got a few things and were on our way to a Market that we had not been to before. Daddy wanted to check it out!

~Dorthy Lane Market was very cool, cool as Ice!~

When I posted this photo on Facebook my friend asked me if it was a photo of the erasers from my Pencil Collection? Of course, that was just at a "thumbnail glance".

~What's up cool way to display carrots?~

I came home to something I never thought would have, our 11ft tree fell down. Tommy tried to get it (by himself) to stand upright again. Ten minutes after that, it fell again and this time, so much was lost! I love ornaments (practically collect them) and so many broke. Tommy tried to cheer me up by saying that it's a good excuse to go to Bronners the next time we are in Michigan.

~Behold Tree #2~

Jill put on a Bridal Shower for her good friend Courtenay and I came over to help. We had a fun time playing games and talking. Jill was so creative to make it a "Takeout/Microwave" Themed Shower because the Bride to be does not cook. The gifts were so creative, as you can well imagine. Everyone did a great job buying for her!

Mom had a party for her Friend Terry at her house since Terry recently moved to Florida. Tommy and I were so honored to be invited. We spent the night looking at photos of Terry's new home, eating (of course) and laughing at everyone's stories - all were great story tellers. Tommy also had a lot of fun talking to one of the husbands about all in the world that is "Techy"! :)

Ending on a sweet note: Kara brought over the two youngest children that she watches one day. I had just gotten my wisdom tooth pulled and she came over to help me around the house and she even gave me a pedicure! How nice! During that time Caitlin and Bree had to nap. I set them up to do so on the couch and while Kara cleaned the kitchen I made sure (over and over) that Caitlin stayed on the couch! I got photos of the two of them after they fell asleep... so adorable. Especially Bree with my Childhood Teddy Bear!

Hope you had a warm and cozy December!