December In A Nutshell

I had such aspirations for December....

Oh well, let's not dwell on it, okay? Here's a few little updates.

Early in the month I visited my mom and we found ourselves in Warsaw, MO. Ohhhh - the shops, the food, the small town sights, the sunset! Lovely!

Isn't this a stunning painted lady?

I have a faint memory of driving over this swinging bridge while on a family trip to the Ozarks when I was a little girl.

This side table begged to come home with me. At only six bucks,  how could I say no? It just needs a bit of love!

This was the view Mom and I enjoyed at the end of our visit to Warsaw....

Sometimes -
no 
words 
are 
needed....

Here's my first try at chalkboard art on my newly installed magnetic chalkboard in the kitchen. I figured I better get a picture of it quick before I erase it for a New Year's message.












The sunroom has carpet!! Yea - it's like a real room now! 

Not only that, but the first snow of the season came the same day!

Christmas was family-full and happy.

 Best wishes to you and yours!

Nannie's Christmas Box is Here!

Nannie is what my kids call my mom.

Right after Thanksgiving, Mom sends a "getting ready for Christmas" box in the mail to my family,

my sibling's families, and my two grown daughters.  I can't remember when she started this,

but it's something we look forward to every year. 

Who doesn't love to get a big box full of stuff in the mail?

This year's collection is a variety of new things and some old favorites.

Let's take a look inside!!

She always includes something she made by hand.  Here we have a lovely table runner!

Next are a few useful and educational things.

Here are some yummy mixes to try.

Of course, there is a large sampling of sweets to tempt us.
I call the Mocha Latte Espresso Beans!
Anna's Ginger Thins are amazing.
See the little snowball-looking thing?
It is literally a ball of sugar and at the center there is a nut.  A filbert, I think.  Yum.

Here we have the silly things.
The blue spider-thingy can be thrown at the wall where it sticks, then slowly "crawls" down.
The wind up rat?  Not so sure about that one.  Maybe that's for Hershey and Snickers.
Snickers would probably be scared of it.

And now for the weird Santa and Snowman Heads!
Look what they can do.....

I KNOW!  Just what we all need to make us happy during Christmas, right?  :-)

Thanks, Mom, for our Christmas Box!!

Isn't this a fun way to kick off the Christmas Season?

What would you include in a

"Getting Ready for Christmas" Box?