I went home to Chicago for Thanksgiving… I spent some time cuddling my brother’s dog, Gizmo, in the backseat of the car while we drove to Wisconsin.

We spent our Thanksgiving on a dairy farm!

On Thanksgiving, my family was a part of a very special tradition in which we each received a special ornament. The little spool of thread fit me perfectly!

Back to Florida, and put up the Christmas tree. We don’t have a tree topper, so the Mickey ears Santa hat is our traditional solution.

Winnie proudly admires the Minnie Mouse wreath I made two years ago. We have the most magical house on the block!

Put the finishing touches on my Christmas card clothespin wreath. Since then, we’ve filled it up by clipping our Christmas cards on all of the clothespins! I promise we’re more popular than this photo portrays. 🙂

Found this lil guy sitting on my desk one morning and felt really happy!

I tried to keep it healthy one week and made some delicious corn chowder. As you all know, Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday, so I use my heart-shaped measuring cups all year long. The hearts were a welcome break from all of the Christmas madness! A lovely reminder that my favorite holiday is just around the corner. 🙂

Sewed a few Christmas cards by quilting some fabric panels and sewing them onto blank cards. It was my first attempt at free-motion quilting. Man oh man! Free-motion quilting is crazy, you guys! As you can see, I didn’t do a great job – LOL! More on that later…

My mom came to visit and we spent a lovely weekend at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. We loved watching the zebras and giraffes outside our balcony when we weren’t hitting up the Disney parks!

Delicious zebra domes were the snack of choice when we returned to our room each night. 🙂

It wouldn’t be Christmas without seeing the sparkling Christmas lights on Cinderella Castle… caught this pic post-fireworks at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party with mom.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party!

Squeezed in some craft time and sewed this lovely Wizard of Oz inspired zipper pouch! Ruby slippers and a yellow brick road…

And of course, through it all, I’ve been doing schoolwork. This morning I worked on my accounting exam while Winnie snacked on my accounting textbook. Nom nom!