My December, in pictures

1. Our "homemade" gingerbread houses. They were made from gingerbread house kits from Ikea and put together with hot glue. After all, it wasn't about eating them - it was just about decorating them. We even used leftover candy from Halloween for that.

2. The Bay Bridge in Maryland, which we crisscrossed on our visits to family.

3. Some good old fashioned quality time with our loved ones. We had plenty of that, and even spent one entire day in our pajamas.

4. My candy cane chocolates, inspired by posts on Pinterest. They were really simple to make and adorable to look at.

5. Hot chocolate with whipped cream vodka. A little treat for myself. Just because.

6. Homemade snowman cups. The kids and I made a bunch of these using styrofoam cups. Again, just because.

7. I made about five different kinds of cookies and enjoyed sharing them with family.

8. My tree. We set it up in our family room this year instead of the living room and were able to really enjoy it like never before.