Folino Family Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my family the day after. It was nice to have the time to enjoy each other, without the rush of seeing other family. We started with gift giving. Afterwards John made us an amazing walleye dinner. Karalyn and i had chicken nuggets 😂. Everyone enjoyed dinner and I’m so glad i could catch all that walleye for them 😉. As we were finishing dinner and starting to enjoy some dessert, my aunt Vivian and Uncle Ty stopped by. They live in Cincinnati but were in town visiting family for the week. I just love spending time with them and i am so glad they were able to stop by!

Merry Christmas

Well we indeed had a white Christmas. The days leading up to the holiday, we experienced a “blizzard” that was more arctic cold, strong winds and lots of ice, rather than large amounts of snow. It was absolutely brutal and one of the coldest Christmas days we’ve seen in Ohio in a long time!

Christmas morning finally began at 10am when Karalyn arrived. She was so excited to come over. She had been texting us all morning and had john meet her downstairs because she couldn’t wait to see him. She made us open our gifts before she even opened her gift from Santa 😮! She was so happy to gift me (and herself) mama bear and lil bear slippers. She has always called me mama bear and was so excited to find these. For her dad, she made the most incredible memory box. She worked hard on it for weeks and was so thrilled to actually give it to him. These were by far the best gifts we opened on Christmas!

When she finally got to her gifts, she was beyond excited to see that Santa had brought her a television for her room!

We enjoyed the morning with just the 3 of us exchanging gifts!

In the early afternoon, my in-laws came over to exchange gifts and also enjoy a delicious Christmas dinner with us. It was nice to have them over our house to share the special day.

John was gifted a larger watch box (his collection has grown) and inside was his grandfathers watch ❤️

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

A little bit of Christmas was sprinkled throughout the month!

This was probably one of my most favorite things. My older nanny kids made a sleigh that they were riding in. Next to them on the floor they made this scene using all miniature items. They were miniature you see because they were flying high above the world in their sleigh. Seriously i love their imagination!

Check out the road and cars!

Had to get my nails done for Christmas!

Our gym is always so festive and beautiful!

Our Christmas cards for 2022!

My friend gifted me a box of gluten free cookies that she was very busy making!

Our annual Pink Ladies Christmas party. One of my older students made a hot cocoa bar for everyone!

Every year i gift the girls an ornament that my amazing mother makes. This year she did a gnome!

Cally had her Christmas dance recital the same day Karalyn had her show choir Christmas performance. We were so grateful we were able to make both!!! They are so pretty!!!

The week of Christmas is always so busy, but i always make time to go to my aunt Terri’s house, with my mom, to help her wrap the million presents for her grandchildren! Maggie and Molly enjoy my visit!

Cally at the tree farm 🌲

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is my work party. I just love hanging out with my nanny family and seeing the excitement on the children’s faces!!!!

Really excited to discover the company MINUSG! Their mixes are the best gluten free mixes i have ever tasted. I made Santa’s cookies using their sugar cookie mix!!!

The house is all decorated and ready for the big day!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

What a wonderful holiday filled with good food and time with family! We are blessed to spread this joy over 2 days. One day we spend some time with my family and the second day we get to spend time with my in-laws!

My brother is the cutest dishwasher 😊

After a huge feast is there any better way to burn calories than a dance off!? Us girls had so much fun playing Just Dance!

Cally and my mom
Cally and her mom (SIL)
Cally and Karalyn

Halloween Baby!

My youngest nanny kid turned 3 just four days before Halloween. We celebrated her at a family party and the weather was beautiful. It was a cool, but sunny, fall day in Ohio and the colors were magnificent! The kids enjoyed decorating pumpkins and some other fun games. Her theme was unicorns and my boss made her the most gorgeous cake. I know i say it all the time, but i am truly blessed to be a part of such an amazing family! They also have been so welcoming to “Mr” John and Karalyn!

Karalyn made this adorable unicorn out of clay for the birthday girl!

For Halloween my niece, Cally, dressed up as Wednesday and i think she nailed it!!!!

My niece always enters the most creative pumpkins in the contest at school!

The week leading up to Halloween, i allowed my baton students to wear costumes to class!! They always have fun dressing up. Even the older ones. You are never too old to dress up and have fun!

Guess who is 42?!

Yay another year around the sun! I was blessed to celebrate with my family and John’s family over the weekend. On my actual birthday we were on vacation, which is also a blessing. We celebrated with delicious food, and ice cream cake and they spoiled me with gifts! I also celebrated with my amazing nanny family! All these wonderful humans make me feel special all year long and I’m so grateful for to call them all family!

New shoes from John
New sweatshirt from my work wife
From my work wife
New clothes i bought with my gift cards
How cute is this candle from my nanny family?
This is the cutest book 💕
Love this new gnome from my in-laws
That’s me! Love this hoody from my parents!
How cute is my new door wreath from a baton student!?
The most perfect towels!
My moms bestie knows me so well
New shirt from my brother, SIL and niece

Two, Four, SIX, EIGHT!!!

My oldest two nanny kids are turning 6 & 8! I can not believe it. This weekend we celebrate them both with a wonderful summer party. The oldest did a luau theme and her brother went with a jungle theme. The kids went on a jungle safari scavenger hunt to find animals in the “jungle.” Then the kids, and adults, played tropical charades! For dinner they had shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes, sausage and a table full of themed treats. My nanny boss made the gorgeous cakes, as she does for every party! Nanny nana made the best Hawaiian drink! The entire backyard was transformed with themed tents and crafts for the kids to make! Inside there were two different photo areas, along with props of course! John and i are so blessed to have this amazing extended family in our lives!

Easter

It was truly so special to celebrate the holiday all together. No separate meals. No FaceTime. Just all together under one roof….well almost everyone. Our girls didn’t spend the weekend with us because their mother had COVID and obviously they were exposed. They stayed at her house so that we could keep everyone else safe.

we love our niece so much
Poppy and Grandma
My SIL, brother and niece
Papaw (?) i always forget what she calls him!
The mom’s
My favorite men
“The adventureful is mine but i needed it because i was short one cookie. It’s just like a thin mint but without the mint!” -Cally 😂
The John’s
Cally and i made gnomes!
We wanted to play outside!
how awesome is this box of chalk we got Cally!?
Abby loves road trips!

Despite not having the girls, John still smoked the ham and we enjoyed a nice dinner together. My mother in law gave us an easter basket. How cute is the pink gnome!!! She bought me some gluten free snacks. So sweet!

Easter crafts with my nanny kids