Hand Made Christmas Gifts.

This year we decided make each other's Christmas presents instead of buying them. The only one who opted out was my husband, but he helped the kids to make their gifts for me. Instead of opening them with the "regular" presents on Christmas Day, and getting lost in the shuffle, we each opened one hand made gift on Christmas Eve. I made the cat above, now named "Kitten", for my 6 year old daughter, and her reaction to this gift was the highlight of my Christmas. The pattern for the cat, by the way, is from this really cool book, Wee Wonderfuls by Hillary Lang.

Book Club.

A few months ago I joined in my first book club. It is made up of 5 women, including myself, and we meet about once a month at someone in the group's house. The first book we read was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. The second book was The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, and we are about to read Room by Emma Donoghue. While I really love reading, I don't see myself writing long reviews on this blog... so unless I come across something extraordinarily good or bad, I will just post the book. Oooh, and perhaps a star rating! Ok, here are the first two books, with (my) star rating above. (Out of 5 stars.)
3 stars

2.5 stars

p.s. I really don't have a handle on whether anyone reads my blog, but if you happen to have a book club suggestion, it is my turn to pick the next book, and I am looking for ideas...

Gingerbread Houses.

These gingerbread houses are old school... graham crackers on milk cartons with frosting out of a can. My girls made these at school, and as I type this, they are making a large one together at our dining room table.