The tiredness crept in after I hosted book club at my house last night, which means that there was extra cooking and cleaning going on around here yesterday. Having people come over is a great incentive to do the jobs that you normally skip over, like washing crusty couch cushions. My children use those cushions as their personal napkin. What I'm saying is, do you want to come visit?
We like to keep book club simple in December, so we read The Little Match Girl and had a children's book exchange. Everyone brings one of their favorite children's books, and we do a dirty santa type of swap.
Some of the books that people brought: A Pirate's Night Before Christmas; Merry Christmas, Strega Nona; Rechenka's Eggs; The Alabama Night Before Christmas; Gingerbread Friends; The Frog and Toad; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie; All Fall Down; and Scaredy Squirrel. I couldn't remember the titles of a few other good ones, but if you're looking for more Christmas books, check some of these out. I won The Alabama Night Before Christmas, which I was overly excited about because it includes Birmingham's own pant-less Vulcan statue in the book, but I was also ruthlessly trying to steal (it's part of the game!) A Pirate's Night Before Christmas. We're lovers of pirates and pirate voices around here.
Also good news, party leftovers for lunch.
Spinach artichoke dip sandwich.
Cranberry delight, always better the second day.
I couldn't find a recipe for this. It's just one that I have memorized from making it through the years with my mom. One day I might write it down, but to give you an idea, you use fresh cranberries, homemade graham cracker crust, and freshly whipped cream topping.
Now for the traction aid winners. I took the first six from this random number sequence.
Monica from What's Next?
Jenni
Jade from Runner Girl Revisited
Luise from Weez Runs
Please email me at yomommaruns (at) gmail.com with your shipping info so I can get it to you before the holidays.
While I was getting this post ready, I saw the news about the shooting at the elementary school in Connecticut. I'm in complete shock and sadness right now. Just the idea that someone would consider doing something like this to innocent children is unimaginable to me. Innocent children. In general, I have a lot of faith in humanity and believe that most people are trying to be honest and do the right thing. So when I hear about something like this, it's almost impossible to comprehend. What events lead to someone even considering killing children? And to kill them in mass? It's disgusting and disturbing. I'll be praying for the families in CT and for people everywhere. And especially for those people who suffer from mental illness which had to have been a factor in this tragedy. Please join me in this.
