Red

Another 'home day' left us eager for an activity to keep hands and attention occupied. The cold lately is best described as bitter (accompanied by an full-body-shiver-shudder and a shaking of my head).

So we turned to Kids Craft Weekly (the salvation of many a snowy and bitter day) and talked about Chinese New Year (a very fun topic for stimulating the imagination - dragons, fireworks, stories, the works). Then we set to work making a Good Luck garland for a special friend who will be celebrating this weekend.

It was a burst of colour in the day, and good times spent playing with tissue paper, thread and glitter glue. But my favourite part of this activity was (of course) developing those fine needle- working skills. Oh, and then there was Julia explaining how to dance in Chinese, sleep in Chinese and play in Chinese (what can I tell you, she is a big fan of ni hao, kai-lan)

Just look at that serious stitching face (it's the vision of intense crafting concentration that usually make my husband say "Hey I recognize that look.") And that pinky finger just kills me - she's done that since she was a baby.

And just in case we didn't fill the garland with enough good luck energy, there is chocolate, which usually provides a solid backup.