Time Flies

And it really seems to be flying here! Just two weeks until Christmas so I am having to shift gears and just focus on that for the next week at least. Right now it is *not* beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house. No decorations, no tree, no smell of baking cookies (no oven yet). Christmas lists have been written, added to, rewritten and pointed out to me...so that part seems pretty normal. Christmas carols on the iPod! But everything else?  uh, not so much.

First, there are no real/live Christmas trees here. Artificial only. We have always been a cut-tree kind of family so this is a big adjustment. I am told that there are very beautiful, good quality trees available for a reasonable price. Monday is set to be tree-shopping day. Along with that will be shopping for everything that goes ON the tree as well. We have a very, very few ornaments and decorations that I brought with me in a very, very small box. So really, we need everything. I hope to figure out how to pull together some materials to make some decorations, but without my craft boxes full of glitter, glue, little silver bells, stamp pads and all the other little crafty things that seemed to accumulate on their own I am a little at a loss. Have I mentioned that the simplest things are not easy? At least not this year...I hope this stuff will get easier over time.

Christmas cookies...we ALWAYS have a baking day. Usually as soon as Ryan gets home. Except Ryan isn't coming this year. Our first year without our boy. And there isn't an oven so far, and though I am still hopeful, I don't know if there will be one before Christmas. Cookies in the toaster oven are doable, but they will definitely be different. Of course, I still need to figure out flour, baking soda and vanilla. No chocolate chips. I know there is honey....can I possibly find molasses (what is Christmas without ginger crinkles)? 

Christmas shopping. My US shopping is finished, thanks to the internet. Maybe not the most personal gifts I have ever picked out, but it's the thought that counts, right?  For China, I have a list so that's a start...6 kids in my house and 61 in the other 5 houses. I don't know where to shop for most things, so everything takes awhile. I found a store today that sells great toys...educational and good quality...and way out of my budget. (So if you still need a gift for someone, scroll down and read about our donation cards, available until Dec 17.) I'll figure it out somehow. Our kids get just one gift each year, unless they have a sponsor that sends them something for their birthday. I really want it to be something chosen especially for them and sturdy enough to last awhile. I think there are still about 51 children who still need a Christmas sponsor so I can get them something special.

So yes, with so many things to figure out, time really feels like it is flying. I hope you are enjoying your holiday season very much...have a cookie for me.  :)