The countdown has begun in our house - how about yours? Thank goodness for children, these precious ones who keep all hope alive, sparkles in their eyes, even in the midst of what may be turning out to be the strangest of Decembers in all my memory.
Not knowing where to put decorations up in this new house, in this new state. Missing Christmas back home! Recovering from a yucky stomach bug that got five of the six of us. (Don't worry mom and dad, the house will be well sanitized prior to your arrival!) Surrounded by chicken pox that has swept through the New Hampshire homeschool community, and saddened that some of our new friends will still be wearing the spots over Christmas. Other bumps in the road have come up for us this month as well, making it a very strange December indeed.
Still, all of this seems terribly trivial compared to what some in Connecticut are facing right now...we're grieving here for those beautiful wee ones, praying earnestly for God to show their families some measure of comfort. O God, bless those sweet, sweet little souls, your covenant children who are now in your eternal heavenly presence.
But, even after all of this, it still is almost Christmas, as I am reminded each morning by several happy children. So we make, we do, we go on. I finally finished Rylen's tiny tea leaves cardigan, well, except for the buttons, and I already can't wait to see her face when she opens it! I'm on track to have my nephew's stocking done by this, his second Christmas, since I missed his first. Ahem. We've been doing just a smidgen of baking (the stomach bug ever so kindly put that activity on hold), along with some peppermint bark making. I've enjoyed the new-to-me craft of doll-making, and finished a baby waldorf doll for Miss Lena to open.
So Christmas is happening, all around me, even if it doesn't feel as much like it this year. Thank goodness I have four wonderful, little people that will make sure of it!
