Our First ISQ Christmas Fair!

This is the PTO's major fundraiser of the year.  We left for school after 8 and arrived around 9:30.  It's a long trip by public bus!  We dropped off all the baked goods and Matt bought a coffee.  Ana was then on a mission to find the candy canes.  I couldn't even look at any of the booths--she was so focused on finding them.  After buying candy canes we bought a nativity, silver charms that say Faith, Hope, and Love in Chinese, a candle that supports those with leprosy, and a beautiful Christmas runner.  We then went upstairs and enjoyed some caramel cinnamon rolls!  Yumm!!

 

For lunch we enjoyed Mexican Fried Rice, Kim Bop, and Indian curry.  The curry almost made me cry it was so good--esp. after not having it in six months!

The third grade performed a song.  We have heard that China is to be Michael Jackson in the Christmas play--how that fits into a Christmas play I have no idea. 

Ana enjoyed making a jingle bell bracelet with some help from high schoolers.

Then she played with gingerbread playdough.  It smelled really good!

The school has a really nice gym.  This is where all the stalls were. 

I did go to the trash and treasure sale.  We found some shoes for Ana for next year and a princess dress.  I then worked in the PTO store for a couple of hours.  By the end of the time they were giving some pretty good deals.  We had a lot of fun at the Fair and best of all the kids were really tired and went right to sleep.

 

Bakin'

This is SOME of what I did yesterday for the Christmas Fair--plus 5 loads of dishes!  Hope it sells!!

Amazing!

Back in late spring the city of Qingdao planted millions of trees and bushes.  Now in an effort to keep them alive (I'm guessing) they are wrapping and painting the tops of the trees.  The bushes they build a cage for and wrap with a felt like material.  It is an amazing amount of effort and man hours. Hope we're still here in a few years when the trees mature a bit.  Should be really beautiful and worth all the effort!

Not a (real) candy cane in sight!

So Ana and I were out and about looking for candy canes--no luck.  Even though Christmas decorations are going up there is not a piece of Christmas candy to be seen!  Oh well, at least I still have some peppermint flavoring!  There's a purple Christmas tree with hearts (very shiny) going up across the street from these candy canes.  When it's finished we'll go back and snap a picture. 

My visit

I had a very thought provoking time at the Children's Leukemia Hospital today.  There were around thirty children in the ward.  Some rooms had eight beds, others had only two.  Some were in tents to ward off infections.  All had at least two family members with them---one had six!  While some of these children are from our city, many are from elsewhere.  One mom and son had been in the hospital for three months!  This must mean that she has given up her job to stay with him.  Can you imagine keeping a two year old in a crowded room in his bed for three months?  (There were lots of computers with videos!) I enjoyed passing out the snacks and doing crafts with the older ones, but this visit has left me thinking.  What more can be done to help these families from out of town?

Be thankful today for quality healthcare that is nearby!

I'm leaving in a couple of hours to visit the children's leukemia hospital.  This is something I've wanted to do after hearing about it a couple of months ago.  We'll be doing some crafts with the children and taking along some snack bags.  I'm so happy that I packed these bags in the Christmas boxes.  They've come in really handy.  (Too bad there's no Phoon Huat baking store here!)  I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Super thankful for a group of stay at home moms that seek ways to serve at school and in their community!  It challenges me to get out there and do some GOOD!

The Last

We've finally had a spare moment to think about what we're going to do with our room.  It's the last room in the flat to be decorated.  I already painted all my frames black and laid them out--now just have to get the hubby to hang them all.  I think it will be a really fun picture wall.  I hope to put in some seasonal pictures or word art too!  Any other suggestions of things to add in before I force Matt to hang them?