Weekend update

Current weather: 10F, Clear skies, COLD

It has been bitterly cold here for the last few days. The temperature hasn't gotten above freezing since Thursday, so the snow we got that day and Friday is still frozen solid, covering the lawn, the porch, and the driveway. Had I known it was going to stay this cold I would have attempted to drag myself out to shovel the end of the driveway while Shaun was away on his business trip, but I missed my chance, and now there are mounds of snow sitting at the end of the driveway where the snowplows so kindly left them. I was complaining about the alternating snow and rain a few days ago, and now I just wish it would warm up and rain so that the solid blocks of ice blocking the driveway would melt away!

Shaun finished up work on Friday evening and kicked off his 16-day vacation. Friday was also Kyle's last day of school until January 5th. I'm really looking forward to not having to drag everyone to drop Kyle off and pick him up at school every day for a couple of weeks, but I know Kyle will quickly get bored, so I signed him up for a couple of morning sessions at The Little Gym this week and next. Natalie's completely disappointed that she's not old enough for the drop-off classes at The Little Gym, and to be honest, so am I!

Saturday afternoon Kyle and Natalie and I made some red and green sugar cookies, and I think there are only about 3 of them left. Kyle said we needed to save some for Santa, but I assured him that we'd make more cookies on Christmas Eve since I knew there was no way the cookies would last for 4 days in this house.

This afternoon I took Kyle and Natalie to see a children's production at the Arts and Culture Centre here in St. John's. It was a stage adaptation of a couple of Robert Munsch stories called Paperbags, Princesses, Puddles 'n Pigs. I was curious to see how they'd make out at a play--I wasn't sure they'd be able to sit still and pay attention if there wasn't a lot of singing and dancing involved. But they had a blast!! The theater itself was very small, so we were very close to the actors and the action. Natalie sat motionless for the entire hour, totally engrossed. Kyle was on the edge of his seat, following the stories, and laughing hysterically over a story about a girl who let her father's pigs out of their pen. The funniest part of the story for Kyle was when the escaped pigs peed on the girl's father's shoe. I wanted to roll my eyes (4-year-old boy humor pains me at times), but it was just so darn cute that he was laughing so hard! All the other people in the theater were watching him laugh and laughing along with him. It was a great time. I was struck once again by how big both Kyle and Natalie are getting!

Tonight Shaun and I brought up all the Christmas presents from our super secret hiding place in the basement and wrapped everything in the house! It's such a relief to have it done. I'm such a last-minute wrapper that I usually end up feeling totally overwhelmed (and therefore grumpy) on Christmas Eve. Now I can't wait to just enjoy these last couple of days before the Big Day. The kids are all going to have so much fun unwrapping all the great stuff they're getting from us, each other, and Santa. Kyle and Natalie are getting more excited with every passing day, and I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning!