Sunday 20 December 2009

The weekend has been survived!! Christmas may now begin!
A quick catch up - Harry had his Playgroup Christmas 'concert' twice this week. I'd been helping out at playgroup one of the mornings (helping do a winter scene on a display board... glue...mess and what seemed like 300 kids 'helping'...), but Harry wouldn't join in the concert at all - just sat next to me in the audience, joining in with the actions in a minute version that I wasn't supposed to see. The next day he was the complete opposite - joining in with gusto: Back to his usual obliging self (!) afterwards when I wanted to take a picture of him in his King costume:Wednesday was Tom's 7th birthday, and he was ridiculously pleased with all his presents! He had his party a month ago, so we just had a family tea party in the evening.

On Friday we had a beautiful covering of snow. The back garden.Lucy's school was promptly shut, but not the boys', so we went on the school run as usual. Lucy came too, and after the boys were dropped off we walked home the back way round the fields. It was so lovely and open and white, that we went home and came straight back with my camera. Spent Thursday and Friday afternoons getting the hall at church ready for the Ward Christmas party. Lucy was a good help - sewing tinsel round Santa's sack, moving pews & chairs and playing with Donna's kids.
On Saturday I carried on with my list of jobs - finished making the 100 cards and delivered them, got hold of the Father Christmas costume for the Christmas party, went to Tesco, hemmed a 20 ft long tablecloth for the party, baked a whole salmon, made pasta salad, prepared fruit platters, et cetera, then off to church for the party. Oh my goodness! Nearly the whole ward came, plus visitors - a good 200 of us - the place was jam packed!! I hope it was OK for people and not too manic. At least we had plenty of food! Everyone provided a small gift for their kids for Santa to give out, and I sneaked one in there for Scott... (Thank you Ryann for the photo!) After the party, Anna came to babysit, and Scott and I headed over to his boss' house (about 45 minutes away) for a dinner party. They had a gorgeous flat with balconies, overlooking a marina. It snowed again while we were there and it was beautiful with the snow settling on the frozen water. I was a bit nervous about the party, and we were the youngest by quite a way and the least posh (!), but I had a good chat with people (though definitely on best behaviour) - about books, art, people's work, and raising children - I enjoyed it, including the little indoor golf competition we had! Got back about midnight, to find that Anna's daughter had been sick all evening back at their house, so poor Anna had all that to deal with when she got home (but Thank you Anna!!!)

Church today, and when I came downstairs, Jack told me Scott had gone, been back and set off a second time. The car that Scott had been following had skidded off the road and into a ditch, so he'd helped the woman out and given her a lift back home. Our road is still pure ice, and there is quite a lot around on the smaller roads on the way to church. It was -6 when I set off with the kids 3 hours after Scott. I just drove really slowly. We watched the Christmas Devotional at church after Sacrament meeting, and I especially loved the Mormon Tabernacle choir's 'Oh Holy Night', and Elder Uchtdorf's talk. The kids liked President Monson's story. (See them here.)

Well, got to catch up on all the housework tomorrow that has been neglected, and then in the evening we will finally put up our decorations, and then I might start feeling Christmassy!

1 comment:

Ryann said...

You guys did a fantastic job at the ward party! well done!!!