Where's the mouse?

This afternoon I took the kids to see The Nutcracker. It was a theatre production put on by children (not a ballet). Nadia and Ian fell in love with the story last year. Ian had a nutcracker on his wish list last year. He didn't get one then, but I got one at a yard sale in September, and they love it. Some day I want to take Nadia to the Nutcracker ballet. Oliver asked during a few scene changes when the lights were low, "where's the mouse?". Thankfully when you are three you can get away with not whispering. Oops! I saw people smiling in response to his question. We had an incident with a mouse two weeks ago. Paul saw a mouse in our family room late at night. EEK!!!! I have never seen a mouse in this house or any house we've lived in, and I hope it stays that way. I bought two mouse traps the next day, and the day after that I heard Nadia screaming in the basement, and I thought she had seen a mouse scurrying somewhere, but nope she was screaming because Ian had discovered a dead mouse and had picked that smelly thing up by its tail. Oi vey! I had him wash his hands quite a few times after that! I asked him to never pick up a dead animal ever again. The mouse traps have remained empty so maybe that was the only mouse in the house? I can only hope.

We have tickets for two more Christmas productions this week. Somehow all our Christmas shows ended up in the same week. On Wednesday morning Paul is taking Nadia and Ian to see a production of A Christmas Story in Bloomsburg (the boy who wanted a bee bee gun) and on Saturday afternoon seven of us are going to see a Charlie Brown Christmas at our church. Paul's parents are joining us for that one. The kids have also been enjoying watching Christmas dvds - Frosty the Snowman, Little Drummer Boy, etc. Two weeks from today the kids' choir is putting on their Christmas musical at church. The kids really enjoyed hearing their gym teacher sing a duet ("Mary Did you Know") this morning at church. In addition to celebrating Christ's birth, we also celebrate my dad's birthday (10th), Ian's birthday (12th), and Paul's dad's birthday (20th). They are really looking forward to going bowling and eating at Bonanza on Friday with my parents. This is a very special month!