Capital "W" Winter

A. was reading the weather forecast for the next week aloud this morning and all I heard was, "Misery ahead."

Not that he said that. What he said was something along the lines of multiple single-digit nights, teens for high temperatures, with wind and snow here and there. I translate this to mean that the older children will need to be completely bundled to go outside at all, where they will probably stay for less than an hour (even less in Charlie's case, because he's not as impervious to the cold as Cubby is) before reappearing at the door to be undressed and demand hot cocoa.

Cubby will be thrilled, however, as his latest fascination is with Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon man and their Ice Age lifestyle. He enjoys going outside and playing caveman in the frigid weather, stalking English sparrows and pretending they're wild horses. (Apparently, cavemen hunted wild horses. One of many new things I'm learning about them.) Unfortunately, his lack of a full suit of fur clothing prevents him from staying out as long as a Neanderthal would.

I guess A. needs to trap more raccoons and get on with the fur clothes.

Jack and I will be huddling inside, with occasional dashes outside for me as I check up on the older children to make sure they haven't gotten so caught up in their game that they hunted their way all the way to the gully beyond the pasture. Which is what they did yesterday, requiring me to hike a quarter mile in 15-degree weather without a coat (I was, however, wearing my fleece, so it wasn't too bad) to haul them back home. Very luckily, the MiL was home so I didn't have to bring Jack with me. Cubby and Charlie got a very stern talking-to about that one.

I'm afraid Cubby has gotten much too confident in his woodsman's ability and has lost sight of the fact that he is not yet five years old. And that his hunting partner is only two years old.

Anyway. It's gonna be cold here. And that's it for your breaking news for the day.

Happy Friday, my lovelies.