Boxing Day

We had an open house on Boxing Day and Rachel and Lyden treated everyone to an impromtu performance of the Nutcracker Suite followed by a rousing game of Cranium ... Andy and Lyden ended up "performing" any charades for their respective teams ... this photo of Lyden was his demonstration of a "laz-y-boy" and Andy, believe it or not, was depicting Marge Simpson! All in all, one hilarious time.

Norman's First Christmas

Even Norman received a Christmas gift .... a new outfit compliments of Tyler & Rachel. 

Four Handed Tchaikovsky

Rachel bought "The Nutcracker Suite for Two" and she and Lyden sat down at the piano this afternoon and worked through 30 pages of music ... it was so good to see them play four handed again and even though Lyden has not played for a very long time, he did well with interpreting & playing the double bass lines.  

Christmas Tree Traditions!

Putting up the Christmas Tree Traditions:

1. Christmas carols are playing in the background;

2. Mom is in charge of lights;

3. Kids are in charge of decorating the tree with the ornaments;

4. Erin is in charge of unpacking and "throwing" the decorations to Lyden, Tyler and Rachel; and

5. Lyden and Erin are in charge of unpacking and displaying the nativity scene.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ....

It had to happen sooner than later ... we have been so spoiled this fall with mild weather and dry roads. The snow started about 9:30 am this morning and it didn't stop until well into the early evening ... I shovelled the driveway around 11am, Erin & Lyden shovelled around 1pm. The snow was wet and heavy,  the perfect combination for making snowballs. (I took one in the arm capturing these images!). Tyler and Lyden shovelled again at 7:15pm when the snow finally stopped falling. Barring any chinooks, we will have a white Christmas!