The Call & Award Presentation

We had a busy week!  On Thursday, we were in attendance at The Duckling's school to watch Keith receive an award for representing the virtue of "Hope".  Both Edward and I agree that this was most appropriate, as Keith is full of sun-shiney optimism (except when he's not...) and he is always hopeful that the Next Thing, whatever that might be, is better than what he has now.  This can manifest itself in a way that can grate a little on the nerves, but all in all, he is one happy - and happy-go-lucky- guy.

The following day, Nana, Malcolm and myself were back at the school to participate in their annual Christmas singalong.  And then, just like that (yikes!) Christmas holidays were upon us.

Tonight, we had a real treat because Santa, yes the Elf Himself, called our home tonight to speak to The Ducklings.  The look on their faces when they realized who it was, was absolutely priceless.  He was very generous with his time, and as you can see from the video below, he is quite the conversationalist to be able to chat at length with several four year olds.

This video is admittedly a tad long, and isn't the zippiest in terms of content, but once I started filming The Call, I couldn't turn off the recorder.... for me, as a parent, it was one of those golden moments that could have gone on forever.  The first video is Keith's award ceremony.  You can tell when he meets our gaze from across the gym, because he gives us a furtive little smile.  I think having us there to cheer him on meant a lot more to him than the award itself.



In any case, we'll be off-line enjoying our time together, so I'll take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful Christmas celebration with your friends and families.  May you enjoy the best of the season: peace, love, fellowship and a quiet time to reflect on our fortunes and hopes for the year to come.

Our Week (Christmas Pageant)

We've had a week full of fantastic moments (Edward's family visiting), and slogging moments (illness, yet again), but all in all, we can't complain!

I realize there is a disproportionate number of messy Malcolm photos, but we can't help ourselves.  Here is Malcolm with his cup stuck (and I mean, STUCK) in his hair, with maple syrup

Yep, ditto what I wrote above, but here he is enjoying his fraternity with the chocolate-moustasched Musketeers.

The older three with the gingerbread houses they decorated at school and their Advent wreaths

This year, we headed our church's call for an extra shepherd, angel and wise man and committed to the Christmas Pageant.  This involved one dress rehearsal and a lot of crossed fingers (and, I'm sure for the director, a certain amount of prayer).  We almost had a wayward sheep to add to the mix, but he's suffering from a(nother) bad cold, which includes two infected eyes; and, pardon the expression, he looks like hell.  In any case, Aunt Jane graciously took the video documenting The Ducklings foray into.. musical theatre... and it turned out really well.

A few additional notes about the video:

Keith actually memorized his line: "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem to see this thing which is come, which the Lord hath made known to us", and we were extremely proud of him.  You can see him mouthing along (he barely made it down the aisle, so it was truly a Christmas miracle that he said anything at all) to his line, and to "Away in A Manger".  

Evelyn memorized her line, too, but it turns out we got the wrong line assigned to us, and hers was in fact said by the Angel Gabriel, which caused Evelyn a certain amount of confusion and disappointment. 

Colin didn't have a line, which suited him just fine because he really didn't want to be a Magi, he wanted to be a "Helicopter Guy".  But I think he was won over by his crown.

The little ones who did make in into their sheep costumes provided some levity, which you can hear rippling through the congregation at times... and Father Murray tried in vain to choral one (his grandson) at one point, which is why he makes a cameo appearance in the video.

The angel who suddenly pitched forward on the floor is fine.... not even a feather ruffled, or halo bent!

Dancing Duo (+ Hopping Colin)

Aunt Pinie and Uncle Ken sent a holiday card with music, and it has many fans....

Creativity and Contagion

Colin was very proud of his parkade/church/apartment building, and we took this picture knowing that his handiwork wouldn't be preserved past 37 seconds....

Advent candles!  The one in front is Evelyn's, Colin's is on the left and Keith's is on the right.  He insisted on bringing his candle into McDonald's after church yesterday because "other people should see it."

And well, it turns out that this part of the nasty, nasty cold we've been dealing with is also contagious:

Malcolm, in mid-mouthful, fast asleep this afternoon.  Poor baby bear!

We're still waiting for Evelyn to come down with this horrendous thing, but I am eternally grateful that she was able to attend her first every birthday party unscathed (alone!!! with her BEST ever girl friends from school!!! in pyjamas!!!).  She floated out of her little friend's house on Saturday afternoon in a cloud of sparkles, cupcake crumbs and (I swear!) pixie dust and hasn't been quite the same ever since.... I love it.