It's beginning to look a lot like..

Last Thursday night, the phone rang. It was my neighbour, Waldo, calling.

"Hey. There's snow outside." she said.

I peeked through the blinds.
Squinted into the darkness.
Sure enough.
It was snowing all right.
A true-to-form, wet and soggy, Vancouver snowfall.

The resident eavesdroppers burst into sudden squeals of excitement.
On went the hats. Out went the girls.

I ventured out into the elements only twice. And it wasn't to play.
Firstly, for the sole purpose of taking a couple of pictures. As you can see.

Secondly, to provide Frosty's adornments. He was recreated. Amazingly enough.

Since there honestly wasn't more than a centimetre of la neige.

I love how my kids are so appropriately attired. We have a full range of snowsuits and cold-weather boots, believe it or not.

They stayed out for an hour. By then, they were sufficiently damp and bath-worthy. And more than ready for fresh-baked cookies and steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

Now THAT'S a yummy bedtime snack.

Tree's Up!

It's a tradition at our house.
Putting up the tree on the evening of Remembrance Day.

You see, several years ago, we bought our Christmas tree on November 11th. This Douglas Fir Pre-lit special was on sale at Costco. And we had to have it.

Or rather, I had to have it.
I'm like that.
Sometimes.

At the check-out that day, the lovely sales clerk said: "Be sure to put your tree together when you get home and make sure the lights come on. Because if you wait until December to put it up and it doesn't work, there won't be any stock left for an exchange."

She was a smart sales clerk, she was.
You find them these days, every now and then.
Just not often enough.

And that's exactly what we did when we got our new tree home. We put it up. And despite the lovely sales clerk's warning, every one of those little lights twinkled. In fact, the tree looked so pretty, that I couldn't bring myself to put it all back in the box until December.

Since then, our tree goes up November 11th. Two eager little elves are always ready to help. We turn up the Christmas carols, sing at the top of our lungs and... well, make a big mess.

But we make big happy, memories too.

Winter hat. Summer freckles. Cutest littlest Santa's elf ever. Love, love, love her.

There it is. Plugged in, adorned, and ready for presents. Doesn't it look "terrifical"?

Terrifical, as in "Ramona and Beezus".
Great family movie, by the way.
If you haven't watched it yet, you should.
Funny. Oh yeah. It's so guts funny!

11.11.11.

I remembered.

One soldier known personally. And the other unfamiliar thousands who have died, fighting for our freedom.

I remember.

Other soldiers who continue to fight. Some still on the battlefield. Some who have returned home to their families, critically wounded. And now, instead of fighting for us, they are fighting for their lives.

War is a devastating thing.

It breaks, injures, maims. Pronounces the true nature of man's sinful heart. It's almost impossible to remember the brave who fought without recalling the brutality and bloodshed to which they were exposed.

But think of Calvary.
A place of extreme brutality and bloodshed.
Such as was never known before, nor has been since.
There One died, not for his country, but for His creatures.
Have you thought about what the Lord Jesus suffered for you?
Have you accepted His death, as atonement for your sin?
While men may die for our freedom, Christ Jesus died to give us eternal life!
Appreciation and remembrance of His sacrifice surpasses all.


Back to 11.11.11.

Late morning, we went to visit friends. They live on a farm. A cozy little place, nestled at the foot of the hills bordering our Land, and the Home of the Brave.

So picturesque.

The sky was stormy. And dark.
Contrasted well with those maple trees. Which are on the Canadian side, of course.
But just beyond lies the U.S. of A. More friends. And great shopping.

There are animals here at the farm. Much to the girls' delight. The Weimaraner. Chickens. Barn cats. Normally there are dairy cattle too, but they've been temporarily displaced. Instead there were some Texan Longhorns grazing in a neighbouring field. Sure didn't seem the friendliest of beasts, though.

We sat by the fire, sipping coffee.
Enjoying the beautiful view and the company of good friends.

The girls traipsed around, indoors and out.
Happily content to be in the company of the unrelenting Darcy and Fluff.

Fall Back.

Last night we packed the girls off to bed at their regular time, and didn't bother explaining Daylight Saving Time, and the clocks going back an hour.

This morning I was still in bed at 8 o'clock when Miss Kayleigh came knocking on my bedroom door. Alarmed, she said,

"Mom, you slept in. Did you know it's 9 o'clock already?"

And that's when I filled her in.

Downstairs, Miss Alana met Daddie in the kitchen, who began explaining the whole deal with the hour going back, meaning that she had gotten to sleep for an extra hour last night.

Always the inquisitive one, the next thing she wanted to know if the time would go ahead again. Not until Spring 2012, she was told.

"Wow." she said. "That's gonna be a lot of weeks that we get to sleep in."

Don't we all wish it worked that way!