Wordful Wednesday: The Nutcracker Collection

#1Son was three years old when I took him to see an animated version of The Nutcracker. He loved it and also enjoyed having the story read to him at night. While shopping, we happened upon some cute, traditional-looking nutcrackers, so we bought him one. Little did we know what we started.

This is just a small sample of the collection of nutcrackers he has amassed in the ensuing 18 years:

This portion of the collection lives on my piano and, as you can see, I have to move many of them every time I practice! There are many more displayed throughout the house, including on the bookshelves in his room. Each year, we try to find unique versions … and so far we have managed to do so. Among my favorites are the Giapetto, music box, and photo display models in the front row.

He received the largest in the collection in 2002:

It stands three feet tall! So it only comes out of the box for display during the holidays.

#1Son cracked us up when he pretended the giant nutcracker was alive and attacking him:

This is one of the new additions to the collection that Santa will be delivering tonight. Credit goes to BigBob for adopting this unique little guy from the local WalMart a few weeks ago.