Madison's Mighty Mjölnir!

While shopping today, Madison found a mjölnir down aisle seven. Just for kicks, she struck it against a rock - and became Thor, deliverer of thunder! Immediately her powers became clear - she bore a helmet that struck reverent awe in all those who sided with good, and cowering fear in all those who stood for evil. Not only that, but she started using words like "nay" and "thee" a lot, because that's what these legends of Asgard tend to do (it's Norse code). She did like that hammer, or mjölnir, as I like to call it. That'll be the next word we try to get Madison to pronounce. I figure if we can get her to say that, she can say anything!

Tonight we were at the toy store to shop for some props for Under Construction: our new series begins this weekend, and there's still so much to be done. We stopped by the Disney Store to pick up our copy of "Tangled," and got a few other items there as well for the big trip upcoming. They also have these nice bags there that are really cheap. This new grocery store we've been visiting does not have bags - it's a concept to save money on the food. SO, we got some inexpensive bags at the Disney store to carry along. Saving money = good.

Daddy has already begun the "getting to the phone at 7 am to try and make reservations at a restaurant at Disney that is full" plan. No success yet, but getting up early is helping with getting all of these work-related tasks done earlier as well.

Still plenty to do though. Actually, the list is huge. Mommy is consumed with Easter drama details and costuming, and there's the matter of the house for sale. A new series is here already, and the house we're in is in desperate need of straightening up. The weather is still downright chilly outside, so gardening and so forth has been out of the question as of late.

But we'll get to all of these tasks in time. I think everything will fall into place nicely, actually. Including Madison's learning: she's been attacking these workbooks ferociously for the past two weeks, learning numbers and letters and matching and all sorts of different concepts. It's like home school - it really is. The exciting thing is Madison's passion for learning: she wakes up first thing and grabs a work book and hands it to Mommy. Of course, Mommy is like: "let me wake up first, Madison." But soon after, Mommy patiently sits with Madison, and watches amazed as our intelligent daughter tears through page after page of school work.

The only setback is her speech. Yes, everyone else has had a two-year advantage on her. She didn't begin to hear English until she was two years old. She understands everything very clearly - it's just her speech that has been difficult to understand as of late. It can get frustrating at times for all of us, and we're working with her carefully with letters and praying that something clicks.

Until then, for practice, Daddy will keep trying to get her to say mjölnir!

Loki: I... will... have... this... hammer!

Thor: Nay. You shall have its *thunder*!