Tuesday, February 12, 2013

State of the Lincoln's Chinese Mardi Gras

So a lot of items on the calendar:

1.  Lincoln's birthday
2.  Mardi Gras
3.  State of the Union Address

And just for fun, Madison is still in the Chinese New Year mode, still celebrating it.  So throw that holiday in as well.  We're still reading Chinese books and listening to Chinese music.

Another world event:  We'll have a new pope soon enough, as this week, the current pope is stepping down from his role.  He is citing advanced age, wanting someone else to take the papacy because he feels he's not physically fit enough for all of the responsibility.  This would be the first pope to resign in 600 years, but it's a good reason, isn't it?  Daddy has been alive during the the papacies of three popes, the one with the longest tenure being Pope John Paul II, who is pretty much a legend as far as popes go.  This recent pope was put in his position at a much older age, so he hasn't had as much time.  But he's been pretty controversial, actually taking positions consistent with the Bible.  Go figure!

There is a prophecy or two about this next pope, with a mysterious background I have to admit I don't know much about.  I think it comes from St. Malachy, and a quick search of the internet gets me this quote:  "In extreme persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit ... Peter the Roman, who will nourish the sheep in many tribulations; when they are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people.  The end."

So on one hand, we survived the Mayan Apocalypse.  Now we have something to fear during the reign of Peter the Roman!  Apparently, there's a cardinal named Peter from Rome who is in the running for the position too - which would be sort of ironic.  So just as we thought we were safe for a bit, there's another doomsday prophecy hanging over us.  Here we go again!

Despite the gloom that now hangs over all of us (tongue slightly in cheek there), today Madison had a field trip to INK, where Madison went to a few years ago.  She had a fantastic time with her friends, learning about careers, dressing up like a veterinarian, a doctor, and spending some time in the pretend grocery store.

Immediately following her return back to the school, she was picked up by Mommy and Daddy, who took her to piano class afterwards.  There she had much success - her practice has been paying off.  She was able to play certain things very well:  "Easy peasy!"  Those were her words when asked to play the chords for a certain song, "Packy's Parade."  Later on, she identified a song after only four notes, well before any of her classmates.  Mommy and Daddy were proud!  At the end of class, the kids handed each other Valentine's Day cards, which was sweet.  Literally, it was sweet because Madison got brownies and lollipops and all kinds of goodies!


Next, we had ballet class.  Mommy and Daddy don't sit in with that class, instead going to go to the grocery store for some shopping.  But you can see from the photo above that she had a good day - this picture was taken by her teacher during class.  Madison got a really neat craft for Valentine's Day, a collection of used crayons shaped into a heart shape.  The design itself was attached to a note to have a "colorful Valentine's Day."  At the bottom was a scripture:  "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:18).  It was a nice gesture from her teacher, who has been known to give special gifts to her students frequently.  This was a nice one as well!

After class, there isn't much time left in the day, is there?  We get home and we're pretty wiped out from the full day of running to and fro.  We picked up some cookie dough for Thursday (we'll make our heart-shaped cookies then), but tonight we decided to take it easy with a quiet meal (spaghetti), a little television (Super Hero Squad, of course), and a few more books.  Daddy and Mommy found a few devoted to Valentine's Day, and we had fun reading just before bed.


Here's one we found that's always been fun to read.  Olive has a Christmas book as well, but this one is cute.  It's a little odd, but it's got heart.  So to speak.  Anyway, we enjoyed reading a few books together, including this one and another that sort of tells the story of St. Valentine.  It's a children's book, so it doesn't share all the information - but it does introduce the guy behind the holiday.

We all went to bed a little early tonight, with Mommy and Daddy watching a few more episodes of "Kickin' It," for "research."  But we had an early night after that, as we were all pretty tired.

So, what did we do about these things:


1.  Lincoln's birthday
2.  Mardi Gras
3.  State of the Union Address


Absolutely nothing.  We were too busy for Lincoln logs, didn't have time to watch "Princess in the Frog," and weren't remotely interested in watching the State of the Union.

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