The Tortoise Taught Us

As you can see, our adventure in the Pridelands continued this morning with both groups of children.  The above picture is taken with the smaller group of kids, our kindergartners, which of course includes Madison.  It was a story of a tortoise, and an African Queen.  And a phrase, "Bwana Asifiwe!"

The tortoise, one of the most overlooked of animals, was the hero - and we all learned the value of all the creatures in the circle of life.  It went well again, as the spectacle of the animals was something for the kids to behold this morning.  We had lots of characters interacting and moving about on stage as the narrators told their tale.  Hopefully I'll have another picture of Mrs. Jeneen, who has been splendid.  Until then, here's a picture of Daddy's wacky character, which Mommy dressed up in a bit of African garb:

Daddy's tired!  Must be "spring forward."

This afternoon reviewed "Wreck-it Ralph," because we are going to be watching it on Friday with a lot of kids from the church.  It'll be a big occasion, and as it will be shown at church for kids, we wanted to make sure it was okay - for the most part, it's safe for church.

It is a great movie.  The tone of it shifts dramatically at one point, and suddenly the movie has more heart in it than nearly any other movie from the past year.  We loved this movie when we saw it last November, and today Mommy, Madison and Daddy really enjoyed watching it again as we munched popcorn on the couch.

We were so tired though.  There were slight naps, but a lot of the rest of the day was spent playing "Lego Batman 2," and continuing the set-up process on the new X-box.  We're still tickled about that, of course.  And, we're tickled about those hundreds of gigabytes of memory.  What a nice, sudden blessing!

Tonight, Mommy had meatloaf dinners for us for dinner.  It was really good, as she's got a great mix that is so delicious that Daddy feels things will be spoiled if you add ketchup or any other sauce.  It's just so good the way it is!  Madison is still not eating what Mommy and Daddy do - she's still into tater tots and tomatoes.  Lots of ketchup too!

The usual ceremony before bed took place, where Madison put down all her babies to sleep in the nursery - and her pets too.  She's got so many of those little beds with blankets, so she makes sure before brushing her teeth that all of them are tucked in and ready for bed, just like her.  The other ritual is the Vicks Vaporizer.  Daddy fills it up with water, and then calls for his "little chef."  She knows it's time to add a few pinches of salt, and then there's the typical jokes about making it into a soup.  She brushes her teeth next, and soon it is time for prayers.  Madison wanted to start out prayers tonight - but she needed a little help:  "What do I say?"  We told her to say what she was thankful for, so she said school, family, and church.  That's a good start, to start with thanksgiving.

After prayers, tonight was a story about a porcupine named Fluffy.  Daddy was looking for some stories that followed the theme of "Pridelands," and this one was fun.  Madison enjoyed the illustrations - it was a great storry about Fluffy, and his new rhinoceros friend named "Hippo."

When you consider the morning - which goes on and on into the afternoon frequently.  It was a long day.  When you consider the earlier start to the day, it was a really long day!  We all went to bed on time tonight, quite exhausted.  Madison was looking forward to school on Monday, but Mommy and Daddy were looking forward to a day of rest!