Armor

As you can see above, Madison is ready to answer the Call of Duty.  She's got her full armor on, or at least some of our "fun armor" we use in the illustration.  We're talking about suiting up with the Full Armor of God, and usually pull up a volunteer.  That's the point where the comic sidekick brings out the armor, which is not at all what the straight host is expecting.  Still, we dress up the volunteer for the demonstration - first putting on the Helmet of Salvation, which is a large, red foam cowboy hat.  And the Shield of Faith is a garbage can lid.  And so on.

Today, Madison found the "armor" behind Daddy's desk just after we filmed for a bit - so she put it all on!  She's ready for battle, that's for sure!

It was a unique day today, and it didn't exactly start out well for Mommy, who has an infection of sorts - there was a doctor's visit involved, and we're expecting the medication to kick in and take care of things quickly.  Fortunately, Mommy sort of recognized the symptoms right away.

We did some filming today at a gravesite.  Here in Gainesville, we've got a Civil War general buried.  His name was James Longstreet, and we thought it would be interesting to mix a little education with message, actually filming from the spot of his gravesite.  In fact, here's what Daddy wrote up:

     Lieutenant General James Longstreet was known as “the old war horse” during the Civil War, leading many campaigns of victory over the Union Army up until the battle of Gettysburg, where things started to turn south for his army of Confederates. It was there that the Union army crushed the hopes of the Confederate States Army, and it was there that Longstreet was criticized years later for decisions that some believed ultimately cost the South the war. Many Southerners held unforgiveness towards him for what they perceived as a lost war that was all his fault.
     But there are problems with blaming him, and history is redeeming General Longstreet. Though accusers set out to blame him and taint his honor, the truth has come out about his actions, life and character. And with the truth there is forgiveness.
     Longstreet himself knew about forgiveness. He once said, “Knowing myself a sinner, I am greatly relieved by the happy assurance that for such our Savior died.”
     He was aware of the simple fact that Jesus died for his sins. He was a forgiven sinner – and despite the accusations of the enemy, he was still forgiven. We all mess up, but Jesus forgives if we ask him – no matter what we’ve done. 

     We actually were there at his gravesite - someone left a rebel flag and a cigar there, which was sort of amusing.  Anyway, later on, we all went home and had pizza.  It was Tombstone pizza this time, mainly because Mommy wasn't feeling well (and we didn't want to use up that "go out and eat pizza in a restaurant" card just yet).  We've discovered this great pizza elsewhere and are anxious to try out a new restaurant soon enough.  Can't wait!

     Tonight, Madison practiced some more for the upcoming recital.  We've all got the song "Monkey Sounds" stuck in our heads, as she plays it over and over again!  She'll be performing tomorrow, which is looking like it's going to be a fairly busy day!

     We finally got around to reading about five of the books we picked up from the library the other day.  This officially starts - in my opinion - the summer reading program they have for the library this year.  It actually starts on May 24, but Daddy wanted Madison to have a head start.  Plus it's good to read as often as possible.  This time, Madison is doing a lot of the reading.  We took turns reading together, which is sweet.

     After that, it was time to return to an old friend, Disney Universe.  Sadly, they've put this game aside in favor of a new game upcoming which promises to be exciting.  Still, it was fun going back to play this one a few times more.  We were hoping to get the downloadable content costumes that weren't available to everyone at the beginning, but we just might to have to keep on waiting for that.  We might never see that, which was a shame, as we were wanting to play as Cinderella and Tiana.
     The other game we played was the Marvel Avengers Pinball game.  The split screen version allows you to compete against each other, seeing who can get to a certain point value first.  With that in mind, your game doesn't actually end with three missed balls.  You play on and on and on until someone reaches 25,000,000 or so.  This is a great format for someone like Madison, who is just learning the concept of pinball.  Plus, she gets to see all the extra stuff with superheroes and so forth.

     It was bedtime after that.  Madison went to sleep rather quickly, which was good to see.  Mommy and Daddy have started a marathon of "Everybody Loves Raymond" this week, which should probably last deep into the summer.  But even we didn't last that long tonight.  A big day today, and a big one tomorrow - we were tired and ready for sleep.  Hopefully Mommy will be better in the morning, as we've got some plans for a great day!