Joust in Time

Here's our little girl once again - this was taken two years ago when Madison tried out a bit of shopping cart jousting.  As we're doing our Excalibur series again, we revisited this great video series - a few rounds of shopping cart jousting.  Of course, Madison and her teammate Ashley win, each time against overly aggressive guys in Viking hats and football armor.  This face above is the best part of the video though - when the cart starts to push forward, and Madison has this huge smile on her face as she falls back a bit.  She's ready to take down the other team.  Set to the music of "300," this battle is completely epic!

We had piano class today, which is the start of Winter Wonderland.  Snowflakes hung from the ceiling and everywhere, and each of the children were given snowmen to put their names on and color.  I think we'll be putting stickers on these snowmen to signify the amount of practices they've completed.  This week's homework looks like a bit of a challenge, with a bit of finger hopping thrown in for good measure.  But class was fun as always, and things seem to be settling in for part two of the year.  It's neat watching all these same children over the past two years improve with their skills, and grow together.

We got home, and of course Madison did a bit of her fasting journal.  We read a bit from the Bible as well, covering the story of Moses, kid-style.  We hit Disney Infinity for a short time too, giving each other ambushes in "The Lone Ranger," and using the Silent Warrior.  This absolutely cracks Madison up, two people battling it out with Silent Warriors, these glowing Indians that launch out and attack the nearest person.  In every case, that nearest person is Daddy, the unsuspecting prey.

It was a new "Agents of SHIELD" tonight, which Madison knows by heart.  She knows it is Tuesday, so therefore Mommy and Daddy watch television off the antenna.  We'll be doing a lot more of that in a few weeks when the Olympics start.  That'll be a fun time, watching figure skating and skiing with Madison.  She'll enjoy it even more this time around - last time she was three years old.  I remember showing her Kim Yu-Na's breathtaking performance figure skating, one of the most amazing things on ice you can see.  Madison wanted to go ice skating after that, and I suspect we'll all be skating some time soon as the Olympics approach.

We are somewhat concerned about the safety there, and have been since the announcement four years ago.  To quote C3P0, "It's not entirely stable."  We've been praying for protection and peace, and hope things are calm and placid during the time the Olympics stay in Russia.  I'd love to share with Madison a good teachable moment, and not a bad one.

Okay - got to go upstairs and watch some television!

DAY TEN
Psalm 19:1 tells us, “The heavens tell about the glory of God. The skies show that His hands created them.” Take a look outside and see for yourself the amazing world God has created for us all. List just a few of your favorite things that you enjoy about the world we live in – it could be anything: trees, the beach, snow, mountains, or waterfalls! Write down the most beautiful things that God has created for us.

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God has given us all gifts, but in our world we sometimes honor celebrities, movie stars and musicians in the wrong way. Today, list some of your favorite stars below, along with a special prayer for them that they themselves might draw closer to God – and lead many others too.

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Read today’s Bible story in Matthew 8:23-27. In this passage, Who are we taught to have with us when storms come upon us? Think of a time in your life where you thought you were in serious trouble, but God took care of you. Write it down here, so you can look back on it and remember Who can deliver you the next time you face troubles.

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