Elsa Pumpkin

Here's Daddy preaching this morning - yep.  I like this pose because it actually looks like I know what I'm talking about.  And just behind him you'll see the 'bedoubled land couch,' as Metalbeard calls it.  Some day, that double couch will be mine.  I'm not entirely sure what we're going to do with it, but I just can't see it sitting in a warehouse at the moment.  You'll also notice the X-Wing fighter there, hanging above.  It's a pretty neat set, although not my favorite of all we've done.  Still, we're all very proud of what this series has become.  How can you argue with the fact that kids are spouting off the Ten Commandments or Psalm 23, committing scripture to memory?

This morning was a different sort of morning, as we talked about LEGO Batman.  In fact, here's a brief description of the message:

“LEGO of Your Ego!”

     Relax everybody, he's here.  There's one hero Gotham City deserves and needs, and that's LEGO Batman.  He's a Master Builder who is here to make everything look really cool.  Plus he's got new speakers in the Batmobile - he calls them "the dogs," and you should hear them bark!

     We think he's super, and he thinks he's super too.  It's pretty funny, but it is also the very thing thatgets him into trouble on one adventure:  he doesn't think he needs any help to get the job done.  Ever.

     As you can imagine, this is disappointing to his sidekick, Robin.  But even worse, this bad attitude gets Batman into some serious trouble.  He doesn't call for help when it is obvious he needs it, and as a result he finds himself in quite a desperate situation.

     Pride will mess you up, and Batman was full of it.  You should never be in a place where you won't ask for help.  In the end, he winds up getting his friends in trouble too, all because he was too prideful to ask for a hand.

     It takes a big disaster for him to call for assistance, and for a moment he doesn't think he can rely on anyone to help.  But in swoop in his friends to help save the day!  Working together, they use their different gifts to stop the villains and become the heroes they were meant to be.

     God made us all different, but when we connect as a team, there's no way villainy can stand a chance.  The lesson is clear:  we aren't designed to work alone throughout life.  LEGO of your pride!  Don't learn Batman's lesson the hard way:  we're made to connect together, and working as one body, we can build a super team!

We showed about three clips, three cut scenes, from the video game "LEGO Batman 2" this morning, and they really helped illustrate our story.  It was actually a really good morning, overall.  Because it's Batman!

One more thing before leaving.  Our friend Juan was speaking at KidPak Español this afternoon, and needed a bit of help with some of his slides on the keynote.  His idea was to do a game with the kids using jelly bellies, where the ones you hold in your hand are identical in appearance, but you're taking a chance by eating it.  Reason:  it could taste like licorice.  Or it could taste like skunk spray.  Or it could taste like lime.  Or it could taste like lawn clippings.

He had a bonus box of jelly beans, one that he and his kids were taste testing - it was a game of chance that Madison couldn't resist.  She and the two other boys would take turns, one at a time lifting the jelly bean to his or her mouth.  Would it be blueberry?  Or would it taste like baby wipes?  Would it be buttered popcorn?  Or would it taste like boogers?  They absolutely loved this game!  Madison won a few times initially, picking out all the right jellybeans.  But her luck did eventually run out:  she got stuck eating a jelly bean that tasted like moldy cheese!

Madison and Daddy did some more piano this afternoon, getting close to finishing all the practice that she had to do.  It's been a lot this week, as there was some catching up to do (because of our brief vacation).  But she'll actually be all caught up by Tuesday, so that's great news.  It's good to stay on top of things.

As for the pumpkin from yesterday, Daddy did in fact finish it.  Here's how it turned out this year:

It's an Elsa pumpkin for Madison.  We couldn't just 'let it go,' now could we?  We haven't seen anyone else carve one yet, so Daddy set out to give it a try.  This was done all free-hand, and it didn't turn out too bad.  It's a more squat sort of pumpkin, so her face is more squat as a result, I think.  Especially that hair, which usually towers on Elsa, and not so much here.  Regardless, Madison loves it.  We lit it up as a surprise, and she just loved seeing it in the living room.  And that's all that matters!

Tonight, we did get around to going to Monsters University with Disney Infinity.  It was basically all I had the energy to do after the long night last night.  We read some more stories before bedtime and the three of us were out quickly, having enjoyed a pretty good weekend.  There's still lots of excitement to come this week and beyond though, isn't there?  It's the most wonderful time of the year!