Lion Dancers

This morning's service was all about the Super Bowl, which we don't usually do of course.  But with the Atlanta Falcons making only their second appearance in the game, we took advantage of Falcon Fever in the area, and did our message "Real Fans," which of course asked the question, "Are you a real fan for God?" 

Camille and Mary Shannon are above with Madison, all decked out in their Falcon gear.  Long-suffering fans we are, of course.  Daddy and Mommy vividly remember our team falling short in that first Super Bowl appearance.  It's been a long time since then, with no national championships anywhere to speak of.  1995 was basically it for us with the Atlanta Braves, and now here we are with another opportunity knocking on the door.  We approached the morning as real fans, enthusiastic and committed, although as residents of Georgia, there's always this cautious optimism.  Winning that much isn't exactly our style. 

More on the game itself later on.  Still, there was a lot of enthusiasm this morning.  In the meantime, we had to get out the door quickly and over to the library for another fun event, a celebration of the Chinese New Year at the library on Post Road.

Look who was chosen as a volunteer to give a ball to the lion!  Madison was a little nervous, but she got to play a bit with the lion dance this afternoon.  We've done this the last two years now, and there's always a lion dance and other activities too.  This year, there was a little explanation about the lion dance, and about the different sort of lion costumes there are in the region. 

Afterwards, the kids could pose with the dragon, who was blinking and looking around at all the kids.  and as a special treat, there was another lion costume there as well, this one available for kids who wanted to try out the lion dance themselves!

Madison was in the middle here.  Immediately, we start thinking of Rintoo from "Ni hao, Kai-lan,"who didn't want to be in the middle.  Madison didn't have a problem with this.  But she did get to be the head and not the tail - above and not beneath, blessed coming and going:

Seriously, she got to peek through the head, opening and closing the mouth a bit, and smiling out at Daddy.

Afterwards, we were doing some crafts with stamps and red envelopes, dragon masks, fireworks, and rooster crafts because it's the Year of the Rooster.  No real fireworks though!

We went to McDonald's after that, and still had plenty of time left in the afternoon.  After finishing her piano homework for the week, Madison and Daddy got engaged in a game of Star Wars Monopoly, one where Madison decided to try playing as the Sith.  That was her undoing!  Moo-ah-ah-ah!  

Continuing our Tinkathon, we watched "The Secret of the Wings" tonight, along with that obligatory fire in the fireplace.  How blessed we are!  Tonight we read that heartwarming reunion between Jacob and Essau, and it never struck me how emotional that must have been.  And after that, we continued our adventures of Jack Sparrow.  We'll be on that book series a few months, I suspect.  But it's good, and we're all into it.

And so, Madison went to bed tonight, and as she went to bed, the score for the Super Bowl was 21-3.  The Atlanta Falcons were ahead.  Then they scored again.  28-3.  They had what I think was a twenty-five point cushion a good bit into the second half.  And yet, against all odds... they lost.  Yes, really.  How is that even possible?

Still, it happened.  Again an Atlanta sports team has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.  Yes, we know our place in sports history, and it isn't on top.  We can rise up, but not that high up.