The Rise of the Elf Patrol

This morning, we found Jingle Bell right there in the midst of a Zoom meeting with a bunch of other elves.  Hopefully everyone is doing fine - we didn't see any masks or anything like that.  There have been a few elves with masks on in pictures here or there, but Jingle Bell and Snowflake aren't in any danger here, and have been pretty healthy of late in fact.

I've been healthy too, as you can see above.  I'm doing a pretty reasonable impersonation of Josh Rivera from "Monsters, Inc."  The latest KidPak video had a game where we had to battle each other with whatever "weapon" we unwrapped from a box of our choosing.  I got two foam noodles, and battled against Joey, who had a box filled with plastic balls.

Madison was in church in the front row again, listening to Pastor Franklin, and then in the service downstairs for KidPak.  We did a skit with a little nod acknowledging Ralphie in "A Christmas Story," another small poem I had written to be acted out on stage.  It was fun.  I'm working on one more skit for next weekend, which in fact is the last KidPak service of the 2020.  It's a Christmas-themed one, of course, and it will be good to be together one more time this year.

After church, Madison was off to a birthday party nearby.  It was her friend, Jolina, who had a birthday, and like last year, there were Christmas crafts to make.  Last year, the girls made a nutcracker that they all painted.  This year, they made snowflake ornaments.  I'll have to take a picture of those, as there are two right now on our tree.  They have jewels and colors and they look nice.  I think she just needs to date them on the back or something, and it will be a nice keepsake for us all to look back on.  We have so many of these craft ornaments made over the years, and some of them have dates on them, but many we can only guess at based on the skill level and so on.  Regardless, we keep them all, and have them on the tree, integrated with the others.  She's made some nice keepsakes over the year.

While she was having a great time over there, Nana and I went down to the North Springs MARTA station to drop off Uncle George after his short visit.  He gave us all some nice gifts yesterday, gloves, fun t-shirts, and for Madison a blanket with Grogu - or Baby Yoda - on it.  She had that on last night at bedtime.

We did not meet the Guardian of North Springs MARTA Station, and therefore by extension did not disturb his sacred duty.  But we did say goodby to Uncle George, and found our way back after that.  Mom went over to pick up Madison from the party, but got there a bit early, and that was okay, as she could sit and talk with Jolina's mom there, who she is friends with.  

Meanwhile, Nana and I were participating at home with a virtual event at the Northeast Georgia History Center.  We heard a Christmas story being read, watched Kat do a dance lesson, and even participated in some Christmas trivia.  Nana and I competed at home with the improvised name, "The Elf Patrol."  We were doing okay until we got three questions about Kwanzaa in a row, and that sunk most of us.  Still, we did well enough to win a prize, a free virtual membership to the History Center.  That's basically access to a library of online videos and lessons, and all the ones that will be released in the coming year.  That was nice - we'll be checking that out soon.  We wrapped up the virtual event with Christmas carols and songs, sung by the members there in Victorian costuming.  We learned about each of the songs a bit, discovering some things about their history, and then singing the songs together.  Nana and I sang from the couch!

Tonight we watched yet another version of "A Christmas Carol," this one the animated one from a few years ago.  I love everything about this one except the demise of the Ghost of Christmas Present.  That was so over the top.  But the rest is fun, and amazing technology.  It was another enjoyable visit with Ebenezer Scrooge, all four of us watching another movie as we sat by the tree.  

It was a good day today.  We went for a little walk outside, at least while the temperature was decent.  It's going to get colder soon, but things have been pleasant lately.  Looking back, we had ourselves a pretty good day.  Mom wanted to see "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" again, that movie with the Tesla coils and wizardry, and we saw that one just before bed.  Then, it was time to go back to Narnia, hopefully off to escape the cold and stay focused on Aslan's mission.  After prayers, it was time for bed, and the close of another good day.