Nice Gnawing You

This morning Maddie got a real treat from Jingle Bell the elf - it was a Buc-ee's Christmas!  There's a plush Buc-ee there beneath the tree, and also some Buc-ee's hot sauce for tacos as well.  What did the beaver say to the Christmas tree?  Nice gnawing you!

Dad jokes galore this Christmas season!  It was a good day today, but a busy one.  To start out with, our mornings are quiet, mainly because they need to be with all the seasonal chaos in the evenings.  Tech Week is upon us, and it has certainly been another active one.  This week we're seeing camels, sheep, a donkey, fire dancers, aerialists, a massive choir, Joseph, Mary, and all kinds of craziness.  Mom is in such overdrive at the moment, dealing with aerialist costumes, Wise Men shoes, fire dancer costumes, modifications for a changing cast, props for Joseph, and so much more.  She's at the ironing board and in her KidPak "War Area," which is the hallway behind the KidPak Auditorium.

Tonight I got to be a stand-in for a Wise Man, as one was out for the night.  I got to re-visit the role from last year, this time without all the gold paint.  The Wise Men this year are quite grateful for that, although they will still have a good deal of make-up on.  Things went well with rehearsals, and there are a massive amount of volunteers here, singing, dancing, moving ginormous props around... it's quite an endeavor.  We were there late into the night, as I suspect we will continue to be when all is said and done.

This morning we did have our quiet time though.  We're still listening to our daily "A Christmas Carol" audio advent, which has been a quality presentation.  Maddie's still on her other advent calendars too.  Our fun little accent to the morning is marching out the door to go to school, marching as the music plays from the Electrical Parade ornament.  

When Maddie's off to school, Mom and I were back for our final class of the Hillsdale course on "A Christmas Carol."  We really liked this six-class series, and were very pleased to watch each lecture.  Today, after all was said and done, we took our final exam and got a perfect score on it, and after that, a certificate of completion!

Mom and I did this course together, so her name should be on it too.  We've been sitting on the couch for each of these classes, and now we'd like to see more!

Speaking of completing things, I've now gotten two of the Holly Jolly Fitness Challenge badges for walking this month, and now I'm about to start with the running challenges.  The walking ones have been fun, visiting Alaska glaciers, Antarctica penguins, New York at Christmastime, and now I'm in Munich at a marketplace doing intervals.  It's been good for the heart - I'm going each day strong, over eighty work-outs since I've assembled this thing back in October.  

Pretty cool!  Well, tonight we were in bed late, but we still made time to read from this next book, which is certainly a darker entry at the moment, and that makes sense given the title, "I Shall Wear Midnight."  We read for a bit, and we prayed too.

... we'll have updates on the day shortly, including a visit from Buc-ee the Beaver, Christmas rehearsals, Wie Men stand-in, Christmas Carol Diploma... updates coming soon...