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 ...taekwondo, more mulch, more book work, 3D sculpture thingy... updates coming soon...

Today was a little all over the place, but it started out really productive - and that was good.  I had remarkable favor getting an entire week’s worth of writing and creating done for the booklet for May, and because of that, I was able to go to the church service over at the North Campus.  It was another college preview day, but Maddie said she couldn’t make it because she had to “lock in” with some school work at high school.  All good!  She went to College Preview Day before, and that was fun.  Today there were more new students, and a service featuring Pastor Franklin speaking to all of us for a few moments.  It was a good morning, plush worship with the band, which is always good.

I was talking to Maddie throughout, at least texting here and there.  She was pretty close to getting some new merch there, but they just didn’t have the right sizes for her.  Or others in line too - but that’s okay. 

Maddie sent me this picture of a creation she’s working on, a sort of abstract 3D sculpture she just began.  She’s more a fan of 2D than 3D, but nevertheless, she’s giving it a try.  Mainly because it’s assigned!

We did have taekwondo tonight, and that was good.  It did go on for a bit - Maddie was helping with instruction at first with the younger kids.  I didn’t have time to do my treadmill this morning, but the weather was so gorgeous outside that I walked the trail nearby, also running it too a little bit.  I snapped a few pictures along the way - it was such a nice and quiet journey.  

Maddie was in leadership class when I returned.  She’s really getting better, more confident and assertive.  She was talking with me afterwards about gently but firmly reprimanding a student for a somewhat disrespectful tone of voice.  The student straightened up right away.  Which I highly recommend, unless you want a roundhouse kick to the face!

Maddie had homework tonight, while Mom and I watched some television.  But it was a quiet and late night afterwards.  We read some more from “Maskerade,” and there are certainly more twists and turns.  Maddie and I are enjoying the mystery and atmosphere of this book.  It’s such a vast world, the Discworld, and so many fun stories and adventures are within it.  I think I only have one official novel left to go, which I got for Christmas a few years ago, but haven’t gotten to it yet, given all the other reading going on.  Besides, with Maddie, we’re at the Discworld every night.

Jersey Night

It was jersey night at FCY, a sort of sports enthusiast night where you could wear any jersey or sports shirt you really want.  Maddie got a jersey from Emma, and they were hanging outside on this pretty day - why not get some photos?  Soon the cell phones weren't taking picture anymore, but it became the photographer over there taking some nice shots with her camera.  They turned out well!

It was a nice day today, and the weather is warming up almost feeling spring-like!  Maddie had a good day at school, and I got the first week of our next booklet all figured out.  Lots of work going on, different fires and different times, but Mom and I are getting it all addressed one thing at a time.

Tonight we read from our book, and it really looks like we've figured out whodunnit, which is a sure certain way to know in any book that this suspect did not do it.  Or did he?  We'll see as we continue reading.

Afterwards, we took the Plush Entourage down the hall, and everyone got tucked in for prayers and a good night's rest.

Water Color Crosshair Hunter

  

Maddie's working on the latest art project, and sent a picture to me of her efforts of a water color.  It's Hunter and Cross-eye from "The Bad Batch," at least the Funko Pop versions.  It's turning out really good so far.  Maddie's not thrilled with doing water color - it's not her favorite form of media.  But it is turning out pretty good.

Meanwhile, it appears as if Camille has had enough of Dad.  Okay, maybe not - this is actually a reference picture we were using for an AI art program Josh is using.  In this image, Moses has just slain an Egyptian, and I got to be the Egyptian.  I'll have to share the picture itself later, but this was fun setting up!  In the meantime, here are some images of Naomi and Ruth, and another image of Peter that I had AI create.

Yeah, Peter thinks today was a decent day.  We were at work a good bit, both Mom and I - we've got Easter coming up, so Mom was working very hard on costuming and props.  Dawn was there, so the two were talking about dancer costumes too.  Lots of stuff still to go.  I've been working on the new booklets for May.  

We got some more mulch down on the sides of the house - we'll be doing that for the next several days or so.  I've made a goal to get about ten bags of mulch per day until we get the area covered that we need to.  I spread a good bit of that, and things are starting to spruce up somewhat.  We still have a good ways to go, but it's a process. 

Maddie was busy with Calculus tonight, and I chose "College Road Trip" as the movie of the night.  It was okay, my favorite part being anything with Donnie Osmond in overdrive.  Though Maddie had that homework tonight, we still had time to read.  And after prayers, it was time for prayers - and bedtime.  Goodnight!

Leading Exercise

Maddie was leading exercise time tonight for the class, and she was involved in a few example demonstrations today too, an active night at taekwondo.  She had a great time as always during that longer class on Mondays.  It goes for a few hours, and it goes by pretty quick nowadays for her, as she enjoys it so much.  

Look what Mom did today - she hung up that Thomas Kinkade painting that Nana and Ye-Ye passed along to us, and it goes really well with the gazebo frame that we've had for some time.  It almost looks like the same exact roof in that painting as it is on the frame.  Anyway, this is now in our bedroom, and looks great up there.  Oh, and check out this picture:

This is Bonnie, Camille's daughter.  Some time ago, we gave Camille the plush bat that we won at Dollywood, because we knew Camille has a thing for "freakin' bats."  Anyway, out of all the plush dolls in the collection, Bonnie goes for this one right now, and that cracks up Camille.  She sent us this picture to show us.

Anyway,  today was a pretty chill day.  Maddie has twenty-something days left of school, and of course there are a few other Senior items to take care of.  The big banner at the entrance of the neighborhood always lists the graduates there - so we submitted her name.  Also, upcoming are the senior yard signs.  Our church does that for seniors, and Maddie likes that sign better than the ones the school sells.  So we'll be getting those soon.  She got her Senior Prom tickets, of course, and we just found out we can invite ten people to graduation.  So that's good news there - we may have a good bit of family there after all.

Here's my patch of the day, a March-themed patch as we walk and/or run through Ireland and other green locations.  I've now earned two of these, one for walking and one for running.  I keep up on the treadmill now, and have also been watching some things as I walk and/or run.  Right now keeping up with some old Perry Stone videos.  Afterwards, we were out to go get bird seed and mulch.  And ice cream.  But the mulch was for the side of the house - we're laying down about ten bags a day until we get this done.  It's a good bit of work, but best done in smaller daily segments.  We were out there getting it done though, and it's coming along well.

We closed out the day reading a bit from "Maskerade," and now Maddie really wants to watch "Phantom of the Opera" again.  We might have to do that this weekend.  But the book has been fun, and the mystery is intriguing.  Who is the Phantom?  Who is the killer?  I read this a long time ago, so I'm happy to say I don't know yet.  I have my guess, and we'll see what Maddie thinks too.  But it's been fun to read.

Afterwards, the Plush Entourage heads back to the room, where everyone gets tucked in - it's time for sleep again, after a nice, fun March day.

The Harlem Globetrotters

Another basketball day today, this one lasting beyond church.  Of course, at KidPak, we're still right there in the midst of our "Slam Dunk" series, which has been a lot of fun.  You can see Josh here doing a brief illustrated message, and below, Maddie took other pictures of our service.  We were talking about Joshua and the walls of Jericho, and with our basketball theme, we were using some air horns.  

Air horn etiquette was a fun topic for the skits, and they made for some noisy fun on stage.  This was a great skit!

And there was the Wisenheimer invention too!  Maddie got this picture of our neighbor, and many other good pictures that she shared on the church's site.  

After church, we went to see the Harlem Globetrotters!  I remember last seeing these guys at Madison Square Garden, and have always wanted to take Maddie to see them.  It just never worked out until now, and it was kind of cool given that we're in the middle of this basketball series.

We went down to the Gas South Arena, and Maddie invited a friend to see the entertainment, and it was really a lot of fun.  Our seats were really good, and for the first time I can remember, we were actually on the big screen there, waving "hi!"  

The team was wearing a different uniform, but the tricks and talent were the same.  And those poor Washington Generals!  They've been losing and picked on for decades!  That "other" team is always there to be the team to play against, and maybe one day they'll win.  I doubt it though, because despite whatever craziness is going on inside that court - or outside - the Harlem Globetrotters always come out on top.  In fact, they were frequently way up top into the audience, as you can see here.  

This is one of the team players called Hot Shot, racing up the stairs to avoid getting payback for all the pranks he was pulling on another team member.  He wound up getting some other audience members sucked into the action way up here, as he was running by us.

I think the highlight was the dunking for me.  Quite a bit of elaborate slam dunks and a lot of variety thrown in.  The gags were great and the audience participation was really fun too.

In the end it was a great time - glad we went!  This was on a list of things I wanted to do for a while, and it was a great time to go see them play.  We all enjoyed it, and got home rather quickly after that.  Last week we were in Harlem, and now we were seeing the Harlem Globetrotters.

The rest of the day was quiet, of course.  The first part was fairly busy.  We watched the second part of "The Ten Commandments," and even watched the six-part "behind-the-scenes" video that had some interesting stories about the filming of the movie.  Mom was telling me some things that they're discovering about the pyramids, which is amazing that there's still something new to discover.  There are apparently these very large structures beneath the pyramids, and that's going to be very interesting to learn more about.  Also, I believe they've found the Pharaoh's son, the one who died on the night of Passover.  That was another interesting thing we were learning tonight.

But it was late and we were ready for some sleep.  We did our reading tonight, and afterwards said our prayers.  The Plush Entourage made it back to Maddie's room where everyone was tucked in, all while whistling "Sweet Georgia Brown."  Time for a good night's rest! 

Behind the Wheel

Okay, here she is!  Maddie's first time driving a car!  This afternoon we went to the large church parking lot, an extra reserve lot for those extra crowded days.  But today wasn't one of those days, and the lot was empty for us to drive around a bit, getting used to the feeling of the car.

We'll keep going until she starts feeling better about driving elsewhere, and we'll stay right here in this parking lot until things get more comfortable forger.  Right now though, it was a pretty cool moment for her.  She enjoyed it!

Afterwards, we went over to the gas station and she got herself a watermelon sherbet for the ride home.  While we were out, we were picking up ten bags of red mulch for the front yard, so Mom and I got busy with that once we were home.  More on that a bit, but first, here's a few items from Team Edge practice this morning.

Maddie was at Team Edge and doing well with a sword and nunchucks.  The group clearly is working on synchronization here, but the idea is in place and they just have to time things more and more precisely as they practice more and more.  

Once we were home from that, I wanted to eat first, then make reservations at a hotel for the Battle of Atlanta this summer.  And third on that list was decorating the tree out front for Mom, putting colorful plastic eggs on the branches for Easter.

Mom liked how it turned out!

We have just a few more Easter decorations to put out and we'll be done for that.  You can see the new mulch there too.  We'll be getting more and more this week for the front yard, just to spruce things up a bit.  Spring is here!

Tonight's movie was the first part of "The Ten Commandments," and that music is still stuck in my head afterwards.  But this is a big Easter tradition, and it's also in preparation for our return to "Exodus" at KidPak one more time.  It's such a great movie.  We were looking up the actor who played baby Moses, and of course that's Fraser Heston, the son of Charlton Heston.  Just to show you how long ago this movie was made, Fraser just turned seventy years old.  Still, the movie is timeless.  We'll catch the second half tomorrow.

Later this evening we read from our book, and we said our prayers too.  We've got a fun day planned, so it's off to bed on time tonight!

Return to Hoppy Hollow

Hoppy Hollow is back, and tomorrow we'll probably be seeing some eggs growing on that tree in the front porch area - that must mean we're close to Easter!  Mom's got some other decorations up here or there, including the new pillow coverings and decorations here or there.  Those pictures will come soon, but in the meantime, here's a few more pictures of just a few of the delightful little Hoppy Hollow pieces in their new locations throughout the house.  

This set came from a dollar store years ago, and as a reminder, this was a gag gift for my dad - we literally bought all of this for $20 or something like that, knowing he loves those villages and sets.  He never really used them so much, and we wound up getting them back fairly quickly, and truth be told, we thought it was kind of fun.  Yeah, it's not some super exquisite masterpiece of a village that you'd see in some high-end gift shop.  But we like it nonetheless, and each year it goes out, more nostalgia gets put out with it. 

So, about today.  First, Maddie's day was good.  She continued on her embroidering, and the other classes she had were somewhat dull - things are moving on though, marching towards the end.  Her prom is less than a month away.  Oh, and another thing:  we're making reservations already for Atlanta for the place we'll stay at during the Battle of Atlanta event this summer.  The idea is to stay at the same place as the others, and that way everyone can hang around together during the off times.  Sounds like fun!

Maddie did have taekwondo tonight, and that went well.  She's learning with the kamas again, just training quite a lot lately, even towards this huge routine coming up in June.  I was sitting there watching her from time to time, but also watching a movie on this laptop - "Hoosiers."  I'm completing the basketball movie series that I selected for viewing during our "Slam Dunk" series.  I forgot how great "Hoosiers" is - so much small town heart.  

Oh, and speaking of which, I did finish the new "Space Jam" movie, and it wasn't too bad.  I was watching that while moving along on my treadmill.  I'm going to keep that cardio going.  Meanwhile, I was at the urologist, and he let me know my abdominal pains are not really caused by the kidney stones.  I know my heart is good - we got a great report there.  And the colonoscopy was good, and the pancreas should be good too, based on blood tests.  The urologist started with "I hate to be the one to tell you this," and then he mentioned the "C" word.  The first part was alarming, but the "C" word wasn't what you think - and it was completely embarrassing, and possibly funny if you look at it from a different point of view.  But it's a lot of discomfort, and the question is, what am I eating that's causing all this trouble?  The quest for answers continues.

Anyway, moving on!  Tonight we finished the "Win or Lose" series, which was fun and well-done, but ultimately okay.  And other than that, we did our reading tonight, and of course said our prayers before bed.  All is well tonight.  We'll sleep in a tiny bit tomorrow, and go out for some practice at Team Edge.