Hall of Heroes

Here's Jingle Bell, taking the place of Captain America, evidently inspired by all those comic books behind him.  It is somewhat of a Marvel-themed day, with the winter finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on tonight - no spoilers here, but it has been an eventful last two weeks of the series.

We had piano class again today, the second-to-last one of the year, where Madison was once again going off to another country to learn about their music.  This afternoon's destination:  New Zealand.  It wasn't about the Lord of the Rings though - it was about the Māori people and their aggressive war chants.  We didn't play any aggressive war chants, but we did play some happier music.

Daddy was writing today, and got our first script done for the new series in January at KidPak, inspired by "Inside Out."  It's going to be a really fun, really different series.  And interestingly enough, one we thought about doing almost eight years ago, yes, before the movie even came out!  In the meantime, the graphics guy is coming up with a new look, one based on Mommy's suggestion, which of course is based on a  movie poster.  We'll see how it all turns out, but the series will be called, "Hooked on a Feeling," which is also Mommy's ideas.  Seriously, we went through this huge list of ideas for names, and they all sounded a bit too cerebral for a bunch of kids.  And then the Guardians of the Galaxy sprung to mind, and we all had that song stuck in our heads, and that's how a monthly series title is born.

We finished homework early enough for popcorn and a movie, "Babes in Toyland," which is a classic. We miss the days of Annette Funicello, of Ed Wynn and that whole world of entertainment.  Christmas time with the tree lit up and a Christmas movie on the screen is such a magic time, all of us snuggling on the couch together, singing along in some places.

Afterwards, we went to Jackson Island.  That's where Huckleberry Finn currently sits, having just met his friend Jim.  We don't know Jim's last name yet.  I'm not really sure if we find out?  Anyway, this is such a great relationship between these two characters, full of humor and warmth and devotion.  Can't wait until they start going down the big river together, as Madison starts discovering all the parts of a story we grew up reading.

Tonight before bed, as always, Madison was hiding from Daddy.  This is the tradition.  She goes upstairs to brush her teeth, and when done, she hides and screams out, "I'm ready!"  Then it is Daddy's turn to go up and see if he can find her in one of her various hiding places.  Tonight, she was in the clothes hamper again.  Which is funny because she's probably too big to fit in there.  But she needs to stay hidden, and that's the game, so in she went, covering herself with a blanket in case we opened the lid to the clothes hamper.  At the critical moment, she shouts out "BOO!"  But in this case, there was no leaping out - she was sort of stuck in there!

After that, bedtime is always sweet, with goodnight kisses, and a mandatory zurbert or two, prayers and lighting her pink Christmas tree, which serves as a brilliant night light in her room, but one that must be one all night now.  It's Christmas time, so why not?