Hooked on a Feeling

And so our new series launch arrived today, after so much work and fuss.  It was quite a bit of effort, and a lot of that effort was made by Mommy, who did such a great job on all of it.  Of course, it's all based on the idea of the movie "Inside Out" from this summer.  We had an idea to do something similar at KidPak actually way back before Madison was born.  Back then, it was based on the old EPCOT attraction "Cranium Command," which is no longer running.  But Mommy came up with the idea for the name, which of course is from the old song they used in "Guardians of the Galaxy" and other places.  She even suggested the logo for us, after several failed attempts at an idea.  She did the display case, and she also did these costumes you see above, which were so perfect for the morning.

And the crowds were huge.  We had a lot of kids this morning to hear the Word.  Lots of people showed up, as today is the first Sunday of 2016, and also the first day of our annual church fast.  We had lots to talk about in the message, from the fast to memorizing Psalm 23 and the Lord's Prayer.  But the overall theme of the day was Anger, which of course we posted the message here some time earlier.  

Madison wasn't feeling any anger this morning at all.  First of all, look how fashionable she is with her new clothing she got at Christmas.  Secondly, she happens to be doing very well at foosball here.  We have the recreation room set up with air hockey, a playground, foosball, video games and pool tables - something we've had for years now.  Madison and all the other children wait in that room if they get there early.  Then, at the start of the service upstairs for the grown-ups, we start downstairs with our service, packed with themed videos that we film and edit, along with some videos that we find related to the theme or series, and of course a huge worship set to start things off, and yes, there is the drama segment too.

Here's Joy and Disgust, each doing so well with their characters.  Camille and Mary Shannon are such good friends of ours - Madison loves them both.  Camille got Madison a thoughtful Christmas gift this year, an Elsa and Anna plate and mug set.  Camille was Elsa a year ago, and now she's Joy.  Mary Shannon has been with us for some time now, playing a variety of characters.  This one she was really looking forward to!

And of course there's the message itself.  Here's Pastor Lance reviewing one of our memory verses for the weekend, which is of course related to Anger.  You can see Anger below, although he seems to be in a good mood:

We just like this group picture.  Again, the actors did so well, and it's going to be a great series.  And yes, they are inside a girl's head, her name is Penny.  But it's really Madison.  She caught all the things in the skit that Daddy took from her real life, such as her fear and lack of sleep over a project due on Paul Revere.  The lack of sleep part didn't make the Anger character that happy:

Calvin did great as Anger.  We obviously couldn't paint everyone's faces (and arms and legs) the color of each of the characters, but we did do some things with the lighting so that whenever a character 'took control' of the console, the stage reflected that color.  So there was a bit of red this morning on stage, as you can see above.  It looked great.  Oh, and speaking of looking great, there was Sadness.

She did a flump, and it was probably the biggest hit with the kids this morning.  Madison loves this face plant, so there it is in the script.  Towards the end, she is just filled with despair, and gives up, flumping there on the ground.  What's funny is the dialogue that happens while she's face down on the carpet.  When Joy asks everyone to take a deep breath, Sadness sort of lifts a bit for a breath, and then goes back to the carpet.  Kids loved it.

So anyway, lots of pictures here, but there's lots to be proud of.  Mommy did such a great job, but so did this cast and all the others that put so much effort into each KidPak service.  Madison loved it, of course, as did all the other children.

As for the fast, it did in fact start today.  No sugar and sweets for Madison - that's her decision.  Daddy is fasting with her, and to compliment the fast - and put focus where it should be - Daddy has a booklet he wrote that goes home with each child at KidPak.  It's a devotional, but it also has places to write things down and answer guided questions about passages from the Bible.  So tonight before bed, we did part one, the first of many this fast.  Madison was listening to Daddy read Matthew 4:1-11, and then answering some questions.  We talked about Ezra, and the purpose of fasting.  And then finally, what is it that Madison has decided to fast for this year?  What is her prayer this year?  The answer:  good health for Mommy, and Uncle Dave.

The rest of our day was focused on "research."  We have not seen all the episodes of the cartoon "Star Wars Rebels," and so Madison and Daddy went to Wal-Mart for milk, and season one.  It was really busy there, by the way.  But we got home soon enough, and pretty much had just enough energy to sit and watch about the first five episodes.  We call it 'research' because we're doing a Star Wars-themed series at KidPak soon enough, and we're hoping to have a similar theme with our characters on stage.

Tonight we continued the next Jack Sparrow book, and each chapter ends with a cliffhanger of sorts.  Madison wants us to go one reading, but the clock is late, and we have to start getting to sleep earlier again.  Mommy and Daddy too!  Tomorrow is the last day of winter break, and it'll be time again to start getting up early!