Astrid

So part of the allure of doing "Humbug!" and "Get a Clue" back-to-back is the ability to use the same set, and just decorate it for Christmas.  This week, we were on stage, and as you can see above, we were decorating things for Christmas with a tree, and snow, and red ribbons, and all sorts of hints of the holiday season.  Madison was helpful in getting it decorated, but we've got a long way to go to prep for Sunday's services.  It'll be fantastic, but it's a lot of work.

Madison is doing an "Ellis Island" experience in a week or so, where she gets to go through Ellis Island into America.  She has the information about herself, who she is and where she's from.   Her name is Astrid.

Astrid, from Scandinavia.  Of course, she's not this Astrid which you see above.  Who happens to be from Scandinavia.  If she was, that'd be cool.  We wouldn't have to worry about going through Ellis Island, as she could simply fly wherever she wanted to on a dragon.

No, Madison is an older Astrid.  She's 65 years old, going to America to find her husband who she hasn't heard from in three years.  She's got about twelve dollars to her name.  These are the facts.  America is a big place, so you'd think this would be a challenge.  Hopefully there are a few clues as to where her husband is at.  Twelve dollars may not seem like much today, but back then it was more.  Hopefully more than enough to sustain her until she finds her husband, or at least some way of surviving.  It's quite a leap of faith there, but then again, that's what the Ellis Island stories are all about.  Madison will be heading there soon enough, and we'll find out then what happens next.  Does she turn around and go home?  Does she set out to find her husband in New York?  Or does she hop on her dragon and breathe fire on anyone that messes with her?  I'm personally inclined to believe that last one.

Phantom at the Shadow Ranch

We've been at the Shadow Ranch a little over a week now, wrapping up yet another mystery.  Or at least trying to solve it.  There's this phantom horse riding through the meadows, and Nancy and company are trying to figure out who is trying to scare everyone off.  This was a Scooby Doo plot before Scooby Doo was even around!

The horse itself is a great concept though, and as you can see above, there may be some inspiration from the book in Disney Infinity.  This is the Thundering Stallion above, something that roams through the night, though we're not entirely sure where it is heading to or why.  It did make for some great imagery though, especially on a quiet night in the desert.  Soundlessly, this phantom horse gallops in the distance, illuminating the countryside around it.  No doubt Madison was thinking of this when we've been reading this book.  We should unravel the mystery soon, but it's been a good read!

Today was about getting costuming from a previous production of "A Christmas Carol," and of course delivering that "Great Mouse Detective" message written yesterday. We're doing a lot of Christmas preparations here, now that November is winding down.  Tonight, we played "Goodbye So Soon" from "The Great Mouse Detective" as kids were leaving - it's so great to hear Vincent Price's voice bidding the kids goodbye!

Madison took the day off of school again.  She's getting better, but that nose was still running and that cough was a little stronger this morning.  She is improving though.  Daddy got home before service tonight to do our usual reading - and eating - and she seemed like she was vastly improved.  It wasn't anything serious.  Josh and a few others had something similar earlier, and got over it in a few days.  No real fever.  Just congestion, coughing, and lots and lots and lots of tissues.

She'll be fine soon.  We were talking about the timing of getting sick, and how she hasn't really missed anything huge this week.  It's a bummer to be sick at all, but add this to the list of things to be thankful for this month:  she hasn't missed a lot of the fun items we've had planned.

The Great Mouse Detective

Madison woke up this morning, and sure enough, we had to take our first sick day of the year.  It wasn't a big fever, but there was a significant amount of coughing and a  non-stop runny nose.  So we woke up... and went back to sleep!

It's been a busy day preparing for a big Christmas production upstairs in the main sanctuary, the "A Christmas Carol" version we're doing downstairs, and of course our Wednesday night message as well.

First, here's the rough draft of what the hosts are saying in between a lot of songs and video work.  It's only three segments, but they serve to quickly move things along and give everyone time to set things up backstage.

SEGMENT ONE
 

LANCE walks out briskly with a smile on his face, one of the hosts of the show you’re about to see, feeding off the energy of the musical number that just took place.

LANCE:  “Hello everyone and welcome to Christmas in Color, an unforgettable experience that will open your eyes to… (looking around) I’m sorry, but where’s my co-host?  (Looking backstage)  Where is he?”

JOSH: (from audience) “I’m here!  I made it just in time!  Talk about a Christmas miracle! (Emerging from audience, walking in between rows, accidentally bumping ushers and trying to make his way up to the stage)  You should see that traffic out there - what a jingle jam!”

LANCE: “Our program starts at 6 pm, Josh.”

JOSH: “I know, but I just had to do a bit of last-minute shopping!  Just wait until you see what I got you!”

LANCE: “Great.  Now I have to get something for you.  And go out into the traffic, and the stress, standing in line forever for an overpriced Starbucks in the wrong color cup, and hear Mariah Carey sing ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ seventy more times.”

JOSH:  “Gosh, fella.  It sounds like a little bit of Christmas color has been sucked right out of you.”

LANCE: “Can we just get started with our show please?”

JOSH: “Sure thing!  And this is something I know will get even a little Scrooge like you in the Christmas spirit.  Hey, Lance!”

LANCE: “What?”

JOSH: “What’s the difference between a Christmas alphabet and a regular alphabet?”

LANCE:  “I don’t know.  What.”

JOSH: “The Christmas alphabet has NOEL.  GET IT?  NOEL?”

LANCE:  (enduring the joke, putting hand on forehead)

JOSH: “The word NOEL has it’s root in French, and could mean either birth - or news!  And this time of year, there’s no better news than the story of our Savior’s birth!  And….. here it is!”

JOSH makes elaborate - and ridiculous - hand gesture towards center stage as he scoots backwards off STAGE RIGHT.  LANCE rolls eyes, and wanders off STAGE LEFT.

SEGMENT TWO

LANCE walks out briskly to CENTER STAGE

JOSH comes out carrying a clump of lit CHRISTMAS LIGHTS that seem to intermittently blink.

JOSH:  “Will?”

LANCE:  “What are you doing?”

JOSH:  “Shhhhh!  Will?”

LANCE:  “Will?”

JOSH:  “Will… you get into the Christmas spirit now?”

JOSH starts laughing at LANCE.

LANCE:  “That’s pretty strange, Josh.”

JOSH: “I don’t know.  I mean…I’ve seen stranger things!”

LANCE rolls his eyes at this reference, but we move on quickly.  If you get it, you get it.

LANCE:  “Josh, I don’t mean to be all ‘Bah Humbug,’ but this year, maybe you’ve sort of taken it a little overboard with this Christmas thing?”

JOSH:  “What are you talking about?”

LANCE:  “Well, to start with, this outfit?  Plus you had your tree up in October.  And can we talk about when we’re supposed to start listening to Christmas music?”

JOSH:  “I always start a little early, you know that.”

LANCE:  “July, Josh.  You were listening to Christmas music in JULY!”

JOSH:  “I can’t help it!  Christmas is the greatest thing to ever happen to any of us.”

LANCE:  “Yes, of course you’re right.  I think we can all agree about that.  The very first Christmas gift, it was the greatest one ever given to any of us.”

JOSH:  “Right in the midst of a gloomy world, the Light of the World broke through the bleak darkness, with an explosion of color.”

SEGMENT THREE

JOSH walks briskly out to CENTER STAGE

JOSH:  (repeating lyric from previous song)  “Let your heart be light.  It’s easy when you cast your cares upon him.  And it’s…”

JOSH looks around.

JOSH:  “Hey, where’s Lance?”

LANCE comes running out from backstage, now wearing a more colorful tie, a festive hat, and carrying a gift.

LANCE:  “Ho, ho, ho!  Have yourself a merry little Christmas, Josh!”

JOSH:  (laughing) “Ha!  It seems like someone here has gotten into that holiday spirit!”

JOSH opens his gift as LANCE speaks.

LANCE:  “Yes, I think you’re right. You know, it’s just a matter of looking at things the right way.”

JOSH:  (seeing his gift) “It’s a kaleidoscope!”

JOSH immediately begins looking through kaleidoscope as LANCE speaks.

LANCE:  “If you spend all your time looking at the world, it can get pretty dark.  But when we focus on Jesus…”

JOSH:  (looking through kaleidoscope)  “Whoa!  It’s like an explosion of color!”

LANCE:  “Yes, you’re right.  It can be a Christmas… in Color!”

JOSH puts down kaleidoscope as the two turn to audience.

LANCE and JOSH:  “Merry Christmas!”

This is for our production, "Christmas in Color."  Daddy also helped write the video segments, with the goal being "short" and "down to earth" in tone.  That means we don't use phrases like "the gloomy realms of earth were in hopeless decay" or "a multifaceted kaleidoscope of prismatic bliss."  I just made those up.  This is what we came up with:

     Not too long ago, our world was a pretty dark place, without hope, without joy, without color. At the start, we had a great thing with God. But just like that, it fell apart. Of course, it was our own fault. And as much as we tried to bring the color back on our own, all our pursuits added up to nothing. Sometimes when all is lost, it helps to look up. In this case, to a star above a little town called Bethlehem. A beautiful signal that everything was about to change.

     In the dark of night, some shepherds were tending their sheep, when suddenly an angel appeared before them.  

     He said today in Bethlehem a baby has been born, a savior for all mankind.  Then, the glory of God blazed all around them, with a host of angels praising God.  The darkness of night was gone, and for the first time, these shepherds saw the Light of the World that we’d been missing all along.

     The first and greatest gift of Christmas ever given was one that came wrapped in swaddling clothes.  It was the baby Jesus, God’s Son, and His gift to all of us.

     It's nice being the writer of material that goes out to quite a few people at different campuses and online.  We do this a lot, but this week we've been pretty busy, and it's a big Christmas service upcoming.

     And we wrap up "Get a Clue" as well.  Tomorrow will be the last night of the mystery-themed series, and we knew it would be a lot of fun - three of us, at least - to end the series with a message dedicated to "The Great Mouse Detective."  What a fun series this has been!

     To "study" for this message, and to prepare a preaching outline, the three of us watched "The Great Mouse Detective" tonight.  Madison doesn't remember watching it, but tonight with some popcorn and hot chocolate too, we all enjoyed going on the hunt for clues again.

     In fact, as we wrap up this post, here's what Daddy wrote tonight after watching the movie:

HOST:  “It’s been a fun series, hasn’t it?  With all our mysteries and messages, hopefully by now you can say you’ve gotten a clue!  But hold on - we’re not done quite yet.  We’ve got one more service tonight, and one more message we were all excited about doing.  Has anyone ever seen “The Great Mouse Detective?”

CUE SLIDE:  “THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE”

HOST:  “This is a fun movie about a mouse named Basil of Baker Street.  He lives right beneath Sherlock Holmes’ house, and just like Sherlock, he goes and solves all kinds of mysteries.  In this adventure in “The Great Mouse Detective,” a new friend named Dawson shows up with a little girl, and let’s just say that Basil isn’t exactly anxious to help out.  Let’s take a look now and you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

CUE CLIP 1:  OLIVIA’S MISSING FATHER (9:02 - 11:29)

HOST:  “As you just saw, at first, Basil didn’t want to be bothered to help a little girl that shows up at his door.  And that goes against our advice in this first point.  Let’s take a look.”

CUE SLIDE:  POINT ONE - DON’T IGNORE THE SMALL DETAILS

HOST:  “Don’t ignore the small details.  Basil was too busy.  And in our Bibles, let me tell you about this church worker who had a similar problem.  He was supposed to be helping people out, and sure enough, it just so happened that he saw a guy who needed serious help.  I mean, the man was there lying near-dead alongside the road.  Here’s a chance to be a hero, right?  Let’s see what he did.”

CUE SCRIPTURE:  Luke 10:31 NIRV

HOST:  (reading) “A priest happened to be going down that same road. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.”

CUE SLIDE:  GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE

HOST:  “He didn’t do anything to help, did he?  And before you start pointing your finger at this guy, or accusing Basil of being selfish, think back on those times you were too busy to help someone else.  There are people in need all the time, especially this time of year.  That’s why it’s so important to stop, and show compassion.”

CUE SLIDE:  OLIVIA

HOST:  “The neat thing about the story with Basil is this:  when he showed Olivia compassion, suddenly a new opportunity showed up for him.  You saw it for yourself:  his case was suddenly blown wide open, and he had a solid lead!”

CUE SLIDE:  GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE

HOST:  “Now, It shouldn’t be your reason for helping others, but you never know what doors might open just for you when you show love for others.  The Bible says this in Luke 16:10.”

CUE SLIDE:  “LUKE 16:10 NIRV”

HOST:  “Suppose you can be trusted with something very little. Then you can also be trusted with something very large. But suppose you are not honest with something very little. Then you will also not be honest with something very large.”

CUE SLIDE:  GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE

HOST:  “Doing small things leads to doing bigger things.  Don’t ignore those small opportunities to show compassion.  They add up.  In fact, for Basil, things quickly led to something greater.  The villain left a vital clue, and Basil was ready for action.  Let’s take a look.”

CUE CLIP 2:  TOBY ON THE SCENT (23:12 - 25:40)

HOST:  “It was easy for Toby to follow the trail left behind by that criminal Fidget.  There was a scent!  But with whatever you do, you yourself leave behind a legacy as well.  If your life’s actions left a scent behind, would it smell a little funny?  Check out point two.”

CUE SLIDE:  “POINT TWO - YOUR PAST LEAVES A TRAIL”

HOST:  “Your past leaves a trail.  For that priest in the Bible story, we’ll forever know him as the guy who walked on the other side of the road, and refused to show compassion.  But what about you?  Are you a person who shows love?  Or, are you a person with a track record that absolutely stinks?”

CUE SLIDE:  GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE

HOST:  “Fortunately, Basil seems to be on the right track.  But his friend Dawson is about to make a major mistake, one you’ll see in this clip right now.”

CUE CLIP 3:  DAWSON LOSES FOCUS (28:25 - 32:40)

HOST:  “So many distractions pulled Dawson’s focus away from the one thing that mattered.  He was supposed to watch the girl!  If only he kept his eyes on Olivia, things might have gone differently.  Don’t get on to Dawson too much - the same thing happens to us all the time.  We lose focus!  That’s why we have point three.”

CUE SLIDE:  POINT THREE - KEEP FOCUSED”

HOST:  “Keep focused.  Life can throw out some distractions, and we lose focus of what’s important.  We’re supposed to be helping others, and not spending all our time playing video games or watching Netflix.  We’re supposed to be giving or volunteering, and not looking at our cell phones or checking social media accounts.   We’re supposed to be showing compassion!  Let’s listen to Paul’s advice in Philippians.”

CUE SLIDE:  “PHILIPPIANS 3:15 (MSG)

HOST:  “So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.” Philippians 3:15 (MSG)

CUE SLIDE:  GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE

HOST:  “All these distractions aren’t necessarily a bad thing on their own, but when they cause you to lose focus, that’s where trouble comes up!  And speaking of which, it seems as if Basil has run into some trouble now.  He and Dawson found Olivia, but were caught in a trap.  It looked pretty bad for them, as you’ll now see for yourself.”

CUE CLIP 4:  GOODBYE SO SOON (56:02 - 58:28)

HOST:  “It’s a good thing Basil’s friend was there to snap him out of his funk.  Basically, he said our last point here.”

CUE POINT FOUR - DON’T GIVE UP

HOST:  “Don’t give up!  It’s a simple message.  Sometimes we encounter a little trouble, and that’s all it takes to get us wanting to quit.  But in the Bible, Paul said it this way.”

CUE SLIDE:  “GALATIANS 6:9”

HOST:  “Let us not become tired of doing good. At the right time we will gather a crop if we don’t give up.”

CUE SLIDE:  GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE

HOST:  “Basil assumed the worst and did just that:  he gave up.  But Dawson reminded him that there were others counting on him.  There were others out there that needed saving, and they’d be lost if Basil gave up.  And suddenly, Basil realized he had to do something to help the others."

HOST:  "But consider this:  God has a job for you to do, and others are counting on you!  He has great plans for you, and He is counting on you to do the very thing you were created to do.  Please don’t let Him down.  This is a season where we should show compassion the most.  It doesn’t take a master detective’s eyes to see there are people in need all around us.  This season, it’s time to share God’s love, and be a hero in other people’s lives, the one He has called us to be.”

HOST:  “Let us pray.”

Rudy the Red Nosed Reindeer

This is a drawing Madison did, just fooling around, but we really like it.  Currently, you can find it on the refrigerator, but we like it so much we just might make it our next Christmas card for everyone.  Yes, Mommy was filling out envelopes all day for mailing out Christmas cards.  It's somewhat of a lost art, as people just don't do it anymore for a variety of reasons.  Obviously, there's cost:  Daddy got the Christmas stamps today, and of course we have to make the cards and then there's the envelopes we purchased.

There were three Christmas stamps to go with this year.  Daddy got the Biblical looking one, and another one that featured Christmas baked goods.  There was a third that had a classic illustration of a kid in a snow suit on it, that picture coming from a famous children's book.  Well, apparently it wasn't famous enough, because Daddy thought it looked like a Teletubbie.  So we didn't get those.

But add that to the list of things to do this week:  we're going to send off our Christmas cards.

Today is Cyber Monday, and despite the huzzah about the day, we didn't order anything online.  Daddy did send a picture around to everyone, in honor of Madison's hero group this past Summer Xtreme.  She was a part of the Cyber Squad, so yeah, today became a day to honor that group of Summer Xtreme heroes.

It was also a day to put up the wreaths outside.  The house is looking nice from the outside with the wreaths and the Christmas lights inside.  It's nearly fully decked!  We just have to put out some Nativity set pieces, and a few other decorations, and I think we'll be set.

In the meantime, we had ballet tonight, and after that we watched "Shrek the Halls."  Not many kids were at ballet tonight, because many of the kids were practicing for the Nutcracker upcoming.  Madison is not in that this year, as she decided to take a break.  We said we'd let her do it if she wanted to, but this year she was ready to take a break from it.  This in turned allowed us to do other things, like Dollywood, for example.  But there's another thing:  Madison is starting to sniffle a lot.  In fact, she doesn't have a fever, but her cough and runny nose got pretty severe after ballet tonight.  We didn't really think it was that bad, but perhaps the exertion did her in.  The point is, she's probably staying home tomorrow, and taking her first sick day.

Tonight she did choreography in ballet, and her teacher told us she's really good at it.  When we got home, we got into the story at the Shadow Ranch again, and went to bed with the usual arsenal of items to help a sick child sleep.

We watched "Christmas with the Kranks" tonight after Madison went to bed, but really... we were fast asleep right after that ended.  Definitely need some rest tonight!

Hot, Hot, Hot... Hot Chocolate!

These tickets are non-transferable!  We had tonight a few tickets to go aboard the Polar Express once more, and to celebrate the night, Mommy made some absolutely astonishing hot chocolate.  We brought out the TV trays and sipped our hot chocolate, complete with cool whip and peppermint candy canes beside the glow of our tree.  It was a magical evening!

Today was the last Sunday of our Get-A-Clue series, and we had a fun time bridging the holidays Thanksgiving and Christmas with a little skit Daddy wrote over the last few days.

******

KidPak Adventures:  Get a Clue

The Fugitive

CUE TRACK:  1 DATA, DATA, DATA

CUE SLIDE:  GET A CLUE

LIGHTS ON STAGE

WATSON enters STAGE RIGHT.

WATSON:  “Today I want to tell you about an unusual case that happened just this week.  To begin with, there was a manhunt!”

CUE TRACK:  2 MARITAL SABOTAGE

WATSON:  “The fugitive in question was running from the law.  He was quite an evasive one at that!  Who was it, and what is it that this suspicious character had done?”

DRUMSTICK runs out STAGE RIGHT

DRUMSTICK:  “I DON’T KNOW!  Help me!  I’m a turkey on the run!”

WATSON:  “Are you saying you don’t want to get gobbled!”

DRUMSTICK:  “Oh, you think that’s funny?  I ought to baste you!”

MYCROFT:  (backstage) “Watson?!”

DRUMSTICK:  “He’s after me!”

WATSON:  “Who?”

DRUMSTICK:  “Doom!  Judgment!  The end of the world as we know it!  Or… at least as I know it!”

WATSON:  “And it was at that point that Drumstick shrieked an unholy, not-of-this-earth sort of howl that reverberated throughout this cityscape!”

WATSON looks at DRUMSTICK, expectantly.

DRUMSTICK lets out a little scream, sort of embarrassed about it after the fact.

WATSON:  “Nice.  Anyway, upon hearing his impending doom, Drumstick went to hide!”

DRUMSTICK runs to STAGE LEFT, and hid in SHERLOCK’S OFFICE.

CUE TRACK:  3 MY MIND REBELS AT STAGNATION (stop at 1:02.75)

MYCROFT and VIOLET enter STAGE RIGHT with a noisy entrance!

VIOLET:  “Where is he?”

WATSON:  “Where is who?”

VIOLET:  “Don’t play games with us!”

MYCROFT:  “You’re hiding that turkey, aren’t you?”

MYCROFT looks around, investigating the STAGE.

WATSON:  “At this, Mycroft looked around the stage for this fowl creature.”

DRUMSTICK:  (offstage) “Hey, bad joke!  Bad joke!”

MYCROFT:  “This is the most interesting bird case since the Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle!”

WATSON:  “Ah yes!  Sherlock Holmes and myself discovered a rare jewel actually inside a Christmas goose, hanging up in a shop!”

VIOLET:  (with unnecessary energy) “Yes!  Once they found that bird, they had to reach into its gullet, dig deep into its throat, viciously probe around there, and violently rip out the jewel!”

DRUMSTICK runs out screaming in terror, pointing at VIOLET and MYCROFT.

DRUMSTICK:  “Oh, that’s gross!  You people are sick!  Evil!   Evil!”

VIOLET:  “A-ha!”

DRUMSTICK realizes he’s been found, so he runs to CENTER STAGE PLATFORM, but is cornered there by MYCROFT and VIOLET.

DRUMSTICK:  “You better back off!  Don’t make me an Angry Bird!”

WATSON:  “It was a face-off with these two versus the turkey.  And the turkey was in beak form!”

DRUMSTICK:  “Enough with the bad jokes!”

MYCROFT:  “Wait!  You don’t understand, bird!”

DRUMSTICK:  “I understand all right!  You want to have me for a holiday feast!”

WATSON:  “And this is where the story changed dramatically.  Mycroft said something quite surprising.”

MYCROFT:  “You know, I rather like pie.”

WATSON:  “What?”

VIOLET:  “He likes pie.  What’s so hard to understand about that?”

WATSON:  “Not that thing.  Mycroft said the other thing!”

MYCROFT:  “Oh!  The other thing!  Why didn’t you say so?  Drumstick, I’m not here to cook you and eat you.  Although that doesn’t sound so bad right about now, because I’m really hungry, and there’s nothing like a good holiday turkey cooked just right.  You know what I’m saying?”

DRUMSTICK:  “NO!  I don’t know what you’re saying!”

CUE TRACK:  4 MY FRIEND THE BRACHIOSAURUS

MYCROFT:  “The point is, you’re saved.  You had a sentence of death.  But the President of the United States has issued you a pardon.  You, Drumstick, are the Thanksgiving Day Turkey that gets to go free!”

DRUMSTICK:  “No way.”

MYCROFT:  “Way!  You are the Pardoned Turkey!”

MYCROFT hands DRUMSTICK a rolled up paper with a ribbon on it.

WATSON:  “At hearing this Drumstick was filled with a wondrous joy the spilled out his soul with a rapturous squeal of absolute delight!”

DRUMSTICK:  “Yay.”

VIOLET:  (approaching DRUMSTICK) “I say we eat him!”

DRUMSTICK:  (retreating in fear) “I mean YAY!  Wow!  BEST DAY EVER!!!!”

WATSON:  “And that’s how we should act this holiday season, isn’t it?  For all of us were once given a sentence of death.  Like this dumb bird.”

DRUMSTICK:  “I’m standing right here?”

MYCROFT:  “But out of all the gifts given at Christmas, the very best one was this:  Jesus.”

VIOLET:  “Because of what he did, that sentence of death is no more.”

WATSON:  “Sometimes we act as if there’s not that much to be grateful for.”

DRUMSTICK:  “But the truth is, we all have something to be thankful for.   Like me, all of us were doomed.  But because of Jesus, we have so much to be thankful for, and so much to celebrate this time of year.”

CUE TRACK:  5 CATATONIC

VIOLET:  “Indeed!  So I say we deck the halls and decorate the trees.”

WATSON:  “We can sing rollicking Christmas carols!”

MYCROFT:  “And gather together and have a great feast!”

VIOLET: “That sounds perfectly lovely!  But what are we going to eat?”

VIOLET, MYCROFT and WATSON turn slowly to face DRUMSTICK.

DRUMSTICK shrieks loudly and runs off stage.

VIOLET:  “Doughnuts.  I was going to ask him to get some doughnuts for us.  He’s a little jittery, ain’t he?”

WATSON:  “Ah, yes.  Well, from all of us to all of you, thanks so much for joining us.”

ALL:  “Merry Christmas!”

WATSON, VIOLET and MYCROFT briskly exit.

******

It was a really nice morning, with a fun skit and a great message that followed:  it was all about walking through the valley of the shadow of death.  Naturally, with a Sherlock Holmes theme, this fit the story of "The Hound of the Baskervilles."  Really solid morning, actually!

We got home to a feast that Mommy prepared.  Daddy put out a few decorations, although not many. We were playing "Epic Mickey 2" for a bit this afternoon, as Madison is older now, and more able to handle the controls, and solve various mysteries.  It is a two-player game, and that is the attraction of the game for her - she and Daddy can play the game together.

One of the decorations that was put out was the stocking full of Christmas glasses.  These, when put on, convert the various Christmas lights into different designs.  We've had these a while, in fact, Madison first put them on in 2009.  But each year we try them out because it's pretty cool.  Daddy took a few pictures through the glasses tonight, really setting up the Christmas spirit around here:

It's a fun little thing to try out each Christmas season, and after our Christmas movie, it was off to bed early:  we had a few late nights the past few nights.  Daddy read the last of "A Very Merry Tribes Christmas" to Madison, our KidPak devotional from two years ago.  And then we continued reading about this phantom horse in Nancy Drew's adventure at the Shadow Ranch.  Already we're suspecting a character named Shorty, but we need to find some evidence first.  And we need to figure out where this mysterious green bottle is.  These are things that will keep us anxious to read the next chapter - but we won't lose any sleep over it.  Not tonight, anyway!  Everyone is waaaaay tired!