Dodge Ball!

Day two of dodge ball action occurred, and the team Ice Cream on Fire was right there in the heat of battle, hurling balls with laser beam precision, and like sharpshooters, knocking down their prey behind enemy lines.  Madison still had the flower lei in her hair, part of the uniform she assembled for her team.  This was a highlight of the year for her last year, and it was no different this year:  she came home talking about her exploits and all the exciting things that happened on the field of combat!

She had a few other tests today, including the math unit test that was a two-day monster.  She felt she did pretty good on that one.  Other grades have been coming in, and these have been A's.  She's doing well at school!  She came home quite excited about the dodgeball, but also ready for the Thanksgiving break.

Speaking of which, we had our Ninth Annual KidPak Office Thanksgiving this afternoon.  You can see most of the folks up there in the picture, along with the large inflatable turkey in the background.  So glad that got used this year.  Each November, Daddy organizes this with emails and food lists and so forth, and this year we had a pretty good turnout!  This started out as a smaller idea back in 2011, and it has sort of grown from here.  It's super informal, but that's the idea of it all.  Everyone brings a different kind of food item, and Daddy keeps up with the lists to avoid too much repetition.  We don't want everyone bringing Spam casserole.

That was the joke in the original email, and the hilarious thing is that someone did in fact bring Spam casserole.  It wasn't bad!  But the turkey was outstanding.  Camille did her first turkey, and this was something we all enjoyed greatly.  Mommy made her delicious sweet potato casserole, and there were a few other items on the table that made it very difficult to get through with an empty plate.  All our plates were loaded, and our stomachs super full after this feast.

Here's how we had things set up just beforehand, and folks are just arriving there in the recreation room.  We had to move it from the office, as there were a lot more people coming now.  It was a warm occasion with lots of conversations, and just a nice relaxing time.  Many spent a long time here, not just coming in for the appearance, but lingering for quite some time afterwards, just enjoying the time together and the atmosphere.  Chris put on some Christmas music on the speaker system, and it really had a festive feel to things.

Once we were all home together, tonight we continued the adventures of Baby Yoda.  There's already a short cartoon song out there about Baby Yoda, although it's not actually Yoda.  It's an alien that looks like Yoda, and is a baby.  The Mandalorian tonight made a big decision about this baby - Madison couldn't wait to get home and watch this Star Wars show.  Mommy and Daddy have been watching a lot of other things on this channel, including old episodes of "Phineas and Ferb," or new stuff like "The World According to Jeff Goldblum."  But tonight, we all watched "Home Alone 2" together, because that Christmas movie list is there, and these movies are waiting to be watched!  It was a nice relaxing night in front of the Christmas tree and the television.  At one point, a statue points the way for Kevin in "Home Alone 2," and mistakenly, I thought it was George Washington.  But in fact, that statue is of José de San Martín, who I knew very little about.  But now I do, thanks to the internet.  Anyway, just in case you're watching the movie and you're wondering who that statue is of, now you know.  He's a national hero of Argentina and Peru, and he's also helpful in getting Kevin McAllister to a rather nice hotel at Christmastime...

Tonight we continued our reading in Narnia, and "The Horse and His Boy" is coming back to me as I read it out loud to the family.  I've read this before, but each chapter is reminding me of the story.  I remember liking it, but I have no clue what actually happens in it.  Together, we're enjoying this book though.  We read from the devotional, and said our prayers tonight before bed.  Rain is falling, and it is supposed to fall all tomorrow for a gloomier sort of day.  We'll stay indoors, get some things done around the house, and get some rest.  We're also prepping for a quick trip away, and of course a message Sunday morning at KidPak.  Goodnight!