Baby Yoda

Madison drew this Baby Yoda, which of course isn't really baby Yoda, at least as far as I know.  The world is calling him Baby Yoda for the time being, mainly because I think we don't know his name or what kind of species he is.  Regardless, he's been a source of cuteness since the beginning of Disney Plus, and a huge deal in the Star Wars world.

As for Madison, she's a huge deal in our house. We were celebrating all her drawing skills as she was showing us a few things in her notebook.  This was one of them, as was a close up picture of an eye, and a picture of a tree.  She's doing really well there, already starting to fill up that notebook.  We might have to get a new one soon!

She's also getting better with her math assignment week.  This was a cause of stress, but in this case, practice makes perfect.  She was doing a lot of practice tonight for homework, just working through the various problems.

Today she brought home her report card, and we of course already knew what those grades were:

         95          Language arts

         100  Academic Math Enrichment

         95          Mathematics

         94          Science

         97          Social Studies

         100  Health

         100  Invention and Innovation

         100  Physical Education

       
Pretty amazing!  We're super proud of her, of course.  One of those good grade rewards was a copy of the game "Super Smash Brothers," although we didn't have time to play that tonight.  We've been trying it on and off for a while though, and Daddy is pretty terrible at it.  I'm getting there though.  Madison loves playing as little Kirby, and does a really good job with him.

Tonight we were doing research for our upcoming "Northern Lights" series, by watching "How to Train Your Dragon 3."  We just had to dive right in there and watch a movie with Viking hats in it.  Interestingly enough, there's a bit of controversy about Viking Hats.  In fact, that led to this one devotional Daddy wrote today.

“Finally, my brothers and sisters, always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.” Philippians 4:8 NIRV

     Did Vikings actually wear horned hats?  This question has been raised a lot lately, as there’s been no evidence whatsoever of Viking raiders actually wearing those famous helmets with the two horns coming out of either side.  

     Yet many years later, that’s the primary thing you think of when you consider the Viking.  We’re not saying they didn’t wear these sorts of hats, of course.  But until now, not one actual Viking hat with horns has been found from that era, at least not yet.  

     So where did this idea come from?  Some credit a 1800’s Scandinavian artist named Gustav Maelström, who painted pictures of these raiders wearing the famous headgear.  Another guy, a costume designer named Carl Emil Doepler made it an even bigger deal.  He was making costumes for Viking characters in a famous stage production, and sure enough, he gave them all hats with horns on them.  Because let’s be honest:  it looks cool.

      Well, the rest is history:  whether they actually wear horned hats or not, that’s what the world thinks of when we think of Vikings.

     Have you ever wondered why there’s so much focus on a helmet?  The answer is simple.  Horns or not, Vikings had all kinds of protection for their heads as they went off to battle.  And quite similarly, you have a Helmet of Salvation that God wants you to wear as well. The Bible tells us to put it on, and that’s pretty good advice.

     Throughout the day, temptations can fly at you.  Pictures, music, and conversations bombard you, and some of these can do some damage in your life if you don’t protect yourself.  You have to be careful what you allow in your thoughts.  The Bible tells us to only think on these things: whatsoever is noble, right and pure.  It can be a battle!

     One way to help yourself is to put on the Helmet of Salvation each morning. Remember who you are, a child of God, and a warrior.  Remember that you are forgiven, and remember that you are a light unto the world.

     It doesn’t have to be a horned hat, but when you put on that Helmet of Salvation, any daily battle you face will go much, much better.

Daddy's been frantically writing, attempting to get this devotional done in time for our deadline.  Writing a 28-page devotional about Vikings and Norway hasn't been a piece of cake so much!  Regardless, you take things one step at a time.

Tonight, we finally finished with Prince Caspian before bedtime, and it was better than I remembered it being.  We all enjoyed the story, and Madison can't wait to come back to Narnia again soon.  But at the moment, we'll be doing next a story from China, as we're in that season of the year to celebrate all things China and the Lunar New Year.  Along those lines, we've ordered some red envelopes and chocolate coins to hand out.  It'll be here soon.  We were listening to Chinese music some today, as we do that almost like we listen to Christmas music in December.

Speaking of December, we're starting small with our DeSantafication Process, but we have been taking things down, particularly the things that are outside - the wreaths for certain.  There's rough weather heading our way tomorrow, and we've been sufficiently warned today.  Folks west of us are enduring quite a bit, and tomorrow it may be our turn.

That being said, we said our prayers tonight, and read from our devotional.  We don't have to set the alarm for tomorrow, and we were up a little later tonight.  But it was a good day, suddenly ten days into January just like that.  It's been good though!