Winter Chill

Maddie had a really long sparring session tonight!  Apparently, there are some instructors that push the students a little harder, and Tucker is one of them - all of them were sparring each other in a large format where everyone shifted positions from time to time, sparring a new opponent.  It went on for a good while, and sure enough, everyone got to spar Tucker himself.  Maddie fared well with that encounter, although she was certainly more fatigued by that point.  Everyone was more exhausted by that time.  But it was fun to see all the sparring going on.  Too much to catch it all, but these kids are doing really well.

Tomorrow the cold weather is going to take a deep dive, and the wind chill is supposed to make it feel even colder.  That said, we have to get more wood tomorrow.  We've somehow used up most of our supply of cut wood for the fireplace, and that's a lot more wood used this winter than last.  From what I read, we'll have a warming trend after this, but then in February it goes right back into the colder temperatures again. We'll have to hear from this groundhog to see what happens for real.  

Tonight we were watching season one of "Secrets of Sulphur Springs" again, just to catch up on things before starting season two.  Season two was just released this week.  We raced through quite a few episodes leading up to that great cliffhanger at the end, the one where we all laughed at when the credits started rolling, leaving us sitting there thinking, "Are you kidding?  We have to wait a year to find out what happens next?"  And despite the fact that they'll probably do the same thing to us again with season two, we can't wait to start on it.

Maddie had her test on sub-Saharan geography today, which is one of those things I couldn't tell you much about presently.  I mean, I know where South Africa, Namibia and of course Madagascar is.  But I get lost in the actual locations of Zambia and some of those other nations in the southern part of the Dark Continent.  I think this warrants another look though - certainly given that our new friends from Zambia have arrived here and are now living in Gainesville.  Yes, they moved from Africa to be here closer to this church here.  Amazing.  Simultaneous to that, I met another family from Virginia that moved here to be closer tot he church.  They quickly sold their house and had favor with the entire process, and here they are.  People are coming from all over.  

Our "Kingdom Keepers" story continued tonight, and after that we were praying.  Maddie was off in her room for quiet time, surfing and reading her Bible app as well. She at the book of Exodus at this point.  It's a great app, because she and the other girls are reading together, and it marks everyone's progress.  It's a great bit of accountability.  I should have signed up with them!

Tonight Mom and I have been watching some highlights and clips of athletes in competitions leading up to the Winter Olympics next week.  Yeah, that's coming up soon!  We'll have the longer ice skating competitions playing, but we've also been watching plenty of events with snowboards, bobsleds, and skis too.  I actually can't wait to watch a curling game too.  Should be great stuff to see.  Hopefully the world can have peace during all this, but does anyone remember Russia and the nation of Georgia around the time of the last Winter Olympics? 

Anyway, we were off to sleep under mounds of blankets, nice and snug as the chilly wind blows outside.  It's going to be a very cold night out there.