Therapy Dog

Here's a picture Maddie took with one of the therapy dogs that visits at the school.  Really sweet friends, these dogs show up from time to time at East Forsyth - sometimes to greet at the front of the school as the students are dropped off or walking in.

I've been promising Maddie a trip to get some boba tea, as it's seemed like ages since we've had a proper cup of that.  The last occasion was in Cherokee, although we both agree that was far from the best.  Mom found a gift card that we could use, a leftover present from either Christmas or a birthday.  Regardless, we dropped by for some boba tea, and I actually had one of those stamp cards that allowed for another free cup, so yeah, we did alright.  It was good, and it was nice to enjoy one of those again.

We were at Edge again tonight, and this will be the last one until next Thursday, as Maddie will be at camp coming up.  Maddie was helping with the younger students, and then back to work with her leadership class.  

It was a good day.  Tomorrow is an early release day, and after that is the start of camp.  She'll be riding off on a bus towards the North and South Carolina state line, and she's going to have a great time.  We read tonight before bed, one more time until Monday night.  And we said our prayers together before getting some much-needed sleep.

AUDIO

So Maddie's been waiting for this day a long time.  We all play Wordle online quite a bit, the popular game where you try to guess a five-letter word with a process of elimination and only six guesses involved.  So we all use our own personal opening words to try and isolate or eliminate as many common letters as possible, and Maddie's strategy has been to get as many vowels in there as possible.  Her opening word has been "AUDIO."  And all this time, that word has never been the actual final word... until today!  Yes, she got Wordle in one guess today!

Today was a busy day at work, a productive one working on this new series and also getting some writing done for Joseph's portions of the upcoming Christmas production.  Tomorrow, we start visiting the Grinch again for that play too.  Lots going on of course.  Mom was outside doing a good bit of gardening, and Maddie sent some pictures of some ceramic work she's been creating.

Yes, those are bats!  It was a good day today though, one that concluded with FCY tonight at the church.  It was a "United" night, which meant the other campuses were coming to the main campus in Gainesville. Maddie enjoyed the service, and meanwhile, it rained hard outside.  The hurricane came up from the Gulf, traveling rapidly through the area, and although we were far from a direct hit here, we still saw the outer bands of storms, which was more than enough to saturate the area.

We got a few things in the mail today, including a new Indiana Jones themed coffee from our favorite coffee source.  We got some more Frog's Breath too, because we love that flavor so much.  "Nothing's more suspicious than Frog's Breath!"  I also got a lithograph in the mail, a new Disney one that I ordered from their movie rewards site.  I've had points saved up for a good bit, and I saw this lithograph a long time ago and thought I missed it.  Turns out there was one left.  It was a lithograph from "Raya and the Last Dragon," which is a movie we enjoyed quite a bit.  In fact, there's a movie message with that one, and I'll probably share that one here soon, given that there seems to be a surge of interest in something like four movie messages I wrote years ago.  This blog keeps getting a lot of hits on those old pages where I copied and pasted those, so I might share some more of those movie messages soon enough.

Anyway, in regards to the lithograph, it was somewhat of a bittersweet moment.  I collected quite a few of those back in the day.  For every Disney release, we would pre-order a copy of the movie and then get a free set of lithographs along with the order.  And so I have this rather substantial collection of lithographs from many, many classic Disney movies.  And then I'd see more on the rewards website and order those too.  They've stopped with the lithographs with pre-orders, and so I stopped getting lithographs.  But I've got so many of those lithographs right now.  And this last one will join the others now.  Tomorrow I'll probably take time to sift through them all and reminisce.  

Okay, moving on.  Maddie is learning about the way glass shatters and fragments in her forensics class.  Her teacher isn't as excited about this portion of the year, but Maddie is certainly enjoying the class.  Tonight we watched another episode of "Monk," this one with the newspaper.  Afterwards, we got back to reading, and it really is the darkest part of our Discworld story now, quite sinister.  Maddie and I are enjoying it of course.  Afterwards, it was time for prayers and sleep.  The Braves won again tonight, and the hurricane is off towards the Atlantic again rather quickly.  Time to get some rest.

Finches

Mom snapped this nice picture of one of our visiting friends.  Each August she allows the Black-eyed Susans to grow and remain by the front porch so that the finches can come and visit for a free meal.  You can hear them in the trees in our front yard, waiting to swoop down and grab a snack.  Mom was watching from inside looking out the front door windows there and it's a nice view.  She also so this little guy, one of my Georgia residents that we sort of take for granted, but they really are pretty cool.

It was a nice day today, a much nicer day given the weather outside.  It was in the low eighties, and it was just more pleasant outside, especially during those times it was overcast.  We had some rain late, and rain early, and things were just wet for a good part of the day.  But given the dry, extreme heat and humidity of last week, we're all definitely ready for a shift.  Of course, in Florida there's a lot more going on now, with the first big hurricane of the season bearing down in the Gulf area.  

This morning we were off to school without incident.  It's been busy, the drop-off times at school.  I imagine if we got there earlier it would be not so bad, but Maddie generally tromps down the stairs at about 8:08 or so, what we all affectionately call "Bob Time."  Anyway, we take a picture and then we say our prayers, pack our lunches and that's it - time to head out and join all that traffic at the school.  It moves along in the parking lot, and there are officers that direct traffic on the main road, so usually it is timed so I can escape well enough.  So I got back to the house, and that's when Maddie usually sends her Wordle update to the group chat online, and we all try to get the word of the day.  She's been doing really well at it!

We were writing a bit for the Christmas production, and doing some other plans too for Camp FCY and other things.  It was a standard day at work, although Mom had packed some mighty good sandwiches!  It was Taco Tuesday, so we had a few of those tonight, and then there was ELA homework and a tiny bit of time for Luigi's Mansion, where we raced through a couple floors in search of Boos.  Finally at 9pm, it was time for Ahsoka, and we enjoyed this next episode a good bit.  We also watched yet another episode of "Monk," because Maddie is now thoroughly addicted to the show.  

The plush entourage was down in my room for reading, and Meadow the large purple squish mallow cow was waiting in the bathroom with a jedi robe on.  We read there tonight, another harrowing chapter from "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents."  It's a story with a bit of edge to it, certainly in regards to the darker themes of animal cruelty.  We're at the bit where the rat catchers are getting a small comeuppance, at least something humorously abusive.  Anyway, it's a good read.  I'm also reading another Terry Pratchett book simultaneously, so it's certainly a theme of the month.

Prayers were said afterwards, and the plush entourage migrated down the hall where Maddie got tucked in for another good night's rest.  It's been a good day today.

Carmella Creeper

New Monster Cereal alert!  I know you’ve been anxious to hear about this year’s Monster Cereal collection.  The news from Oakwood’s Wal-mart is that this year we have a NEW Monster Cereal, the first new character in 35 years: Carmella Creeper!  She’s apparently a long-lost cousin of Frankenberry, and she’s a hip-hopper zombie representing a new flavor of cereal, caramel apple.  I now have ALL FOUR of these in my pantry, enough cereal to keep me busy until the end of October.  That’s right folks, I don’t mess around.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about a younger, hipper sort of cereal mascot.  But as she’s part of the family, we’ll welcome her in.  My breakfast for tomorrow morning is set though!  Here’s hoping Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy return for next year’s season.  Until then, Seasons Eatings!

You'll notice my Kaws Monster Cereal figures there as well, their first time out of the bag.  I thought briefly about keeping them inside the bag for collector purposes and whatever, and then I was like, "What fun is that?"  So yeah, I opened them up tonight and they're ready for some sort of very small display somewhere when the season gets going.

Anyway, today it rained.  Actually, it rained a lot last night and was pretty loud - Mom and I didn't sleep as much because of the frequent thunder claps and noise throughout the night.  And then it came back later on tonight again, once again repeating the pattern throughout the evening.  There's a hurricane strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico somewhere, and that's troubling for a lot of folks in Florida.  It may bring us some more rain in the very near future, but we'll avoid the direct strike, I believe.

Maddie had some homework tonight in ELA about creating a story somewhat what the early Native Americans came up with to explain why animals are this way or that.  She had to write about a deer and one of the characteristics of deer - being timid and careful.  On the way home from taekwondo, we were brainstorming some creative ideas behind that, and I'm anxious to see what she came up with.

Taekwondo was fun, a longer session because of the leader's segment afterwards.  The class is really growing, and that's great to see.  Not as much room though!  Maddie was learning to break some wrist holds, delivering an elbow to an opponent's face afterwards.  

Yep, just like Rex Kwon Do!  Anyway, we got home after class and Maddie spent some time on her homework, and then afterwards we were watching yet another few episodes of "Monk," just roaring through season two.  Maddie's always ready to watch another episode right after one just ended.  

We read tonight, and we said our prayers.  It's been a good day though.  The temperature has been cooler, which is to say mid-eighties versus the high nineties.  That sort of temperature seems warm, but when we've been nearly acclimated to high nineties, it seems quite nice.  Mom and I were at Cracker Barrel today for a nice meal together, and then one of the last remaining Hallmark stores in the area after that.  We stopped by the grocery store to get a lot of supplies, including things for Maddie's upcoming camp.  And then for me it was off to the car line, where the outside temperature wasn't as threatening in that parking lot, and I got to continue this latest Terry Pratchett book that I've been reading there.

Tonight we were saying our prayers and off to sleep.  The Braves crushed the Rockies and are something like twenty games away from clenching the playoffs, Monster Cereal is in our pantry, and a hurricane is on its way in the Gulf.  Signs of fall are here!  

Pirates and Monkey-Lizards

 

So we continued our Star Wars series this morning, and it was a fun event overall with a great bottom line about the bounty being paid.  We had space pirates, the costumes that Mom put together yesterday, and we even added a Kowakian lizard-monkey to the shoulder of one pirate.  Also added to the list was our animated Grogu, who joined the students on stage as well.

It was a really great morning.  Maddie did very well with her part too!  We had a good time today - lots of fun, and of course when Tytus came around for the message, it connected well.

After church, we dropped by the grocery store for a rotisserie chicken, something we took home and had for lunch, along with corn, salads and potatoes.  We actually saw rain today, and that was great because it cooled things down somewhat.  It's been so hot outside lately, ridiculously so.  The thunder was a sound we weren't used to hearing the last several days, so that was nice to hear again.  The rain was more than welcome, as the temperature went down somewhat.  It's been miserably hot.

Maddie and I have just one more floor to go with Luigi's Mansion.  We played a bit of that this afternoon, which has been really awesome.  It's a fantastic game, so filled with things to explore and do.  She was working on her homework just prior to to this, a little US History.  

Tonight's feature film was "Box Trolls," which is now a once-a-year movie because I love it so much.  We just wanted to start the October movies a bit earlier this year, so "Box Trolls" starts off the theme, and yeah, we all enjoyed the movie.  I just love Ben Kingsley in this movie, but the stop-motion animation overall is simply amazing.  

We read some more from our book tonight, and we said our prayers too.  It was a nice day.

V-Kick

Maddie had more Team Edge practice this morning, and it was fun of course.  Maddie has a great time with her friends, and you can see her above working on the track, and inflatable mat that allows her to take risks with jump attempts, or v-kick attempts, or whatever.  She did pretty well with this particular kick, and I wish I had filmed it in its entirety.  Looked good.  V-kick:  These kicks have names like star fighters from the Rebel Alliance.

It's hot outside.  There's a tropical disturbance in the Gulf that may affect us, but we'll see - hopefully some rain will come this way soon.  The last few days have been brutal.  Even at night you open the door expecting a cool evening, but instead are confronted with the oppressive heat and humidity.  The temperature hasn't officially gotten over 100, but the heat index has been well over that for the past few days.  The air conditioning systems in cars and housing have been valiantly trying to keep up.

Nana and Ye-Ye came over today, and it was somewhat of a reunion, as they've been gone on vacation these past few weeks.  We had a birthday to celebrate for Nana, and there were also condolences for Mom.  For Nana and Ye-Ye, we got them a gift that we can all enjoy together:  a trip to Egypt.  Okay, it wasn't a trip to Africa, but in fact a trip to an exhibition in Atlanta that focuses entirely on King Tut, excavators, Egyptian royalty, and probably some ancient curses thrown in there for good measure.  Anyway, we're heading there in November together on a Saturday, and we're not terribly worried about curses.  Most of the items on display are going to be reproductions, and therefore uncursed.  Anyway, we had a nice dessert together, and Mom brewed up some Frog's Breath, which was smooth and delicious as always.  It was nice just sitting around to talk for a bit, catching up about their trip to Maine and Canada.

Afterwards, Maddie and I were relaxing a bit, as we climb floor by floor upwards throughout Luigi's Mansion, which has been super fun.  There's a floor with a pirate theme on it that's been lots of fun, but the work that went into this game is astounding - we've really enjoyed it.  

Tonight we were watching episodes of "Star Wars:  Rebels," mainly as a refresher course because this latest show "Ahsoka" is largely a sequel to those episodes.  We loved the old show, and I think that's all we watched tonight - about four of those consecutive before heading up to bed.  Of course there we read, and after that it was time for prayers and an early night - tomorrow is church, and it's going to be a great day.

Cremains

We were at the funeral home this morning to pick up Nana's cremains, which seems so surreal.  Mom was genuinely moved at the dignity and presentation of all of it.  One thought we had heard earlier was about the bag itself that an urn is put into.  Some places give you a grocery bag or something that looks fairly close to a plastic Walmart bag.  We were talking with others about this, and while it is not that important ultimately, it just seems to make the entire presentation seem a bit more trivial, as if you're going out to McDonald's to go pick up some fast-food.  Ironically, this funeral home is owned by a McDonald, and in fact, the bag itself for the urn to be carried in was fantastic.  It also held a certificate that can be used should there be any air travel in the future.  Also, it had a keepsake urn, one for Mom to hold on to, while the larger urn itself will be placed with her husband down in Florida at the National Cemetery.  As for the urn itself, Mom was quite pleased with it.  There is a hummingbird and a flower on the front, and the entire wooden box is very nice.  Mom was moved, and quite pleased with the entire experience, and that is super important.

So today was a day for finishing up some writing, and also costume hunting too.  We were over at the Goodwill in Oakwood, and we got a few things that should work for space pirates.  You'll see pictures soon enough.  We also found some great old vinyl records there.  Someone donated a lot of really great old records, and the covers alone on so many of these are just amazing.  I love the old look of these.  I also found another early Disneyland "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House," which I was happy to snap up.  I got a Platters record and a few other records too, including a few Christmas ones.  That was a great stop, actually.

Maddie did super well on her forensics test, and that was a great moment for her.  She works hard and studies a lot, and it's great to see the end results there.  We'll have to go get some Boba Tea to celebrate!  Tonight though, she had taekwondo again, and it was a full night.  Mom and I were shopping at the thrift store, and Maddie was kicking people, having a good time as always.  She had a lot to share about her evening on the way home.

Today was National Potato Day, and we celebrated with some fries that Mom made herself.  She boiled the potatoes, and then sliced them into chip shapes, finally frying them in the pan with some flavoring in there.  They were delicious!

We closed out the day with a few episodes from season two of "Monk," and then got on to our reading afterwards.  It was a late night by this point - we said our prayers, and quickly got some sleep!

Hummingbirds and Hummingbird Moths

Thursday.  Maddie's allergies were a little tough today, so she sat out on taekwondo tonight.  She's okay - it's just that occasionally allergies get the best of her when she hasn't taken medication.  She gets the sniffles and is a little stuffy, and that's no fun when sparring.  Tonight we sat back and continued our binge watching of the show "Monk," which she really enjoys of course.  I'm not saying anything within this show will coincide with her actual forensics class, but that was the basis for revisiting it, and the thing is, she's genuinely enjoying the show.  We've seen it all before, but it's been so long that we actually don't remember a lot of the punchlines or who did what.  So we're all enjoying the show again, and Maddie is doing well in forensics, by the way.  She was pretty excited to report that she got a pretty good grade on her first test this year - good for her!

We finished up the skit somewhat today, so our Star Wars series should be fun this weekend.  We still have pirate outfits to get, but we're getting there on that.  We'll head to a thrift store tomorrow to see what else we can cobble together.

Maddie got to see the hummingbird moth, and that was pretty cool.  And the hummingbirds were at the back yard, one in particular claiming this as her dominion.  She's even been seen perching there on the railing right next to the feeder.  MINE, she says.  And don't you think otherwise!

It was largely a quiet day for us here.  We read tonight, and we said our prayers too.  Mom has been praying over us each day, and feeding us well with all the supplements we need.  We've even got the anointing oil on our heads and other medications too.  She's quite on top of that.  We slept better tonight after prayers.  The Braves are doing so well, and it's such fun to see the clips, and listen to these games on the radio as we travel.  It's an epic team this year, certainly the best offensive team we have ever had.  That was fun.

Also in Georgia, and certainly not fun, is the shame I have in being a Georgia citizen tonight.  Apparently we have a few extremely self-serving, divisive people in one particular judicial system here.  Rather than putting the needs of this struggling country first, their misguided ideas instead involve unprecedented action against a previous President.  So what does this accomplish for our nation?  What is the fruit of this action, and what will now be acceptable from this point on as a result of this?  Either side of the political spectrum can find a local court system to be a malformed puppet, using it to attack a political candidate of their choosing.  And so rather than debate ideas at all in the public forum, we'll have this sort of thing for our campaigns instead, as this as our way of dealing with leaders we disagree with politically.  Why not?  It worked before.  Rather than debate ideas, the corrupt systems of government that side with opposing ideologies can be used to conjure up legal offenses and accusations that bog down everything so that nothing is ever accomplished.  They can hide behind phrases like "No one is above the law," while they themselves are in fact above the law.  We wouldn't want this against any previous president, regardless of party.  Or if it does happen, that standard had better be something egregious.  Otherwise, why put the country through this, especially at such a difficult time?  Where is the wisdom in this?  Tonight we have seen a serious lack of foresight.  It is opening a Pandora's box, and it will cost us all dearly.

Purple Cow

So every day this cow shows up in different places, depending on where Maddie and I place it.  The idea is that you open the door, and what?  That's a giant purple cow staring at me!  After Maddie got home from school, I had him above her closet, perched there looking down as she opened her bedroom door.  One time he was in my shower.  And so on.  It's a big purple cow, so the choices are fairly limited, but it's been a fun little extra surprise each day.

Tonight's FCY was good for Maddie.  The weather is so hot outside - late at night everyone is sitting there playing energetic games of volleyball with this warm weather.  It's summer.  The message was a good one from Pastor Jacob, something Maddie was sharing with me afterwards on the way home.  She had a great time at church tonight.  Camp FCY is coming soon, and she's registered and ready to go!

Today is National Buttered Corn day, and believe me, we celebrated tonight!  Along with dinner, we had some delicious corn on the cob, buttered and really delicious!

It was a full day with more Christmas writing, and Star Wars writing, and Extraordinary tales writing.  So many different directions we get pulled.  Plus graphics for this, that or the other.  And handouts.  And props and costuming issues, and other things too.  It's just been crazy lately, and we're not even deep in the season yet.

We read tonight, and we said our prayers.  And we tried to get to sleep a little earlier - we've had some late nights.

Ahsoka

It's Tuesday and that was an earlier release than we expected for Ahsoka, but sure enough, the premiere was streamed tonight at 9pm, a two-episode launch of the new Star Wars series that turned out to be basically a sequel to the older cartoon series, "Rebels."  Which is not a bad thing at all.  Anyway, there was a bit of hype built up around this show, as there are certain writers and directors that we trust a bit more with the overall vision and direction of Star Wars, and the one behind this show has been someone we've loved following since about the time we first met Maddie.  So yeah, we were excited about the show.  When it was all over tonight, the three of us all had a lot of positives about it, and really nothing negative - it's too early for much speculations about this, that or the other, but at the moment, the three of us enjoyed the storylines of Ahsoka and Sabine Wren, the set-up for their character arcs, and the action taking place within the episodes thus far.  We have a lot of questions, but we'll see where things go from here.  Anyway, it's great to have the series going while we ourselves are within "The Spirit Awakens" at KidPak.  

Today is Taco Tuesday, and one great reason to celebrate with tacos is the inclusion of dairy-free cheese on the tacos.  I picked some of that up yesterday so I can enjoy a real taco without fear of repercussions.  I'm still trying to figure out the digestive system issues here.  Also, desperately need a treadmill by this point - I have to get back on cardio exercise, because I can feel it.

We're writing for a lot lately:  Christmas for the main production, Christmas for the younger production, Extraordinary Tales from the Bible, and of course this weekend upcoming.  Mom picked up a great Grogu that is somewhat interactive like one of those Furby dolls, with eyes that blink and a mouth that opens and closes while Grogu mutters little baby phrases.  It's adorable.  We'll also feature space pirates this weekend, because those exist in the Star Wars universe.  It should be fun - we just have to finish writing it.  But we've got the overall idea of things.

Maddie is doing well in school to start out with.  She did fantastic on her US History test, and is doing well in Forensics.  Ceramics has been fun - her teacher called home to introduce herself, and Mom had a lengthy conversation with her about art school and what's to come this semester for Maddie.  It was a nice conversation!

Mom is doing well, given the fact that her own mother passed away last week.  We're still waiting on the cremains and the new urn from the funeral home.  Once that all is assembled, they'll give us a call and we'll head over there.

Tonight we continued our reading from the Discworld, and things are getting more troubling in the town of Bad Blintz.  There's a pretty dark secret that lurks beneath it all, and quite an adventure for our noble rats and Maurice - and Keith and Malicia.  It's been a fun read!

We prayed before bed, carrying the plush posse back and forth from room to room before settling down for bed tonight.  It's been a good day.

Not So Manic Monday

Mom and I had a much-needed off day today, although we were all about getting a few chores done in town.  We managed to do that and the plan was to go to Panera for some of this soup that Mom has been enjoying this summer.  Alas, that was not to be, as the soup was now gone, a seasonal entry and also one of the few remaining things left on the menu that is gluten-free.  So we went over to Outback next, and it's suddenly becoming our place to be.  The service was so good there, and the food was really good there again.  This time I had a steak, and Mom had grilled chicken and shrimp, and I even had a little Tasmanian chili.  For dessert, we had the Chocolate Thunder Down Under, and I didn't have any serious repercussions from the dairy in that, so maybe I'm not as sensitive, or maybe there's something else going on - still not sure, but the point is, we had a good meal there and a good day on the whole, driving about getting things done and then getting back home for Maddie.

We registered Maddie for Camp FCY, and we got some grocery shopping done as well today - I managed to do that while Maddie was in taekwondo.  I didn't get to see her too much, but things are amping up a bit for her Team Edge involvement - she may be actually in tournaments eventually.  We'll see how that turns out, but the team is certainly more interested in competing, and they definitely have the talent for it.

Maddie's school work has been back on schedule, the same sort of news from last year, just classes each day and learning new things here or there.  She's learning about the French and Indian War, which involved the English too, but they won the war so they can call it whatever they wanted to, I suppose.  People in France called it "The War of Conquest," which sounds a lot more epic really, and of course slightly less confusing, given that the Indians involved in the French and Indian War were fighting on both sides, not just with the French.  But whatever.  Anyway, she's studying that period of time still, and in other classes studying pre-calculus stuff that is in essence another language to me, like French.  But more fun would be the signature she's made for her pottery pieces, the little add-on that identifies all her pottery as creations of Maddie.  She's made a little design after coming up with a few ideas and settling in on one final, and that end product looks good.

Tonight we continued our "Rush Hour" marathon with the second movie in the trilogy.  The movie starts out in China, and we were remembering that bamboo scaffolding while we were Beijing, and sure enough it was featured here for a big action sequence.  It's hard to imagine bamboo scaffolding, but they really do use that and I'm sure it's sufficient.  It just doesn't look as modern and you're thinking is that safe?  And of course, in the movie, perhaps not.  Anyway, we enjoyed the movie together, of course ready to take on the third movie in a couple nights.

We closed out the day reading from our book and it is just a lot of fun to go back to this one.  Maurice and His Educated Rodents are great characters, and it's easy to just keep on reading this one as it is written so well.  We prayed after that, and soon enough, we were all fast asleep.

Lightsabers

We had a lightsaber theme today at KidPak, and it was a lot of fun.  Dawn and Tytus choreographed a small lightsaber battle, one where we dimmed the lights and brought up the volume on "Qui Gon's Noble End" as kids screamed and cheered.  

Jedi Academy continued, and it was a fun idea having Nerdo in there because he was "accidentally" hitting everyone else but himself of course.  The jedi masters turn to Maddie and she reluctantly goes forward to show what she's learned, and of course they're a bit condescending.  

Until they see her work with a double bladed lightsaber, which of course was something she was doing a little practice with this morning too.  It was a fun morning.  We were talking about the "Sword of the Spirit," the sword of light - God's Word.  Hebrews 4:12 refers to it as sharper than a double edged blade, and Psalm 119:105 refers to it as a light unto our path.  It's a blade of light!  We had a handout that showed everyone how to use their Bible, with characters on it and everything - we also had these roll-up lightsaber printables that were made for everyone.  These are relics from "Star Wars Days" many years ago.  It was a good morning.

We got home later, as we had this Camp FCY meeting to attend, but when we got home our neighbors were kind enough to bring us some food and offer their sympathies.  It was a special recipe they were working on and it was a very nice gesture on their part.  We had our lunch taken care of yesterday!

All of us were exhausted afterwards.  We had gotten to church earlier to do the choreography, and on top of that it was one of those mornings where we were just running everywhere.  Also, it's been a rather taxing week.  So, that said, Mom was relaxing, taking a bath.  Maddie and I went back to Luigi's Mansion, discovering a museum, and then getting down to the sub-basement after that.  I believe we only have five floors left!

Our new movie tonight was "Rush Hour," which we've seen before but Maddie hadn't, and she enjoyed it enough that I think we'll be doing a marathon this week, probably hitting "Rush Hour 2" tomorrow.  Maddie actually wanted to watch an episode of "Monk" after that, so sure, why not?  And then after that it was time for bed - we read from our book, and we said our prayers.  Today was a good day - another hot one - but a good one!

Bonne Eclair's Baby Shower

Today was a baby shower for Bonnie Claire, or Bonne Eclaire as we've been calling her lately.  Camille and Chris' first baby shower was a big success, with lots and lots of people coming.  It was a Winnie the Pooh theme, which Camille's mom put together wonderfully.  We can already see this child is going to be happily spoiled by grandma and grandpa!

So I was there to take pictures, and it was all unofficial, but nevertheless, they all turned out pretty good.  I had no idea there'd be that many gifts though, and neither did her dad.  We were sitting there and I was documenting things one at a time, and it just kept going and going.  Eventually, I had something like 690 pictures on the card that I had taken!  Still, it was a nice time with friends and family together, and of course little Bonnie is already very blessed and highly favored.  Here's a picture with Bonnie's great-grandmother:

Oh yeah - we put labels on the presents that said "To Bonne Eclair," just for fun.  They got a kick out of that.

Ah, the butt paste.  Every time they got a box of butt paste, several of us cheered and hollered out "Butt Paste!"  It became a running joke...

She did like our gifts, some small outfits, some accessories including BUTT PASTE.

It was a nice time.  A long time too - we were there at the North Campus for quite some time.  This is exactly the same room that Mom had her baby shower for Maddie about fifteen years ago, so there were some happy memories for us too.

The rest of the day was simple:  Team Edge practice in the morning, and then after the baby shower we watched the movie "Holes" again, because it's such a well written movie.  After that, it was bedtime.  We read from our book, and then there were prayers... and then time for sleep.  We have another big service tomorrow morning, so ... goodnight!