... Holy Week, Spirit Week, Tech Week

It's a busy week.  Yes, it's "Holy Week," or the week before Easter Sunday - but it's also "Spirit Week" at East Forsyth High School, so a big thank you for the Einstein who planned that one out with a Senior Prom on Good Friday.   Anyway, "Spirit Week" is a chance for seniors to dress up or do some crazy things over the course of the week.  For example, today was "no rhyme or reason" day, or something like that.  

Maddie came in dressed as a cowgirl, while her friend was a princess.  That's pretty fun!  She had a good day at school, and Mom and I were doing another sort of week:  "Tech Week."  That's the week before the production, where we're scrambling to get props and costumes and cast together for the massive production here this weekend.  

Today was somewhat of a smaller day in that regard, but tomorrow things really heat up with practices and so forth.  Tonight there was a lot of blocking, back-stage movement, musical performances and all sorts of pre-production madness and chaos that's part of the process.  It's coming along well though, and this Easter will be fantastic.

Tonight Maddie did have taekwondo, and that was fun.  She was playfully "interrogated" by Mrs. Edge, no doubt, about a certain "relationship" she might be involved in.  The rest of the night was fun too.  We got an early night tonight, because there's just so much going on.  We made sure we read from our book, and after that we said our prayers.  It's a busy week, but it's all looking pretty good so far!

Pharaoh said NO!

 

Great morning!  Our skit was really fun, and how awesome that towards the end, the kids were actually singing along to a song they'd never heard before.  We told the story of the Ten Plagues, and we did it with a matching game, plus some fun videos and then this musical skit too.  We had a great morning, one where Maddie was taking pictures, some you can see below:

It was a great morning, and of course it's Palm Sunday too!  We handed out palms to all the kids and families, and I was ready to make a whole lot of those palm crosses for everyone.  I've sort of gotten it memorized from all the years I've done it, so I was like a little one-man assembly line, making them for people in celebration of the day.

Maddie had lunch with Nate's family this afternoon, and pretty much stayed over there all day.  Mom and I went to Texas Roadhouse to grab a bite to eat, and then we all got home and rested for a bit, although I was on the treadmill again, running a few miles.  By few, I mean at least two.  I'm working back up to three again, plodding along as I watch various things on the television down there.  Lately, I've been rewatching all the Cirque du Soleil videos, cycling in some Perry Stone videos as well occasionally.  

When Maddie got home, she had some ELA homework to do, but after that we did an honest speck of pirating, back to work at the World's End with the LEGO game in Davy Jones' Locker.  None of that makes any sense unless you know Pirates lore and the movies.  Regardless, it was fun.  But there was one movie I said we were watching tonight, and that was "A Goofy Movie."  A-hyuck!  This was on my list for a while, but apparently this year is the 30th anniversary of the release of the movie - we just passed that date a week ago I think - and so it's been one of those mandatory things to see now.  On top of that, we started to watch the new documentary about the movie, "Not Just a Goof."  It was really good so far with some things never seen or known before - we'll finish that tomorrow, as it was so late when we started that.  

Maddie and I read more tonight from our Discworld book, revisiting the small kingdom of Lancre and its wonderful people.  It's been a good day.  We said our prayers, and soon after that, it was time for bed.  A-hyuck, hyuck!

Seder

So Maddie had a date today, and believe me that's weird for a dad to write for the first time.  But there it is, and she had a nice time.  Of course, there were other "get-togethers" before, including the Harlem Globetrotters day and dying eggs recently.  But this time they were on their own at Zaxby's, and then after that over at his house with his parents for a really long time this afternoon.  The two of them watched "Newsies," which she loves.  It's the stage musical version that she enjoys more.  Afterwards, they went for a walk, ending a good day together.

Mom was busy making costuming for the Easter production, and I was out shopping a good portion of the day, plus getting ready for Easter.  The weather is cooler - I got some lawn material, but I'll have to wait until later to use the weed n' feed.  But things are coming along.  Speaking of which, we have squirrel #99 transported.  Still have a few more to go.

 

As mentioned, Passover is here, and so tonight we had our Passover Seder, a meal where we honored the important tradition remembering the events found in the book of Exodus.  Mom had spent some time as always setting things up.  Of course, we had the proper plate and settings, but there's also this apple charoset that she made today.  There's that, the egg, the parsley and the salt water, the horseradish, the matzo bread, and the wing (we don't do a lamb).  We had a guide booklet, and and sort of went through things together, drinking from our grape juice the three times, leaving the fourth time for dipping our fingers in the juice and calling out the ten different plagues.  We read Psalms 113, 114, and later on Psalm 118 as well.  We told the story of the Exodus as part of the meal too, in addition to the explanations of all the symbology.

We left a place open for the Messiah, and we even opened the door at the right time, letting him know he was welcome in.  We ate our latkes that Mom and I prepared and cooked up earlier, and that was largely it when we agreed that we would do this again "next year in Jerusalem." 

It was all very nice.  No doubt we were far from perfect in our presentation, but I think our hearts were in the right place.  In fact, immediately afterwards, we watched "Prince of Egypt," which of course shows portions of the Exodus story with beautiful animation and music.  

Afterwards, it was time for bed. We read from our book, and said our prayers - and then it was time for sleep. We've got church tomorrow - it's Palm Sunday!  We'll have a good day, but first, it's time to sleep.

Moses and the Sandcrawler

We're looking ahead to June at KidPak, although Easter is right here now.  Moses is here above reminding us that we're still in the midst of our Exodus series, and Passover actually starts tonight.  We were at the grocery store picking up Passover items, including some potato latke mix.  But we got the main items for the plate, and we'll be sure to have a Passover meal tomorrow night before all the Easter practices start during the week.  One thing not on the menu:  squirrel.  We've been catching them left and right, the magic number right now at 98.  Yes, that's a lot of squirrels.  I managed some more mulch today, getting that lined up, but we've got a ways to go on the mulch.  But things are looking great.  I need some weed and feed for the lawn, and I want to get out there tomorrow and get the fire pit area looking nice because the weather is actually kind of cool outside.  It'll be chilly tonight, and a fire at the fire pit should be nice!

Maddie and I had an honest speck of pirating this evening, back in Singapore for that level of LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, and we completed our five-movie series tonight with "Dead Men Tell No Tales."  It's Maddie's least-favorite, but at least it's no "Dial of Destiny."  

Maddie had a good day at school - she's been doing some work with threads, creating a larger piece that looks pretty cool.  The bowl at the bottom - I keep joking with her that it looks like a Jawa sand crawler, if you know what that is.  The Jawas have apparently located a ginormous lightbulb and are carrying it across a flowery planet on a massive red carpet.  But seriously, it's turning out well.  Maddie's other works are coming along too, including this interesting sculpture here:

She's super creative, and we're really proud of her.  Only a few more weeks of school left, and they'll be big ones.  We're looking into items for her for her Senior Spirit Week next week, where each day there's a different outfit to wear or item to bring along.  You'll see that soon enough.

We read tonight, more from "Carpe Jugulum," and now the story is moving along even more so.  I am remembering bits as we go along, as little hints are dropped and I have to refrain myself from going, "Oh, I know where this is going."  Anyway, it's another visit to the Discworld, and as such, the character DEATH has already made his appearance.  Maddie blurted out, "Oh, I love DEATH!"  And then she quickly added, "You know what I mean - the character."

Tonight we said our prayers and got some sleep knowing full well we don't have to set the alarms tomorrow.  That's good news for all of us... goodnight!

Dying Eggs

Tonight we had planned our Easter egg decorating night, and so we invited Maddie's friend Nate here for a fun evening together.  We stopped by the Race Trac because I had gotten a lot of points saved up and used some of them on a free pizza, and meanwhile, Mom and Maddie had made these really nice cupcakes for the night too.  We ate together, and then got to work on those eggs, which was pretty fun.  Lots of color and just a nice time with the egg spinner and the different cups of dye.  We've got some pics below here of the various eggs and our evening together.  Mom and I did a few eggs, but Maddie and Nate did the rest, and had a fun time.

Ah, the lovely ambience of the local gas station!

Free gas station pizza!

Mom and Maddie made these tasty cupcakes for tonight!

Interesting eggs tonight!  We used egg-wraps, the spiral tool, and traditional egg dips.

Mom did this interesting gold one with the bunny stickers.  
Fun fact:  those bunny stickers won't stick by themselves.  

Maddie did this one that looks like a sunset over the ocean.

This is the one I did, per Mom's request.  She always likes this one.

The dyes were cast

Maddie wrote some of her favorite scriptures on this egg. 

We had a decent night, and afterwards - or right at the end - there were some amazing storms rolling through.  We didn't get the hail that other places got - Oakwood got pummeled with lots of hail - but we did get some very heavy rain.  We got Nate home, and got back home after a bit of tense driving.

Maddie had some homework and a quiz to study for, and so beyond the storm and the fun with eggs, it wasn't a terribly eventful night here.  We got to bed early, and got ready for Friday.  Not too many days left of school now!

Promposal

Maddie was taken completely by surprise tonight after service, and given a proper "promposal" just in time too.  Back a few weeks ago, Maddie made a joke promposal for her friend that she's going to the prom with at East Forsyth.  She said she was doing that because it was unlikely that either one of them would get an actual promposal, and yet here we are...

She was so surprised, and so happy too.  Nate gave her a promposal, and she was very happy to say, "Yeah, sure!"  This was all quite a wonderful moment for her, and she deserves this happiness.   

Here she is right before service tonight, sitting with friends about to hear a few words from Pastor Jacob and then watch a movie with some popcorn.  Tonight's movie was one the students voted on, and it was "Jesus Revolution," which Maddie actually voted for too.  I loaned my hard copy to let them show it, and so it was a good night there at FCY.

But for Maddie it was especially a good night.  She got to the car, and in the seat was a bag that said "PROM?" and inside that was some of the candy that she likes - her friends were asking this earlier with a text conversation, and now Maddie new why.  That plush cow?  He's a part of the family now, no doubt, a part of the Plush Entourage, probably right up there with the most important members.  

Maddie had a good day, and again, she deserves it.  She'll be going to two proms this month, the one at East Forsyth High School, and on top of that the one at Nate's school.  Going to the prom with a boy?  That was an unexpected thing on her list, but she's not complaining at all.

Ain't No Thing

Okay, this was kind of a funny moment.  The nearby Chinese restaurant has an online ordering system, and there are a few misspellings here or there, and the appetizer here listed at $9.95 is singular, as you can see.  It just says "CHICKEN WING."  So when you order this appetizer, are you getting a plate full of chicken wings, or is it exactly as advertised, a singular chicken wing?  Is it a really big chicken wing?  This was the big discussion at the office, of course, not terribly long of a discussion and mostly for laughs.

Of course, it's a plate of chicken wings.  Nevertheless, we set up this shot when we got home, and sent it back to the office for the joke.

Anyway, today was a quiet day.  We had an oncologist visit this morning, and that was a routine sort of trip where they do a few tests and check on things, and Mom got the all-clear for another year.  We went to the office afterwards and continued our work towards Easter and this weekend's material.  Can you believe this Sunday is Palm Sunday already?  Yeah, wow.  We got the palms ordered and stored away in a refrigerator.  We've got a lot of other things going on right now, a fairly collection of things on the "to do" list.  One at a time...

Maddie had some math homework tonight, but we did continue our Pirates movie fest with "On Stranger Tides," which was another fun movie.  Afterwards, we dove into our new book, "Carpe Jugulum," and so we're on our way with yet another tale from the Discworld.  We said our prayers after this, and it was late again - we'd better get some rest!

At School's End

We have a portable sauna now, and today we actually gave it a try.  I'm not going to lie - it's a little funny-looking, sitting there with your head popping out of this big black box thing, the only purpose of which is to make you sweat a lot.  I don't know much about saunas, but I know there's one in "Frozen" and "The Lemon Drop Kid" has one with a bunch of heads sticking out in just the same way.  I also know now that apparently there are toxins that come out with this previously mentioned sweat, and therefore this sort of thing is a healthy habit.  So there's that.  Anyway, I set it up and Mom and I took turns sitting there and sweating!

Which wasn't too bad, really.  We have a few health center tools in the house now.  Of course, there's the treadmill - I was moving forward towards the next badge this morning, all while watching "Tombstone" on the television set down there.  We also got something in the mail today, something Mom ordered, a vibration plate unit that is supposed to be good for bone density issues, amongst other things.  We'll try that one out too.

Maddie was at school today, back to work again.  She's only got something like twenty days to go, and that's coming up fast.  Wow.  Hard to imagine.  School's End.

Speaking of which, tonight we watched "At World's End," another chapter in the Pirates movies.  Maddie did have some homework to do as well, some calculus.  Only twenty more days, Maddie... you can do it!

In other news, we got squirrel 96, and we had some free points at the Race Trac, so I think you know where this is going:  We were off for a multi-purpose trip, dropping off the squirrel and getting ice creams for the three of us.  There is this watermelon sherbet there, and with all kinds of toppings, it's delicious!  And ... it was free!  It's been a while since we took the ol' "squirrel and an ice cream" trip.  

It was a late night, so we didn't get to our reading.  These pirates movies are pretty long!  But I did manage to write this skit for Sunday, something I thought would be fun to have set to music and acted out while the voice sang the verses.  Here's the song, and the script below:

KidPak Adventures:  Exodus
Pharaoh said “No!”

 

CUE TRACK:  1 MARKETPLACE (end at 1:03) 

PHARAOH is at CENTER STAGE, with WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA behind.

CUE SLIDE:  “EGYPT”

MOSES enters STAGE RIGHT

[intro]

Back in the day 

the Pharaoh had his way

That is until he saw a man come

up to him and simply say

CUE TRACK:  2 Pharaoh Said ‘No!’ 

MOSES gestures as if talking to PHARAOH

[chorus]

Moses said, "Let God's people go.

You can't keep slaves you know."

But Pharaoh's heart was hard and so

His answer here was "NO!"

PHARAOH, WYATT, BRIELLE, and VICTORIA taunt and do a happy dance around MOSES

No, no, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

No, no, no!  OH NO!

MOSES looks disgusted as he exits STAGE RIGHT

MEGAN and EMMA enter from STAGE RIGHT AND STAGE LEFT, each holding a sign, one reading PLAGUE ONE and the other reading PLAGUE TWO.

CUE SLIDES:  PLAGUE ONE and PLAGUE TWO when mentioned

As PLAGUE ONE is mentioned, MEGAN hits PHARAOH and/or WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA with sign.  As PLAGUE TWO is mentioned, EMMA hits PHARAOH and/or WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA with sign.

MEANWHILE, PHARAOH, WYATT, VICTORIA and BRIELLE react to PLAGUES (looking frightened at river of blood, looking horrified at imaginary frogs all around).

[verse 1]

And so the first plague came in like a flood

The Nile river was turned to blood

The second plague, it was no dud

Thousands of frogs hopped from the mud

PHARAOH gestures to MOSES off STAGE, and MOSES returns.

[pre-chorus]

So Pharaoh said, "Come back!

Let's sit and talk this through.

Moses, cut Egypt some slack,

What can I do for you?

CUE SLIDE:  “EGYPT”

MOSES gestures as if talking to PHARAOH

[chorus]

Moses said, "Let God's people go.

You can't keep slaves you know."

But Pharaoh's heart was hard and so

His answer here was "NO!"

PHARAOH, WYATT, BRIELLE, and VICTORIA taunt and do a happy dance around MOSES

No, no, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

No, no, no!  OH NO!

MOSES looks disgusted as he exits STAGE RIGHT

MEGAN and EMMA enter from STAGE RIGHT AND STAGE LEFT, each holding a sign, one reading PLAGUE THREE and the other reading PLAGUE FOUR.

CUE SLIDES:  PLAGUE THREE and PLAGUE FOUR when mentioned

As PLAGUE THREE is mentioned, MEGAN hits PHARAOH and/or WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA with sign.  As PLAGUE FOUR is mentioned, EMMA hits PHARAOH and/or WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA with sign.

MEANWHILE, PHARAOH, WYATT, VICTORIA and BRIELLE react to PLAGUES (scratching itches all over, swatting away a swarm of flies).

[verse 2]

And so the third plague came, it wasn't nice

The Egyptians had all kinds of lice 

The fourth plague after was no prize

For buzz, buzz, buzz were swarms of flies

PHARAOH gestures to MOSES off STAGE, and MOSES returns.

[pre-chorus]

So Pharaoh said, "Come back!

Let's sit and talk this through.

Moses, cut Egypt some slack,

What can I do for you?

CUE SLIDE:  “EGYPT”

MOSES gestures as if talking to PHARAOH

[chorus]

Moses said, "Let God's people go.

You can't keep slaves you know."

But Pharaoh's heart was hard and so

His answer here was "NO!"

PHARAOH, WYATT, BRIELLE, and VICTORIA taunt and do a happy dance around MOSES

No, no, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

No, no, no!  OH NO!

MOSES looks disgusted as he exits STAGE RIGHT

MEGAN and EMMA enter from STAGE RIGHT AND STAGE LEFT, each holding a sign, one reading PLAGUE FIVE and the other reading PLAGUE SIX.

CUE SLIDES:  PLAGUE FIVE and PLAGUE SIX when mentioned

As PLAGUE FIVE is mentioned, MEGAN hits PHARAOH and/or WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA with sign.  As PLAGUE SIX is mentioned, EMMA hits PHARAOH and/or WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA with sign.

MEANWHILE, PHARAOH, WYATT, VICTORIA and BRIELLE react to PLAGUES (looking grossed out by imaginary dead cows, looking horrified at their own skin).

[verse 3]

And so the fifth plague came like a battle

A pestilence struck all their cattle

The sixth plague hit Egyptian soils

Every person there had icky boils

PHARAOH gestures to MOSES off STAGE, and MOSES returns.

[pre-chorus]

So Pharaoh said, "Come back!

Let's sit and talk this through.

Moses, cut Egypt some slack,

What can I do for you?

CUE SLIDE:  “EGYPT”

MOSES gestures as if talking to PHARAOH

[chorus]

Moses said, "Let God's people go.

You can't keep slaves you know."

But Pharaoh's heart was hard and so

His answer here was "NO!"

PHARAOH, WYATT, BRIELLE, and VICTORIA taunt and do a happy dance around MOSES

No, no, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

No, no, no!  OH NO!

MOSES looks disgusted as he exits STAGE RIGHT

MEGAN and EMMA enter from STAGE RIGHT AND STAGE LEFT, each holding a sign, one reading PLAGUE SEVEN and the other reading PLAGUE EIGHT.

CUE SLIDES:  PLAGUE SEVEN and PLAGUE EIGHT when mentioned

As PLAGUE SEVEN is mentioned, MEGAN hits PHARAOH and/or WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA with sign.  As PLAGUE EIGHT is mentioned, EMMA hits PHARAOH and/or WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA with sign.

MEANWHILE, PHARAOH, WYATT, VICTORIA and BRIELLE react to PLAGUES (looking fearfully upwards, and running about to avoid getting struck by imaginary hail, pointing and looking very scared at imaginary locusts swarming all over).

[verse 4]

And so the seventh plague came without fail

Egypt was smashed with lots of hail

The eight plague had a bad focus

As their crops were eaten by locusts!

WYATT, VICTORIA and BRIELLE beg and plead with PHARAOH

[instrumental]

CUE SLIDE:  “EGYPT”

PHARAOH gestures to MOSES off STAGE, and MOSES returns.

(here we go again!)

 

[chorus]

Moses said, "Let God's people go.

You can't keep slaves you know."

But Pharaoh's heart was hard and so

His answer here was "NO!"

PHARAOH, WYATT, BRIELLE, and VICTORIA taunt and do a happy dance around MOSES

No, no, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

No, no, no!  OH NO!

MOSES looks disgusted as he exits STAGE RIGHT

MEGAN and EMMA enter from STAGE RIGHT AND STAGE LEFT, each holding a sign, one reading PLAGUE EIGHT and the other reading PLAGUE NINE.


CUE SLIDES:  PLAGUE NINE and PLAGUE TEN when mentioned

As PLAGUE EIGHT is mentioned, MEGAN hits PHARAOH and/or WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA with sign.  As PLAGUE NINE is mentioned, EMMA does not hit PHARAOH and/or WYATT, BRIELLE and VICTORIA with sign, but rather holds up the sign with a sad face.

MEANWHILE, PHARAOH, WYATT, VICTORIA and BRIELLE react to PLAGUES (looking as if they are blind, arms extended and feeling around – and then when the final plague is mentioned, they drop to their knees in defeat).

[bridge]

And the ninth plague came, and rather stark

All of Egypt was left in the dark

The tenth plague left them torn

For that night they all lost their first born

MOSES returns as EGYPTIANS are on their knees

[emotional sad] 

No, no, no, no, no, no

No, no, no, no, no

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

No, no, no… Oh no!

CUE SLIDE:  “EGYPT”

MOSES gestures as if talking to EGYPTIANS.

[chorus]

Moses said, "God's people are blessed.

And you have failed the test.

Pharaoh's heart was sad.  He had been bad.

So his answer here was... "YES!"

MOSES exits STAGE RIGHT.  EGYPTIANS exit in different directions, except for PHARAOH, who is alone on stage, moving from left to right with exaggerated sorrow.

[instrumental]

 

[outro]

What's the moral of this story?

The point of it I'd say?

Just listen to God.  Do what is right

and make good choices each day!

PHARAOH shakes his head sadly and exits STAGE RIGHT, moping.

[end]

FADE LIGHTS.

Sunday Exodus

Fun day today at KidPak!  We started our series "Exodus" once more, and it's a shorter version of it, but it will still be a lot of fun.  This morning we talked about Moses and the Burning Bush, about the big moment where God tells Moses to go and set His people free.  We had our usual fun with games and a great message from Pastor Tucker, but also a pretty fun skit with three of our cast members dressed as cows, mainly because the sheep costumes are in Braselton.  It was actually a lot of fun, as the cast members added quite a bit of energy to the morning.  Maddie took pictures as she usually does, and shared those at the church's website - but here are just a few from this morning's service, which went really well.

After church, we picked up some Chinese food from down the street, and got home to enjoy a feast.  Maddie took a fairly big nap this afternoon, and we enjoyed the rain pouring outside.  It was a nice afternoon with the occasional boom of thunder way overhead, the pitter-patter of rain on the leaves in the woods - it was a nice afternoon.

We got some rest and did a few things this afternoon.  I was on the treadmill for a bit, and Mom had a nice luxurious bath.  I went upstairs and assembled her sauna, which actually wasn't that big of a deal, but I wanted to set it up and have it available for her to use.  I think that we'll both be trying it out tomorrow.  I've actually never done anything related to a sauna before, so that might be an interesting thing to do.

Tonight we continued our Pirates marathon with "Dead Man's Chest," which is one of those movies just filled with great imagery and characters.  Love it.  I remember dressing as pirates and going out to the theater to see this one.  Interestingly enough, this movie premiered in Disneyland exactly nine days after the day Maddie was born. 

Afterwards, we played a game of Liar's Dice versus Marty and Pintel.  We were a little fuzzy on how to play to begin with, but we rallied after a bad round and wound up winning pretty handily and being declared honorary pirates with our own gift chicken.  All worth it!

So we'll get some rest tonight, and that'll be good.  The rain came throughout the day and was pretty constant.  It was nice at one point sitting on that front porch, reading and just listening to the sounds of the rainfall.  Tonight we closed things out with the final pages of "Maskerade."  We closed out Spring Break too, as Maddie will be back in school tomorrow.  We said our prayers, and after that, it was time for some rest!