Pine Cones and Prophecies

Over the weekend, the aunties and I took the kids for a walk through the woodland trails of our town forest.  This "fall walk" has become a tradition for the Rowe family, and part of the tradition is for the girls to bring along a bag to hold any fall treasures they collect:

While Julia got exuberantly and immediately to the task, collecting dozens of colored leaves, acorns, and pine cones, Madeleine had a more discriminating eye.  Rejecting most of the leaves and pine cones I pointed out to her, because, in her words, "No, that one's too GINORMOUS," she preferred to settle for the occasional small, dessicated leaf.  "I just only need the TEENY-TINY ones, because I'm LITTLE," she informed us. 

What a shocker that she needed to have total OCD control over which leaves were acceptable.  Madeleine is not particular AT ALL.  I mean, it's not like she steadfastly insists on wearing her witch hat all around the house or anything.

At any rate, just as the fall walk was winding down and we were returning to the entrance to the town forest, Madeleine suddenly felt an urgent need to amp up her collection.  "Wait!  I have to find EVERYTHING that I NEED!" she announced to us, and got busy collecting pine cones.  Not ginormous ones, though.  Just teeny tiny ones, because she's little.

We brought our bags of treasures back home after the walk, and for a few days, Madeleine seemed to forget about hers.  Then, spying it sitting atop the kitchen counter, she decided it was time to play with her collection.  Planting herself on the dining room floor with bag in hand, she got ready to dump the contents all over the ground.

ME: Uh, Madeleine - let's not dump all those leaves and pine cones all over the floor, okay? 
MADELEINE: But...why SHOULDN'T I?
ME: Because...they really don't belong all over the floor.  You can look into your bag to see your collection.
MADELEINE: But...why DON'T they belong all over the floor?
ME: Well, because leaves and pine cones are part of nature.  Their real home is outside.  We don't need them lying all over our floor.

I guess my words really hit home, because next thing I knew, Madeleine scampered down the steps to the back door and went outside for a minute, only to immediately begin knocking on the glass door to be let back in.  As I opened the door for her, I asked what she had been doing.

MADELEINE: (pointing to a pile of leaves and pine cones immediately beyond the doorstep) I was just dumping my bag outside so the pine cones can just be COZY in their little HOME!

Her pine cones sure are looking cozy in their little home, especially now that they're squashed from car tires running over them repeatedly.

We got another chance to drive over the pine cones this morning as we headed out to run a bunch of errands.  Our first stop was the town center, where a variety of shops run, interconnected, along the street, with building numbers on prominent display.  One such number really caught Madeleine's eye:

MADELEINE: Mommy?  Why is there a THREE on that house?
ME: (focused on getting her unbuckled from her car seat) Uh...I don't know.
MADELEINE: Is it...because I'm three?

Yes, Madeleine.  That is EXACTLY why.  Years ago, when this storefront was being constructed, the psychic powers that be saw a prophetic vision of the day that you, Madeleine, at three years old, would park right outside of its door.  And for that VERY reason, the building was given the number eighty-three. 

My children must have magical powers.