Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from these Rebel Girls!

We made it only until 6pm because it was so cold, but hey, we weren't even sure if Halloween was gonna happen at all!

Hope you all had a fun and safe evening!

Leaping Crystal

 I walked into the dining room to find this on the table:

ME: Someone decided to paint a rock?
JULIA: Madeleine did.
ME: Okay. Why?
JULIA: (laughing) She wanted to make a Leaping Crystal like in "Keeper of the Lost Cities."

Of course she did.  Who *doesn't* spend their Sunday morning painting rocks?

The Scent of Hair

Last night: 

JULIA: (giving me a hug, then sniffing my hair) Your hair smells like DISNEY WORLD!

This morning:

MADELEINE: (smelling my hair) It smells like PRESCHOOL.

Those are two totally normal descriptions for what hair can smell like, right?

Creative Doings

 So, the latest thing that the girls are into doing is creating fake Instagram accounts for fictional characters.  Not only have they made accounts for the characters in Shannon Messenger's "Keeper of the Lost Cities" series, they have made American Girl doll accounts, and OF COURSE accounts for the characters in Madeleine's own "Timeline Barrier" series.

Curious to know what the "Timeline Barrier" folks post about?  Take a look at Silareah's Instagram page and one of her recent posts:

Madeleine and Julia spend hours doing this sort of thing.  For instance, this afternoon:

JULIA: Hey Madeleine, wanna go outside and make more Instagram posts for the "Keeper of the Lost Cities" characters?
MADELEINE: (delighted) Yeah! I'll be right there!

Instagram pages aren't the only things the girls are creating on the subject of "Keeper of the Lost Cities."  They have both been busy writing fan fiction about the characters, and Julia's piece de resistance is her merging of the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou" and the "Keeper" series, writing a fan fiction piece with a parody of the song "Man of Constant Sorrow" from "O Brother," sung by "Keeper" characters. Curious?  Take a look for yourself: (and somehow Madeleine appears as a character in the "Keeper" world, so there's that too...)

Keefe took a deep breath, then started to sing to the tune of “Man of Constant Sorrow” by the Soggy Bottom Boys. Madeleine played the flute and Ro stomped in the background, because they were feeling a little extra.

“I am a teen deep in love! 

I’ve crushed on you all my days!

I bid farewell to Alluveterre, the place where I first crushed on you!”

“The place where heeeee first crushed on you!” Madeleine and Ro chimed in.

Sophie’s eyes were wide. Keefe’s palms started to sweat, but he knew this was the only way he could convince Sophie that they were right for each other.

“I felt your heart emotions! 

You’ve loved meeee for years and years!

You only like Fitz for his looks!

But he treats you like a piece of poop!”

“He treats you like a piece of poop!” sang the accompanying girls.

“And I will treat you well!

I’ll always be here to comfort you!

We are so right for each other!
I hope you’ll love me like I love you!”

“He hopes you’ll love him like he loves you!” Ro and Madeleine sang

At least I know that the pandemic hasn't dulled my girls' creativity in the least!

The Ritual Hiding of Earl Carries On

Madeleine takes the cake when it comes to her most recent Earl hiding spot:

Nestled among Julia's American Girl doll collection, Earl appears to be emitting a ghastly rasping cry from his skeletal face, as the dolls sit by in wholesome innocence. Luckily Julia spotted him before actually settling into her bed for the night, or else a glimpse towards her open closet might have scared the daylights out of her!

New Routine

As if Madeleine's good-bye/good-night routine couldn't get any more ridiculous, there is now a new element to the whole ritual that she has added, even typing it in text messages.

To back up a moment, here is her FORMER routine, when saying good-night to us, or saying good-bye as we are leaving or she's being dropped off somewhere.

MADELEINE: I love you! (blowing an air kiss) So muchy moo! (blowing air kiss). (Blowing a kiss from one palm towards us.) (Blowing a kiss from the other palm towards us.) (Waving at us with both hands while smiling at us.) (Leaving.)

So now it's this:

MADELEINE: I love you! (blowing an air kiss) So muchy moo! (blowing air kiss). (Blowing a kiss from one palm towards us.) (Blowing a kiss from the other palm towards us.) (Waving at us with both hands while smiling at us.)  SAFETY!! (Leaving.)

The addition of "SAFETY!" seems to correlate with the fact that COVID numbers have been on the rise in our area.  Apparently cheerfully announcing "SAFETY!" at us will keep us safe, despite the fact that if Madeleine actually had COVID, blowing air from her mouth towards us would probably infect us as well.

Happy Birthday, Madeleine!

 Happy, happy birthday to this unique, loving, warm, creative human being!:

We had pancakes to celebrate this morning, before the girls headed off to their second day of in-person school (before being back to remote learning next week, while the opposite cohort of kids go in person.) Madeleine was showered with gifts, including a Pop Socket for her cell phone from Julia.  

Cell phones.  Eleven year-olds.  How did my kids get so big?!?

So, in some well-known-to-the-Rowes classic Madeleine lingo,  here's a birthday message:

Hearts to you!  I love you! (blowing a kiss) So muchy moo! (blowing another kiss.)

Happy birthday, Madeleine!