Church and More

This morning, before getting ready for church, the girls spent some time expressing their creativity.  For Julia, it was the commencement of her next American Girl book, this time about a character from 1905. 

She hasn't gotten very far yet, but we at least have a better drawing of this character than that shown inside the little circle in her "Meet Ganet" book:

Meet Camileya

JULIA: Mom?  I decided to add MORE letters to her name, so that it didn't look like her name is just "CAMILLE."

We unfortunately don't get to learn that much about Camileya's family and friends, besides their names (although apparently Julia had a strong artistic vision of Alexsa, since she dove right into that drawing):

I can't wait to read more of this book once the author finds time to add to it, however; good times with Camileya and Alexsa in 1905 are bound to be had!


While Julia was working on her book, Madeleine was busy making this drawing:

MADELEINE: (pointing to the brown-haired figure on the left) Mama.  Can you guess who I drawed?
ME: Uh...Elsa?  Anna?
MADELEINE: No!
ME: Uh, is it me?
MADELEINE: No, Mama, it's a BOY.
ME: Um, Hans?
MADELEINE: Noooo!
ME: Harry Potter?
MADELEINE: No!
ME: Daddy?
MADELEINE: Noooo.
ME: Can you give me a hint?
MADELEINE: (pointing upwards)
ME: Um...Jesus?
MADELEINE: (brightly) Yes!
ME: (pointing at the red-haired figure) And who's that?
MADELEINE: Oh.  That's Anna from "Frozen."

Duh. I should have known.  Jesus and Anna, kickin' it like the Arabic-Norwegian friends that they are.

I suggested that Miss Eleni, the girls' Sunday school teacher, might like to see this picture, but then we forgot to bring it in the car with us when we left for church.  Not to worry, though; Madeleine remembered about it halfway through the drive and cried the entire rest of the way to church about it.  "Go baaaaaack Mama!  Mama go baaaaaaack!  We need to get my piiiiiiiiiicture!"

Once at Sunday school, however, Madeleine apparently forgot about her desire to show Miss Eleni a drawing of Jesus.  Instead, while Julia dutifully colored her icon coloring sheet,:

Madeleine flipped her coloring sheet over to the blank side and drew EXACTLY what the church wants as their icon:

Madeleine's heretical witch




It's okay, though, because Madeleine was back in Jesus mode as soon as we were home.  As she played Little People off in the corner of the living room, she was compelled to shout to me about the recurring theme of her pretend play.


MADELEINE: Mom?  I just can't stop making up games about JESUS!

Whether the Jesus in her games was still hanging out with Anna, or instead with other Scandinavian friends, I'm sure, with Madeleine in charge, He was having a rockin' good time.

Fashion Choices

I was at a music workshop all day today, so I didn't get to help the girls get dressed this morning.

Luckily, they maintained their superstar fashionista style even without me around:

Madeleine was SO inspired by her high-fashion look that she even dressed it up for bedtime:

Way to rock the bedtime look!

I think these girls are ready for the runway!

Morning with Madeleine

After a super-marathon poop session, Madeleine finished washing her hands and went to dry them on a hand-towel, then stood, nude and paralyzed, in the middle of the kitchen.

MADELEINE: Mom?  You know what I got stuck in my head?
ME: What?
MADELEINE: Numb.
ME: Like, a song called "Numb?"
MADELEINE: Numb.
ME: (thinking of "Comfortably Numb") Did Daddy play you a song called "Numb?"
MADELEINE: Uh, no.
ME: How does "Numb" go?
MADELEINE: Uh, NUMB.
ME: Oh, you mean, like you have the WORD "numb" in your head?
MADELEINE: Yes.
ME: Why?  Do you feel numb?
MADELEINE: Uh-huh.
ME: Where?  In your feet?  Or your legs?
MADELEINE: Well Mama.  When I'm sitting on the potty for a LONG TIME, I just get USED to it.  But...when I'm somewhere ELSE for a long time, then I don't really get used to it.
ME: Oh.  Okay.  Uh, here, let's just get your clothes back on now.

I never quite got to the bottom of what made "numb" stuck in her head, but maybe "getting used" to the potty means having your body go numb from sitting on it too long, therefore making you feel as if your body has become one with the toilet. 

Or maybe Madeleine's just weird.

A bit later on in the day, after having left her lunch virtually untouched for an hour and a half, Madeleine suddenly acted as if she were half-starved.

MADELEINE: Mom, I'm STILL really hungry!
ME: Well, you haven't really eaten your lunch.  Why don't you take another bite of your sandwich?
MADELEINE: Okay.  Mom.  YOU be the mom, and I'll be ERIN.
ME: Uh, okay.  Erin, please eat your sandwich.
MADELEINE:  I mean...I'll be GINNY.
ME: Okay.  Ginny Weasley, please eat a bite of your sandwich!
MADELEINE: (slightly panicked) No, no, MOM!  You don't CALL me that!
ME: Oh.  Ginevra, please eat a bite of your sandwich.
MADELEINE: No, that's not what you say!
ME: Oh.  Well, I thought you wanted to be Ginny.
MADELEINE: No.  Her mom calls her HONEY.
ME: Okay.  Honey, please eat a bite of your sandwich.
MADELEINE: (finally taking a teensy nibble of her food, then running off to play Barbies.)

And then we had THIS conversation shortly afterwards:

MADELEINE: (pointing at the back of her princess figurine box) Mom?  Do you know why Pocohontas's hair is FLOWING around like this?

ME: Uh, I think because in the movie her hair blows around in the wind a lot.
MADELEINE: (opening up her "Disney Princess Look & Find" book and pointing to Pocohontas) And Mom?  Do you know what HER name is?

ME: Uh, that's Pocohontas, honey.  Remember?
MADELEINE: No!  No, MAMA!  Her HAIR is not flowing around!

I guess it can only be Pocohontas if her hair is flowing around.  I mean, if it makes you feel any better, Madeleine, once Pocohontas married John Smith she changed her name to Rebecca Rolfe.  So, if you'd like, you can call the NON-FLOWY, unsavage, silky smooth combed-hair version of her Rebecca. 

We are just about to head out to pick up Julia from school, so I can't WAIT to see what wild and crazy imaginative games Madeleine has in mind for our walk!  Maybe she'll get to be Pocohontas and I'll get to be Rebecca Rolfe!

Outfits and School

So, Madeleine woke up this morning with yet another imaginary outfit in mind to wear for the day.  I'm guessing she probably dreamt that she had a black dress with a zipper, because she was absolutely gung-ho about wearing said dress today.

MADELEINE: (looking despondently at the outfit I had picked out for her) But MAAAAMAAA!  Why do you ALWAYS pick out an outfit that's not a DRESS?
ME: Well, you can wear a dress if you want.
MADELEINE: I want a black dress with a ZIPPER.
ME: Uh, well, do you HAVE a black dress with a zipper?
MADELEINE: (brightly) Uh-huh!
ME: Okay.  Then where is it?
MADELEINE: Um...well, it must be LONG-SLEEVED, because I really want it to be.
ME: Okay.  Well, why don't you get the dress you want and bring it downstairs.

Several minutes passed.  Then Madeleine came traipsing downstairs empty-handed.

MADELEINE: So Mama.  Does anybody HAVE a black dress with a zipper?

Well, yeah, *I* do, but that's really not gonna fit you, honey.

We settled on a pink dress with no zipper and a silver sparkly kitty instead.


And speaking of clothing, check out this really avant-garde fashion statement Julia made at school on Monday.  Wearing your sweater around your neck as a scarf is the new trend, folks!:

And yes, that is Ethan at her school; he was a guest reader for the commemoration of Dr. Seuss's birthday, reading "The Star-Bellied Sneeches" to Julia's first grade class. 

I wonder if, like the envious Sneeches who have bellies without stars, Julia's classmates will all want sweater-scarfs upon thars.



On another note related to Julia's school, parents have been asked to help children study their math facts every day, practicing addition and subtraction with numbers between 0 and 30.  Since Julia was dressed and ready before it was actually time to leave for school, I thought it would be perfect to run through some addition and subtraction problems together; that way, she could have more free time before bed - which is when we usually work on such things - to play.

Great idea, right Mom?  Well, it turns out that Julia had other plans in mind.  Instead of working on math with me, she wanted to show me EACH AND EVERY sticker on her Valentines box.  And I mean she literally had to point to EACH one and say, "And I have this one, and this one, and this one, and this one..." and I was supposed to watch with interest.  Because clearly I am not capable of just looking at the box as a whole all on my own and seeing the stickers WITHOUT them being pointed out to me individually.

I interrupted her partway through the show and tell to start quizzing her on math facts.

ME: Okay, what's twelve plus twelve?
JULIA: Twenty-four!  So Mommy?
ME: What's twenty plus twenty?
JULIA: Forty!  Mom?
ME: What's twenty plus ten?
JULIA: I dunno.  Mom?
ME: If you're counting by tens, what comes after twenty?
JULIA: Thirty!
ME: What's thirty plus ten?
JULIA: Forty.  Mom?
ME: What's sixteen minus eight?
JULIA: Mom?  When can I go back to showing you my Valentine stickers??

I think that watching her point out the Valentine stickers was about as appealing to me as answering math questions was to her.

At any rate, we got through a fair amount of math, so I did my arithmetic duty for the day.  If I was really invested, I would have incorporated the Valentine stickers into some math equations, but I was way too lazy for that.

Soon enough, we were off to school, and the girls enjoyed bellowing along to the music from "Jesus Christ Superstar" on our way there.  After we had dropped Julia off, Madeleine listened contemplatively to the track "Blood Money" for a few moments, then made an astute observation.


JUDAS: (singing) I have no thought at all about my own reward, I really didn't come here on my own accord...
MADELEINE: Mom?  Is he, like, Mad-Eye MOODY or something??
ME: Does he sound like Mad-Eye Moody to you?
MADELEINE: Well, he's singing really FAST, and...on "Harry Potter," Mad-Eye Moody can talk REALLY FAST.

Well, they MUST be the same, then! 

I think Madeleine has taken things to a meta level here.  Harry was BETRAYED by Mad-Eye Moody (albeit Barty Crouch *disguised* as Moody), just as Jesus was betrayed by Judas.  I think my child must be a genius to make that connection.  My mind is blown, man.  Moral of the story: Can't trust those fast-talkers!

Artwork and Pretend Play

When I dropped Madeleine off at school today, I picked up a pile of finished artwork from her mail pouch.  Among many various creations I found this not-at-all creepy drawing:

I wasn't even sure I wanted to know what the flying, vacant-eyed creatures were supposed to be.  But my curiosity got the better of me so I wound up asking her all about the picture once she was home from school.


ME: (pointing to the colorful person standing front and center) Madeleine, who's this?
MADELEINE: Um...Emma.  I mean...EMILY.
ME: Oh.  What's she doing?
MADELEINE: Uh, she's just standing there, smelling the cookies that her mom made.
ME: (pointing at the demented flying henchmen) And what are these?
MADELEINE: (brightly) Babies!
ME: Uh...okay.  Why do they have wings?
MADELEINE: Because they're on the ceiling.  And the walls!
ME: Why are they on the ceiling and the walls?
MADELEINE: Because.  She painted them.  With her sister.  And her mom.  And her dad.  Her dad is a GREAT artist.  He's done a LOT of stuff, that's even LONGER.
ME: And what is Emily holding?
MADELEINE: Oh.  She's holding the LIGHT SWITCH!
ME: Why?
MADELEINE: Because.  She's making everything TURN OFF.
ME: And why is she making everything turn off?
MADELEINE: I dunno!

Well, at least Emily isn't talking to a doorknob and thinking it's her teacher.

Later in the day, Madeleine switched gears and began playing at (and under) the dining room table with her Loving Family figurines.

MADELEINE: (popping up from under the table, holding one of the Loving Family daughters) So Mom.  I thought I was playing REGULAR, but it turns out I was playing "The Chamber of Secrets!"  And I was like, "Ooh!  That's scaring me!"

Ugh, that's the worst.  I hate when I think I'm playing regular but I realize I'm *actually* playing "The Chamber of Secrets" and I wind up scaring myself.

I guess she had enough of the fright-fest, because before I knew it she was back to artwork, creating yet another drawing of Elsa from "Frozen":

I like how she always draws music notes coming from Elsa.  It pretty much guarantees I'm going to have "Let it Go" stuck in my head for the rest of the day.  If only I could...uh...let it go.

Science Fair and a Birthday Party

Julia's school held its annual science fair this weekend, and the girls had a blast examining reptiles, creating chemical reactions, tracing seashells, constructing bags of pretend blood, and much more.  The best part of all was that the girls got to take home bags of all the projects and goodies they accumulated, including a rainbow colored Slinky.  Julia spent a bunch of time on the stairwell by her bedroom watching her Slinky inch its way down the steps, while Madeleine quickly turned her Slinky into this disaster:

Apparently, it was my job to fix the mangled mass that was formerly a Slinky.  I had the distinct pleasure of being woken up this morning by a Slinky dangling in my face.


MADELEINE: Uh, Mama, you really should be working on this.
ME: Mmm...I think Daddy would be better at fixing it.  Why don't you go downstairs and ask him.
MADELEINE: Uh, he doesn't want to.  (brightly) We had a little CHAT!
ETHAN: (bursting into the bedroom) Madeleine, what are you doing?  Stop bothering Mom.  Get back downstairs.


At any rate, the Slinky seems to be irreparably warped, so for the time being, the girls might be stuck sharing just the one.

Luckily, Madeleine had other things to get her mind off the broken Slinky today.  A friend from preschool had her birthday party this afternoon, so Madeleine spent much of the morning asking if it was time to go to the party yet.  But pleasy please please can we go now?  But I reeeeeeally want to go now.  But how much MORE minutes until we go?  Mom?  Is it time NOW?

Madeleine had designed a hand-made card for her friend, and even though I oversaw her artwork on it, I couldn't prevent it from turning into a total Madeleine masterpiece.  What started out as a simple picture of Madeleine and her friend Abby quickly became subject to Madeleine's creative whims.  Before I knew it, she was talking both the people on the card, shouting things like, "Oh no!  Quickly!  The clouds are coming!  It's RAINING!  Quick, we better get inside!"

Therefore, Abby gets to receive a birthday card that looks like this:

MADELEINE: Mom?  So...they had to go back inside, because they were SOBBING WET.

Happy Birthday, Abby!

Twelve 'o clock finally rolled around, and Madeleine was desperate to get out the door and head over to the shin dig.  As we pulled into the parking lot of the kids' gym that was housing the party, Madeleine called urgently, "Uh, Mama, can you take Abby's present for me, because I'm going to go RUNNING right over!"

And she really did go running right over.  I didn't even get to say good-bye to her because by the time I had hung her coat and provided my child's name and emergency contact, Madeleine was up inside a tube tunnel in the big climbing structure.  Furthermore, I don't think she was even aware that I actually left, seeing as she asked me, when I picked her up an hour and a half later, "So Mom.  Did you see me sliding down the slide SUPER, SUPER fast??"

It seems Madeleine had a blast at the party, despite the fact that there were some kids there she didn't know.

MADELEINE: So.  Mom.  I saw LOTS of NEW FRIENDS!  Because...I was looking around and I was like, "Who the HECK are all these new kids and friends??"

She got to see lots of new friends AND slide super fast on the slide?  Really, does life get any better than that!?

Fun With Face-Paint

This afternoon we had a play-date with our dear friends the Listewniks!  Julia and Madeleine were thrilled to see Jovina, Wyatt and Quinn again! 

The play-date launched off in the messiest way possible:

Kid-on-kid face paint!

Yes, that is Julia's hand painting Madeleine's face.  Julia and Jovina were the co-painters, and although you can see Ethan's fingers giving a guiding point in the above picture, the adults were mostly absent from the rest of the painting fun.  Not that the kids even needed us; they were more than sufficient in transforming themselves into creepy monsters and wild animals!

Introducing:

Quinn the tiger

GRRRRRRRR!

Wyatt the Vampire
(In a slightly disturbing but completely in-character turn of events, Madeleine gave Wyatt piles of naked Barbie dolls whose blood he was to suck.)

Julia the Vampiress

Ooh la la!  Vampirism meets haute couture!  Work it, you queen of the undead!

Jovina the Bunny, complete with carrot finger
(Okay, I guess SOMEBODY had to be the sweet, innocent victim)


And:

Madeleine the Happy Witch

 Madeleine the FIERCE witch.  (Work your magic, honayy!)

Madeleine the Slightly Indifferent But Mildly Content Witch


Yes, that's right, while all the other kids simply tolerated my picture-taking, Madeleine relished in it.  "Mama, take ANOTHER one!  Can I see it?" (climbing all over my lap to take a look at my camera play-back.)

These wild and crazy creatures even took a trip outside to our snowy backyard to burn off some energy, although they shed their personae (if not their painted faces) in order to play what Julia calls "The Mean Mom Game."  In this game, Julia and Jovina are British runaways who are trying to escape their horrible mother.

ME: Why are they running away from their mother?
JULIA: Uh, because she's TERRIBLE.  (calling back to me as she runs off into the back woods) NOT YOU, THOUGH.  YOU'RE A WOOONDERFUL MOTHER!

Thanks for the reassurance, Jules.

At any rate, it was a great afternoon for all the kids, and there were definitely some tears when it was time to wash all the face paint off and get ready for bed.  In fact, Madeleine's hands are still green because no matter how much soap and water we applied, those witchy fingers just wouldn't fade away.  So at least she gets to take a little token of her magic with her to bed this evening. 

Good-night, my little tiger, bunny, vampires, and witch!