New Year's Eve Greeting

Happy New Year from the Rowe Household!

The above picture was drawn by Madeleine, of course.  This is the same child who had this discussion with me the other day, about the way the nub of her ice cream cone looked:

MADELEINE: Ew!  Mommy!  Look!  It's the kind of disgusting that I *don't* like.
ME: There's a kind of disgusting that you DO like?
MADELEINE: Yeah, like, BLOOD and stuff like that.


Yeah.  So.  Happy New Year, from the Rowe Household!

Stare

Yesterday, Julia not only attended an acting class with a few friends from school, but she slept over one of the friend's houses in the evening, so it was a one-on-one day with Madeleine.  I got to do a LOT of exciting things with her!  For instance, she gave me the news that I landed one of the starring roles in her new movie that she's producing (AND acting in), and we got to run LOTS of scenes together, despite the fact that most of the other actors were unavailable to join us.  In the evening, Ethan also offered to have a Mommy-Daddy-Madeleine dinner date out at a restaurant of Madeleine's choice, which was a lot of fun for her:

When we got home from dinner, Ethan let Madeleine choose one last activity for the three of us before she had to get ready for bed.  She opted to have a game of "Stare," the newest game she received at Christmas (thanks, Yiayia!)

If you are unfamiliar with the game, here's how it works: each player chooses an illustrated card and gets 30 seconds to study every detail of the illustration.  When the timer is up, the player rolls a dice, to get a number between 1 and 6.  The number rolled not only equals the particular number of the multiple questions he or she is asked about one of the details of the card, but also the number of spaces he or she gets to move on the board if the question is answered correctly.  Ethan and I did equally well in the game - in fact, he got one answer wrong, while I got everything correct - but his rolls were consistently better than mine, so he reached the finish line first.  Madeleine was a good ways behind us, but we let her play out the game until she finally reached the finish.  I started to wonder what went through her head as she studied each card, because some of her answers indicated a complete lack of attention.

For example:

QUESTION: What is the father reading in the background of the picture?  A newspaper, a book, or a magazine?
MADELEINE: Uhhhh....I *forgot* to look!  I don't know!!  I didn't LOOK at that part!

QUESTION: Is the cat lying on the rug or on the pink floor?
MADELEINE: Uhhhh...the pink floor???

QUESTION: What is the elephant standing on?
MADELEINE: Uhhhhh...a stool???


I happened to lean over to give Madeleine a kiss during one of her thirty-second study periods, and I overheard her quietly talking aloud to herself about her card.  Things became clear to me upon hearing what she was taking note of:

MADELEINE: (under her breath) Okay, so...they *definitely* look like they're from colonial times...


Okay, if those are the kinds of details she's paying attention to, then no wonder she didn't know the elephant was standing on books!  Luckily, she was a good sport about coming in third place, and enjoyed her chance to complete her journey around the board, no matter how long it took!

Joint Christmas Present

For Christmas this year, I got the girls a joint gift: a giant cardboard castle that can be decorated with magic markers in any way the owners see fit.  They were THRILLED about this gift, and got to work right away, Christmas afternoon.

I had expected them to color what would be the outside of the castle; instead, they opted to view the outer cardboard as a castle interior, so when they put the castle together, it looks like they're just inside a fancily-cut cardboard box:

Inside the box, however, is where the magic is happening:

Another expectation of mine that was proved false was that the girls would actually play-act as characters inside the castle.  Instead, the castle is home to ALL of their family figurines: the Hispanic family, the Caucasian family, the Black family, the Native American family, and Madeleine's new Christmas gift, the Disabled Persons set.  Seeing as Madeleine has been obsessed for over a year with the idea of broken legs, crutches, and wheelchairs, I thought she would enjoy having some figurines with casts, walkers, and such.  I did NOT, however, expect her to blatantly name the family "The Disabled Family."

The family name is displayed proudly on one of the interior castle walls, near the family name of "Snowflake," the last name given to one of her previously owned figurine sets.

At any rate, although this castle was not utilized as I had imagined upon buying it, if it's a new home for ALL the figurines, this means that I can finally recycle the piles and piles of individual cardboard box homes and schools that the girls previously made for these families, so it's a win-win!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Rowe family!

The kids were thrilled with all their gifts!  In typical Madeleine style, she has refused to take off the chef hat and apron she got from Auntie Shannon all day. 

The chef and her sister and parents all wish you a wonderful holiday!

Christmas Eve Party

This evening we had a Christmas Eve Party!  And by Christmas Eve Party, I mean a mandated performance by all members of the household (save for Ethan, who was singing at a church service.)

Madeleine started things off, as the whole Christmas Eve Party was her idea:





Nothing says "Holiday Spirit" more than "We Three Kings" on a kazoo, am I right?


Julia was next:





A little self-conscious, but what can you expect when you're told spur-of-the-moment that you're forced to perform something for an unwilling audience??



And then it was time for Auntie Shannon and I.  We combined our forces to put on this masterpiece:





Yiayia was up next:





And the grand finale, which was too chaotic to bother video-taping, was a wild and raucous dance performance by Julia and Madeleine, complete with balls thrown through the air, balloons bopped around, and a crashing fall by Madeleine into the vacuum cleaner.

Can you tell these kids are excited for Christmas??  Happy Christmas Eve!

2nd Grade Does "The Nutcracker"

Today was the long-awaited performance of "The Nutcracker" in Madeleine's music class.  She has only been talking about this NON-STOP for the past month, so no big deal.  Auntie Shannon and I attended and thoroughly enjoyed the show!

Some highlights caught on video:


Here, Madeleine the Mouse battles her bestie, Lousy, a tin soldier:






Madeleine sure did commit to this role, right down to the facial expressions.  Way to act the part in full!



Next, Madeleine got to dance as the Sugarplum Fairy.  As she told me, "I get to make up my OWN dance!"  It's classic Madeleine-style, all right:





And next she was a Russian Dancer:





Then a Chinese dancer:





No matter what role she played, Madeleine sure gave it her all!  Hooray for a thoroughly enthusiastic performance!

Sparklies!

In the car last night: Ethan, Madeleine and I.


MADELEINE: Mommy?  You know that feeling when you feel really HOT, and it's kind of WEIRD be- Sparklies!  - That feeling when you feel really HOT, and - Sparklies!  Sparklies!
ME: When you feel really hot and what?
MADELEINE: Like, at school, sometimes when we're sitting still for SO - Sparklies! - For SO LONG, and I get this - Sparklies! - this FEELING like, my body feels - Sparklies! - like, HOT, and - Sparklies!
ME: Your body feels hot and what?
MADELEINE: Like, sometimes - Sparklies! - like, when I'm sitting still and NOT MOVING for so - Sparklies!  Sparklies and relflecting sparlies! - like, if I'm sitting still and NOT MOVING for a long time, like - Sparklies! - like, I get this feeling like my body is - Sparklies! - like, HOT, or, like, when you - Sparklies!  Sparklies!  Sparklies and reflecting sparklies! - like, - Sparklies! - when you-
ME: Okay, so you feel hot, and you feel weird, like you've been sitting still too long?
MADELEINE: Like, sometimes when you're - Sparklies! - trying to think of an ANSWER - Sparklies!  Sparklies!  Sparklies and reflecting Sparklies!  Sparklies!  Sparklies! - and you - Sparklies! Sparklies!  Sparklies!  Sparklies! - and-
ETHAN: Oh, my GOD.
ME: So you feel really hot when you're concentrating?
MADELEINE: It's like, when - Sparklies! - when you - Sparklies! - like, when-
ETHAN: Madeleine, can I tell you something?
MADELEINE: (chagrined) I think I already know.


Sparklies and Reflecting Sparklies!