xmas

A three year old on Christmas.  What else is there to say?

 Oh my:

On Christmas morning, Maddy discovered that Santa had brought her a train set.

holiday party

Every year, our friends have a holiday party and white elephant gift exchange.  This year, we went to San Carlos to the Speiser household for some holiday cheer.  Maddy hung out with her friend, Christopher, who was the only other kid her age.  As you can see, they took advantage of the gag gift Chris's dad had the misfortune of receiving.  

The white horse below is the recurring gag gift that refuses to ride off into the sunset.  Maddy sure thought it was cool though.

barbara and scott's

On Sunday we spent the afternoon in San Francisco at Barbara and Scott's home.  I didn't have my SLR camera with me, so I took photos with the iPhone and jazzed them up with Instagram for that vintage feel.  It really changes the mood of the pictures and I think they turned out great. 

the tree

Maddy couldn't wait to get a tree.  For weeks she wanted to talk about getting the tree; how we would get into the car without Baxter because she wanted the tree to be next to her; how we would choose a medium sized tree because our house is medium sized; how we would come home, put the tree in its stand, give it water and finally, decorate it with ornaments.  (The way Maddy says ornaments sounds more like "ordamets").

So, finally, after Thanksgiving we took a trip to our local tree lot and picked out a medium sized tree for our medium sized house.  Maddy couldn't contain her excitement.

We took what turned out to be a small tree for our small house.  It's the perfect size.

Uh oh.

The morning after we had decorated the tree, when Maddy woke up, she ran up the stairs, looked at the tree and was shocked to find that "Santa didn't come!"

silly maddy

Maddy is such as silly girl.

thanksgiving at grandma's

The whole gang hopped on a plane and headed down to Banning for our annual Thanksgiving at Grandma's house.  Maddy was super excited to see Grandma in person because she otherwise only sees Grandma on a computer screen via Skype.  We hung out and ate plenty of yummy turkey.

Maddy remembered her cousin, Parker, from last year.  He's such a sweet kid for spending so much time with her.  By the time he had to leave after Thanksgiving dinner, she was saying, "I love Parker.  I'm going to miss him."

The spread: 

Sneaking a sniff of cake (Maddy insisted on smelling the cake again and again) and lounging around the house:

maddicane

A Maddicane has ripped through our living room....again.

But this time, she meticulously placed each item on the floor.  We were playing "store" and she took the time to display the merchandise so that I could easily shop for the items I wanted to purchase.

parent observation

Yesterday, daddy and I went to Maddy's school for parent observation.  It's a chance for parents to come and check out what the heck their kids do at school.  We were allowed to observe Maddy for half an hour, and during that time, we watched Maddy make a Thanksgiving turkey hat, have a snack, do practical life activities and write her name.

sunday art

Maddy woke up this morning and requested that I show her how to make a heart.  Actually, Maddy woke up this morning demanding "milk and TV!"  So, after her milk and TV, we practiced making a few hearts.  When she felt confident with her practice hearts, she created the masterpiece above, titled "whale, heart, heart."  

el dia de los muertos

Maddy celebrated El Dia de Los Muertos yesterday at school.  One of her teachers asked me to bring in a picture of someone who had died so that they could add it to their memorial.  Maddy learned about the significance of El Dia de Los Muertos; to remember those who have died and to honor their memory.  We decided to honor my Auntie Magdalena.  It was a good opportunity to introduce Maddy to who she was and why she was special to me.  Maddy was interested to learn that she was Apa's sister.

Maddy asked about the "shirt" she was holding and I told her it was my dress when I was her age.  Auntie Magdalena showed it to me during our trip to New York in 1998 and I wanted to take a picture of it.  I even told Maddy that her name, Madeleine, is the French version of Magdalena, which is also a Spanish name.

Above is a picture of the sugar skull that Maddy had decorated.  Sugar skulls are a part of the tradition of this day and is given to both the living and the dead as gifts.