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.

halloween

Maddy's favorite holiday is easily Halloween.  For the entire month of October, she woke up each morning and asked, "Is today Halloween?"  As the 31st drew near, she grew more excited.  She noticed more decorations going up in the neighborhood.  While in the car, she would instruct us to yell "Halloween decorations!" when we saw Halloween decorations on the homes we drove past.  On Halloween night, Maddy was literally dancing as she went from house to house asking for treats.

Daddy dressed up as a pirate and Apa went as this:

Baby Evan was a tiger.

Try as we might to get a good picture of Maddy and Evan, this was the best we could do: