In Which Maddie Writes Flash Fiction

Anna at Yearning for Wonderland is holding a flash fiction contest.  The basic rules are that you select a picture of her Faerytaleish Pinterest board, write a three hundred word flash fiction, and then link up on her site by the end of Friday.

This is Maddie. She just turned four. Also, she is cute.

I've been meaning to write something, but have yet to do so (eta: finally wrote it, see mine here).  Maddie, however, has selected a picture and written a flash fiction story about it.  It is slightly less than the 300 word goal, but this is her first flash fiction...actually her first story I've written down other than her amazing dream idea for my upcoming dragons book.  I should probably spend more time writing down her stories, because she has some great ones.

So here is Maddie's first writing contest entry:

Maddie's inspiration picture

Golden and Magical

by Maddie Melendez

Once upon a time there was a fairy who was turned to gold.  

She was turned to gold by the sun.

She became a golden robot and all her friends were fairy robots.

And then her father was happy because he was all golden and magical.

The end.

 (48 words)

If you have a Wordpress blog, here is the proper code:

Costume Party Madness

Prepare to die of cute.

I'm not joking.  You've been warned.

My now four year old daughter, Maddie, came up with the genius idea of having a costume party for her birthday.  She was incredibly committed to this scheme and it ended up being ah-mah-zing.  This kid has more style and savvy in her little finger than I do in my whole body.

We had a blast.  We made princess wreaths out of pipe cleaner, ribbons, and fabric flowers.  We had ring pops and made linky necklaces.  There was a Rapunzel cake.  Her brother took a huge spoonful out of it before the party but she told him it was okay.

We had little girls in adorable costumes and poor Jamie the lone knight among the ladies.

It rocked.

Happy Birthday, Maddie!

Yesterday my sweet baby turned four! 

Tomorrow we are having a super fabulous costume party! 

Happy Birthday, Maddie!

Getting Ready for Another Round...

...of Birthday parties!

I can't believe it, but next month Maddie is going to turn 4! She is going to have a costume party with rainbow accents. Let me tell you, there are not a lot of kid's costume birthday invites (that aren't Halloween related) out there, but I lucked out and found the perfect invitations of Etsy.




Aren't these so cute? They are from Gracie Girl Designs and I am super happy with her customer service and designs. I think we will probably be getting Jamie's 3rd Birthday invites from her as well. He is going with a pirate theme (subject to change).

We are planning quite the costume party spectacular. Have any suggestions for what to do with a group of 3-6 year olds?

Christmasy Stuff

Even though we are running behind on Christmas due to combination of a) leaving things until the last moment, and b) a horrible virus that caused us to lose an entire week of December, we've still managed to get a few Christmasy things done.

Thanks to Walmart One Hour Photo, I manged to slap together a Christmas card!


And we finally hung up the sparkly snowflakes that we glittered in early December. Yay for toddler art projects! And for finding something for this really strange, large, open window!



It's December 22! I'm still getting out Christmas decorations! Oh boy. Next year I am going to be done with gift shopping early... as in September!

How are you doing? Are you ready for the big day?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Knight/Prince Phillip Maddie and Dragon James!



Shining armor and a cape!



Raaawr!




And for your viewing pleasure ... Maddie hunts dragons!

NaNoWriMo is Almost Here!

The insanity known as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) is just around the corner! I will be working on my Austenesque novel Attempting Elizabeth as I also try to move and prepare for the holidays.

My daughter, Maddie, loves fast rides. She puts her hands up on roller coasters. She's three. Actually, she's been doing this since she was two. Gadget's Go-Go-Coaster in Toontown at Disneyland? Front row. Hands up. Yes siree, Bob. She also has tackled the Matterhorn at least four times. Her dry comment as we whizzed by the Abominable Snowman? "Oooooh, 'citing!"

This could be partially my fault. I've always tried to have her look at things as exciting instead of scary. I started this really young with Maddie, before I knew that she was a natural born dare-devil. I am now rethinking that particular parenting strategy (do you know kids that literally climb walls? I have one!)

However, I think that Maddie has a pretty darn good outlook on roller coasters, and on life. It doesn't have to be scary. It can be "'citing!" So that is how I choose to look at NaNoWriMo and the whole rest of November. It's going to be an exciting ride!

Front row.

Hands up.

Here we go!

Swinging Like Big Kids

Winter is coming! There are only so many play outside days left in the calendar year!

So what do we do? When it is cold and blustery, and the rain clouds are coming in over the mountains, we put on our hoodies and head out to the park!

Nothing better than swinging like big kids!

On the tire swing even!

Because everyone knows that swings are fun!

Same Same, Different Different

Are they twins?



It gets asked a lot when we are out. James is really only a few inches shorter than his sister, and when they're sitting down it's actually hard to tell that she's longer and more gangly than he is.




They're alike in so many ways, that I kind of think they are de facto twins . . .

But then sometimes they are so different it's like they are little opposites of each other.


Maddie likes her cereal dry. Always.

James likes his with milk and a spoon. All is right with his world if he has cereal, milk, and spoon.


Maddie loves grape juice.

James loves orange juice.

Maddie will occasionally sample the orange juice but she says it's "too spice" and screws up her face in a horrifically comical manner. "Too spice" from the child that eats pickles for breakfast. Meanwhile, James will chug limeade straight. Go figure. He prefers the citrus based juices I guess.


Maddie prefers Little Einsteins

James prefers Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

This causes fights.


Madie loves to snuggle under blankets.

James hates sleeping with a blanket over him with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns.


Maddie's snacks on raw celery. James, not so much.

James snacks on raw brocolli. Maddie is horrified by this.


Luckily, in spite of their differences, they still love each other.


(blanket was for story time purposes only, after which it was kicked off)

Broccoli

This is how James spends our shopping trips.

He picks it out himself from the produce section.

It's not exactly clean, but far be it from me to stop him.

If I did he'd just throw a tantrum and fish it out of the bag when I'm not looking.



Occasionally people stop us and ask me how I get him to eat it.

I dunno. He just likes it.

But really, I think it should earn me some kind of parenting award.

However, unless you think I'm super granola mummy who magically convinces her children to only eat good, wholesome things . . .

I present to you . . .




Rocky Road cake pops.



Yum.

Balance is important in life, I think.

The Advent of Becca

Our friend Becca is visiting us for a month! The kids (and mommy and daddy) were excited out their minds about her coming for weeks before she actually got here. Every time someone would leave James would wig out thinking they were going to pick up Becca without him.

Becca sent Maddie and James a "Countdown to Becca" calendar. Or as I like to call it, a Becca Advent Calendar. It's almost like Christmas! (In a totally non-sacrilegious way).



Becca has been here for a week and we've been busy doing all sorts of fun Montana-y stuff. Here is Becca, Maddie, and James in Reeder's Alley in downtown Helena. Reeder's Alley was originally bachelor apartments for miners, and now it is cute little shops and restaurant.



Some friends from church (also originally from California) took us out Saturday on their boat and we went up the Missouri River through the Gates of the Mountain. Ah-maz-ing. Maddie looks pretty darn thrilled.



We drove up to a "ghost town" in the mountains called Rimini, it wasn't much of a town, or very ghosty, just some old buildings and a few newer houses, but there was a pretty awesome waterfall that we walked up to.



We went rainbow hunting in an afternoon thunderstorm, and we were rewarded with a double rainbow. This may be my new favorite picture of all time.



Here is to another week of fun!

Fabric Love

Looking for the e-book giveaway of Jennifer Becton's Absolute Liability? I am giving away 5 copies and there is still time to enter. Just go here or scroll down!

I've been thinking for awhile that I want to make Maddie and James quilts for their toddler beds. Having a young boy and girl in the same room presents some decorating challenges, but luckily Maddie is pretty tomboy-ish, so she doesn't insist on princess or pink. We are going with a sort of baseball/vintage/americana/country theme and I really want the predominate colors to be red and white (Go Angels). I've been looking and looking for a fabric line that I could use for both their quilts (as in not too girly), would coordinate with each other, and were predominately in red & white. No luck. But look what Sweetwater is coming out with!

This line is called Hometown and I think it is pretty much perfect! They have charm packs, fat quarters, and yardage for sale at the Fat Quarter Shop and I think I will be buying some! Cannot wait!

Flying

This is an actual conversation I had with Maddie yesterday.

Maddie: There goes bird flying with flapping wings.

Me: Yup

Maddie: I fly, I flap wings?

Me: No, you don't have wings, so you can't fly.

Maddie: (Sad face)

Me: Because we are human, humans can't fly, only in airplanes.

Maddie: But I be Tinkerbelle.

Me: But Tinkerbelle is a fairy, that is why she can fly, people can't fly.

Maddie: Oh! Idea! We get pixie dust. We get pixie dust we fly.

Me: (desperately trying not to laugh) That's a good idea but we don't have any pixie dust today.

Maddie: Ok, I go find pixie dust, bye!

Our Fourth of July - Instagram Style

Maddie Loves Rocky

I don't know why, but my three year old, Maddie, loves Rocky. Yes, Rocky. Rocky Balboa, the Italian Stallion, "Yo, Adrian." That Rocky.

She really thinks he is the bees knees. Not only will she sit and watch the movies, she requests them. She knows the difference between the sequels based upon the fighters featured. Rocky is first in her affections at the moment rivaled only by Christopher Reeve's Superman.

She's an odd little thing, I can't fully explain her.

I don't usually feature videos on my blog, and here I am two posts in a row with video! This is too awesome not to share though. The first time she did this we were totally flabbergasted, and couldn't quite get out the iPhone fast enough to record, then at the end she asked for it again, so we rewound the dvd and made sure we were ready with the camera. Amazingly she did it again!

Here for your entertainment is Maddie replicating the training montage from Rocky II.

My favorite parts? The attempted no handed push up and using the tv stand for pull ups. This is the kind of classic video I will one day be showing any boy she brings home.

Cupcakes and Carousels Party

Maddie's birthday party was a rousing success. She had a fabulous time, and so did (I am hoping) the eight other little girls in attendance.

I ran out of time to finish the purse goody bags, so I now have fourteen almost completed toddler purses and no idea what to do with them. Luckily, I was able to snag some plastic princess ones at Walmart on the way to the party and no one was the wiser.

I didn't end up with a lot of photos but here are some good ones via Instagram.

The party was at The Great Northern Carousel and they provided balloons . . .

Vintage Carousel Circus Horse Cupcake Toppers, you can buy the printable pdf from the gypsy factory on etsy . . . cupcakes by yours truly . . .

The birthday girl rides the carousel with Mommy . . .

James on the carousel, please excuse his bangs, there was an incident involving scissors . . .

I am calling this birthday party a success - Maddie won't remember all the little details that I wanted to get right and didn't find the time for, she will remember that we had a rockin' good time, rode us some carousel animals, and ate cupcakes that stained our teeth pink and purple.

In Which My Kid's Stage a Murder Scene

Otherwise known as "I don't make the news, I just report it."

I can't really explain this picture to you. I don't know why the toy car is turned over, I suppose it was involved in a wreck. I don't know why Barbie is a) naked and b) lying there at Maddie's feet. Speaking of Maddie's feet, I don't know why she is lying under the tree house climber. I also don't know why James is looming above them - but I do know his shadow looks so menacing because the sun was really, really bright that day.

All I do know is that I had to take a picture. And that the picture is best presented in black and white.

1-2-3 Ready, Set, Go!

Happy Birthday (a day late! We were having too much fun yesterday and I forgot to post) to my sweet, crazy, adventurous, loving, tough, silly, stubborn, perfect three year old girl.

We love you Maddie-Pants!

"Spring, Spring, Spring" Sang the Frog and a Winner!

I think we can officially say that it is spring!

So maybe we had some snow last Friday - but since then only lovely, gorgeous spring weather! Even when it rains it seems like you can always see at least a little bit of sun and blue sky . . . and when there is sun and rain you get insane rainbows like this:

Can you believe this sucker? And I am telling you the photo does not do it justice at all! We could see both ends where they touched the ground and it seemed like if we just walked up into the hills we would definitely find a pot of gold or two . . . it was so close!

Another sure sign that it is spring is that baseball season has started! Yippee!!!! And of course we had to have our famous opening day nachos! Yum!

Here is Maddie doing her best Vanna White with the official Melendez Family Opening Day Nachos Angels Plate (we got it at the kid's first ever game at the Big A, pretty sure James was about two months old):

And here are the nachos, yes, we make our own chips!

And because it is spring it is time to pick the winner of the spring fabric giveaway!

And the winner is the lovely Stephanie of Sand and Starfish! You lucky girl you!

I've sent you an email! Congrats!

Tangled!

Somebody is excited!

Tangled came out on DVD yesterday and Maddie couldn't be more thrilled! She and James both loved it when we saw it in the theater (more than once), we have the Tangled app on the iPhone so they can take their picture with Pascal and watch the trailer, and Maddie even got to meet Rapunzel at Disneyland a few months ago. The whole time we were in line Maddie kept calling "Apunzle, Apunzel, let down your hair!"

Our version of the movie came with a brush and comb, and Maddie has done everyone's hair - including James who has been very sweet to put up with the multiple hair stylings.

I have to admit that I love the movie as much as Maddie does, if you haven't seen it (and Mom, this means you!), I highly recommend that you do!