Sturm Haus

shoesapalooza

Otto has never been that excited about shoes. I have to work to get him into new tennis shoes, and dress shoes? forget it.

His little sister, though, is a big fan of cute shoes (I have no idea where she gets it). We were in a department store last weekend looking for shoes for Jon, and she and I wandered over to see what the kids department had to offer. There on the display rack Bel saw a pair of the sparkly-est, pinky-est, little-girly-est shoes you ever done seen, and while I was holding her on my hip she managed to lean over and rip off her brown suede mary jane with one hand while grabbing for the sparkly tennis shoe with the other. I had to move fast to save that shoe from being permanently appropriated by my daughter. If she was old enough for a Santa list, those shoes would be on it.

Any given morning, I pick from about 3 pair of little shoes for Bel. Otto, on the other hand, spends several minutes looking for the single pair of Transformers tennis shoes he'll deign to wear.

Lately he's started calling for them. "Shoooes," he'll call, oh so nicely. "Oh shooooes," he yodels while wandering across the living room.

"Did you check by the couch?" I'll shout from upstairs while I'm trying to get Bel to sit still long enough to tie shoelaces. Invariably, the answer to that is no. "Shoooooes," he'll call as he drifts into the kitchen.

He never seems surprised that calling for them doesn't work. Instead he's happily surprised when I come downstairs and say "there Otto, right by the couch/door/table, do you see them?"

That's one reason I know he's going to love this video by Sandra Boynton. The other is that both my kids adore Boynton books -- who doesn't? She's clever and funny and her books always make us smile. The first book Otto "read" was Blue Hat, Green Hat. Annabel has inherited all his Boynton board books and loves them just as much. This video will make them both giggle.

I must admit, when I think of Christmas day, I dream of spending the day in our jammies, NO SHOES REQUIRED.

Sandra Boynton's ONE SHOE BLUES starring B.B. King

a poem for the season

American Life in Poetry: Column 248
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006

Many if not all of us have had the pleasure of watching choruses of young people sing. It’s an experience rich with affirmation, it seems to me. Here is a lovely poem by Tim Nolan, an attorney in Minneapolis.

At the Choral Concert

The high school kids are so beautiful
in their lavender blouses and crisp white shirts.

They open their mouths to sing with that
far-off stare they had looking out from the crib.

Their voices lift up from the marble bed
of the high altar to the blue endless ceiling

of heaven as depicted in the cloudy dome—
and we—as the parents—crane our necks

to see our children and what is above us—
and ahead of us—until the end when we

are invited up to sing with them—sopranos
and altos—tenors and basses—to sing the great

Hallelujah Chorus—and I’m standing with the other
stunned and gray fathers—holding our sheet music—

searching for our parts—and we realize—
our voices are surprisingly rich—experienced—

For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth—
and how do we all know to come in

at exactly the right moment?—Forever and ever—
and how can it not seem that we shall reign

forever and ever—in one voice with our beautiful
children—looking out into all those lights.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2008 by Tim Nolan from his most recent book, The Sound of It, New Rivers Press, 2008, by permission of the author and publisher. First printed in Ploughshares, Winter 2007-2008. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

interview with a preschooler

Otto and I sat down last night with the Flip for a little interview about his day. Check out Mr. Charming:

Isn't he the cutest?

Tonight he was spouting off French at the dinner table - the little French rhyming/counting song I learned ages ago in high school from Madam Steele. Must get video of that, next!

favorite things

I love Etsy. Really, I do. I curate my Etsy favorites lists the way some of my colleagues curate archival collections. This year, the holiday shopping has been especially good. Don't you agree?

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade sturm95.etsy.com

Otto and his classmates went singing at a retirement home today. The highlight for him was evidently the bus ride, because when I asked how it went, this is what I heard: There were three buses! And he rode on the Big Kid bus!

I asked how many songs they sang and he said "oh, just a couple." From the photos it looks like he behaved pretty well, and I'm sure he sang more than "just a couple" of tunes. But I think the excitement of a third bus short-circuited his memory (they own 2, so must've rented one).

Annabel and I visit the doctor tomorrow for her 18 month checkup, when we get to see how big she's gotten. Her clothes are mostly 24 mo./2T size now so they go over/around her tummy comfortably. She such a sweetheart - into absolutely everything right now, but a sweetheart.

The tree smells great tonight... we really should finish putting decorations on. The lights look good though!

evergreen

I have a very important job around here. See, I'm the one who organizes tree-shopping outings. I like a fresh tree -- one we've cut ourselves in a lot near home. It smells great and the tree stays fresh for weeks. Jon grumbles about this every year. "Can't we get an artificial tree?" he teases. "It would be so easy!" 

"NO!" say I. This is my familial duty, to hold the line and insist upon a fresh-cut tree.

From the great tree hunt Then there's the adventure aspect. Is there anything sweeter than traipsing through a snowy field looking for the perfect specimen? I don't think so -- to me, that's half the fun of a Christmas tree.

Last year we tried buying a tree from a local fellow. It was a nice enough tree, but this year we went back to the local tree farm. It's family-owned, and they provide nifty little wagons to haul your tree back to the car.

From the great tree hunt

We've learned to come prepared. Jon brought his work gloves and his own saw, because the saws at the cut-your-own places are always dull. We took the Subaru with its tree-friendly roof rack and some bungee cords. We wore boots (well, Otto and I wore our boots), layers, winter coats, hats, mittens, gloves. Tree hunting is cold work!

From the great tree hunt

We pulled in and parked with the rest of the Tree Brotherhood (many, many, many of the Brotherhood drive Subarus, like us), hopped out, assessed the wagon situation and ignored the tractor ride. Tractor rides are for less adventurous folk - we felt like striking out on foot.

It was a beautiful, clear, sunny, crisp afternoon, and the tree farm was hopping. We settled the kids on the wagon and headed in. (if you click the picture below, you can hear Annabel say "whoa!")

From the great tree hunt

We scouted the field, zeroed in on our first likely prospect. And then Jon (that artificial-tree-lover), pointed off to the next row. "How about that one?" he asked. He'd found the Frasier Firs, my favorites.

From the great tree hunt

With a wee one in the house, we decided to buy a shorter tree this year so that we could put it on a table, up away from Miss Grabby Hands (as Otto and I lovingly call her). We found a sweet little tree with a nice, round shape and no gaping holes.

From the great tree hunt

And this is one of the ways I know my husband really, truly loves me. Every winter, after complaining about getting a real tree, he helps me pick one out, and then lies in the snow to cut it down.

From the great tree hunt

And then we're off! Back to the shed with the tree-shaking machine and the warm little office where we write a check. Back to the icy road where we maneuver the car into place and tie the tree on top. Back home where we mount the tree in its stand and give it a big drink.

From the great tree hunt

I can relax now, my duty done. Our house smells like fresh fir, and Otto can't wait to string the lights. I'm starting to feel truly Christmasy now...

Santa!

It took us a couple of tries, but Otto did sit with Santa and tell him what he wanted for Christmas. Here he is holding Santa's keys (to the Workshop? to the reindeer barn? Santa didn't say).

We got home last night and I asked him to describe Santa for his dad.

"Well, he had a long white beard, and two black boots, just like me!"

After that we looked at Christmas ornaments and Christmas decorations and all sorts of Christmas gear. Annabel saw an oversized Elmo and screeched, "MO!" She loves "Mo."

(In fact, we are reading Elmo's 12 Days of Christmas as I type)

all that shopping was tiring

After Bronner's, we stopped at the Kohl's in Brighton and took advantage of their 3-day Christmas sale. I stocked up on basics for the kids' wardrobes (and even on sale, boy, that's getting pricey). Mom found several nice Christmas presents. And the kids had a good time checking out all the toys on display. They were both so great yesterday! We really had fun.

I'll get Bel's Santa pic from mom this weekend (snapped a photo of her mid-kick and cry).

Today I work, and tonight we make cookies for tomorrow's cookie exchange party at Deb's. We're making a recipe from the Martha Stewart Cookies cookbook -- chocolate cookies with a marshmallow filling and chocolate frosting on top.

As Annabel would say, Mmmmmm.

related much?

Otto, August 2006 (19 months)

Annabel, now (17 months)

This cracks me up. So different, and yet so alike!

Tomorrow we (mom, me and the kids) are going up to what shall henceforth be known as Christmas Town (Frankenmuth) to see that store of Christmas Wonder (Bronner's) and do a little Christmas Shopping along the way.

I have begged use of the Prius from the Man of the House, which he has graciously granted.

As he should. Tomorrow they're "team building" at work, which is a lot more fun than it might sound. Past "team building" activities have included bowling and booze, so let's just say I'm not expecting him for dinner. If I weren't taking tomorrow off, I'd be leaving early to perform child pick-up duty, so it's all working out nicely.

I'm quite looking forward to our day up north, anyway. Hooray! Christmas!

one of those things

I'm having one of those weeks at work... you know, where you wonder what the heck you're doing? Things have been in transition lately, so some uncertainty is only to be expected. I'm doing my best to keep up and stay up, but it's tiring, and most days I just think I'm doing a sucky job.

And then this morning I looked at my children and thought, "when did THIS happen?" I handed Otto his toothbrush, and I swear his hands are a size bigger than they were last week. I put Bel's shoes on and her feet seem to have gotten longer overnight.

On top of it all, someone I see regularly through work keeps expressing amazement at what I read. Evidently librarians are only supposed to read the weightiest, most highly-reviewed, serious, NYTimes-approved literature. We've had variations of this conversation in the past, where she says "I guess I just like things that are more substantial."

Tonight I said, "well, I don't think what I read is necessarily insubstantial." She freely admits that she doesn't read the same things I do, so really can't judge, and I find it frustrating that it keeps coming up as a topic of conversation. I don't think anyone should have to defend their reading choices, not even me.

My children are growing faster than I can keep up with, the uglier bits of my job just won't go away, and my private reading is under attack because I don't read like a thwarted English professor.

And they wonder why I read "to escape"...

Iowa

The kids are having a good time at Nana's house. Otto pretty much gets unlimited TV here, which he finds thrilling. So thrilling that he told me this morning he didn't want to go anywhere, and that I had to stay here all day to take care of him and Annabel. (He also just informed me that Nana's house is the perfect house because it has two TVs.) Nana and Poppy's house is also entertaining because it has those ergonomic rocker switches for lights, and Otto will stand in the hall and gently press the switch, feeling out the spot where it goes from on to off, over and over. He finds it entertaining, Poppy less so.  

Annabel would be amenable to going out, though she's also having a good time -- climbing up and down the stair case and tormenting her brother. This morning she was up at 6:30, thrashing around on her little inflatable bed like a fish flopping on shore. I begged Jon to get up with her, and when he got out of bed she sat straight up and said cheerfully, "Hi!". She then spent the next 3 hours eating various bits and bites. She's been a bottomless pit this weekend - two pieces of pumpkin pie, a couple squares of gingerbread, turkey and potatoes and pasta and bananas and apple sauce, eggs, toast - it all gets an "mmmmm" rating from Bel.

She has twice this weekend gone into the bathroom, stood by the potty, and indicated she wants to sit there. I have obliged, and she seems to think it's an amusing procedure. Undress, sit, dress, wash hands... We will pull out the trusty old potty seat when we get home, and see how things go. Seems she's on the fast track, which is just fine with us.

Tonight we're having Jon's birthday dinner -- rather than make him cake, I'm thinking about making him a giant chocolate chip cookie cake. The kids can help. I let Annabel help stir gingerbread mix last night, and she got her hands into it and was taste-testing. A bitmessy, but again, fun.

Right now I'm going to enforce some outdoors run-around time, and then we'll work on making a birthday card for Daddy(o) and the cookie cake.

I don't think we're going to want to go home tomorrow. 

Sigh.

fresh start

We had a fun weekend with Otto's class mascot, High Tops.

We wrote in the journal every night.

And Otto didn't really want to take him back today, but I reassured him that he'd get to see High Tops at school during the week.

Plus I printed extra pictures of the two of them so that Otto has a few for his room.

That made him feel better.

Annabel is SO DONE with the Wobbler room. She's forgotten all about it. Now we walk in and she heads straight for circle time with Miss Nancy. I was lucky I got her jacket off her this morning before she made a beeline for Miss H's lap. I didn't get a hug or smooch goodbye this morning, either. She was TOO. BUSY. for any of that.

Seems she's ready to give up sippy cups, too. Check out big girl drinking her milk:

DUCF this year was crazy crowded and busy, full of a lot of great handmade stuff to buy. We found a few things, one Christmas gift and some wearables for the kids. I collected an impressive stack of business cards, too, of the vendors I liked. All of them have virtual store-fronts, most of them at Etsy. I enjoy the whole handmade vibe, and I think it's fun to buy things from the people who made them.

Otto carried High Tops through the crowd on his shoulders (he kept saying, "I have 2 eyes!" meaning "I have 2 sets of eyes!"), and I carried Annabel on my back in the Ergo. She had a good time -- when she'd get a little bored, she'd just reach out and touch the person standing next to us (remember? crowded?) and start a little conversation. I'd realize people were talking at me, turn my head, and see that it was because Bel had a hand on their shoulder or was grinning at them. Hey, at least she's friendly, right?

crowd to the left, crowd to the right

So everyone enjoyed themselves, and we finished our daytrip into the city by driving around a little bit and looking at the skyscrapers. Despite the empty storefronts and beat-up buildings and streets, you can see how beautiful Detroit was in its heyday. It's beautiful now, it's just hard to see under the urban decay. I have faith that it'll reinvent itself. If there's anything this city has, it's staying power.

This week I have an important question to answer... what to make for Thanksgiving?

• In the past, I have been the Cranberry Chess Pie lady.
• I also make a mean loaf of cranberry nut bread.
• Or I could flex my super shopping muscles and pick up some gingerbread mix at Trader Joe's.

What do you think Heather should take to Iowa as her contribution to the feast of turkey?