Sturm Haus

happy halloweeee... zzzzzzz

we started strong!

we worked hard

we took a break, then came back for a second round in the afternoon

we prepped for the big night

and then we set out to conquer the neighborhood!

(it was busy this year - the sidewalks were packed)

My daughter was so thrilled with the actuality of trick or treating -- "mom, I get more candy!" she would exclaim after every house, amazed at her good fortune -- that she didn't want to go home. Ever. But at 5 to 8, with Otto's flashlight leading the way down the dark sidewalk, she finally let me coax her back to the house.

Otto was such a sweetheart today. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and especially seemed to enjoy including Annabel in everything. She was his sidekick in class all morning, sitting next to him in his class circle, walking with him in the class parade, doing activities with him at his Halloween workshop (pumpking bowling was the best). Then he hung out with her class in the afternoon, walked with her for her own class parade, and cheerfully played preschool games until it was time to go home.

He even created his own prop rifle out of parts pirated from his Rokenbok crane.

It's safe to say they both enjoyed themselves. GREATLY.

Happy Halloween!

a little scrambled

Last week, in her usual chattering response to my question "so what did you do at school today?" Annabel confessed that she'd asked C to marry her but he told her "I'm busy playing." So she asked someone else, who just said no.

"Ah," I said. Good to know the boys in her class have their priorities straight.

She also made imaginary pumpkin soup and ate it with crackers (it was "delicious" she said, and was so convincing in her description that I had to ask her teacher if they'd made pumpkin soup for snack), and today when I picked her up she was dressing some dolls. She's been in a major domestic mode lately I guess. And I always hear about her day, her friends and activities and the weather.

I never hear things like this from Otto, so I kind of enjoy the stream of consciousness reporting.

Otto has, though, been curious lately about one of his friends who's an only kid. When we were pregnant with Bel, Otto assumed that every one of his friends would also be getting a younger sibling. And for a lot of his friends that seems to be true, except for one. This morning in the car he commented again that his friend didn't have a little sister. We talked about how families come in all shapes and sizes, went over how many kids are in my family and in Jon's family, etc. He gets it. But I think he just believes everyone should have a little sister, and if they don't, they're missing out.

Either that or he's just jealous that his friend never has to share LEGOs with a younger sibling, or listen to her cry at breakfast if he gets the green bowl and she has to use the white one, or have to read baby books during storytime before bed when he'd rather be reading a Clone Wars story.

He's a good egg, that Otto.

 

woof

Wow, do I miss having a dog...

I mean, I love Lilly and all - she's fun. She curls up next to me in the evening, demands petting every morning after my alarm goes off, and only sneaks out of the house about once a week. She enjoys terrorizing the children, too, which I'm afraid I find more amusing than worrisome (not that I would ever, ever indicate that by thought, word, or deed when it happens). She keeps us pleasantly on our toes.

But I think she needs a dog to terrorize, too.

This week our local humane society has been blasting every media outlet in town with the message that WE'RE FULL UP WE CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE PLEASE COME ADOPT A PET NOW TODAY NOW! There are cats in the hallway! Dogs sharing cages! Help!

Wednesday morning (or maybe Thursday? I forget) I happened to be listening to the radio station as they profiled their dog of the week. Here he is:

His name's Zander. He's a cutie, isn't he? He's good with small kids AND cats, and I'm sure he'll find a good home pretty easily.

He looks like a good walking companion. And I bet he'd be a great couch snuggler for those evenings when I'm snarking at Project Runway and drinking wine (2 glasses last night! What's up with that show, anway? They messed with it, and I really have to stop watching because it annoys me).

I bet he'd enjoy obedience classes, especially if I could talk Otto into being his training buddy.

Hmm... something to think about.

My kids have to be a bit older before we can take on a new furry one, though.

Until then I'll just have to keep imagining what the future fur-child will be like.

Odds are excellent that s/he will be a rescue, though, with a tale to tell. Don't you wonder what kinds of stories these dogs would tell, if they could?

I do.

fall in

Days are getting shorter shorter shorter here. The leaves are off our little maples in the back yard, and after a enjoying couple of weeks of gorgeous autumn weather, we're segueing into the damp-windy-cool portion of fall.

My car is usually dew-covered in the morning now. Today, as I shuffled out the kitchen door with various bags, Otto ran around to my car window and drew me a picture:

Then he buckled himself in, and we were off to school.

After he hopped out at the drop-off circle, Bel rearranged her dolls in the back seat (they have to sit up in between the two car seats), and finished her last few fruity Cheerios on the way to day care.

Where she happily modeled her hat and mittens:

I guess soccer tonight was rainy, but the kids were prepared with their jackets and mittens and layers. Just a couple of weeks left, and then I'll have to look into indoor soccer for winter -- Annabel is already asking. She really, really likes it.

Otto? Well, he likes it OK. But he's the kind of kid who gets caught daydreaming in the back field. Or rolling down the leaf-covered hill behind the goal rather than warming up.

I can relate. I've felt a little dreamy too, the past few weeks as we start settling in for winter. I swapped out the lightweight summer duvet for the thick fluffy winter one. We make hot cocoa for breakfast more often than smoothies, and read in front of the fireplace in the evening. Flannel jammies, sweaters, chili on the stove and pumpkin bread in the oven...

this is one time of year I don't like to rush

bet you didn't know that

Otto had a busy week this week.

Wednesday they had a school assembly for a program about bats. The presenter brought bats to show everyone, and they learned all about the flying little rodents.

Thursday the K-1 classes went to the apple orchard. I went along as a chaperone and drug my mom along too (she's been visiting this week). We arrived in the classroom about 15 minutes before departure time, ready to put on our nametags and be responsible.

Otto's teacher said, "Oh, I should show you Otto's bat poster." And she explained about the program, and laughed a little as she said "Otto wrote about Batman, and he had a little twinkle in his eye, so I think he knew what he was doing."

She pulled his poster out of the stack and I leaned over to check it out. The page was divided into 4 quadrants, each box with its own bat factoid and an illustration.

The first quadrant had "Bats like Batman" with a little crayon drawing of two bats.

The second had "Bats suck blood" (the illustration was appropriately gory).

The third, "Bats don't like robins."

And the fourth, "Bats eat fruit."

We got a good chuckle out of that, especially the bit about bats not liking robins. Later that evening I asked him about it and he explained with a big grin, "yeah! I made one side Batman and Robin, and the other side all bats!"

The spelling was creative. But every square had both a drawing and a fact, something he wouldn't/couldn't have done last year. When his work comes home at the end of the week, his worksheets are all done. He was worried about math a couple of weeks ago - not that it was too hard, but that his worksheets weren't as advanced as some of the other kids'. And he's been reading on his own more and more. Last week I brought home the Kit Feeny graphic novels, thinking we'd read them together at bedtime. Instead I keep catching him curled up, book in hand, working his way through the story on his own.

Soccer is still going fine, and he's been warming up to Cub Scouts -- having one-on-one time with Daddo is a good motivator. He even wore a golf shirt today for picture day without protest, and picked Ocean Blue for his background color.

So far, first grade is pretty great. And apples make great hats.