santa

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we took a trip downtown to see Santa Claus.  This is the first time we have visited him and done the traditional sit on the lap for the picture scenario.  In years past we have seen him at various Christmas events and there was that one awkward run in at The Home Depot but we had never made a special outing.  This year Eloise seemed like she was ready and excited.  She totally believes in Santa Claus, as she should, being a four year old.  I hope that I can preserve the magic for a few more years at least.  What I mean is, I hope she doesn't walk in on her dad putting together a dollhouse that her sister receives 'from Santa' the next morning.  Sorry, Dad, I do still blame you after all these years.

We went down to Macy's (really, Marshall Field's) on State Street to view the traditional Christmas windows that they create every year.  This year they consisted of amazing paper sculptures telling the story of "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".  The story is printed on the outside of the windows so it is fun to read it to the little ones while they stand in front of the giant displays that have brought the story to life.

Let me go on record as saying that I am not a fan of Macy's in any way.  I have so many gripes with that company but that is another post entirely.  I will say, however, that the State Street store is amazing.  Beautiful architecture, beautiful decorations, beautiful windows.  On the 5th floor they have Santaland and guess what you find there, folks?

We waited in line for 45 minutes to see Santa.  By 'we', I mean I waited while my sister, Gretchen, disappeared with Eloise who upon her return was wearing a new sparkly headband, carrying a new purse, and holding 6 pairs of Hello Kitty socks.  Aunts are awesome.

As we got closer and closer to meeting Santa I could tell Eloise was freaking out a little bit and not in a good way.  She has a tendency to build things up in her head and she was getting nervous.  I said we would still go in and if she didn't want to talk to him she could just wave and leave.  That seemed to calm her down a little.  We also tried to distract her by taking 432 pictures while in line.

Finally our turn came to see the Big Guy and she was really shy.  He was perfectly nice except he kept calling her Ellie ( she found this unsettling and worried he might deliver her presents to the wrong person).  She stayed very close to me and DID NOT want to sit on Santa's lap.  Frankly, I'm fine with this.  So...my kid doesn't want to sit on some stranger's lap no matter how jolly he is and even if he gives her a peppermint and a button. Totally cool with that.  She managed to utter one thing on her list.  He asked what she would like this year and she quietly said "the head".  I'm sure he knew that she was talking about a lifesize doll's head that had hair that she could style and makeup she could paint on its face.  He knew that, right?

Santa seems to have put some magical spell on Eloise because she has no memory of being scared or uneasy or uncomfortable.  She talks about Santa like they are the best of friends and can't wait until he comes to her house in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve.  She even flip flopped on the whole 'Ellie' thing and later told her dad that Santa had come up with the silliest nickname for her--"because that what friends do, you know".

state street that great street

macy's windows with aunt gretchen

notice the death grip she has on my coat

pulled it together for a photo

came home to write her list

(I have no idea where the barbie obsession 

came from.  we have none.)

carla's magic drum

This past weekend marked the debut of Eloise's musical, Carla's Magic Drum.  It was awesome.

A few months ago I came across a class called Musical Theater at The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.  It sounded right up her alley but Mike suggested I first tell her about it and see if she would be interested.  The next morning,  I told her about this class called Musical Theater and it is twelve weeks long and you go with other kids and learn a musical and perform it at the end.  I could barely finish my sentence before she interrupted with, "I wonder what part I will play?"
So...I guess you're interested then?

I knew that it would be fun for her but it far exceeded my expectations.

Every week I dropped her off for one hour and left her in the capable hands of two women that deserve a special place in heaven for what they do.  Miss Julia and Miss Diane wrote the original show and all the songs and taught it to 3 and 4 year olds!  They were the most patient women and treated all the kids equally regardless of ability or talent.  They just seemed to be filled with joy and they made it so much fun for the kids.

Not only did the kids perform the show, they also made most of their props and costumes.  I really loved that aspect of the program because it gave them a chance to show their individuality and creativity in other ways.  Some weeks they worked in the art room and made animal masks, cardboard pizzas, spacesuits out of duct tape, and rainbow streamers.  Does that list of items make the plot of this show sound crazy or what?  It was perfect for this age group.

The day of the show arrived and all her fans (Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Vicki, Oma, and us) were in the audience and so excited.  Eloise was playing Carla, "the main character", as she put it, and she was not one bit nervous.  She knew all of her own role and then seemed to be 'directing' the other kids as well.  I saw a couple quick hand motions to the other kids telling them where to go and what to do. I know she was devastated when Lucas would not stand up at the right time or when Gray stepped on her line a little bit but the show must go on!

 I just loved watching all the kids and their own interpretations of the words and the songs and the dances.  I was very impressed.  I'm not sure who got more joy out of this show, the performers or the audience.  I think I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time.

We will definitely do this again next year for the 5-6 year old group.  In fact, before we had even left the building, she was talking about what part she would have in the next show.

 We headed home with our little star for an Afterglow Reception and that's where her dream day continued.  After asking 100 times, she was finally allowed to set up a face painting booth and left her mark on all of her guests.
She was buzzing with excitement for days.

carla and her drum

duct tape space suit

with her teachers, in  her deer mask

celebratory hot cocoa and applesauce cake

sign for booth

grandpa getting a snake

singing pizza planet

*

that's fall

Years and years ago we saw one of the best shows at Second City that I can remember.  In one of the sketches there was a guy raking leaves and he was talking to another guy. (which I just realized those guys are now these guys). He had a really thick Boston accent and every time they would come to a pause in their conversation he would say, "That's fall".

For some reason that stupid line stuck with me and Mike for years now and we say it all the time to indicate something's awesomeness or perfection and really having nothing to do with autumn whatsoever.  For instance, Mike will take a drink of an ice water that has been sitting for a bit and has just that perfect amount of sweat dripping off the glass and the water is so delicious because it's Illinois tap water, and after a long sip he'll say, "That's fall".

The reference in this post, however, is all about it really being fall.  We are in the midst of a beautiful fall season here with the crisp, but not too cold temperatures, crystal clear, sharp blue skies, and leaves in the most beautiful tones barely clinging to the branches for dear life.

The trees in the back yard are just gorgeous right now.  Everything is bathed in gold.  A few more weeks of that and then--poof!--they'll all be bare.  We like to take advantage of the fallen leaves every year by doing some little crafties with them.   This year Eloise and I went on a leaf hunt and made collages on clear contact paper with what we collected.  (Just cut 2 pieces of the same size of contact paper.  Stick on the leaves in any arrangement and then cover them with the second sheet of paper. Press it together and smooth out any air bubbles, or leave them in, what the hell.)  Hanging on the glass doors in the back they let us enjoy  those beautiful hues for many more weeks.

We really enjoy fall around our house.  I think we feel like it is our last chance to hang on to that precious outdoor time that remains before the long, long, long winter comes.  It will be here soon.  We have already cleared out and cleaned up the garden for the season, put away all the toys, and gathered up the hoses and rain barrels.  I think we're pretty much set for a long winter's nap.

Now, if I could just teach Harriet how to use the rake.

beautiful golden view from the back door

our little leaf tamper

leaf project

finished collages

wouldn't be fall without watching the Bears on Sundays

yes, she is naked and 

yes, she peed on his leg shortly 

after this picture was taken.

that's fall.

costco

If you have had at least 3 conversations with me then, chances are, one of them has been about Costco.  I was probably extolling the virtues of Costco and trying to convince you to get a membership and get shopping.

I love and appreciate their top notch customer service, their 'no questions asked' return policy and the variety of items that they stock for bourgeois bohemians.  I love that they pay some of the best wages and benefits in their industry, treat their employees well and cap all their markups at 14% across the board.

We probably shop there every couple of weeks and there are things that we always get (olive oil, nuts, diapers, toilet paper, wine, salsa...) and then there are new things that we discover each time (magazines!!!).  I don't feel like I go that much but on career day last year, Eloise did tell her class that my job was "cooking and going to Costco".  Could be worse, I guess.

Costco rarely disappoints, but today was just not a good day for the warehouse and me.  I thought we could run over quickly in between Harriet's nap and lunch time, make a return, grab a couple things and be on our way.  I was mistaken.

On our way over in the car I realized that I had forgotten my shopping list.  I knew this would mean aimless wandering around and wasted time.  I still trudged ahead.  When we got there and I remembered that the carts are the double wide kind and Eloise could finally fulfill her wish of sitting up top next to Harriet, I knew that she would be thrilled.  She was, and the two of them looked so cute sitting there I had to take a couple pictures.

We had to make the return first and for some reason it took forever.  I mean FOREVER.  We were just waiting and waiting and waiting and the girls were getting fussy and I was getting bitchy and we were running out of time to still shop and drive home and avoid a 'fall asleep' in the car.  I just kept promising them that once we finished the return we could go over to the kids books and pick one that they could read in the cart.

Once we were finally finished with the return Harriet was full on crying but I put in her paci and thought we could buy some time.  Two minutes later I saw that she had dropped her paci and when I looked behind us on the ground to retrieve it I was met with, I kid you not, a giant Zamboni-like street sweeper being ridden through the aisle and, from what I could tell, directly over Harriet's recently discarded pacifier.  What the hell?  I have never ever seen one of those in there before, let alone at noon on a Friday when the store is filled with hundreds of people.  I only had the one paci. Now it was gone.

We finally make it to the books and Eloise points to the one she wants to read to Harriet and Harriet seems excited at the idea.  Eloise holds it in her lap and opens the cover of the book.  The corner of it, that seems sharp enough to circumcise a gnat,  pokes Harriet in the eye and continues a long slow scrape down her cheek.  She does that kind of silent cry at first when her face is just so pained, mouth open, eyes squeezed shut,  but she can't make a sound because she hasn't been able to take a breath yet.  I brace myself and then, there it is, the most blood curdling, shriekiest, most pathetic cry you have ever heard.  I unbuckle her and take her out of the cart to hold and comfort her and survey the damage.    Meanwhile, I am trying to steer the double wide cart, now with one hand,  and trying to squeeze past another shopper.  I bump right into him smashing Eloise's fingers in between the two carts.

I now have two crying  screaming kids howler monkeys and people are full on staring.  I was totally prepared for eye rolls or sighs but a lady nearby said, "Oh, I remember those days. Hang in there, mom".  See?  Even the customers at Costco are awesome.

We left.  We purchased nothing but will, of course be back soon for a much less disastrous trip, hopefully.  The best part was in the car on the 20 minute drive home.  Harriet took a break from her continuous crying and I could hear Eloise say in this baby-talky sing-songy voice, "You're just having kind of a bad day today aren't you, little one?"  Yes.  We are.

before the mayhem

future Costco members

word games

The other day I found a pad of post-it notes with lines on them like a little legal pad.  I seriously love post-it notes and wanted to use them for something fun.  I remembered a scene from one of my favorite movies, The Color Purple, and was inspired.  We got to work playing a new little game.

"What's it Called?"  is basically sitting around on a Sunday morning, drinking coffee, and having my 4 year old, who is learning to read and write, label different things in the house.  Or more specifically, label anything I can see from where I am sitting on the couch.  This is a parent-sits-in-one-spot game, my favorite kind.
Mike and I took turns picking things, giving clues or hot/cold hints and once she guessed what it was she had to write the name of it and stick on the label.  This was a fun activity for all, except maybe Harriet who got labeled, simply, "baby".  Nettie and Celie would be so proud.

here is the scene from The Color Purple

our version 

working on a label

nothing could escape a post-it