Star Bright

You cannot see it, Brigade, but Our Birdie was wearing a shirt with stars all over it.

There is a children's bookstore in St. Paul where Julie took Clara two consecutive weekends in early December--we have been meaning to report--for author reading and book signing events.  The first Saturday, Clara was the only child present, so she got an intimate reading from Alison McGhee of McGhee's latest for children, Star Bright: A Christmas Story, which retells the story of Christ's birth in modern, accessible language.  Then, McGhee signed Clara's copy.

Julie had forgotten that the main character in one of McGhee's books for older readers, Shadow Baby, is named Clara. So, McGhee too still more special notice of Our Clara, and then was charmed by Birdie, who held her own with this adult (and relative stranger) with aplomb. Julie was charmed because McGhee, of whose work she has long been a fan,* was charmed. Julie even tweeted her first (instead of just following) and Alison--surely Julie can call her Alison?!?!--tweeted back! Alison wrote, "It was my pleasure to meet you and the lovely Clara yesterday! What a treat to have a one-on-one reading. :)"  A treat indeed.

Afterward, the Birds walked down the block and had more treats: brownies and water (Clara) and ice tea (Julie, and Clara--a few sips). Stars, bright, in eyes, all the way round.

The following weekend we saw Kate DiCamillo, author of the Mercy Watson series, the first chapter books Our Hero read on his own. Dicamillo is perhaps better known for other works or even her current role as the national children's literature ambassador or some such. She is, also, incidentally, friends with Alison McGhee! DiCamillo and Alison (!) both live in the Twin Cities. Julie believes that Alison is the friend who likes toast "with a great deal of butter," as Mercy Watson does (and really, probably, everyone?).  Joe was too sick to go (this would be the weekend of the onslaught of the cold the became the ear infection the following weekend), but the Birds went. If you want to know the truth, Fans, it was a wee bit miserable. Not because of DiCamillo! She seems like good fun. But she is well known and it was the day of an annual holiday street fair so it was quite crowded  in the independent children's bookseller. But the Birds heard DiCamillo read and had a book signed for Clara, and for Joe. Then, they walked down the block and had sweet treats, water, and iced tea again.

In spite of the crowds, it was lovely.

*McGhee is a local author who gained national attention when Shadow Baby was selected by the Today show for its book club, back when every show on TV was making like Oprah and launching a book club. It also won the Pulitzer Prize. Julie loved that book and everything else McGhee has written that she's read, which is almost everything, especially her novels for older readers. Here ends the unabashed plug for (the talented--and lovely!) Alison McGhee.

Watch Words

This notice of an overdue book from the library at Joe's school arrived the week before the winter break. We thought you might also be amused by the book's title, Fans.

The Letter Game

Also from the entertainment files, while at the Grandparents Trump's, we played several rounds of The Letter Game around the dinner table. Longtime Fans may recognize this game as the one in which players in turn name words beginning with the letter selected by one of the players.  (When you hang with dorks you must roll like a dork!)  It is fun to hear the bambini's respectively emerging vocabularies. Someone--Joe or Clara--picked V, a groan-inducing letter that proved a surprisingly rich vein. (Oh no they didn't! Oh yes, we did, Fans. We did.)

That's Entertainment! | Here We Come A Wassailing and Laughing All the Way

The return trip.  "Red" packed to the brim!

We drove to Chicago which means we needed to entertain ourselves for at least two seven-hour stretches without driving off the road. On the way down to the Grandparents Trump's this meant Joe trying to sight read both music and lyrics from a book of Christmas carols sent by the bambini's Great Aunt Susie and Great Uncle Les. Maestro Joseph was quite taken with Deck the Halls, and really, what's not to love with its repetitive but rousing fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la (that's eight la-s! la!!!) refrain? At one point, Julie explained that "don we now our gay apparel" meant "put on our party clothes" and Joe substituted that phrase right in instead of "don we now our gay apparel."

The bambini are also trying to figure out how to tell jokes and the way back home provided this exchange which typifies Joe's still-oft propensity for mistakenly giving away the punch line and Clara's for making unintended jokes by missing entirely the subtlty on which they so often depend:

Joe: Mommy! A cowboy named Friday rides out Friday and back on Friday. How is this possible??? And the horse is named Friday.

Julie: [beat] I think you just told me how it's possible: the horse is named Friday!

Clara: Hey! What if the cowboy is named Friday and the horse is named Tuesday?!

Ted: I love your jokes Clara.

Joe: What about my jokes?

Ted: Yours, too.

A Merry Little Christmas

Fans! We are back--with a three video post!--from Chicago and environs where we celebrated Christmas with the Grandparents Trump, and our tenth wedding anniversary with the help of the Grandparents Trump. They watched the bambini while we spent three days and nights in Chicago where Ted shot this short clip from the window of our hotel room.

And here is a video shot by stringer cameraman Grandpa Charles after we'd gotten off the train upon our return from the city. Turn it up or listen close to hear how Birdie Girl sometimes makes like To Kill A Mockingbird's Scout and calls close adult relatives only by their first names. And what a sweet, make-your-heart-burst welcome from our two dear little heroes.

Santa found them at their Grandparents Trump's house, though the doll house he gave to Clara he left in Minnesota. Clever Santa! He correctly hedged that this miniature mansion would not fit in our car what with all the other gifts the bambini received from their legion adoring Fans. (See first moments with it here.)  Christmas morning outtakes can be seen below, together with pictures of the cookies the bambini decorated for Santa. (You might be amused to note the gender of certain of these gingerbread people by the unwitting, but careful, placement of gumdrops and other decorative flair by Our Hero. You need not be keen-eyed to do so.) 'Tis the season for merry making!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Bambini, post-show

Joe was on the upswing last Sunday afternoon when we went to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas at the Minneapolis Children's Theater. It's on the short side, so it was just the thing, and our seats were in a row just four seats long, stage left, lower balcony. The bambini were on the edges of their seats.  Joe was gripping the rail, and had his face pressed to it, his eyes peering up over it.  Would the Grinch bring back Christmas?!?! The relief was visible when he did.  After it was over, Julie waited with the bambini for the house to clear while Ted got the car, so that the bambini could check out the orchestra pit.  Biride was full of questions for the usher tasked with making sure no one took pictures inside the theater or went up on the stage: how did the people get out of there [the orchestra pit]? Where were they now? What about the other people [the actors]? Where were they? Why did we need tickets? Brigade, we can only say this usher was A+ at her job.  After the show, we drove home by way of the chain of lakes, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show house!  And Fans, we discovered it's for sale!  Julie posed in front of it and made a slightly embarrassed Ted take her picture like she was a tourist in want of a hat to toss in the air.  You only go around once.  The Grinch knew it, too.

We're gonna make it after all!

Baby, It's Colds Inside

Saturday morning, Getting-Sick Julie and Already-Sick Joe, in Joe's first almost-a-selfie. (He was fascinated.)

Since last we left you, we have been enjoying unseasonable warmth here in the North Star State.  But we have had colds aplenty at the White House. Joe spent most of last weekend racked out on the couch in his pajamas, but he would have periods of spark so we suspected a virus rather than an infection.  The Bird are now both sniffling.  Julie, in particular, is wrecked.  Ted alone has escaped.

Joe stayed home from school last Monday and by that afternoon, his fever had well and truly broken.  But this Saturday morning found him curled up next to Julie, hot and sweaty, with no discernible spark, and not at all interested in watching one of his recorded shows. The bambini are only allowed to watch TV on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and so weekend days typically begin with an hour-long Wild Kratts, Cat in the Hat, Curious George, or Super Why! watching binge. It was not to hear Curious George chirping away, but we knew something was up. A Saturday sick-visit to the pediatrician's office (where we saw one of Our Beloved Dr. Harrington's colleagues) confirmed that Our Hero's left ear was infected and the ear drum had perforated.  He is on oral antibiotics and topical antibiotic drops and by now, you'd never guess he was too wiped to watch Wild Kratts just 48 hours ago.

All the White House Girls on the couch Saturday evening.

The Bambini Shake It Off

As Super Fan Great Aunt Janie noted in one of her last comments, St. Louis Park's got talent. That talent has been on vivid display especially since Taylor Swift released her new CD. There was a streak when, following bath or shower time, the bambini would want to shake it off, to Taylor's Shake It Off.  You can see the act here.  It is another lengthy clip, but there are delights throughout. Joe has but one move, but knows most of the words though he   not belting them at this particular taping. Birdie has more moves and, shall we say, a knack for the sensational. Super Fans Aunt Kate and Uncle Scott and Grandma Connie might be the tiniest bit freaked out at the end and think, "Why are we still filming??? Why haven't we set the phone down?!?!" Super Fans, we can only say the train has left the station: what Clara does is one of Joe's favorite things to do and there is no stopping the J-Train.

Rockin' In Front of the TV

Here is a much, much shorter video, shot last night while the soup we were having for dinner cooked. The bambini had changed into their pajamas and we're dancing and singing, using the TV as a mirror.  Or rather Clara was singing. That is, in fact, one thing to note: she sings a stream-of-consciousness narration while her band mate-sidekick rocks out mute.  Loop it and pretend like you're here Fans!  (Berenice Fans should watch for cameo appearances.)

Our Hero as Guest Reader

When Julie saw this picture, she thought that Joe looked like the Big Man on Campus.  "Hey, Kids.  I'm a first grader.  This could be you one day.  Stay in school."

Our Hero did not have school yesterday. Ted stayed home with him and, among other things, took Joe to Clara's pre-K class in the afternoon where Joe was the guest reader. Guest readers can select their own material. Joe selected The Polar Express. Our copy was a gift from Fan Great Aunt Janie and her family when Joe was Itty bitty and Birdie wasn't yet even here. The Polar Express is in heavy rotation right now because it is Joe's go-to pick if we are reading anytime before bedtime, of then but altogether instead of separate.

It was a somewhat bold choice, however seasonally appropriate, because it is lengthy, and awkward to hold while reading aloud such that the pictures might be seen by a group in front of the reader. This poster was not there to see it but our stringer in the field reports that Our Hero was amazing! Clara's teachers were very impressed. Clara and her friends were dazzled--after they shifted to the right to see the pictures. You can see the whole event here. (Advanced notice: the video is 11 minutes long.)

The Right-Now

Fans. Are you still there? We are here, despite all evidence to the contrary. And we will catch you up on all manner of news soon. For now, we plunge into the right-now to share back-to-back funny moments from tonight's tuck-in time.

Of late, when possible, have been reading to the bambini separately. Joe is in the midst of Danny, the Champion of the World. Tonight, he pulled the covers up over his head at a suspenseful moment and demanded that Julie (who read Danny as a child) tell him what happened. Julie refused of course.

About this time, Clara padded in with Ted wanting to know if Julie had pitched her bouquet after her wedding--to the other female, unmarried guests she meant. Julie did not. Clara demanded to know what traditions had been followed. She demanded Ted kiss Julie. Ted did. Clara noted he had kissed Julie on the lips.  She further noted, "Kids don't kiss on the lips. That's gross. That's germs." And that seems a fine thing for her to continue to think.

After she went back to her room, Julie asked Joe what he was doing. Because he had his head tipped back and his back arched. And Joe said, totally straight, like he was commenting on the weather, "I'm making a C."