Student of the Month

Arcadia made student of the month for April. She was excited mostly because she has been student of the month all three years here at Scott Elementary. It was a great way for her to leave the school behind.

Geraldine Brooks

I have been pretty lucky the past few weeks to do some amazing things. Two nights ago I had the chance to meet my favorite modern female author, Geraldine Brooks. She is a former Wall Street Journal corespondent who now write historical fiction.

I picked up her first book, Year of Wonders, at the Borders on Michigan Avenue (back when we still lived in Chicago) in the budget bin based entirely on its cover. It was a new release that they had overstocked so I got it for $3. It has since become one of my top 5 favorite books of all time. I am constantly evangelizing her works because they are all amazing.

Her next book, March, was written from the perspective of the father of the March girls in Little Women and tell the story of what was going on with him while he was away at war.

The People of the Book is a completely amazing book about a 500 year old Jewish text that is being analyzed by a rare books specialist during the time of the war in Sarajevo .

And now she has released a new book call Caleb's Crossing. I bought it at the book signing because it sounded fascinating. It is the story of the 1st Native American to graduate from Harvard in 1665. Yes, 1665. It is told from the point of view of a Puritan minister's daughter and set on Martha's Vineyard. I am only 70 pages in so far but every sentence has been beautiful. Her book March won a Pulitzer Prize and I wouldn't at all be surprised if this book wins her many more awards. It is stunning.

I was never much into historical fiction before I started reading Geraldine Brooks, but it has turned out to be a genre that I find, when well written, can be very eye opening and help make historical events seem more dimensional than just flat facts. The thing I like best about who she presents her stories is in the choosing of the narrator. She discussed her process a little bit when she spoke, she called it listening to the dead. When she is writing a book and searching for a narrator's voice she researches just enough to find the right person's perspective from which to tell the story and then wait for them to speak to her so that she can have a voice authentic to the time and place and life station of the narrator so that she is not writing a historical work in a modern voice. She said when she tried to explain it to her son he looked at her like she was crazy and asked if she was sitting round trying to talk to ghosts. I think the way she does it is a lot like doing genealogy; even though the dead aren't literally speaking to you, the more you learn about their time and life and situation the more you know them and the realer they become. It is that authentic voice that really sets her writing apart from much other historical fiction and make me a huge fan.

ITALY

At the old city gate to Pisa.



In case you were unaware, for our combined birthday Johannes bought Arcadia and me tickets
to Italy to go visit her best friend Makenzie, and Kristin came along. I have so much going on cleaning up from that adventure and yesterday I started packing us up for our move at the end of the month so I have cheated and just globbed them all togeher for now.Our orders are deleayed so we have to pack ourselves up this time. Good thing I have been getting rid of furniture or this would be a huge ordeal.

Here is the link to PicasaWeb where I have uploaded all 800 pictures, untouched and un-cropped so some may be a bit rough. With Picasa you can save or print any of the pictures you want from there.

We had a great time and thanks again to Johannes for the trip!

LINK:

https://picasaweb.google.com/claushausiii/210May2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_oqpHootW8ugE&feat=directlink

Lois Lowry

One of my all time favorite authors from when I was young is Lois Lowry. I got to a special lecture and book signing out at the St. Louis County Library, and I took Arcadia.

I brought a few hardback copies for her to sign, her new book about the mice, The Giver, and a new paperback copy of my favorite book, A Summer to Die. I brought my 25 year old copy along, and sheepishly added it to the pile. Lois Lowry was actually surprised to see such an old, well-worn copy of her book and was more excited to sign that one and chat about the ragged pages and my name than if I had only handed her my new crisp copies.

another tornado, and another

While Johannes was in New Jersey last week we had a mid-day tornado warning. The kids were wide awake for this one, and actually excited. Matthijas explained all about how they practice for tornadoes at school and pretend to be turtles under their desks.



















This Tuesday, we had another siren. This time the weather accompanying the warning was really bad. It sounded like the tiles were going to fly off the roof. Johannes was gone, again, this time only in the next town over, but they didn't get the sirens. Luckily this time the siren went off right at bedtime so no one needed to be woken up, and Jasper eventually just fell asleep in the closet.



I am so ready to get out of this place. Yes, I know San Francisco gets earthquakes sometimes, but really, they aren't generally anything to worry about and don't threaten to tear your house apart every other week.

Mastodon Park

We had great plans for Arcadia's birthday adventure with her friend A.J.
Johannes took them to Six Flags. I dropped them off and headed back into the city with the boys. 20 minutes later I get a call that the advertised prices weren't working and that instead of $19 a piece it would be $60, and the weather was getting worse.

Here are the kids freezing in the wind outside of Six Flags.

So I turned around, picked them up, and we all went to Mastodon Park. Its a site that was discovered in the late 1800s and has never really had enough funding to be excavated. So the land just stays marked and untouched, with a few bones around to look at and wonder.
Pre-historic hunters

Mastodon Park 2

St Louis Arch with the K Family

So a few weeks ago I got a message that my old college friend and his family were going to be passing through St Louis on their way to their new job & home out here in the Midwest. Of course we had to find a way to take them around and show them the sites.

I was so happy to see Larry again in person. We have been facebook friends again for over a year, but haven't seen each other in person since 1996 in the MTC of all places. Our birthdays are just days apart, but also 2 years apart, so we ended up in the MTC for our missions at the same time, both headed to Europe and we kept in touch while on our missions but lost touch after that.

So I finally go to meet his lovely wife and accompanying blondies, and we had fun. We took a ride to the top of the Arch, and then hit up the Delmar Loop for dinner at Chuck Berry's Blueberry Hill and I got to introduce him to my local favorite, Vintage Vinyl for some record store perusing.

The kids all had a great time and we hope to find a way to see them again soonish...

Easter Egg Hunt: the preview

We had a Primary Easter Egg Hunt at the local park. The boys' favorite part is the train caboose parked there. I had to go solo, Johannes was off in New Jersey again, so I only have a few pictures of the actual egg gathering.

Cahokia Mounds

One of the things on our to do list before we move was to take the kids back to the Cahokia Mounds. We have been here a few times, but wanted to get in one more trip that the kids might actually remember later on. It was a good way to spend time between General Conference sessions. The wooden version of Stonehenge is just a replica, but served the same astronomic purpose.

snowing, again

Monday was one of those rare days was so nice you didn't even notice the temperature or humidity or wind. It was perfect.

Wednesday was so windy I had to pedal hard to go down a steep hill and we bought kites.

And then Friday, it turned to snow...again.

Johannes doesn't have many more weekends home before things start to turn upside-down with our move and really wanted to get out and go to the St. Louis Art Museum one more time. So we tossed aside our other plans to help the poor guy out.It was a nice day. The kids did a great job. Matthijas walked around and didn't touch anything and no museum guards yelled at us (a first!) and he was really excited about the Egyptian Mummies and the Medieval Knights.Matthijas also likes the contemporary artists (Like Mark Rothko and Roy Lichtenstein). And apparently this Buddha. He asked Daddy to take his picture and send it to all of his brothers.Jasper was content to search out horses and dogs and fish and boats, while we taught Arcadia about Titian and El Greco, though she was more excited to see Picasso and Van Gogh, which she knows as old favorites.

stripey pants for Yaz

Since I am clearing out my camera, I figured I'd also post the pants I made for Jasper. I think he looks quite dapper, and silly. I found the pattern HERE.

daddy & son campout

Johannes had a Boy Scout campout for his younger boys and took Matthijas along. It was pretty much Matthijas' first camping experience besides our backyard because for so many years he had no concept of the danger of say, an open fire. But our boy has grown up and has learned to understand how to be aware of his surroundings. They had a great time and he is now looking forward to when he is 8 (in just a little over 2 years) and can be a cub scout.

girl scout sock hop

Things have been rather dull around here, but Arcadia has her first dance tonight. A Girl Scout sock hop where they learn to dance and jive. I made her this skirt and crinoline slip. She was the best dressed and cutest girl at the party.

Pulaski Day & Pączki Day

Matthijas was really excited about St. Patrick's Day from school, but we happen to be not at all Irish, so I have never really gotten into the holiday. However, here in Illinois we have Pulaski Day which happened to be almost back to back with Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday or as we called it in Poland "Pączki Day", so I convinced him to decorate for Polish holdays instead since that was something I felt we could get behind. I wrote all about this same time of year last year HERE.

These are some of our Polish decorations and Jasper enjoying his raspberry filled pączek.

Close up of Warsaw sketch. I didn't have the money for one of these on my mission so I bought it when Johannes and I went back in 1999.

Handmade Barbican Soldier who defended Old Town from attacks (pre-air assults)

Since Pulaski Day was a day off from school I gave Arcadia a 15 question homework assignment to get to know about Poland. Here is the list. If anyone wants an answer key just let me know.

QUESTIONS ABOUT POLAND
1. Tell me about the Trumpeter of Cracow (Kraków)?
2. Why is the Mermaid the symbol of Warsaw (Warszawa)?
3. Tell me about Danzig (Gdańsk) and the Solidarity Movement (Solidarność)?
4. Where is the Black Madonna?
5. Who was Frederic Chopin?
6. What happened during the Warsaw Uprising?
7. Who was John Paul II (Jan Paweł II)?
8. When did Poland write their first constitution?
9. What is the name of the tallest building in Warsaw? What was it for? What
is the coolest floor in the building?
10. When did Poland become a member of the European Union?
11. Who were the Teutonic Knights and what did they build in Malbork?
12. What is the name of the park with the wild bison?
13. Tell me legend of the Priest and the Prussians?
14. When did the Mongols (from Mongolia) come to Poland?
15. What is your favorite thing you learned about Poland and what would you like
to see if you ever go there?

a little fun in the mid-west at midnight

Oh Mid-West, how ready I am to leave you behind.

Last night despite being exhausted I just couldn't fall asleep. My fingers were all tingly and I felt on edge. And then just as I had finally settled in and thought I may be on the verge of sleep, the sirens began. First in the distance, probably in the next town over, then a police car, and then the neighborhood alarm went off. First it said "Severe Storm Warning", which is fine if you are already in bed, but then maybe 15 seconds later it changed its mind and sounded "Tornado Alert, Seek Shelter Immediately." Well, in our house with large windows in every room, that means we head to the utility closet, so we scooped up 3 sleeping kids, pillows blankets and all, then in the dark had an impromptu slumber party all piled on top of each other. Luckily that's the room where I store the work-out pads and yoga mats so we had some padding and the boys slept through it all. Anyhow, it made for a mess of a night. And somehow we had the only trash can in the neighborhood that spewed its innards so that was a treat this morning.

Tornado: 1, Me: zilch. I always bow down to Mother Nature, as she is an unrelenting foe. Here's to you, my tornado rival of the night.

me, the pioneer woman and the marlboro man

Last night a friend and I went out for a book signing with Ree Drummond, the blogger AKA
"The Pioneer Woman". Because St. Louis was in driving distance her husband AKA "The Marlboro Man" was there too, served up in his wranglers, boots and cowboy hat as an appetizer to a bunch of crazy women. Apparently he has a bit of a cult following.

I had never read any of her personal stuff, just the recipes, so I was kind of surprised by the mini-culture that surrounded the couple and the event. Because I didn't know anything about her dog or a mysterious character named "Cowboy Josh" I was out of the loop.

Anyhow, I got my cookbook and her new autobiography signed by both Ree and the Marlboro Man, though I am probably going to sell the autobiography online while the craze for Pioneer Woman is hot.