Aimee and Nelson

Whiskey the Cairn Terrier

2009-10-18T08:58:00.001-07:00

From October 2009

Grace Art

2009-05-26T19:05:00.001-07:00

From May 2009

What happens...

2009-05-26T19:04:00.001-07:00

... approximately every other minute in our apartment.

From May 2009

Memorial Day Pictures

2009-05-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

From May 2009

Memorial Day Fun

2009-05-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

We're all still alive! Just haven't been posting in awhile due to our busy schedules. Here's a video from yesterday's memorial day festivities, which was also the day after Luther Seminary graduation.

Grace Art - Penguin

2009-04-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

From March 2009

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

The Seminary held an Easter Egg hunt for the kids today. Grace was in gymnastics, but Holden got to hunt for eggs. There was a slight problem when a squirrel stole an egg off the grass and ate the surprise inside - he returned with his squirrel friends, all looking for eggs. The adults sent some volunteers to guard the eggs from the raiding squirrel army.

From March 2009

Spring

2009-04-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

It's feeling a lot like Spring!

From March 2009

Pictures from 7th Birthday

2009-03-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

From March 2009

Pin the button on the pajamas.

From March 2009

Escape!!

From March 2009

Art project.

From March 2009

Greetings from the birthday elephant. (No, this IS NOT Grace's new stuffed elephant - it is the stuffed elephant that mysteriously appeared in the Commons room one day last fall, and now lives there.)

From March 2009

Holden keeping a close watch over the cake.

From March 2009

Dancing to Abba.

From March 2009

Holden opening his present.

From March 2009

Grace opening one of her many presents.

From March 2009

Adult friends of Grace!

Grace's 7th Birthday

2009-03-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some selected moments from Grace's 7th birthday party - a Pajama party. The children had a very good time. (Except for Holden for the first 20 minutes or so - he thought we were taking him to daycare since the party was in the same room that Wee Care uses for the kids... he was one mad little boy until he realized it was a party.)

Acting Class Performance

2009-03-14T16:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of Grace's acting class final performance. The children created the entire story out of their group imagination, and the instructor narrated their story while they acted it out.

Mad Scientist Grace

2009-02-17T11:51:00.001-08:00

More Grace at Mall of America

Happy Grace

2009-02-17T11:33:00.001-08:00

At the Mall of America.

Holden's Birthday

2009-01-21T13:40:00.000-08:00

Some scenes and a quick video of Holden's 2nd Birthday celebration in Alexandria:

From January 2009

Inauguration

2009-01-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

We went to Old Town Alexandria to watch the inauguration on a large outdoor screen. Some woman behind us kept screaming "That's my cousin!" (We decided not to join the two million people on the Mall. We couldn't bring bags or strollers or much of anything on the Mall.) These are photos from Old Town.

From January 2009

Aimee, Grace, Holden, Lisa and Isabel in the cold air, on the cold bricks, watching the big screen.

From January 2009

The gathering crowd.

From January 2009

Holden was unimpressed.

From January 2009

I think this guy in the brown coat was a secret service agent.

The Day Before Inauguration

2009-01-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

We went down to the DC Mall today to see the pre-inauguration crowds.

From January 2009

The Lincoln Memorial - scene of last night's concert. The worker are taking down the stage - this is as close as we could get to the memorial.

From January 2009

Grace and Isabel dipping their feet in the frozen Reflecting Pool.

From January 2009

The World War II Memorial.

From January 2009

The WWII Memorial.

From January 2009

I'm not sure what they called this Memorial - but they were everywhere.

From January 2009

Grace & Isabel scaling the Washington Memorial.

From January 2009

Aimee being interviewed by a reporter for a Spanish language newspaper.

From January 2009

The BIll Frye Memorial edifice. (Where Bill used to work.)

From January 2009

Gareth Brooks wishing us a Happy Freedom.

From January 2009

The crowd is mobbing a television crew - we couldn't see who they were trying to see.

From January 2009

Grace attempting to figure out the Metro subway map.

Holden and Rudy

2009-01-19T06:08:00.000-08:00

Holden and Rudy, this morning, looking out the front door in Alexandria.

From January 2009

Alexandria

2009-01-16T19:55:00.001-08:00

We have safely arrived, having battled ice fog in Indiana and overnighting in a hotel in South Bend, in Alexandria. The kids were good on the trip, though we kept them zombified with a steady diet of movies - mostly Annie and Cars.

Sledding in the New Year

2009-01-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

We took our first sledding trip of Winter to celebrate the new year. (And Holden's first sledding trip ever!)

From sledding

and some video of the sledding:

A Holiday Message

2008-12-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

(This message designed on Nelson's new toy: "Comic Life" software for the Mac. You should click on the image to make it larger.)

From Christmas

Twas the Night Before Christmas

2008-12-24T19:15:00.000-08:00

And Grace wanted to make sure Santa and the reindeer were well-nourished on their nocturnal journeys. (The carrots are for the reindeer.)

From Dec 2008

"We made these cookies. Take these."

Santa Redux

2008-12-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

From Dec 2008

Santa made a surprise visit to the Seminary Family Housing commons this evening - to Grace's delight.

HO HO HO!

2008-12-08T15:16:00.001-08:00

From Dec 2008

An excited girl and an uncertain boy.

The Happy Girl

2008-11-29T16:36:00.000-08:00

From Nov 2008

Here is Grace's school picture this year.

The Happy Little Boy

2008-11-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

Here are the professional photographs of Holden we had taken at Wee Care...

From Nov 2008

American History Test

2008-11-24T19:01:00.000-08:00

How is your knowledge of American History? Take the test and find out. I scored 97% and Aimee scored 22%!!

Update: Okay, I lied. Aimee scored 82%.

Mushrooms

2008-11-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

Another Grace original...

From Nov 2008

Holden's words

2008-11-10T16:38:00.001-08:00

Holden has lots to say now. These are a few of his favorite words that he really works on:

hello -- goodbye -- train -- pizza -- car (he asks to watch the movie, Cars, by saying Cars) -- doggie -- toy -- bus -- go -- vroom -- choo choo -- Grace (he joins right in whenever we're calling for Grace to come: Grrrrraaaaaace!) -- juice -- cheese. Evidently, he likes food and vehicles.

Hiking

2008-11-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

From Nov 2008

Grace at the beginning of our hike yesterday

From Nov 2008

Grace, 10 minutes into our hike - where did that other tooth go?

Halloween pictures

2008-11-02T15:30:00.000-08:00

From Halloween 08

Grace Art - Zebra

2008-11-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

From Nov 2008

Pumpkin Carving Party

2008-10-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

Scenes from before and during the Luther Seminary Pumpkin Carving Party:

From October 2008

Panda on a Big Wheel.

From October 2008

Princess Belle and her little faerie friend.

From October 2008

A Panda supplementing it's bamboo-intensive diet.

From October 2008

A Mama Bear and her Cub.

From October 2008

Darth Vader (unmasked), Princess Belle, and a Witch.

The Orangutang

2008-10-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

From October 2008

Art class has started again. Another Grace masterpiece!

On the Couch, watching TV

2008-10-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

From October 2008

A Walk in the Woods to the Park

2008-10-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Today we took a post-nap walk with friends through the woods to a park.

From October 2008

Falls colors.

From October 2008

On the climbing wall.

From October 2008

A happy boy!

From October 2008

Grace on a tree.

From October 2008

Grace and Holden atop the tree.

From October 2008

Tovah bouncing the ball off the back of Holden's head. Holden laughed every time she hit him with the ball.

Apple PIcking

2008-10-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

Since there was no school the last couple days, Grace got to have fun.

From October 2008

Fall Is In The Air

2008-10-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

From October 2008

Shopping for Winter Clothes

2008-10-14T18:07:00.000-07:00

Last year at this time we were partially settled into our temporary 1-bedroom apartment, waiting for our final apartment to become available. We weren't as well-prepared for winter as we could have been. We were distracted with other conundrums, such as what to do with three pods full of possessions that we couldn't unpack.

This year, we can prepare for winter earlier and better. We took the kids to the Used Children's clothes store and completely outfitted them for winter. They weren't enthusiastic about the clothes shopping - Holden objects outright to trying on multiple outfits - but they did like the ball pit.

From October 2008

Pictures from Aimee's trip to LA

2008-10-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

LA's Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels

more LA Cathedral

2008-10-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

The smaller inset doors in the big black stone doors, picturing
images of various apparitions of the Virgin.

LA cont'd

2008-10-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Me in the mouth of the great fish in the children's garden.

Ethiopian in LA

2008-10-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

My new friends Yemi (from Ethiopia), and Javier and Daniel (from San Francisco, soon to be from NY, NY) at an Ethiopian restaurant in Little Ethiopia.

Me with more new friends, Ruth (from Seattle) and Tricia (from Vancouver, BC).

Kingston/ Olympic Peninsula

2008-08-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

We just got back to Bothell after a couple days in Kingston on the Olympic Peninsula. We stayed with our friends, Mops and Amy, and their kids, Peri and Quinn. The visit was too short.

The Cup and Muffin - Amy and Mops' coffee shop is looking great. They've done a lot of work on it.

The outside water feature at the Cup and Muffin.

Holden with bat and ball.

Grace and Peri digging in the dirt for worms.

Mops and Holden.

Party animal - a prelude to the always hilarious "lampshade on the head" joke.

At the Kitsap County Fair.

Grace attempting to lasso a wooden horse.

Petting a pig.

Twins

2008-08-17T18:39:00.001-07:00

For those of you who know Nelson's friend Matt, he is now the proud Father of Twins....

Seattle

2008-08-17T18:37:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Seattle last night shortly before midnight, local time. Which was 2pm, our time. The kids slept on the plane, so it was a relatively painless flight from that perspective. We're in the Pacific Northwest for the next two weeks before we return to St. Paul.

Boxing

2008-08-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

We went to Irish Fair in Saint Paul last night. Grace was fascinated with the soccer game and was even more fascinated with the exhibition boxing. She ran right up to the front where she could get a better view of the two men slugging each other in the ring. She was concerned though: after the match ended, she wanted to know which guy was the bad guy?

1 Year Anniversary

2008-08-09T11:03:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is our 1 year anniversary of our arrival in Saint Paul. What did we do to make the last year pass so fast?

Uh Oh!

2008-08-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

Learning a New Thing Every Week

2008-08-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

Holden figured out sometime in the last week that chairs and step stools are useful tools for getting to various forbidden zones. He also figured out the key quality to the utility: they are movable. The toddling explorer now can reach heretofore inaccessible territory about three feet high (or higher). Unfortunately, heights to not dissuade his curiosity.

Nap Time Indignities

2008-08-03T07:03:00.000-07:00

Grace has a fine future ahead of her, performing college pranks on unsuspecting nappers. This is just the warm-up phase:

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

2008-08-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

Fearless

2008-08-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Aimee's Updating Again

2008-08-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

After an extended absence, Aimee has resumed posting to her blog,
with sermons on other stuff. Read it here:

http://aimee-at-sem.blogspot.com/

Grace Art

2008-07-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning/sorting today - as part of that task, I was deciding which pictures of Grace's to toss and which to keep (Can't keep them all - her art from the last 6 months alone would fill an entire dumpster). Here's a few I snapped pictures of...

Wee Care Photos

2008-07-25T20:32:00.001-07:00

Here's a few photos that we didn't take - these are from the Wee Care website.

Bell Museum

2008-07-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

From last weekend: we went to visit the Bell Museum at Grace's request. It was a terrific museum of natural history with a great touch and feel room that Grace and Holden both loved.

Wolves.

Going on a canoe.

Bears!

Grace and Saint Picard

2008-07-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of Grace with Mercy Seat's Patron Saint - Jean-Luc Picard. There is some internal debate whether Saint Picard has the requisite quantity of miracles to qualify as a Saint. Considering his miraculous descent into Borg-dom and return to humanity, we're pretty sure that alone qualifies him.

What does a duck say?

2008-07-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

The answer may surprise you!

Turning Things Upside Down

2008-07-19T07:52:00.001-07:00

In our house, we can't leave a cup anywhere if if has any liquid in
it. Or a bowl. Heck, even a plate. Holden will hunt it down like a
bloodhound and turn it upside down to see what comes out.

Waterfall

2008-07-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

We took a quick trip on Saturday to the Falls that are about 20 minutes South of us.

Reading

2008-07-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

One of those parenting milestones: Holden now grabs books and crawls into laps with the expectation of reading the book. It's quite comical to watch him plan how he's going to get the book on the couch, and then himself, and then lug the book to the lap of his victim.

Upload Problems

2008-07-12T08:55:00.001-07:00

Well, I was going to upload some photos today, but I'm getting an odd error, "Unsupported output format: text/xml (status 400)." What the heck does that mean? I did a quick Internet search on this, and it appears to be some kind of connection problem between Google's photo uploader and the iPhoto. All this reminds me of one of my favorite quotes in the movie Office Space, as the office workers are struggling to get the fax machine to work and they get the error message, "Print Load Letter? What the *#%# does that mean?"

The bottom line being I have a gibberish message that something's not working. So photos will be posted... when the machines start cooperating again.

Crossing the Continental Divide

2008-07-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what it is about crossing the Continental Divide that curses my family - but, whatever it is, it's started again. See here and here and here for last year's various family adventures near the Continental Divide.

Eric and Anne decided that 2008 would be different, so they drove a car from St. Paul to Seattle this weekend. They broke down in Billings Montana, and now it looks like they will leave the car in Billings, drive a rental to Seattle, and return for the car at a later date. Fortunately, Dad lives nearby so they had family to visit while they became the latest family victims of the Continental Divide.

4th of July Parade

2008-07-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

We had the choice of marching in the St. Anthony Park parade to represent three different organizations: Luther Seminary, Wee Care, and Lutheran Social Service of MN. Fortunately, they all staged right next to each other. Grace was a little concerned since she had never marched in a parade before. But she did great, carrying the banner for quite a long haul.

Grace pulling her friend Tovah to the staging area for the parade.

Holden and Mom at the staging area - Holden was impressed with all the activity.

Grace and Hannah.

Holden and Dad getting ready to march, with matching black shirts.

Wee Care day care students marching for freedom and protesting their enforced captivity 5 days a week.

After the parade in the park.

A Knock at the Door

2008-07-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

Someone knocked at our door this afternoon. I opened the door and it was my brother, Eric, in Saint Paul from Seattle for the day - unannounced. He visited for a couple hours and left. Grace wanted to play Hulabaloo with Uncle Eric, so we played the game for awhile. What sort of brother just travels halfway across the country and drops in unannounced? Personally, I blame his parents for this behavior!

Utter Hilarity

2008-07-03T17:14:00.001-07:00

Spinning

2008-07-02T04:37:00.001-07:00

Zamfir-Holden, Master of the Banana Flute

2008-07-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

Who is Zamfir?

Off to Wee Care

2008-06-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday) Holden went and got his lunch box, stepped to the front door, and waited patiently for someone to open the door - evidently he expected to go to Wee Care.

10 Months

2008-06-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

After watching "Kung Fu Panda" with Grace last week, we stopped at McDonald's on the way home for a Happy Meal (with Kung Fu Panda toys). Grace was ecstatic, and immediately initiated negotiations for her next trip to McDonalds. It's difficult, of course, to precisely predict our next McDonald's trip to our children who don't quite understand time yet. So Aimee told her, tongue-in-cheek, she could go again in 10 months.

So today, one week later, Mom brought home another Happy Meal home. Grace, with wide eyes, said, "Has it been 10 months already?"

Scenes from June

2008-06-21T07:38:00.001-07:00

Wee Care

2008-06-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

Holden is adapting quite famously to Wee Care. He now walks into the room, on his own, with a big smile on his face - and immediately runs to the toddler playroom. I think he's almost looking forward to it, now. On the flip slide, they wear him out in the morning. So he takes long naps in the afternoon, and doesn't want to go to bed until later in the evening.

Poor Grace, on the other hand, fell pretty hard yesterday afternoon and slammed her nose on the carpet. The doctor says it's not broken. We're hesitant to go out in public because we think we'll be suspected of causing the damage.

Zoo

2008-06-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

A quick trip to Como Park - the family at the Japanese Garden.

Giraffes and a monkey.

Picnic Photos

2008-06-20T16:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from a couple weeks ago that I'm just getting around to sharing.

The advantages of having a picnic dinner on campus: people share their chocolate cake with you.

ML enjoying some food.

Holden attempting to figure out what his Dad was doing with the charcoal and lighter fluid.

Cousin Kevin, showing up the picnic, is apparently hitting his midlife crisis - hence, the mohawk.

The reason Kevin is compelled to suddenly sport a Mohawk: little Murray. There's just no telling how a person will react to a new baby.

Enthusiastically endorsing the picnic.

ML is back in GA

2008-06-11T14:36:00.001-07:00

Aimee’s Mom left for Georgia yesterday – the kids and I dropped her off at the airport. She saved the two of them from Wee Care for a week, for which Holden was grateful. We had a very nice visit, and the children enjoyed have Grammy to play with them, and take them to the Zoo and Como Town, and Aimee and I could go to our respective worksites knowing the kids were happy.

Last Day of Kindergarten

2008-06-05T10:52:00.001-07:00

Today is Grace's last day of Kindergarten. She's ready for first grade next year. (We're keeping her at the same school next year for first grade. She still gets to ride the bus and it is a good school.)

PG Rating

2008-06-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

This blog has been rated...

ML is in MN

2008-06-04T16:31:00.001-07:00

Aimee's Mom is here to visit for a week - she rescued Holden from having to go to Wee Care for the rest of the week, and the little boy has been grateful for it. He has been screaming and shrieking in delight all day, spinning in circles, climbing everything in sight, and eating anything he can get his hands on. ML will be staying in the "customer's room" as Grace calls the spare bedroom.

Working up an appetite

2008-06-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

Aimee started CPE today. Therefore, Holden spent all day at Wee Care - his first full day. He did okay for a little guy, which is to say he was in good spirits most of the time but got overwhelmed at the end of the day. When he got home he ate a hot dog, a bunch of grapes, one and a half bananas (the 1/2 banana he ate after he climbed onto the kitchen table when we weren't looking and pulled it from the fruit bowl), and 1/2 container of yogurt. I guess he worked up at appetite.

Brainerd Weekend Getaway

2008-06-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

We're back from our weekend sojourn to Brainerd. I'd like to say that we explored the area and some of Minnesota's lakeside wilderness, but in fact we mostly explored the Paul Bunyan Wa ter Park at the Lodge at Brainerd Lakes. Grace took to the water slide and lazy river with enthusiasm and knew where the current was fastest around every corner. She even got her head wet and didn't mind too much. I must have climbed 2,000-3,000 steps going up to that water slide, which, in retrospect, was entirely positive, since I needed the exercise to counterbalance all the rich food I ate over the weekend.

Grace and Holden in a little mechanical car.

Holden voicing his skepticism on whether that fountain of water was safe for him to touch.

A couple of video highlights.

Camp K

2008-05-29T19:18:00.001-07:00

I'm in Northern Minnesota at Camp Knutson tonight for a work retreat. It's thundering and lightening outside. The camp itself is beautiful and the cabins are surprisingly civilized. Aimee and the children are driving from St. Paul and meeting me in Brainerd tomorrow afternoon for our last weekend before Aimee begins her CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education).

Gardening

2008-05-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

We have a nice little plot in the community pea patch. We planted a great variety of seeds and a few starts, and a week later we are seeing our garden sprout. In addition to providing us with something fun to do (watering the garden and playing with dirt and sticks and worms), the pea patch is a sort of community gathering place - there's usually a few other people tending their gardens when we're there. So the children always want to come when we go to the garden.

What better place for a 16-month old than a pile of dirt?

Our little homestead.

Grace on the compost heap.

Littlest Petshop Pets are Organized

2008-05-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

I've noticed a curious tendency for our Littlest Petshop Pets to organize themselves into bands and militaristic formations. I'm not sure if I should be concerned that they appear to be organized, or that they appear to using some of Holden's trucks as troop transport vehicles.

Spring Scenes

2008-05-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had our first preview of summer - 80 degrees and a certain mugginess in the air. Reports of a thunderstorm threatening a sunny day. And Grace had a friend over to play.

Miniature Golf Chaos

2008-05-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

While we were at the museum, we thought it might be fun to play a round of miniature golf - the golf game was designed to provide an education on river systems. Of course, we didn't learn one thing, since chaos broke out as soon as Holden saw that we had multiple small golf balls in our possession and multiple water hazards. After a couple holes we quit keeping score, since we weren't following any of the rules normally associated with a civilized game of miniature golf.

Science Museum

2008-05-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day Grace asked if we could go to the Science Museum in Saint Paul. A "family date," as we call it.

Holden climbing a glacier.

In the stomach of a Brontasaurus.

Checkup!

In a Hmong outfit.

Fortunately, Holden will fall asleep when he gets tired, even if we're out doing something fun and exciting.

Spring Garden and Playtime

2008-05-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

We had a full dose of cool spring weather this afternoon.

Holden and Aimee (who was getting ready to go study).

Holden playing in the rocks at the playground.

Grace playing in the garden, putting earthworms on leaves with her friends. (The seminary has a little community garden where we can have a plot of land to plant vegetables.)

Hot Dog!

2008-05-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

Grace's first word was "Booty." She loved to eat veggie booty.

Holden's first word is "Hot Dog." "Holden, would you like a hot
dog?" we ask. "Da da," he answers, not quite enunciating the words,
but it's clear he's saying hot dog.

Return from Virginia

2008-05-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

Aimee, Grace and Holden have returned safely from the wilds of Virginia. Here are a few photos from the trip, including the happy Graduate.

To Virginia

2008-05-06T05:25:00.000-07:00

Aimee and the kids are off to Virginia today for Bill's graduation celebration. They'll return next Monday. I'm staying since I want to save my time off for a longer vacation in August.

Here's Grace from a few nights ago, falling asleep while reading:

Here's Grace from two nights ago, quite mysteriously falling asleep inside a pillow cover:

Back from La Crosse

2008-05-04T20:47:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a sunny weekend down in La Crescent, visiting
Aimee's relatives and watching the baptism of her cousin's baby. We
busted our diet this weekend with all the food. Jennifer, Aimee's
cousin, is staying with us for a couple days now that we're back.

First words of the day

2008-05-04T20:45:00.001-07:00

Grace's first words of the day yesterday, after waking up: "Mom, can
ocelets climb?"

Asleep on the swing

2008-05-01T10:31:00.001-07:00

Holden falling asleep on the swing.

Haircut Day

2008-04-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Grace had a haircut this morning. She was very excited about it - and she got her nails done, too!

Holden went along for the ride, too.

Chilling

2008-04-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

Just hanging out with the boy who can now crawl onto the couch by himself.

Grace and the Biome Performance

2008-04-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

The Brimhall Kindergarten classes have been studying the biomes of Minnesota. (This explains why Grace has been drawing all sorts of pictures set in the prairie grassland, one of Minnesota's biomes.) They gave a performance last week, including songs about the different biomes:

Grace and Andreas (Andreas lives at Seminary and attends Kindergarten in Grace's class.)

Grace amidst the kindergarteners waiting for the show to start.

Grace in a deciduous forest biome, complete with bear.

Nesting

2008-04-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

Holden made a nest on our couch and curled up with an upside down book.

Tricycle

2008-04-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

Luther held a sale yesterday for all bicycles that have been left by departing students and families. We picked up a couple used ones for Holden. Here he is with his new tricycle:

Wee Care

2008-04-26T09:05:00.001-07:00

Holden is doing great in day care at Wee Care. The teachers tell us
he just motors around the room playing, and whenever he looks at them
he smiles - a little smiley book puttering about the room.

First Day of Wee Care

2008-04-21T19:56:00.001-07:00

Holden joined Grace at Wee Care this morning. We were certain that
this would be a traumatic, hard morning for Holden. And we were
right. But not because of Wee Care. He didn't shed a tear. He just
played, to everyone's surprise. It was the post-Wee Care trip to the
doctor that was traumatic - he got shots.