For Comparison

Curious Holden

Holden seems to have a favorite movie. He goes to the children's DVD
collection we have on our shelf in the living room, looks through
them until he finds what he's looking for, and walks teetering to us
holding Curious George. Then he stands and dances in front of the TV
in anticipation of the opening song.

An original J. Alexander

Another newly framed work of art, by Aimee's cousin, that we've been carrying around with us for a long time and hiding it in closets across America to protect it from damage. Now, we can show it to the world. I call it, "I Know Why the Caged Hamster Digs", since it sits next to one of our hamsters. The artist's original title is: "Nine and a Half Years."

Scrubbing the Floor

"Daddy," said Grace with a whine, as I was making dinner. "I want to do what Holden's doing!"
"What's Holden doing?" Probably something exciting, no?
"He's scrubbing the floor."
Which was true - he was scrubbing the floor with a sponge. So I offered another sponge to Grace and together the scrubbed the floor. I'm not sure what the moral of this story is.

An Original B Frye

Aimee framed her Dad's painting. It's a big improvement over the plastic glass on the golden-edged frame. Notice Bill's use of perspective and how he seems to be making a postmodernist comment on the cubinist movement.

The Many Occupations of Holden

Plumber.




Programmer

Winter Thunderstorm

April 10, we're sitting here enjoying Arrested Development on DVD
while watching a thunder and lightning winter storm, complete with
several inches of snow. As long as there are no tornadoes, all is
good. Grace is terrified of tornadoes.

Lindsey's New Blog

Nelson's Sister has a new blog: http://lindsaka.blogspot.com

Miscellaneous Silliness

We're not sure what she's doing here, and neither is she.

Aimee being attacked by a bear while sunning herself on the couch.


Grace and her friend Flannery at a party after Church on Sunday - they are getting ready to put on a performance of a play written and directed by the two kinderthespians.

Holden inside a huge dollhouse.  

Hot Dog Massacre

Looking Down

I used to look down and see my feet. Now when I look down the view is usually occluded, and not by my stomach.  

Rough Neighborhood

The Seminary neighborhood is getting a bit rough around the edges - you don't want to meet these tough-looking hombres in a dark alley.

Last Snowfall?

Earlier in the week, we had a large snowfall that was threatening to be the largest in the Twin Cities in 20 years. The final total only amounted to 4 inches and a cornucopia of exasperated rush hour drivers. The morning after:

Scientists Fear Collapse of Burntvedt Ice Flow

(AP) Scientists around the world fear the imminent collapse of the Burntvedt Apartments Ice Flow.  These dramatic pictures show this rapidly receding block of ice melting in the Minnesota Spring. Apartment dwellers worry that, should it all melt at once, the SouthWest corner of the parking lot could partially flood.

Aimee's Internship

Aimee was officially assigned her internship site today - she will
serve at Christ Church Lutheran in Minneapolis. Visit their website
for more information - http://www.christchurchluth.org/

Scenes from Katie's visit

Morning Coffee

Snowing for about 48 hours.

Holden on our neighbors' sled.

Grace pulling Holden along.

Happy to just sit in the snow.  (He hated his boots.  He refused to walk, even indoors, with his boots on.)

Swinging with Grandma.

Aimee bearing evidence of a direct cranial impact during a snowball fight.

Waiting for the Easter Bunny

Katie Leaves Today

My Mom Katie has been visiting us for the last week and playing with her Grandchildren.  She flies home today.  We had a great visit.  Aimee and I went out on a couple of dates, including going to see U2 in 3D, which I heartily recommend to any u2 fans out there.  It has been snowing for the last 24 hours, so she got to experience a Winter storm and relive old memories of her days living in the Midwest.  

I learned something new about Katie, too - apparently, she has always hated The Joker.  I tried to point out that you are supposed to hate the Joker, since he's the maniacal bad guy, but it goes much deeper than that with her.  Which just goes to prove that there's always something new to learn about people you know, even after 40 years.

Shameless Cup and Muffin Plug

Just a reminder for you Northwest residents to stop in at the Cup and Muffin when you're in Kingston. Mark and Amy have remodeled the place and business is picking up.

Happy Number 6, Grace

I am remiss in my duty of proclaiming my daughter's birthday to the
world. Happy Number 6 Grace. We party, tomorrow afternoon, here on
the seminary campus.

Waiting for the lamb

1 degrees outside this morning - March is currently a lion, and we're waiting for the lamb.  

In other news, My sister, Lindsey, has been named winner of the University of Montana Presidential leadership in the Davidson Honors College - full tuition plus a stipend.  She also has a scholarship offer from Western Washington University. 

Worried about tornadoes

Grace is worried about tornadoes. She spends a good amount of time thinking about them and worrying about them. She just got out of bed because she was worried about tornadoes. We're promising her that there are no tornadoes in the winter and certainly no tornado tonight. Unfortunately, there is the new threat of basement tornadoes, but we're not telling her about those.

Year of the Frog

I'm sure you're all aware that 2008 is the Year of the Frog.  Here's Grace getting in touch with her internal amphibian at the Como Park Zoo celebration of the Year of the Frog.

Living outside of the U.S.?

Grace: "I don't want to live outside of the United States, I want to
live in another country."

Grace's thoughts

"Is heaven real? You're always on the Earth, even if you're dead.
But maybe part of you is in heaven, right? Heaven is just a dream,
right? It could be just your imagination."

"I was a Spring baby, but now that I'm in Minnesota I'm a winter baby."

"Easter Queen Dog"

On another note, our little budding artist really enjoys this website.

Como Park Zoo

Nelson's brother Eric is in town for the weekend. Eric, Anne, Nelson, Holden and Grace went to the zoo and conservatory for the afternoon.







The polar bear was putting on a show. Here's Grace and other kids getting an up close look at the polar bear.

Junior

Aimee's Mom and Charley added a new member to their growing family: a
new puppy.

Ash Wednesday

We submitted Grace's story from Ash Wednesday last year to The
Lutheran magazine. They finally printed it in the last issue - you
can find it about halfway down the page by following this link and
looking for the story submitted by Aimee:

http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=7017

Grace-asso

Grace says this is a picture that has something to do with tires.



This is Grace experimenting with cubism. It's quite good - you can see how the background and object planes interpenetrate one another to create the shallow ambiguous space.

Grape on a Fork

Holden is obsessed with using a fork. He whines if I don't give him a fork whenever he's sitting at the table. He likes spoons too, and of course knives - but forks are his first utensil love.

100 Days of Kindergarten

Tomorrow is the 100th day of Kindergarten for Grace and her classmates. Tomorrow the diminutive conscripts will celebrate 100 days of confinement by presenting 100 of something to each other: 100 pennies, 100 grapes, 100 dalmatians. Grace chose to share 100 photographs she took. Here's 40 from her collection.

It's Still Cold

And that's an understatement. -40 degrees windchill factor this
morning. Church attendance was probably down all over the cities.
It was too cold for the very young and for the very old. With all
the cold, we're basically hibernating - like bears with indoor
heating and peppermint schnapps.

Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah

Today we found this self-portrait by Isabel on our Imac.

General Cuteness

You're probably wondering when we got a baby elephant.  But, if you look closely, you can see that it's really a baby in an elephant costume.

Gracelangelo

The latest masterpiece from Gracelangelo, a cubist rendition of a scuba diver.  Note the expert use of juxtaposition of white space.

Katie's Office - In The News

Nelson's Mom's office made the news yesterday when this 1957 Chevy's brakes gave out.  Nobody was hurt. 

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080205/NEWS01/954806642

Minnesota Climate Wisdom

"We live in a climate where every year nature makes an effort to kill you." - G. Keillor

Sledding

Isabel and Bill left this morning and are back in Virginia enjoying the sixty degree weather and slip-free sidewalks.

A couple inches of snow fell on their last full day, so last night after work I took the girls sledding. (Isabel didn't wear socks, unbeknownst to us adults, so she had frigid lobster feet by the end.) The new snow settled on top of a layer of ice, so the sleds went fast and far. Here's some pictures and a video of Grace & Isabel & Sigourney (one of Grace's friends living in the seminary housing) playing on the bunny slopes.


Isabel and Grace: Wipeout!

Grandad Bill & Grandson

Aimee thinks this picture of Holden looks like me.  So, here's a picture of me as a boy to compare:

You can do anything you set your mind on

We were (jokingly) trying to convince Grace & Isabel that they should
change Holden's diaper.

Aimee; I think you can do it.
Grace: I've never done it before.
Aimee: I think you can do anything you set your mind on.
Isabel: No, she can't.
Grace: Yes I can.
Isabel: Then do it.
Grace: I didn't set my mind on it.

Winter Carnival Video of the Kids

Visit

We're having a good visit with Bill and Isabel. Grace and Isabel
have been quite a pair, playing together and shrieking with
laughter. Every once-in-a-while, when they get tired, they get in a
spat, in which they are both deadly serious, but it's hard not to
smile while they bicker:

Isabel: "You are mad at me."
Grace: "No, I'm angry."
Isabel: "It means the same thing, Grace."
Grace: "It means I'm a lot madder."

Great arguments in Grace and Isabel History, from the archive:
http://aimeeandnelson.blogspot.com/2005/08/more-arguments.html
http://aimeeandnelson.blogspot.com/2005/08/arguments.html