Written in the margin

This morning I started a new Beth Moore bible study. We are doing the study, "Living Beyond Yourself" based on the fruits of the spirit. It is a study I had done three years or so ago (which I date by the sweet photo of Josiah I found stuck in the book), and I am excited to do it again. As I was flipping through the pages I saw some writing on one of the edges. It said Gabrielle Charis and Gabrielle Grace, Rayna Grace written to the side of the definition below. At this point, we were just daydreaming of the possibility of another baby, hoping just a bit that it might be a girl. That particular day's study was on Grace, and said the Greek word for grace is charis, which means:
"That which causes joy, pleasure, gratification, favor, acceptance, for a kindness granted or desired, a benefit, thanks, gratitude. A favor done without expectation of return; the absolutely free expression of the loving kindness of God to men finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor. God's grace affects man's sinfulness and not only forgives the repentant sinner, but brings joy and thankfulness to him. It changes the individual to a new creature without destroying his individuality."
This beautiful definition gives me goosebumps. I feel so incredibly blessed to have seen the example of grace lived out through my Grandma Charis. Now to have this little bundle of joy, our Gabriella Grace, is such a privilege. Seeing her name on the page today reminds me of how richly God has blessed us!

Fashionista

 
 
Gabriella was blessed with another bag of clothes from friends recently. To make room for them, I was just pulling out tops and holding them up to her to see if they fit. Her reply to each of them was "No, yi-yike-it," refusing to even let me hold it up to her. This was especially humorous to me as I watched her put on a pair of strawberry sandals all by herself. They are two sizes too small so her toes were curling over the edge, almost touching the ground. With her hands planted on her hips, Gabriella surveyed her efforts and exclaimed, "Cute!"

Tomatoes!

 
 
 
 

Kevin and the boys planted our first garden this year. It was so exciting to watch it grow. We had some peas at first, but it developed into a tomato forest with some Big Boy tomatoes, pear tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. The largest Big Boys are seen here just before becoming BLAT's (BLT's plus avocado). The cherry tomatoes were very plentiful, as well as several yellow pear tomatoes. It has been a fun challenge to plan recipes the last month to use them all up in tomato basil bisque soup, chicken enchiladas, lots of salads, tomato basil chicken, etc. We are excited to try it again next year and add some other vegetables to the garden for some variety.

Drumroll please........

Ben just got his letter today saying that he got the part as "Fritz's friend" in the Nutcraker this fall. We are excited and very proud of him! Ben is excited to march with a gun and chase the maids in the party scene. Performances will be December 12th at 1:30 and 7:30, and December 13th at 1:30. Whoo Hoo!

Grandfathers Bluff

 
 
 
 
While in La Crosse, we went to one of the higher points in town to look down over the city and the bluffs. The boys loved the view and the machines, and Gabriella loved the shelter at the top of the overlook. She thought the big metal doors were really fun and kept taking Josiah off with her to play in them with the gates shut.

 
 
 
 
We spent an overnight in LaCrosse after graduation before heading home. The boys loved the hotel and the pool that you could swim from inside under the wall to the outdoor pool. The boys wanted to see where I had been taking classes, so here are a few shots of us checking out the campus. It ended up being a cool weekend, so I had an excuse to pick up a Viterbo sweatshirt.

Viterbo Graduation

 
 
 
 
Many things did not make the blog this summer, but one thing I do want to be sure to share is that I graduated with my Masters of Education in July! Whoo hoo! We were all very excited for me to be finished. It was an amazing adventure and I am so thankful to everyone who helped out along the way with watching the kiddos to reading my many papers to Kevin for being so patient and supportive.
The boys were so excited to see me on stage and were so proud of me, it made me teary. The week was spent attending lectures, book discussions, presentations, and GULP, presenting my research paper. I was fortunate to present the first day and able to relax afterwards. I was blessed with friends who lived nearby who I stayed with for the week, two teachers from nearby to carpool with and a group of new friends to spend time with both in and out of class. Our days were full, but our evenings were free and we really enjoyed our boat cruise, evening meals out, a little shopping. It was a wonderful week, and I was so happy to see my family at the end of it.

Ledges on Labor Day

 
 
 
 

Wisdom

At breakfast the other morning Josiah looked very pensive and then said. "I think I am going to pray to God and ask for wisdom".

A minute or so passes.

"You know I already make really good choices, so maybe he gave me that gift already."

My Girls

Too pretty not to post ;)

In the 1st, 2nd and 4th photos, Lisa and Gabriella are painted by the filtered light south of the Art Center, taken in and around Andy Goldsworthy's: Three Cairns. The third picture was taken up on the metal staircase/fire escape on the east side of the Meier addition.

3 fer sunshine - Personality in abundance!

On Sunday, after taking in the exhibition, paintings and sculptures inside of the Art Center, we spent some time outside on the grounds shooting photos of our family. The varied architecture, the landscape and the sculptures situated around the grounds provide varied backdrops for a wide array of fantastic photo opportunities.

During mid-afternoon we found bright, sunny opportunities as well as plenty of light in the shade on the north side, and then we enjoyed the filtered light under the trees to the south by the egg/cairn (sp?) sculpture and rose garden.

These photos were all taken near the Meier addition. 1 and 2 are on the same staircase as the Lisa and Gabriella shot in the next post. 3 is at the bottom of the stairs and 4 is taken facing south at the NE corner of the building. I'm especially happy with how these worked out as the sky was very bright and we were in the shade and I wanted to see the kid's faces. Took a stab at an appropriate shutter speed and went for it. These have all been cropped and I've played with contrast and saturation a bit as well.

It is really fun doing these extended photo sessions with my children. Every sweet smile, pensive twist, goofy face, or forced smile; each squinty-eyed grimace, determined set of the teeth or petulant turn of the face connects with or broadens my own understanding of who they are.

Wolfie

You'll probably notice that Josiah is holding Wolfie in these pictures. Though Josiah holds many stuffed buddies near and dear, Wolfie is probably the nearest and dearest and longest-loved. Seldom do we take Wolfie out of the house (both to discourage too much dependence and because we don't want to lose it!) I broke form and brought Wolfie along on this particular day in hopes that SiSi might catch a catnap in the van at some point. When we arrived at the Art Center, it occurred to me that it would be fun capture Wolfie in various locations around the grounds with Josiah and/or a sculpture or some architectural element in the background ala The Red Couch(?) and Flat Stanley.

What we ended up doing was capturing a powerful visual record of Josiah's heart for his dear stuffed buddy.

Wolfie Album

Art Anyone?

On Sunday, as part of our family-focused Labor Day Weekend, we spent a wonderful day in Des Moines visiting the Des Moines Art Center and the Science Center of Iowa (SCI), and then headed west for something completely different: our inagural visit to the chaotic bastion of kid-focused eats and entertainment, Chuck E. Cheese. The Teske grandparents happily joined us and we made it a little celebration of Gabriella's 18 mos/half-birthday.

We started off at the Des Moines Art Center where we got to see the Tara Donovan exhibit, scheduled to close on September 13th. It was amazing! Her sculptures are created by bringing together massive quantities of everyday objects and the result is visually stunning. Absolutely breathtaking in some cases. The interplay of light with (generally) monochromatic materials results in constructions that release the eye from the mundane recognition of buttons, soda straws, Styrofoam cups and cash register tape. I (Lisa) am dreaming of a new Tara-Donovan-inspired ceiling light fixture for the dining room, constructed of coffee cups and carefully engineered light sources. I told Kevin that I thought we could create a sculpture similar to the drinking straw installation as a project in one of my art classes and he started brainstorming clever ways to assemble different diameters and colors of straws inside of each other. Such fun!

After the Donovan exhibit we headed into the Meier wing to check out the paintings and sculptures housed within. Art generally inspires some reaction, often dependent upon the background, age and subjective preferences of the viewer. In the case of a five year old named Josiah, all sorts of fresh new perspectives are poised to bubble out. Located in this wing is an abstract nude by Jean Arp, similar to this image, but carved out of a whitish stone:



The Jean Arp piece is located in the corner of a room, set off by itself and beautifully illuminated by the light streaming in a nearby window. Josiah looked at the front, raced around one direction and looked at the back, then raced around the other direction saying, "I think this side is her bottom. No this side is her bottom. Does she have two bottoms? Maybe this side is her bottom and these are her knees. Or are these her knees?" Pre-perco-cious!

During our visit to the Art Center, Gabriella was interested in: (a) running around and mounting staircases (b) looking at the paintings and sculptures (and sometimes commenting, "Pretty"), (c) moving back and forth between mommy and daddy and, (d) trying to touch the paintings and sculptures. As we were looking at Automat by Edward Hopper (one of my favorites), a full scale male nude caught her attention and, seeming a little disturbed by it, she inquired, "Daddy?" Next she pointed toward the bottom of the sculpture saying, "Owie toe?" She must have been concerned with the way his toe seemed to protrude out of the base. Then her attention shifted and she asked, "Bathtime?"

After seeing both of the sculptures Ben asked, "Mom, are these appropriate?" Ben also had lots of thoughtful observations on various paintings, and it was fun to hear him and Josiah comment as he recognized a painting or a familiar style.

A few other quotes:
* Ben: "Dad, there's a naked guy standing on a horse out there!" after observing the Pegasus statue located in the pool in the central courtyard.
* Standing in front of a painting titled, "Summer 2" in the Meier wing, Kevin asked SiSi if the painting made him feel like summer. Josiah started to say, "Yes," then changed his tune, saying, "No. It looks like modern art."
* Josiah also thought, Man Pointing was really cool. He was almost beside himself as he told Kevin how amazed he was that they had a skinny man as a sign pointing, "This Way," into the next room. Then he mimed the sculpture's posture as he pranced through the doorway and into the final gallery hallway.

The Science Center was really fun, as usual, and as we were driving home after feasting, playing games and redeeming tickets at Chuck E. Cheese, Ben suggested that we could go there again. Evidently, he doesn't think we should wait ANOTHER eight years :)

-A collaborative entry by L and K

Naptime Conversation

I was just putting Gabriella down for her nap. Her mind was still spinning so she was chatting as we swayed to the music. Gabriella was thinking about the full house we had last night.

Barrettes? Charissa?

Did you have fun playing barrettes with Charissa last night?

Yes...fun...

Swing...Wagon...Water...Outside....

Sounds like you had lots of fun with Charissa outside last night.

Yes...fun...Charissa...

Thank you Aunt Charissa for such a memorable evening.

A year ago

I just came down to use the computer and these were the images on the screen. These were the first weeks of "back to school" last year when Josiah was still home with Gabriella. I thought these pictures captured the very loving big brother that Josiah is, as well as how much little G has changed in the last year. No wonder she asks about the boys all day long. They are her favorite playmates!

Gabriella's latest games

As the weather has changed this last week, I thought it was time to get out the larger, warmer clothes that have been packed away. This morning Gabriella was playing in her room as I held things up to her as she ran around in her diaper refusing to get dressed. After I was finished filling her drawers, she decided it was time check out what I had been putting away. She kept pulling various clothing items out of her dresser, bringing them to me and saying "Fit you?" and having me put them on her. She came up with some great outfits! She even put her Okoboji t-shirt on herself saying "fit-you!" as she pulled it up her legs like pants.

Later on that morning she got out her box of barrettes. She pulled me by the hand down the hall saying "My room," then "sit." and she proceeded to pull out favorites from our barrette collection and hand them to me to put in her hair and in mine.

So between playing "fit-you" and hair salon, we had to do some work to be presentable to meet Daddy for lunch with his friends at work. While I am sure no one would have minded a little girl in turquoise leggings with a birdie on them and an orange shirt with a ghost on it, I might have got some looks with the row of purple and green clips I had in my hair.