Monday, December 08, 2008

Wonderful Weekend

Grandpa Tom Gives Atticus a Technology Tutorial?

Friday night Grandpa Tom and Grandma Nancy came up for a visit. We haven't had them up here in a long, long time. It was so good to see them. Saturday morning we went out for a big greasy-spoon breakfast at Curran's, the local family restaurant. The kids were owl-y from staying up late playing with their grandparents but we still managed to enjoy ourselves and keep a sense of humor. Later Grandma took Atticus on a trip to the library to return some books and pick up new ones. I went grocery shopping alone and then came back to put the kids down for their naps.

Saturday evening we went over to the art show our church (Hannah Muonio) put on downtown in the warehouse district near Brad's work. The gallery is Artspace, a national property developer that builds apartments and studio spaces specifically for artists. This was Hannah's first time organizing and putting together a show and on a budget of zero. She and all who helped did a great job. I entered four pieces.

These are the wall hangings I finished for our church the night before I went into labor with Atticus. Since we meet in a elementary school gymnasium for our church services, these cover some pretty unsightly gym posters and equipment on the wall behind the front risers. I am so glad I was able to get these done before I became so much more limited in time.

Dietrich decided to stand up un-aided from a sitting/crawling position here at the art show. It was a great place to practice walking -- big open spaces. He's been continuing to stand up with a ta-da expression on his face -- beeming and pleased.

Grandpa and the boys examining a post (?)

I don't know why...

Fabric, hand-sewn
The theme of the show was Proclamation -- to proclaim through various art forms (there was also music, poetry, ceramics, sculpture, photography, and other spoken performances during the show) how God has been revealing Himself to us. I have been wanting to do a series on how God has extended grace to me through my husband and children, this new part of my life that has proven to be so rich and deep and strange for me. So these are really studies for what I would like to eventually be making, crafting, painting, drawing.

Oil Pastel

A study for a larger piece I hope to work on next year...I did this one in 20 minutes because I was frustrated with the outcome of the small portrait above...

Overall, I give myself a B- on the three pieces I did this month specifically for the show (based off of what I wanted to achieve craftsmanship-wise), but I am thankful for the motivation to be making art from my husband and my church family.

After we had been at the show for awhile, the grandparents took the boys home for supper. Tom & Nancy had bought us tickets to a Christmas concert and gave us a date night downtown. We ate at the Rock Bottom Brewery over in the theater district. The meal was delicious and we even had time to share a dessert and leisurely talk. Then walked a block over in the bracing cold to a beautiful old theater for the concert.

That night I became really sick with a cold -- so much so that I couldn't go to church the next morning. Nancy and Tom stayed an extra few hours to basically do all my work for me -- got the kids dressed and fed, played with them and kept them alive and happy until Brad came home from teaching Sunday school. Nancy did the sheets and towel laundry, the dishes, and cleaned up the morning "kid debris". They left after lunch for Des Moines (in another snow storm). Brad was Mr. Mom the rest of the day -- I slept for most of it, waking for a few hours before bedtime -- and still I slept in a coma all night long until morning. I probably would have asked Brad to go into work late the next morning so I could recover a little more, but I had a OB appointment that was two weeks late and had already lined up a babysitter. I made it through the morning and at naptime I took a nap with both boys in our bed -- we slept a miraculous 3 hours together. Finally today (Tuesday) I am feeling better. Thank goodness for a wonderful visit with my in-laws, one of the best dates Brad and I have ever had (we've only had a handful since we had Atticus) and the gift of being able to actually convalesce when I am sick.

Dietrich "grrrrr-ing" out

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