But is it Art?

This is what happens when kids play office - no photocopying of cleavage, but some crazy photocopy art nonetheless.

Little People in Space

Percy trapped in the copier!! Thomas, be Really Useful and Go Get Sir Topham Hatt!

Tape in Paradise

My favorite: Max raising hell at the office.

We are totally out of printer ink, but on the upside, the kids had a veeeerrrrry quiet Quiet Time.

Another poem

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

It feels vaguely inappropriate to post this today, when the world is on a genuine high, using words like awesome, amazing, excited, inspired, thrilled. And truly, I do believe this is a transformative day in our nation's history. But similar to our church having a service for those grieving & in pain during Advent, when I came across these few lines it occurred to me that it is helpful to remind ourselves that we too have our own 'place in the family of things', just as President Obama has his.

The poem touched a bit of a nerve I guess, and I liked it.

And a little child shall lead them

Cecilie brought this picture into the kitchen this morning. (You can't see the detail, but it is actually two connected hands painstakingly cut out.) I asked her to tell me about it, as it differs in style from her more...um, literal representations of Rapunzel or BFFs Ellie, Maggie or Lilly.

She lifted those dark brown eyes up to me, and said simply and quietly -"It's a picture, Mommy, of Martin Luther King's dream."

Cue motherly pride, mixed with awe at this small person who just gets it. May she continue to show me the way.

Staples in the head

Lars, Lars, Lars

I am afraid that this one will stay with you for a while and just like your daddy's diving scar, will keep you wary of going bald one day...
We should all be thankful that the point and shoot decided to focus on the hair instead of the scalp, but this is roughly what it looks like when you have four metal staples punched into your head after rowdy play at the Starbucks with Grandpa, Uncle Carl and Talia.

You were very brave that day (New Year's Eve 08/09) and we hope that stays with you as well...

Christmas malarkey

Marks by Linda Pastan

My husband gives me an A
for last night's supper,
an incomplete for my ironing,
a B plus in bed.
My son says I am average,
an average mother, but if
I put my mind to it
I could improve.
My daughter believes
in Pass/Fail and tells me
I pass. Wait 'til they learn
I'm dropping out.

There's been a lot of talk on about poetry lately. I kind of liked this one, when Brad showed it to us.

The Kids Shoot

The very best bonus for being part of Dave's photo shoot was that he threw in some gorgeous photos of the kids. He really manages to distill who they are, at that very moment:

Annika, 11 months






Cecilie at 6
Lars: 3 and a half, and all boy


The all-time best photo of these 2, EVAH.





That's my Larsie...

Quite like that look, we do. Consider us charter members of the Dave K. Cooper Photography Fan Club! Somebody get this man on retainer, quick, before he makes the big time & none of us can afford him.

The House Shoot

As confirmed non-artists, we consider ourselves so blessed to have friends with talents - so when Dave asked to 'borrow our kitchen' to shoot a cooking related series for his portfolio we scrubbed the calendar and took the phone off the hook.

On the menu was pomegranate chicken, a most lush and colorful dish loved by many Nilsen Friends, accompanied by roasted beet salad with goats cheese.

Peeling roasted beets...
...veggie love...
A joyful chef ready to deglaze the pan

Pomegranate Prosecco - and Kirsten finally realizes her life-long dream of being a hand model...



Not your regular Dr Evil...
Some finishing touches...
...and et voila!

...this proclaimed in my best Patrick Stewart voice: "and if you listen very carefully you might recognize the christmas card inside the wolf..."

True creative genius can make the simplest object a still life. And thus, Dave captured NilsenLife.