Art

I've been looking to buy some new artwork for my house lately. I've always been a sucker for maps but particularly liked these colorful maps by Aaron Straup Cope.

I also thought this was a nice photopgraph on canvas by Irene Suchocki.

This is by Richard Diebenkorn entitled "Ocean Park" which he painted in 1980....not sure if I love or hate it.

Lastly, this is John Singer Sargent's "El Jaleo" which is a more traditional oil. Would really like to have a nice mix of different kind of pieces like this in my house someday.

Anybody else have a favorite new artists?

More Holiday Festivities 2010

Christmas couldn't go by without the annual Bennett, Tueller, Johnson and Deere work party. Ben and I left the kids with a sitter and had a nice meal at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

2 days later Ben's family came into town and all the girls went to a Santa Tea Party at the Grand America Hotel. Here is Maia and Kaitlin getting ready to order.

Lila and Grace prepare for Santa's arrival.

Lila was not so sure of Santa when he arrived and cried when he got too close.

Here is Jenny and Maia doing some mother and daughter bonding.

The Nutcracker 2010

Following tradition Liam and I went to the Nutcracker for our 5th consecutive year in a row. As in previous years we met up with Sam and the gang. Although Lila was not quite old enough to sit through the show she wanted to pose for some of the preshow pictures.

Sam and the boys all came in plaid or red ties. Kristen came beautifully dressed in a black fur and sparkling headband. With 6th row tickets we all sat back and enjoyed the show.

After the show we met at my house briefly and got a few more family pictures, unfortunately, Charlie was NOT in the mood.

To finish off the evening we went down to the Paris for some french cuisine. Not sure the waiters loved having several small children at the table to serve but we did manage to escape without any outbursts or temper tantrums.