gus gets in touch with his anger

i had an interesting conversation with gus' teacher today: she started by asking if i had problems with road rage, half-jokingly but not really, then proceeded to tell me how gus flipped off a teacher yesterday. nice. below are pictures from a more innocent time.

i wonder if gus will mind if i play with this?

he minds.

more snow!

gus in his natural habitat

for valentine's day this year, we got yet another big snowfall that cancelled school. gus and i had fun playing outside, but sophie looked pretty miserable the whole time (part of that had to do with the fact that she had already outgrown her snowsuit and couldn't move). today it is back to being bright and sunny--hope all is well where you are!

sophie: "i don't think i like this."

"i know i don't like this."

"it is cold and wet, and someone should carry me."

"what is my brother doing?"

"now what is he doing?"

"that does look fun..."

"...gus is silly."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSAY!

this is a belated birthday greeting for my sister, lindsay, whose birthday i remembered in real life but forgot to post here...happy birthday!

legorifficness (pictures by gus)

astrid living life on the edge (scary art history reference here)

lego models made and shot by gus--he has done a fantastic job on both counts. there are even a couple of other models that are in a state of disrepair at the moment so they didn't make the exhibition. with everything that is going on with him, lego kits are perfect for gus--they have a specific starting and ending point and he knows what to do with every single piece. it gives him a reassuring sense of control over things in a good way (not in a control freak kind of way). rich helped him a little with the imperial star destroyer; i think it took them like three days to finish it. enjoy!

star wars v-wing fighter

star wars tie interceptor

helicopter

undersea guy fighting a sea serpent

fighter jet

star wars a-wing fighter

star wars jedi starfighter and vulture droid

star wars x-wing fighter

(rear view of above)

city hospital and ambulance

city fire station and fire truck

star wars imperial star destroyer (this is the one that took forever--it opens up, too)

mommy looks chemically enhanced (is this how i always look to him?)

as does daddy (alas, we're not that fun)

the plague at the pesthouse continues

gus is doing so much better, but sophie is just a giant ball of slime. she is so freaked out by her body right now that she's truly having a hard time processing it. she'll get better soon, but in the meantime my kids have lovingly given this scourge from hell to me. rich so far has avoided getting sick; i could make some comment about how you actually have to be here to catch a virus, but that would be mean. and too easy. and not totally true--he was around most of the weekend. so, that's where we are--enjoy the pictures!

right before she got sick, sophie discovered that gus has some pretty cool toys...

look at all this stuff!

and look at this pen!

however gus decided his frogger was off limits

the pesthouse

gros' "napoleon visiting the pesthouse at jaffa"

one of the things that is fun about having studied a lot of art history (aside from getting to write in the passive voice) is that you can frequently think of a work of art related to a family picture, like this:

sophie with dirty footies

reminds me of this:

carravaggio's "madonna di loreto"

because of the controversy caused by showing pilgrims with dirty feet before the virgin mary. the art history thing also works for identifying current conditions in the home: today, it is "napoleon visiting the pesthouse at jaffa." we even have our own diminuitive dictator, who shall remain nameless, who commanded me to remind everybody that his birthday is a month from yesterday and february is a short month. so you have been warned.

anyway, sophie woke up with almost 105 degree fever this morning so she got a big dose of tylenol and then hauled off to the emergency room. after going to two different urgent care centers, both of which were closed at 6:30 in the morning (urgent care in albuquerque is ABYSSMAL) we ended up back at that horrible ER that i took gus to several months ago. it wasn't quite as bad as the first time, but it was dirty and kinda gross nonetheless. rich ended up prescribing her antibiotics in the end anyway, so it was probably a wasted trip. poor sophie. and poor gus--he started getting whatever this is yesterday.

behold the pesthouse that is our home:

miserable gus

miserable sophie

passed out gus

passed out sophie

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

updates

congratulations to valerie and uncle dave for winning the t-shirt contest! valerie was the first non-family member to name the pictures correctly (they were all of gus), and dave gets the spirit award for emailing at like 4:30 in the morning. thanks for playing! also, the new mexico senate has agreed to table SB 367 until they can get more information; if you haven't already contacted a state senator please do so. here is the link again. gus is still doing the same--no drastic changes in either direction.

really, really old pictures today--my mom and i used to live next door to an AP photographer who shot these of me when i was about 6 years old. they ran in the rocky mountain news in 1974. enjoy your day!

i love seeing my mom try to run in her dr. scholl's

i fell, and hurt my hand, and cried

but i shook it off the next time

what type of tree are you?

would you like a banana?

this morning gus was focused on what type of tree everyone was, wanting to pick just the right one before his carpool came:

gus: maple
sophie: tulip magnolia
me: cherry (which i love)
rich: aspen
nanno: oak
daddo: sycamore
aunt lindsay: christmas tree (?)
aunt ashley: palm (this really is perfect)
uncle dave: cottonwood
uncle tom: river cottonwood (a smaller version of the above)
aunt sandy: walnut
grandpa jack: california redwood (he asked me what the oldest trees were, and this was my answer--i think it comes from rich calling his dad "old man")
grannie annie: white pine
floyd: also white pine

this was as far as he got before his ride got here. add your own in the posts!

could you hand me my banana?

must get banana...

...must get banana...

...tights making it difficult...

i got it!

name that baby!

name that baby--is it gus or is it sophie? the first one to email the correct answer wins an argus gallery t-shirt. answers next week. good luck!