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!

petty embarassment

dude! she's eating the ball!

that didn't taste right...


whenever i have a lot of stress i get skin breakouts, and they aren't the little annoying kind but rather the enormous, cystic, you-should-really-get-that-looked-at kind. the past month has been no exception--i have the hugest spot right on the end of my nose and it is so distracting that i decided it was time to try and cover it up. i go to my bathroom and find there's no makeup, then i remember--our movers lost one box marked master bathroom when we moved...so now i know what was in it. so i accept that i will be living with this pox for a while and i go and inflict it on everyone else at gus' school. while i'm standing there waiting for him to come out of class, sophie leans over and tries to bite me, then does it again and again. the spot is so bad she thinks it is a boobie. and she is trying to latch onto my nose. and that is my petty embarassment for the day.

i am very talented

i can eat banana off a finger

(so can my brother)

i can drink from a straw

and i can giggle adorably when someone whispers sweet nothings into my ear

how to make a neurotic mom go completely off the deep end

gus and his best friend george


i picked up gus at school today and was met by his teacher--gus did not have a stellar day in class at all. so, in order to relax and try and talk to him a little, we all went to the aquarium and botanical gardens for the rest of the afternoon. we had a relaxing, enjoyable walk through the aquarium, we tried to teach sophie what fish are, and we all just hung out and had a lovely time. on the way home, rich called and said, "are y'all on your way to hockey?" and i thought, ummm, hockey? and then i remembered that today was picture day for the hockey team.

so i got gus home, dressed, and on his way to hockey in record time--it was impressive--but had made the mistake of telling him we were running late for the pictures. so i heard, "are we going to make it? are you sure we're going to make it? am i going to miss the team photo? i really don't want to miss the team photo" about a dozen times until sophie started screaming at the top of her lungs and then those questions were alternated with, "i think sophie is hurting my hearing. am i going deaf? are you sure i'm not going deaf? i'm pretty sure i'm going deaf..." and keep in mind it takes about 30 minutes to get to the rink from our house...so it was a stressful drive.

anyway, we get there ON TIME--sophie is still screaming--and i decided that sophie would be just fine in the car crying herself into a frenzy for a while, so i left her and ran off inside the rink with gus. we get inside, i madly struggle to get his skates on, and we are about 10 feet from where the photographer is setting up the other players on the ice to take the team picture. i always have trouble with his skates--i just don't have the hand strength you need to get those suckers on tight enough, so i am fighting with the laces all the while trying not to knock gus unconcious because i am jostling him around so much, then i hear it:

"one, two, three ICE BREAKERS! again, one two, three ICE BREAKERS!" the f-ing fat ass photographer took the picture. and a backup. i can't even believe it. i'm looking at the guy in total disbelief--i know he can see me and i'm thinking surely he'll spend a few extra seconds and pennies on film and let gus be in the picture. so i grab gus, try and hurl him over the penalty box wall onto the ice (his skates are on by now, but i'm basically scaring the hell out of him), and fat ass tells the other boys good job and lets them all skate off in 50 different directions. i am furious and yelling, "hey. HEY. HEY!!!" to the photographer who is doing the equivalent of putting his fingers in his ears and going LALALALA just totally ignoring me, and at that moment i almost jumped onto the ice and beat this guy with his own camera. or mine. whatever.

then i remembered, not that this would be morally and legally wrong, not that gus would be completely scarred by such an outburst from his horrible mom, but that all this time i have left sophie in the car by herself...


...although she didn't look like this


don't you ever do the dishes?


happy sophie!


she is way cute when she sleeps

rich's younger brother is famous in st. louis!

my brother-in-law, tom allen, was named one of the 40 under 40 by the st. louis business journal--yay tom! click on image to enlarge and read the article.

happy groundhog day!

no shadow this year

that thing that lived in our backyard was actually a groundhog! thanks for letting me know.

in addition to the exciting news about an early spring, new mexico is considering a bill to allow optometrists to perform eye surgery in the state. a slippery slope indeed, meaning that if it is passed it allows a foot in the door for other non-medical people to possibly do surgery in the future. maybe even art historians. it really sucks for the patients, our fellow new mexicans...please oppose this bill, if you haven't already, by going to:

this site

it is an easy point-and-click email. i believe people from outside the state can voice their opinions on this matter as well. thank you!

argus gallery news

having a website is a wonderful way to practice avoidance of those things you should but really don't want to do. to that end, argus gallery has recently been updated! click here to see the latest exhibition, venice, 1999.