some stuff i made recently

Adventures with Santa, 2004 to 2009

Adventures with Santa, 2004 to 2009, originally uploaded by Hollis Queen.

2009's Santa's Lap photo was a success! no screaming, no tears, no defensive moves, no sleepers, no just-woke-up-from-a-nap-faces, no inflatable superheroes. just three jolly smiling faces in one happy shot.

wishing

Dear Santa,
Please, oh please, I've been such a good boy this year.
All I want for Christmas is a Back-up New Rocket.
Because Rocket is my Everything. I'll even give all the other squirters in the set to my little brother.
Love,
Angus

i love a virginian november

yarn bombing quirk

in progress, originally uploaded by Hollis Queen.

it feels good to be appreciated

as i hang my head in shame and eat my own words

I finally gave in to my curiosity and need to see what the draw was and read Twilight. And New Moon. And Eclipse. Why the fuck am I so absorbed by these crap books which are so obviously and unrelentingly filled with atrocious messages to young girls? I am so ashamed. And addicted! Gah.

Bless my dear sweet KL's heart for posting this hilarious link. Somehow, laughing along with someone making fun of me for falling for something so lame is cathartic. And now I am off to find a copy of Breaking Dawn. Fuck it all.

I admit it. I, too, love sparkly vampires.

Ruby's Run

The Unicorn (and The Dude, a little) participated in Ruby's Run this Sunday at Dogwood Dell to help raise money for a very good cause in memory of a very special little girl.

The reason for the run itself already had me raw with emotion. But I was still caught off guard by how emotional it was to see The Unicorn running his little heart out. The fact that he wanted to participate at all was enough to get me a bit teary. Quite often, his emotions get the best of him and he becomes overwhelmed very easily. Coping with stress, fear, shyness, and excitement all at once is hard for everybody, but especially those with ASD. So I had prepared myself for the worst and knew it was likely that he would let some unknown force trigger a meltdown that would keep him from enjoying an event he had been so looking forward to. I was just waiting to watch it all unwind, spring into comfort mode, and start to feel the familiar emotions of my heart breaking a little more for the boy who so infrequently gets to feel proud of his accomplishments.

But, then he actually ran with the other children. The Unicorn did not cry and quit. He ran the entire course, smiling and determined and happy and proud. After he received his medal, he looked up at me and said, "I won! Now I can live happily ever after." And I believe it is true. Yes, all of the participants were given medals, but I am certain Angus truly won. He won the most recent battle in the ongoing War Against Himself. And he knew he was victorious. And he will live happily ever after. I just know it.

happy halloweek!

Yippee! Yippee! Noodle is 3!

how quickly time flies when you have a little buddy this entertaining by your side.

meet your new motto

to be more specific....anyone need tile work? or portraits of their rugrats?

Confidence Building, with Angus Brown

Angus: Mom? You're old?
Me: Uh, yeah, I guess so.
Angus: Cause you have white hair.
Me: Wow. Okay, then. I guess I do, so I guess I am old.
Angus: But you don't have to be.
Me: Really? What do you mean, buddy?
Angus: Like on Monsters v. Aliens. Lucy---
Me: (seeing where this is going...) Susan.
Angus: Yeah. Susan got white hair and grew bigger and bigger and bigger but not older. Can you just do that?
Me: I'll try.
Angus: Ok!!! (looking like he's waiting....)
Me: I can't really do that, Angus.
Angus: Oh. Just get old then.

table talk with The Unicorn

And now, a snippet from tonight at dinner......

Angus: Can I pick my nose at school?
Me: No, you can't. That's not nice manners.
Angus: (after a brief pause) Oh.
Me: Why? Do you do it?
Angus: Yes.
Me: Where do you do it?
Angus : I hide so they won't see me.
Me: Where do you hide?
Angus: Everywhere. Under the tables, other places. In the trash can.

happy monday

if only every monday could be just like yesterday. then i'd have no complaints. school holiday + daddy's return from far too long away + 70 degree weather + momma-made peter pan hats + duct tape & cardboard daddy-made swords + a walk with my boys through the woods and along the river + discovering land art in the james + many many kisses and hugs = just about as good as it gets.

allow me to reiterate, october

As October nears, I'd just like to once again address the month to beg for Mercy. You see, it seemed to have worked last year. We made it through all of last October without incident. So, I thought I'd better try it again. The following is a (still relevant) post from 2008.



October is here. October is not good to us. We have spent 3 of the last 4 Octobers cooped up in hospitals. In 2005, Angus nearly died. Fall allergies and asthma are a bad mix. Especially when you don't know your child has either. The next year, Angus got pneumonia and I was busy having Noah cut from my body. There went October '06. Then last October, Noah had his first hospital stay. Yup, another fall allergy + asthma sufferer. And the kids got Hand, Foot & Mouth disease. (Thanks a lot, icky preschool germs.) There went October 2007 down the drain, too.

So this year, October....I'm begging you to please lay off the Browns. I'm not saying go bother another family---just that maybe you've picked on us enough for right now. What do you say? I"d really like to be able to enjoy your blue skies and cool temperatures, your hayrides and pumpkin patches, your crisp evenings and frosty mornings, trick or treating and cookie baking. What do you say , October? Can we be friends?

gratitude

at least three times a day, i feel or hear myself sounding just like my own mother. sometimes it's in the tone i've used to be just the right amount of firm with my kids. other times i recognize her in my soft and encouraging statements of praise, or in the way i feel holding hands with the boys as we cross the street. but unlike that old cliche, i haven't ever been overtaken with disgust when i notice her in me. i am always just really proud of myself because i know i am doing something right.

thank you, mom, for being who you are. and for knowing how to bring out the best in the me that i am. i'd never know what i was doing without the influence of your guidance from the past, your support in the present, and the irrational faith that you'll always be here for me in the future. i am truly grateful for being blessed with you for my mother.

Jet Generation!

Jet Generation!
Originally uploaded by Hollis Queen

i love sunday mornings around here.

happy saturday!

my friends at orangehouse posted this earlier today. i laughed so hard and long at these coiffed poodles that i knew it was too good not to pass along. enjoy!




also, i just now filled up noodle's snack bowl with snapea crisps and snagged a few from the top of his tiny bowl and popped them in my mouth. then it went like this:
Noodle: Noooooooooooo! My green beans! Don't eat them!
Me: Oh, calm down.
Noodle: (makes that sound of disgust & frustration----a long low growl, you know the one.... reserved for use by kids and designed as the ultimate wordless weapon against parents. come on, kid! you're two years old! couldn't this wait a few years?)
Me: (attempting to prompt good manners, despite his ugly display of early-onset teenagerdom) What do you say?----squeaked out in the most annoying mommy-voice i can muster.
Noodle: DON'T TOUCH MY FOOD!
Me: (conjuring up something i perfected during my own childhood, makes that very same sound of disgust & frustration.)

chilly chill

the first day of school is lurking less than two weeks away. *sigh* i am a summer lover, so i am sort of dreading the big change looming. i've so enjoyed having angus here with us all day this summer. but soon he will go back to spending most of his waking hours with people other than his family and noodle and i will go back to being a two-man team on school days. that is, until he's finished with potty training and trots off to nursery school part-time without even looking back to wave goodbye. *again, sigh.*

anyhow, i got off track. this was supposed to be a post about sharing info on a great deal i found on some back to school necessities at kroger. i've had my eye on these awesome BPA-free 2-cup food chilling containers from Fit & Fresh all summer, but kept waiting for them to go on sale and they finally did. i am kind of fanatical about trying to avoid BPAs. it used to be hard to find plastics without them. but now, thanks to studies like the recent out of Harvard, BPA-free plstics are getting easier to locate in mainstream grocery stores.


so... yay, me. instead of $9.99 for a six-pack i scored them last night for $6. i think i may even snag up one or two of their bento box sets before the sale ends.

City Skyline scarf

My First Pattern!!

Needle: US 10 / 6.0 mm
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy
1 skeins = 250.0 yards
Color: Grey Tabby
Finished size: 96" after blocking

Pattern is as follows:

CO 26 stitches.

Rows 1 -4 Knit in garter stitch.

Row 5 Slip 1, K1, *(YO, K2tog)* , repeat to last 2 sts, K2

Row 6 Slip 1, knit to end

Row 7 Slip 1, K1, (K2tog, YO) repeat to last 2 sts, K2

Row 8 Slip 1, Knit to end

Row 9 - 12 Knit in garter stitch

Row 13, same as Row 5, etc.

Continue in the pattern until piece is desired length. Block lightly.
Mine measured 96" after blocking, 80" or so before.

This one was made for Wonder Wollen's upcoming birthday, but I am most definitely making more of these really soon. And that yarn........dreamy.

i s a w m y b l o o d y v a l e n t i n e

last night at the national theater in richmond. and it was amazing. i had to slink around with my camera hidden in order to snap off these shots. even though practically everyone there was shooting crappy iPhone shots, the security staff kept picking on me for having "professional gear" and threatening to confiscate my camera. am i a total geek for being flattered that they thought i resembled something of a professional? yes. definitely.
P.s. i took these photos. don't steal them or use them without my consent. ya dig?