Locks of Love and LEGOs

What a wonderful Spring Break we had! Kids were home all week and Tim and I split the days off from work to stay home with the kids. I managed to almost-finish Larissa's room remodeling project. Turns out I really need to slow down and wait for the paint to settle before applying anything else. As it is, I have to do some touch ups on one wall, because masking tape I used actually pulled some of the fresh paint off. I am just glad I am done with the primer... stinky!

On Saturday Larissa finally got a chance to get her hair cut for the Locks of Love donations. She was really nervous that her remaining hair will be too short, but to everyone surprise, she had plenty left for a really cure hair style! Best of all, we didn't get charged for the cut, because she is donating it!Sunday was my big LEGO surprise for Gabe. I signed him up for a kids' session of a LEGO's BrickFest. It's a first time kids' session was offered, and I am telling you, it was worth every penny (and then some!!). Kids had such a great time. Between getting a private tour of the exhibit (before the opening hours), meeting the actual LEGO designers, getting involved in a large scale model build, and (best of all) getting a bunch of sets/kits to bring home, it couldn't get any more sweet. Gabe kept telling me "Thank you, Mom! Thank you so much! I love it!" all afternoon.Class size was limited to 30 kids and parents could stay or leave, but there was not a chance I was going to pass an opportunity to stay and listen! Hee hee. I (not so) secretly love LEGOs too.

It was interesting to see not only the "typical" LEGO creations, but some artwork too. There were pictures made from single and double studs. The kinds that are smooth on top. It reminded me of a cross-stitching technique. I am really tempted to try it now!
It was also nice to meet the guy who came up with the Bionicle idea (Kelly McKiernan), a LEGO train designer from Hawaii, a local LEGO store manager, and many many more people involved in this creative community!

March 21st weekend

Kids finished their swimming session and all successfully passed to the next level. Yeah! We'll have a little bit time off before the next session starts because of the Spring Break. I could use a break...

I also started working on a short (1-3 min) video that I want to submit. Chris Dudley's foundation is sponsoring a competition of active kids with Type 1 diabetes, participating in some sports activity. I tried taping Larissa at her swimming class, but she kept looking away (or going underwater, which made me nervous), so I am not sure about that one. We did get a really good footage of her on a pogo stick when we got home :-)

Larissa and I went to IKEA on Saturday and spent most of our day there. Checking things out, getting ideas. We got many useful, some useless things, and had a blast walking around.

That motivated me on getting done with her room. So, I spent all day on Sunday ripping the rest of her wallpaper off, patching holes, priming the walls, etc. Made quite the progress.

Note to self: keep windows open when priming small rooms! I got pretty dizzy while working.

"Boys" had a chance to catch up on their XBox achievements. I couldn't get them to go outside all weekend, but then again, weather was not exactly very "inviting", so who can blame them!

March 14th

Quiet weekend. Gray sky's. Many rains. Slooooow...

In the brief periods of no-rain, we would go outside and play a little.

We had Tim's old friend stay with us over the weekend. It's been about 20 years since they seen each other last. Many things happened since, but the old memories quickly came back. Oh, the good old High School days!

I continued peeling wallpaper off the walls in Larissa's room (little progress made there) and I purchased all the supplies needed to finish it up the walls afterwards. I just need to "get on it" now!

And, of course, the St Patrick's Day parade in Hillsboro on Saturday.
It was out first year attending. We had a great time. Got a bunch of candy (thrown off the floats) to bring back home too.

March snow

Another week went by. We are getting closer and closer to the Summer, but weekends like this past one, sure make it feel like we are not even close.

Friday was a Western Day for kids at their school. Here is Larissa's version of a cowgirl:

This weekend I finally decided that I am ready to take on Larissa's room remodeling project. My biggest fear turned into reality. Taking off old wallpaper is quite challenging already, but discovering that previous owners just slapped the wallpaper directly onto a drywall is plain discouraging.
What I though would be a simple "remove wallpaper and paint" job is looking like "remove wallpaper, prime, texture, prime, paint" job now, but we are taking it easy. The job is messy and the process is slow, because you have to wait for paper to saturate before moving on. Kids had fun though... (pictured in Larissa's closet):

I see this possibly turning into a couple-of-months project for my weekends.

On Sunday Tim surprised Gabe with a new mountain bike. Gabe's old bike was barely big enough and not very well equipped for going on the actual trail. Hard to go trailing with a single speed bike... Gabe is happy he got a new bike, Larissa is happy she got Gabe's old bike!

I snapped this picture this morning, before going to the bus stop, while the sun was still sleeping in. I wish I could sleep in too. This Daylight Savings is just not going too well.

Good bye February! Hello March.

Oregon spring is here, which means that we will be teased by an occasional sunshine, but will mostly deal with either a drizzle or a heavy downpour. I suppose it's good for the grass... But sadly, it is also good for the moss in my yard. I see a trip to Home Depot in my near future.

This weekend I got a chance to cut some more vines in our backyard, cut them into small chunks and dispose of them, but there is still so much more.

Saturday was a quiet day for us. Larissa and I drove to WA, so I could purchase some decongestants... I know, I know... Silly, but you have to have a prescription in OR to buy it, and I didn't feel like spending $20 for a co-pay fee just to see my Dr so I could ask for a prescription... We made a girls' day out of it by having lunch together at my favorite sushi place.

Kids re-discovered the Bright-light toy and had lots of fun making their pictures. Then, both Gabe and Larissa tripped over the cord (once each), which resulted in a large spill of pegs all over the floor... That's when we had to say "all done!". I think this toy should not have a power cord. That is just plain dangerous for the little kids.

My only other goal for the weekend was to find a table that kids can use in their room for the Logo's. Something I didn't worry about scratching and something that had a place for the storage of extra pieces. Boy, did I luck out! Sunday morning I decided to take a quick look at http://www.craigslist.org/ and the very top (newest) posting was exactly what I was looking for. It said "first come", so I immediately called the seller and told him I was on my way to get it. $20 later I got the table, and no more Lego pieces all over the floor. Kids can sit in front of the table and not slouch over the floor. I am so happy!