Big concert weekend

What a weekend we had! So packed with fun, I am not sure I can recall it all...

On Friday night my friend Mary was offered a few free tickets to Jonas Brothers' concert on a Saturday night and I was more than happy to accept some. I knew that if nothing else, Larissa would be thrilled to go. When I checked their website I found out that they would not allow any "professional" cameras (a.k.a. SLR camera) at the show. So, I decided it was time to invest into something more portable, something that would fit in a pocket, just to have handy in case you need it. Lucky for me, I still had $75 worth of Wellness gift cards (thanks Intel!), so my purchase price was greatly reduced. I went to the store with a full intent to by a Nikon, but walked out with a Canon... I guess I am a Canon gal after all...

We already had plans to attend ADA sponsored Family Connection event at the Bullwinkle's Fun Center and that how we started off our Saturday. This was a great day for any outdoor activity, but especially when it is free and fun. Larissa ended up winning a pair of Box seat tickets for the Jonas Brother's event there! That made up our mind, the whole family will go!

Kids had so much fun playing arcade games

And shooting Mom with a water gun (even though I asked them not to, sigh...)

But we had to leave early to get ready for the concert. We stopped by Mary's house to get the tickets and found out that she will be able to join us (she got an extra ticket)! Things were just getting better and better.

Once home, we got ready for the next fun event, hopped the MAX train and headed downtown.

Larissa made sure she had a proper attire (and a matching Jonas Brothers handbag) and proudly showed off her tickets.

Concert was GREAT! Everything was so well thought out. The lights, the smoke, the props. Honor Society, Jordin Sparks & Wonder Girls as the opening acts.

We all had fun watching the show, but all wished we brought some ear plugs... Let's just say that 10,000 pre-teen girls yelling at the same time can make your ears ring for days.

What was pretty incredible Tim and Larissa's box seat was almost directly behind us, so we basically got to see everything from the same point (with the exception of having to pay for our food and drinks...).

But what was even more incredible is that Jonathan managed to fall asleep a couple of songs into JB's part of the show and sleep all the way through! I didn't think ANYONE can sleep through the noise, but he proved me wrong. Gabe took a catnap too, but he will never admit it...

On Sunday all the alarm clocks were turned off, all the window shades were drawn shut. We needed some sleep! No one was up before 9am and Larissa was the last one to get up at 11:30am!!

It was such a gorgeous day, we HAD to go pick some berries. Strawberries are pretty much gone, and blueberries are just starting. We were able to get a large box filled, then kids lost interest in picking and started playing a jungle game.

Larissa was hunting in tall grasses.

And Jon went shirtless. Because no one wears shirt in a jungle.

Gabe stayed home, too tired to go outside, while catching up on his video games. When I got home, he got a hold of the new camera and "went to town". I KNOW he is my son now. He took a bunch of subject pictures like this one:

To Bee or not to Bee...

I say NO to bees!

As I mentioned earlier we finally plugged the vent hole on our chimney which was used by a colony of bees as an entrance/exit, but the darn bees still found the way to squeeze themselves through the screen material.

So, as Russians say "Necessity is the Mother of invention"... and Tim overlayed the screened hole with the play dough. Blue, of all colors, since that's what Larissa had to spare.

So far, it's working. Here is what it looks like (and yes, those are some bees still trying to get in):

My biggest fear - that bees find another way to get in and out, somewhere through our house...

Fathers Day weekend, 2009

This weekend was mostly about catching up on the projects.
Saturday was filled running errands, shopping, returning books to the library, Saturday Market, etc. Tim finished working on Larissa (rebuilt) bike and she got to ride it around the block, testing it. I think it came out really nice and pretty much everything but the seat was upgraded.
I finally sat down and finished my MOO cards' collage for the boys' room. The kids liked it too.
It was hard to get kids motivated to do much. They are now in a vacation mode. Which means an all day rotation between a PC and a Game console...

Sunday was Fathers Day and Tim got to go biking with his friend from work. I think they both had a lot of fun (although I bet they are both sore now) and made it back just in time before it started pouring down rain.

My weekend was quiet. I did some house cleaning, washing, scrubbing, etc. I did go looking for a new TV amplifier antenna, but apparently with the new digital TV conversion, everyone else had the same idea... Best Buy was completely sold out! I will try again later.
On our way back from the stores Jon and I came across a Disney Warehouse sale (last day at this location), so we stopped by. Prices weren't all that excellent, but I am sure much better that at the resort. We got Larissa new "High School Musical 3" backpack for school (I couldn't pass a $5 bargain) and then we came across some Mickey Mouse ears with the 50th anniversary logo. Coincidentally, that was the year we went to Disney Land. Jon and Larissa lost their ears before we got back home, so for $1.50 I got Jon a replacement set of ears. I do believe they are much fancier than what he had originally (plain black), but he was only 9 months old, so he doesn't remember, not does he care.
Oh, and we finally "tried" taking care of our bee issue... Saturday night Tim plugged their entryway with a screen material, but the little buggers worked really hard all day Sunday and managed to create a tiny way in and out. So, Sunday night Larissa gave Tim some of her play dough and he sealed the hole again (on top of the screen). I am keeping my fingers crossed that it does the trick!

June 17, 2009. The school is out!

Finally!!!

Today kids got up early, without any trouble, got dressed and ready for school. Since I didn't have to get any one's lunches ready, we were extra early at the bus stop. Looks like Jon felt left-out of the excitement. His schedule is not changing.
We made a Thank You card for the bus driver (+ a gift card) and realized that we don't know her name. Shame on us!

The night before kids addressed their teachers' Thank You cards as well, then picked out a jewelry piece from my new creations that they wanted to give as a present. They picked exactly what I already had in mind for them.

Larissa was sad that she wasn't going to see Ms. Mudd for a while. She said she will miss her...

Gabe didn't say anything, but did write a nice note for Ms. Cameron

And, of course, we had a BIG thank you card and a box of chocolates for the office. I don't know if we could do as well as we did this year, if it wasn't for Ms. Amber. She has been a great support all year!

After school we had a great lunch at Hot Pot N Sushi, picked up Jon from daycare and headed to the LEGO store for a "speed build event".
Jon couldn't participate because he is under 6 (not that he really wanted too...) and got a consolation prize, and was happy as a clam! Anything Star Wars LEGO will do for him

The build event involved building as many Darth Vader guys as you can in one minute. One who builds the most got a special edition Platinum Darth Vader. Everyone else got a magnet. Gabe and Larissa tried so hard, and got so close, but didn't win on their first try.
Then, adults were invited to give it a try, and of course, I volunteered even before the store owner finished his sentence. Out of the nine adults trying, six (including myself) were able to build two guys each, so we had to go to a Sudden Death round. You can feel the tension on the air. My kids were holding hands and cheering for me (HA HA HA).
Let just say, when I finished my Darth Vader, everyone else were about half way done. Kids were so proud of me!

After a while, kids were allowed to try again. Larissa had little luck, but Gabe got about 1/2 a second behind the winner. Darn cape, he forgot to put it on, so had to go a step back...
No worries. Gabe was determined to win, and got another chance later. This round it was a two way tie with another boy, so they also had to go through a Sudden Death round...
Gabe made me proud! He won too!

One of the customers looked at us and made a comment "It must run in the family!"". Sure does! I admit, I am a LEGO geek, especially when it comes to the Star Wars.
All in all, we had a great time.
I had to finish it off my day with making more jewelry... Larissa got earrings out of it, and I have two more pieces:

I bracelet:

and a necklace:

Helvetia Half-Marathon 2009 weekend

I was registered to run half-marathon on Saturday and Gabe had a plan on going hiking with his class on the same day, so Friday night I was a total nervous mess. I had to make sure that I have everything I need for the race (including getting up on time) and that Gabe had his backpack packed. I tried a number of outfits for the race, settled on one combination and laid it out for the morning. But then, my allergies hit me really hard. I couldn't breath through my nose, my eyes were tearing, I couldn't stop sneezing. I started to think that my race is doomed... So, I defaulted to Benadryl, which also works as a sleeping aid...

I believe that my prayers were answered on Saturday morning. It rained overnight, so all the pollen was down to almost none. Just in case, I took my allergy meds and decongestants in the morning and I could actually breathe! Couldn't eat much because I was feeling nervous, still, but I knew I needed some carbs, so I had a dry toast and a handfull of gummy bears. Talk about Breakfast of Champions!..

Once I got to the race, I located the registration table, got in line to get my number bib and a timing chip, then it started raining. Since I was already in line (in the middle of a football field), I couldn't hide from the rain, so I just stood there, getting wet, hoping it will stop for the race... and it did! Thank goodness!

When all the runners started lining up for the race, I looked for the "pacers" or some sort of signs that indicate where you should be in the crowd, based on your running speed, but this year there weren't any! I just picked "about middle" of the crowd. I figured "surely I am not the fastest, but I am also not the slowest...", and I think that worked to my advantage! Since I didn't know what speed I was running (and I didn't even wear a watch), I just used my comfort zone as a measuring tool. The whole time I was hoping not to do slower than a 10 minute / mile pace. Turned out I did an average of 9:15 minute / mile!!! and I didn't stop once! As a result, I beat my last year's time by exactly 13 minutes. 2008 time was 2:14:10 and 2009 time is 2:01:10.

I was met by Tim, Larissa & Jon at the finish line. They even had flowers for me (Larissa's idea). How sweet!

After the race I got my Helvetia burger, and Tim purchased a couple of garden burgers (no idea why... probably thinking they are healthier...). My burger was pretty good, but the garden burgers were so bad no one wanted to eat those, I gave mine to the kids and Tim and I consumed the Garden kind.
I felt tired, but not too bad, for the rest of the day, and even went out shopping.

On Sunday my muscles finally let me know that I did over use them. Stairs were a major challenge, all day long.

I realized that strawberries were at it's peak, so the whole family went berry picking at the Sauvie Island. It was a perfect plan, Tim took his bike and went on a 13 mile ride. Kids and I went to a Kruger's Farm (and met him there later).
Honestly, kids weren't too interested in actually GETTING berries into a container. They just looked for bugs and did a taste test, comparing all the fields we went to.

Gabe liked the second and third field we went to the best.

Larissa agreed.

Jon gave it two thumbs up too.

If you look at the berries really-really close, you can see that they are actually fuzzy... hmm...

As for the rest of the weekend, since I am going through my jewelry making phase, I shall not disappoint. I made a few more pieces. Some are glass, some are fresh water pearls, but all were fun to make:

Glass bead necklace

Fresh water pearls, with silver beads and Swarovski crystals:

Mixed charms:

Silver wire wrapped "doughnut" with mixed beads:

Trying something new

Now that I am going through a "jewelry making" phase, I started learning new techniques. Last night I tried Wire Wrapping and I believe learned from my mistakes.

Next, I think I will take some formal classes at a local store, just to get the tricks of the trade.

June 6th

At this point I think kids are totally out of energy when it comes to school. It is so close to the end of a school year, they are practically running on fumes... I guess we have to pay back for all the snow days we got to enjoy around Christmas time.

Week's temperatures dropped back into 70's and this weekend it was mostly overcast. We are done with all the swimming and boxing commitments, so it was easy to do nothing, and we did nothing so well!

It feels like all I did was clean, shop for food, cook, eat and watch movies all weekend...

Gabe and Larissa went back and forth between an XBox and a PC. If you saw one of them on either device, it was a sure bet the other person was on the other.

Jon found Larissa's old tae-kwan-do pants and wore them all day Sunday. He pretended to be fighting the Evil Empire forces, by jumping off the couch while making sound effects...

About a week ago our butterflies have finally hatched. We started with five eggs. One didn't make it, so only four became butterflies.
Our cat is completely obsessed with getting to them. No place is too high or too safe for the poor creatures. He finally managed to push their "house" off the counter, and as it hit the floor, a piece of orange inside of it landed on one of the butterflies, killing it instantly... We are now down to three.

I am pretty sure cat knows he is doing something wrong...

On Sunday morning I was upstairs when Larissa run up in excitement, and yelled "Come downstairs, you got to see it! And bring your camera, it's pretty cool!"
What do you think I saw that was so "cool"?.. this:

Now, how is that "cool" I asked. She replied: "Daddy spilled Cheerios!" OK... back to cleaning for me... Not cool!

As Sunday evening approached, I felt like I didn't accomplish much (although I did a LEGO photo shoot project... more info to follow later), so I made an earrings set for Larissa, which she proudly wore to school on Monday :-)

May 30th weekend

This was Gabe's and my last week of boxing, at least till Fall. We both needed a break. Two nights a week commitment was getting hard to keep up with, especially because one of the coaches consistently run (up to an hour) overtime...

On Saturday we were going to go to the Saturday Market, but had such a slow and lazy morning, there wasn't a chance we were going to make it, but it's not a fruit season yet anyway...

A "friend of a friend" stopped by to check out our beehive. He is a beekeeper and was interested in taking my beehive to use for his honey farm. No luck! Darn bees picked the safest place you can think of. No human can get to them, on the inside a chimney's outer brick layer. He suggested plugging the vent hole they use as an entrance, some time at night (while the bees are not active and are all back in the house) and letting them die out, then screen the hole to avoid future issues. Sad, but it's either that or 60-70 pounds of honey in my chimney... (that's about what they will collect by the end of Summer)

Saturday evening Larissa and I went to Gales Creek Fundraiser dinner. We decided not to have everyone go mainly because of the price. $25 per adult and $10 per kid adds up pretty fast. This year fundraiser was at a much better location (Club Sport) and had a much better food selection. Silent auction had a variety of items, but not much interested us, except for a set of Christmas ornaments shaped like chocolate candies. Larissa insisted we bid on it, so I gave in. I was planning on spending some money for the camp, and $28 was just about the limit :-)

We also bought $25 worth of raffle tickets for a $250 FredMeyer's gift card drawing. We didn't win the card, but after they pulled a winning number, two more tickets were pulled for a chance to be "first in line" for a Summer camp check in. First winner didn't want it, so they asked if anyone is willing to buy it, and I quickly raised my hand. I offered $20 and they accepted. I remember the check in process last Summer... It must have took us an hour or two to get through the line and get all the paperwork in order. Not this year!

While adults were bidding on a variety of other auctioned out items, kids got to do a bunch of fun things. They had pizza, played basketball, danced an African dance, played dodge ball, and best of all, got to climb, climb & climb. Larissa started on a small (no rope) wall:Once she was comfortable, she tried out a bigger wall with support:and with that under her belt, she went on an "A, B, C" wall (named after the letters and numbers used as rocks), a few times:I have to say, she is a natural!
All in all, a great night.

Sunday was another HOT, pre-Summer day in Oregon. If you didn't have an air conditioner at home, you were probably miserable or at a store, cooling off...

Ms. Mary invited Larissa to decorate some cupcakes with her and to then take them to Ronald McDonald house. That was right up Larissa's alley. She went crazy with it, she had so much fun!

At the house Larissa also got to see Disney themed wall murrlas and she got to play on the playground. She had a blast and talked about it all night long. Thanks Mary for taking her and for taking the pictures! :-)