Halloween at Intel

This Tuesday we went to our second annual Halloween party at my work. Due to the recent changes in a global economy a few modifications took place this year. Instead of having two separate parties the week of Halloween, there was only one & there was little advertisement (I think in hopes that lesser number of people will show up).

I always like taking kids to more than one party each year, this way it feels like they get their money worth out of their costumes :-)

We had quite a bit of trouble deciding on Gabe and Larissa's costumes. They both kept changing their mind. Absolutely no problem with Jon's costume though. He KNEW he wanted to be a Darth Vader and (lucky for me) stuck with it.

I got Jon a flashlight that resembles a light saber (and happens to be red), so he could use it after the Halloween too, a black cape with a hood from the Goodwill store, and I painted a black t-shirt to mimic the pattern on the Darth Vader's chest. He already had the mask, belt and black pants, so it worked out pretty well.

Larissa was going to be a Dorothy from the Wizard of OZ (when we found the dress at Goodwill), but acted hesitant at the last moment. I suggested she could be Dorothy Zombie and I think she really liked that idea, but, again, decided to be "just Dorothy" on Tuesday.

Gabe went from the vampire to scary character from the Scream movie to his old Doctor's costume. We happened to have a fake leg he could carry around, a pair of gloves from Daddy's toolbox and he was all set too!

We got to the party almost half an hour early (I messed up on start time) and that actually worked to our advantage! We got a great parking spot and I was able to back into it. I remembered what it was like at the end of a party last year. Dark, tons of kids walking behind vehicles and a number of people is still looking for a parking spot...

As expected, parent were the one who behaved worse than kids. I don't know what it is about massive parties... Almost every parent turns into a Tigress and tries to protect their cub from harm. Parents were cutting in line, encouraging their kids to grab and extra candy or a trinket, and so on. I kind of expected it, so no surprise there...

We all went through a "scary house", which really wasn't that scary, since the party was mostly for the kids, and the entire time Larissa was clinging to me so tight, I could hardly walk. All meanwhile saying that it's not scary... right Riss!

Gabe's costume was a big hit. He actually had someone ask him if they could take a picture with him! It's that fake leg, I tell ya!

One party down, two to go?..

October 24th weekend

Unfortunately, I had a working commitment this weekend, so we didn't do much.

On Tuesday we all went to Liberty High School to watch Miranda sing in a school choir. All the kids did pretty well and we got to meet their "quirky" music teacher, who told us that if we listen to the accompanying piano music very carefully, then we will hear a dragonfly wings' twitter...

On Saturday Miranda went to a homecoming dance looking all pretty. Dad give her a quick lecture of "don't's" before she left.
Larissa enjoyed teaching Jon playing a piano. "Don't plant your wrists, Jon!"

Oh, and this one is for you, Mary. Larissa insisted on buying this hoody:

Jon practiced walking around in the dark with a headlight on. Getting ready for Halloween. He will need both hands for candy, so having a flashlight on his forehead frees up a hand...

and on Monday, I finally realized why I always prefer large vehicles...

This is not even all the things I had to get to school. Between the kids' backpacks, my bags, musical instruments and juices for a classroom party, we filled the entire space of a third row seat!

October 17th weekend.

Not a whole lot to write. Here is a summary:

Swimming lessons for the kids, a jewelry class for me, which produced a few items:

A class project.

A practice piece.

and a completed October monthly challenge for the Planet Bead.

Then a trip to pay for our new/used piano, and off to the Voodoo Doughnuts. We got a small variety of more "normal" kind to take home, stopped by the Portland Saturday Market, then home.

Last warm weekend?

I think we finally entered the Fall phase. Only two more weeks left for the Farmers' Market in Hillsboro, and selections are already down to mostly corn, apples, and pumpkins

This weekend we took advantage of not having any plans. Now that my 2009 Portland Marathon is behind me, I no longer feel like I "have" to run. Probably not a good thing, I need the discipline, but I am taking some time off for now (oh, and only a week later, I finally have a picture of myself, proudly wearing the "finisher's" shirt).

Gabe found an iron-on transfer on a cereal box and asked me to transfer it on a t-shirt for him. It didn't quite work as designed and came out really pale. Good thing I have a fabric marker. That fixed the issue:

Since I already had the iron out, I went ahead and finished another long forgotten project. Sparkly design for Larissa's jeans and a word design for her shirt. I think it absolutely describes her perfectly...

I finished a set of bead spiders, and they had a face off. Each one is a little different:

and we finally did a vinegar + baking soda experiment. (Nice choice of bottles, Riss...)

To finish off the weekend, Larissa and I enjoyed the remainder of a sunshine, sitting on the front porch, separating a bag of hazelnut meal (shells from the nuts). They are so yummy!

Happy 5th birthday Jon!

Oh, no! Jonathan is turning five already? How... When did that happen?!!

Since Jon's birthday is on the weekday, we are going to hold off on any fun outings till the weekend.

Today we shared juice boxes and small party favors with his class, since they already had many fun activities and desserts planned for the Pumpkin Patch Day at school.

After dinner the whole family helped Jon open his presents, then we all had the most delicious cupcakes, courtesy of Mary. As always, a big hit!

Oh, and just like I told Mary, cupcake flavor (chocolate or vanilla? she asked me earlier) didn't matter. It is all about the icing!

Although, soon after, cupcakes were consumed just as fast as the icing on top of it!
Thanks Mary!!

Now, back to being himself.

Surprise!

Larissa, my little practical joker pulled a good one on my last night!

Every night before I go to bed, I make sure I test her blood glucose. Last night I stayed up a little longer to finish my movie (not a kids' movie at all, so I had to wait till everyone went to bed), then I went to her room, turned on the lights and found this:

Over the weekend we made a spaceship from the empty cardboard boxes, for her teddy bear. Apparenly, a day later, she turned it into a person. Larissa even put her nightgown on it, placed it on her bed, and covered with a blanket!

Ok, now that I knew it WASN'T Larisa, the question still remained "where is SHE?"

I followed a gentle snore and located her on the floor, under Miranda's trundle bed. Comfortably tucked in the far corner!

I was tempted to let her stay there, but then I started imagining what would happen if the trundle bed got accidentally folded! I managed to get her awake enough to get her to crawl out. Then I placed her back in her spot, right next to her new friend.

No one ever doubted Larissa's imagination before, and no one will doubt it now!

Portland Marathon 2009

I did it! Another marathon. It's been a few years since my last one, so it felt all new again.

We had to get up very early and head out. Temperatures were in mid-40's and I wasn't sure how that would work out with my clothing layers. I hate to have to take off any layers while running because you then have to figure out what to do with it. There is nothing worse, for me, than carrying something in my hands. As a matter of fact, I was observing runners at the race wearing fancy watering belts, camel packs, etc. It seems like they are not perfect by any means, water bottles kept flying out right under out feet, hats were flying off the runners' heads, gel packs and vitamins (I think) falling out of the runners' pockets. Not to mention endless supplies of hats, gloves and sweatshirts runners were throwing on the side of the road. I never realized that some people wear something old and then just throw it away when they no longer need it!

I don't even wear a watch for the race. I don't need to know my pace and there are time announcers at every mile split.

When we got on the road, we were about 15 minutes late (per my mental schedule), but this early on a Sunday morning was a very easy drive. Until we got downtown... Who would ever expect to have a traffic jam at 6:30am on a Sunday?.. We made our way as close to the start line as we could, and as soon as we saw a free parking spot we took it. We had to walk a few blocks to the start area, but that better than missing the start time looking for a better parking.

Access to the start was only open to the runners, so we said a quick "good bye and good luck", exchanged hugs, I got my top jacket off, and as nervous as one can be, I was blending into the runners' crowd.

I think it started off very well. Start times went in waves, based on your goal finish time. I wasn't quite sure where I belong, so I wedged into a 4:30 pace. I figured it was just a place, I can keep my own pace after that.

The way race is laid out, you go by a crown of cheering fans twice, before hitting a very long stretch North. I hoped my family would be there, and I was more than happy to see them. It was only a few miles in, I felt great and I was getting warm. So, I took my long sleeve shirt and handed it to Tim, as I passed him. I now wish I didn't do that... As we run parallel to the river, winds were getting pretty cold. Even though I was warm from running and I was sweating, within seconds my sweat would turn into a cold wet shell. I am getting goosebumps just thinking about it now.

I was successful with running without stopping up to mile 16! That's where I saw a big hill ahead and I recalled some blogs telling runners that it's OK to walk. That was good enough for me. So the next 10 miles was a walk run mix. I do wish I had the strength to run all the way, but who I am kidding? My training was more casual that seriously committed.

My muscles were cramping, I had blisters in a spot of my feet I least expected them, and I started chafing (darn, I forgot to apply anti-chafing remedy under the bottom strip of my running bra!). All I could think about was "Well, I was doing 4:15 pace, I am not going to make 4:30, I just want to be done with it! I am cold and I am sore"!

Just then I finally saw this funny sign. I knew I have made it, so I squeezed one last run effort out of me. I saw my family at the finish line, cheering me on. Best feeling in the world!

I loaded up on every free food that was given out at the finish, I even almost forgot to grab my "finisher's" shirt! Talk about priorities, ha!

Met the family, drove to IHOP by our house and had a huge breakfast. Best thing about running a Marathon - you feel like you can eat anything you want in any quantities, without feeling any guilt!

Next year's race is on 10/10/2010! Hmmm.... Food for thought.