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! :-)