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.