Lego Party!

So yesterday I did something I swore I would never do again--we had a birthday party at our house. We had one 3 years ago when Vinnie was 4. It was the longest 2 hours of my life! But like childbirth and running a marathon, you forget the pain and decide it really wasn't that bad. Vinnie wanted a Lego party, so I decided to do it!



I got the templates for all the stuff online at Living Locurto. I used them to make personalized bookmarks for the kids and bubbles. I also found lego candy on Amazon.




I attempted to make lego head cake pops. It was my first attempt at cake pops, and had no idea how big they were supposed to be. It was a disaster. They were too big and fell off the sticks. Then the food pens wouldn't write on them. After a few I decided to cut my losses and scrap the idea.

Forget the cake pops, look at that hideous tile! We are remodeling our kitchen this summer. Woo hoo!

Ugh. It is hard for me to admit baking defeat. I will try them again at some point. I had better luck with the cake. It was a bit challenging to frost the marshmallow knobs, but the cake was otherwise simple. When Vinnie saw it he exclaimed "You are the best baker ever! Well, second best after the person that does those Baskin Robbins cakes!" I need to make sure he never watches Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss or I will really be bumped down!





Waiting for the party to start!

The first activity was the building activity. I had a huge pile of legos in the center and the boys each built something. This kept them busy for a while, and they came up with some pretty amazing items! I took a picture of each child with their item and Vinnie to use as a thank you card. They got to take home their creation as part of their goody bag.

The next activity was the "jello pinch". I had 3 big bowls of jello with legos in it. The boys picked the pieces of legos out with chopsticks. First team to finish won. It was a lot of fun, my favorite activity of the day.


After taking a break for pizza we went out back for an obstacle course. Pete was in charge of this activity, and it was pretty amazing! Based on the noise level I think the boys had a blast. The activity itself wasn't lego related, but was a great way to get the boys moving. Pete suggested we try and bean the kids with legos as they were running by.

Then it was cake time!

After cake time we had a lego relay race. The kids scooped a lego brick out of a bowl with a spoon, then ran it down to the other side, putting it the other bowl.
Vinnie with his loot. Having a lego party guarantees lots of lego gifts!! Vinnie is thrilled.

And us? We had fun! The party really went well!

Seven

Vincent is 7 years old today!

Here are the top 6 highlights of Vinnie's 6th year.

1. Had a great time in Deer Valley skiing, and skied on some blue runs! I can't wait to see how he does this year.

2. He played coach pitch baseball and did great.

3. He completed kindergarten, and was finally able to make it through the school day without crying about something. Woo hoo! (well, that was probably more of a highlight for Mrs. Jung, his teacher)

4. He had a great time playing soccer in the Fall with Pete as his coach

5. He finally lost his brown tooth! And by lost it, we think he swallowed it. He refuses to touch loose teeth, which means that it dangles precariously for weeks before one finally comes out while he is eating.

6. He sang in the church choir for Mass on a regular Sunday, and during Christmas Eve Mass. Vinnie has a great voice so we are trying to coax him to stick with it.


Happy Birthday Vinnie! The last 6 years have been so much better with you in them!

Yikes!

I got a haircut. Not quite sure what happened. I went in feeling like I wanted a change. Maybe I was taking my New Years resolution to "purge" a little too literally. Whatever the reason, I told my girl to "cut it up to my shoulders". Last I checked, my shoulders weren't that high up. I gasped after the first cut, but what can you do at that point?

Don't let the smile fool you. I hate it.

I keep looking at myself in the mirror thinking it looks disturbingly familiar. Then it hit me.



I look like the Dutch Boy Paint boy. Damn. I am thinking about going back in to ask her to do something else with it, but am afraid I will come out bald.

Ugh. It is going to be a long 2 months.

Dick, the newest state

Click to enlarge


Luckily Zachary noticed Joey's answer before he turned it in! In Joey's defense, he said he found the answer on the internet. He even showed us on "wikianswers" where it stated "Georgia and Dick border Florida". Joey learned the internet isn't always right, and I learned to always check his homework before he turns it in!

I am a runner

Although I have been running off and on (mostly on) for almost 25 years, I have not always thought of myself as a runner. I ran, but I wasn't a "real" runner. In fact, it wasn't until I was training for my first marathon a few years ago that I finally started to think of myself as a real runner.


After the San Francisco Nike marathon, October 2008


Running used to be a very solitary experience for me. I always ran alone, and joked that it was my only "alone time". I cherished being alone with my thoughts for the long periods of time, and would frequently get an idea, or figure out a solution to some problem I had been pondering.

That changed last spring. During an early morning track workout I was approached by a man, Hollis, who began asking me lots of question. "What distances did I run?" "What was my pace?" "What kinds of workouts did I do?" I must have passed the interview, because he invited me join their running group on some runs. I was pretty nervous, but showed up one morning. I have been running with the group since. Not every run, but most of them. I have grown to really love running with a group! I have met a really wonderful group of people. I have become so much stronger and faster as a runner. We are a varied group- one guy has been running in Almaden for over 30 years and knows every street and trail like it's his backyard. One guy does Ultra trail races, recently doing a 50 mile one. One women does LOTS of marathons, and has even done 3 marathons, 3 days in a row in Tahoe. A pretty inspiring group!


After the San Jose Rock-n-Roll half marathon, October 2009


I had been inspired to try another marathon. (Click here for the summary of my first and only marathon). I am signed up for the Huntington Beach marathon on February 6th. Training was going great, and I was really enjoying it this time around. The group has been so supportive, especially on the long runs. What a difference this time around! For my first 20 mile run one guy ran the first 10 with me, then a group met up with me to run the second 10. I was on pace to even do around 4 hours, a 30 minute improvement over my first run.


After the Quicksilver 25K Trail Run, May 2010


Then I got injured. A nagging hip soreness which quickly escalated. I took a week off, then had to get back on track again. It hurt, but was tolerable. After trying an 11 mile run though, it was excruciating. In fact, as soon as I stopped running I could not walk. Long story short I have a beginning stress fracture in my hip. The marathon is out. I can start running again in a month if I am pain free, but I doubt I will be at that point. It has already been a couple of weeks and it still hurts to walk. To say I am frustrated is an understatement. Looking back on my training schedule I can not see what I could have done differently. I had a solid base. I increased my miles slowly. I kept my overall weekly miles low-ish. How will I prevent this from happening again? I wonder if I had immediately stopped at the first sign of pain if it would have resolved quickly. I just don't know how to differentiate between OK pain and bad pain. When you run long distances there are going to be aches and pains. I just can't seem to figure out when it is OK to run through it and when to stop. Will I ever be able to run another marathon? I don't know. I know in the grand scheme of life's difficulties this is minor, and for that I am grateful.

So for now I am a runner who can't run. I feel lost. I don't know what to do with myself. I am getting crabby. I watch others running and am jealous. I look at upcoming marathons and wonder if I can be ready in time for this one or that.

If I can't run, then what am I?

Resolutions

The start of the new year always brings up the discussion of resolutions. A couple of years ago I began emulating my friend Suzie, and instead chose a word to focus on. Last years word was Simple. I vowed to simplify my life. You can click back on the word to see how I was planning on accomplishing that. So did I?

Like most things I suppose, I could have done better, but overall I felt I did improve. One of the ways I simplified was when it came to signing up for things for the boys' classrooms. In the past I would always sign up for some homemade, complicated thing, and would find myself baking at 5 am to get it done. Instead I signed up for chips, napkins, plates, etc... Much easier! I still like to bake fun and fancy cakes and cupcakes, but now reserve that for my own kids' birthdays.

Organization is the key to simplifying. Remember my breakdown at last years Open House? Obviously we were still having some issues with organization!

Last school year we used the above system. Each boy had a bulletin board, slot, and backpack hook. They were to come home, empty their papers in the slot, then Pete and I would go through them. Problem was, that set up was in their toy room. We are not always in there so would not always check the slot or notice the paper hanging on their bulletin board. This school year we still use the above system, with some additions.



I added the above bulletin board in our kitchen. It is divided into sections, with party invites, school forms, and appointments having their own spot. It is in the kitchen so we see it constantly. So far we haven't lost a single school form, missed an appointment, or missed a party! I did show up to a Christmas party 2 hours early, but that was more indicative of my need for reading glasses than my organization skills.


We also did some work on the toy room. As the kids are getting older, it is transitioning more into a homework/gaming/TV room. (Poor Christopher. Only 4 years old, but I am so over the little kid stuff!) We weeded out a lot of the toys. We then went to Ikea to come up with a desk system. We now have a desk with 4 stations.

The drawers are organized with all their school supplies, art supplies, electronics, etc.... We found cups and magnetic tins in the kitchen supply area to hold pencils, pens, scissors, erasers, push pins and such.

It is really working great! It is fairly easy to keep clean and in order. The kids each have a place to sit and work. And everything they need is in one place! Simple!

So what is my word for 2011?

Purge.

No, I am not planning on developing an eating disorder! Purge my house and my life. Get rid of all the extraneous stuff. It dovetails nicely with Simple, and also with our upcoming downstairs remodel this summer. I will clean out drawers and cupboards. I will continue to look at my schedule and purge any unnecessary obligations. I won't take on too much. I also want to purge some of the crap from my diet. I eat WAY too much sugar/candy. Really, an embarrassing amount.

Purge.

How about you? What do you want to do this year?