Thankful Thursday: Lego Edition

Today's Thankful Thursday is brought to you by Lego. Yes. It's time. My boys haven't been actively playing with Legos for awhile now (not counting First Lego League a couple years ago, which didn't actually prompt any digging into the Legos we have at home, lol)...so I'm gearing up to sell most of them.

I'm realizing that 1) we really can't just store all these Legos for the boys or for grandkids, 2) a number of these sets are actually worth selling, and 3) if I don't do something about them soon, I'm going to end up doing this entirely on my own. 

So. At the end of last week I started taking stock of what we've got. I made a deal with boys for a 50/50 split on sales and started a list. We've got just over 3 dozen sets that we'll probably start out trying to sell as sets and then a gajillion other pieces that I haven't yet decided how to group and sell. (Okay, not a gajillion. Easily, though, we have at least 100,000 pieces. There was a period where I kept a count of how many new pieces were coming into our collection. In one week in March 2010, I counted roughly 7000. So, yeah. We have a LOT.) Here's where we're starting from...shelves full in each boys' closet, plus loose pieces somewhat corralled on the floor in Asher and Micah's rooms, plus a trunk (as wide as a twin bed) full of Bionicle/Hero Factory pieces. (I'm just going to ignore the Lego trains that I'd already packed away in the basement for now, and let's not think about the tub or two of Duplo sized Legos I have in the basement as well.)

Soooo. Armed with my list (where I'd identified set number, original price, release year and a rough estimate of what the set is selling for online as a used set...by the way, *that* took awhile...fortunately, boys mostly remembered the names of many of the sets, which made it easier), I started looking at each set for completion yesterday. (Thank goodness all the instructions are online these days, as I gave up on trying to store all the instruction booklets years ago...though I'd be lying if I said part of me didn't wish I'd kept them, lol.) I got to my second set before realizing that wasn't the right order. As I was looking at the sets and determining whether pieces were missing, I realized that I needed to at least somewhat organize all the loose pieces so I could find missing pieces; usually it's the minifigures that aren't still with the set but also small studs will be common missing pieces. Just randomly looking everywhere wasn't going to be very efficient, lol.

I'd hoped to just kind of handle all the sets and then see what was left over...get a sense of accomplishment with the sets first before tackling everything else. But, I don't think that's going to work. So, I started sorting the loose pieces... 

The large pile on the floor (we're using Noah's bedroom since it's mostly empty) is two of the tubs from the floor of Micah's closet...two of six. There are probably about three tubs worth of pieces in Asher's room also. Oy. I'm sorting out minifigure pieces, studs and small things, Technic pieces and tires. (I'm not really sure why I'm sorting out tires, lol.) I'm also weeding out things that aren't Lego from the piles (which is a surprisingly small amount of stuff).

Once I finish sorting all the loose stuff and feel like it's under control and at least gathered in one place, I'll go back to looking at each set for completion. (My initial pass tells me that it's going to be mostly just finding the minifigures that go with each set and checking the studs because there was a period where the color of the studs was some sort of currency to the boys and they traded them around, lol.) Then I'll try to figure out what to do with everything that's left. 

(Yes, I managed to get Asher, Micah and even Nathan to help me sort for awhile yesterday. I kind of doubt I'll convince them to help again, lol. Boys will help me with finding the right minifigures later, though. It's always fun to play with minifigures, lol.)

So. That's a current project here. As I'm in the thick of it, I'm thankful for all the Lego memories... 

Reorganizing the Lego room...

Minifigure families and stories (this may be my favorite memory)... 

Remembering when our Lego collection fit in just a few containers...

Visiting Legoland...

Lego Advent calendars... 

Watching Asher determinedly assemble a huge set one handed (scroll to the end of the post)...

Just playing with all the minifigures we could find, trying to create crazy people...

Even Lego birthday parties...

Obviously, there are so many other memories. Happy sigh. Thankful for this "toy" that has spanned generations, helped with fine motor skills, encouraged both creative and analytical thinking, provided endless gift ideas, and enabled story-telling.  

Wish me luck on this large project! It'll be nice to have cleared more space, though we have no idea what the boys will even use the closets for after this, lol. 

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday, all! Things I'm thankful for...

1. Leftovers. With Noah off in his own apartment, we have more leftovers now. :) We're still adjusting our grocery shopping amounts but are glad to have this "problem." 

2. Streaming movies. While I do enjoy going to the movie theater and miss that a bit during this pandemic, I'm finding that maybe I prefer just watching at home. Last weekend, for instance, we watched the new Mulan movie thanks to the Disney+ streaming service. It was more enjoyable to sit in the family room sharing popcorn and kibitzing throughout the show. :) Thankful for streaming services!

3. Snow. So, last weekend, it was almost 100 degrees. I think we set or tied heat records. The fact that temperatures have been so high and dry all summer has both been annoying, personally, and troublesome for wildfire season. We've had a number of fires here in Colorado. The one just west of Fort Collins more than tripled in size over the weekend, becoming the largest wildfire in Larimer County history. On Monday, it was still in the 90s and the skies were crazy. It was practically dark outside in the middle of the day...and red and smoky. It looked like this:

(Asher and Micah took advantage of the Labor Day holiday to hang out with a few friends at a park. I love how Maya is looking at Micah like "what the heck are you doing?" lol.) 

Anyhow, that night, it started to rain and the temperatures dropped from the 90s to the 30s. Tuesday brought snow. Both of these pictures were taken at noon...one on Monday and one on Tuesday:

Yeah, Colorado's weather is wacky. But. In this case, everyone was thankful for the snow (and rain). It's stupid early for it, but it was welcome. The fire, by the way, is still a problem with little containment, but the change in the weather brings hope and a respite for the firefighters. It also cleared the smoke for the time being. Whew. So thankful for all the firefighters around the country battling the too numerous fires blazing right now!

4. Boot camp over Zoom. Speaking of snow, the early cold weather made me realize that I'm going to be thankful this winter to be doing boot camp via Zoom. It'll save me from having to bundle up, walk out to the van at 5:45 in the morning, brush snow off or scrape off ice, drive to the gym and walk inside without slipping. :) 

5. Bouldering League. And, yes, even with the snow, Micah and I ventured to Ascent on Tuesday night to get in our Bouldering League climbs for the week. We both climbed better than last week and felt good. Here's Micah on a route:

I was thankful to have figured out that (after warming up a bit) I should start with the harder routes and work my way to the easier ones instead of the other way around. Last week, I started with route number 1, then climbed 2 and 3 but couldn't finish 4 or 5 because I was tired by then (mostly my hands). This week, I started on route number 4 and worked that one until I finally managed it. Then I completed 3 after a few attempts before finishing the night off with flashing routes 2 and 1 (flashing means completing it on your first attempt). (I tried route 5 a few times during all that but decided that one probably wasn't going to happen during that session.)

Yes, I can only climb the beginner routes. Honestly, I'm fine with that and appreciate the challenge. It's kinda nice just having the routes numbered each week. :) Also, I love the camaraderie and support among climbers. Bouldering League makes for more people climbing (so a little harder to maintain social distancing at times) but truly makes the experience more enjoyable with everyone cheering each other on.

And those are some of the things I'm thankful for this week. How about you?

Thankful Thursday

Happy first Thursday of September! (Still wrapping my head around the fact that it's September, lol.) Here's my list for today...things I'm thankful for:

1. Karate West. Asher and Micah have been members at Karate West for more than ten years now. With only a few exceptions, they've been there at least twice a week (usually more) every week since June 2010. It was with a heavy heart, then, that Micah recently decided that last Saturday's black belt promotion would be his last performance with the demo team for the time being. He still thinks he'll go back at some point, but the combination of additional exposure at both karate and climbing (and the time) is just too much right now. So. He's going to focus on climbing and Asher is sticking with karate and demo team. It's a little sad but I'm so thankful that Karate West has been there for us all these years...that Micah's had that second family to help him grow...and that Asher is still able to go to classes and demo team during this pandemic. 

(Asher is back to going to in-person classes twice a week and demo team once or twice. Each of those are small groups indoors with masks required. If there are more than 5-6 people, given the size of the space and the ventilation available, we're not comfortable with him going so he'll leave.) 

So. Last Saturday was a black belt promotion. Earlier this summer, they'd managed to promote the three 2nd degree black belts (Micah included), and on Saturday they promoted five to junior black belt. The demo team performed (plus we went to support the new black belts). Knowing that it was a last for awhile for Micah, I took pictures:

And I got one of the whole demo team:

Love this team! (and am sure that Micah will continue to be friends with most of them)

2. Ascent Studio. So, Team Ascent started bouldering season practices this week. They'd practiced some over the summer but last night was the first official practice for this season...having done tryouts over the past couple weeks to group climbers together into small groups. (Ascent still has limits on how many can be in the building at a time, masks are required at all times, and social distancing is to be practiced throughout the large building.) Thankful that he has his team back together to climb regularly. (The other high schoolers, too, seem to all very much need this social outlet. Listening to them last night, online schooling isn't their favorite at all.)

Beyond Team Ascent, Ascent also started their Bouldering League this week. Normally, this is a team competition...people join together and meet up once a week for 4-5 weeks to climb and compete. Given the givens, this year's Bouldering League is being run on an individual basis...you can go in to climb any time during the week and log your climbs. They set 21 new routes each week for different levels of climbing and score your top four climbs for the first session that you climb each week. Since this set up actually works for our schedule, Micah and I signed up this year. (In the past, it's conflicted with his team practices since there was a certain night when everyone climbed the new routes each week.) We got our first session in on Tuesday and are looking forward to the challenge. :) (Obviously, we're signed up in different climbing categories, lol.)

3. Hammocks. I, personally, don't do hammocks. The swinging motion makes me sick, lol. But my guys all love them...so much so that we ended up buying a second hammock after discovering that, with a couple of extra hooks, our outside one fit perfectly on our climbing wall...

Yes, that's Nathan taking an afternoon nap last weekend. It's a favorite spot now.

4. Less back to school shopping. I realized recently that with most schooling being online this year, we didn't end up doing much back to school shopping. While I actually really enjoy back to school shopping, we're thankful that we didn't *need* to do as much. :) Of course, we still ended up getting Micah new shoes because, you know, he keeps growing for some reason.

5. Horsetooth. Thankful to have so many outdoor opportunities available right in our back yard! I got this picture from Noah, who was hiking up at Horsetooth over the weekend with his roommate. 

I asked for a photo with people in it, but he says he "forgot" to take one, lol. Glad that he's getting out responsibly while the weather allows! So far, he says classes and his LA job are going fine. (He has two online only classes, one online class with an in-person lab, and one hybrid class (some online and some in-person) with an in-person lab. His LA office hours and work are all online.)

And those are some of the things I'm thankful for this week. Hope your September is off to a strong start!

Back to school

So. My boys have been back in school for three weeks. I know many are just heading back now. I've been watching and listening...it's rather fascinating seeing the different approaches taken. Having homeschooled from 2005 to 2019, I feel like I have some unique insights on schooling at home and thought I'd take just a minute to offer a few recommendations. 

Here are a few things I've found useful over the years:

Dry erase boards. We've tried big dry erase boards mounted on the walls but ultimately found that lap sized boards work best...like these. They're super handy to have for working out math problems, spelling a few words for a paper, making a quick chart, and heaps of other things. Seriously, we use ours all the time even now.

Deck of exercise cards. I don't use them these days; but, when the boys were younger, I had this deck of cards. When they started getting antsy or needed a break, I'd flip a card and have them do the exercise listed. The more antsy (or more troublesome, lol) they were, the more cards I'd flip. :) There are plenty of different decks or you can just keep a list of exercises handy or even just have them run laps. The point is that getting kids moving is a necessary and good thing. (These days, my boys know themselves well enough to know when they need to get up and move.)

Sticky tabs. In about middle school, we started using a lot of sticky tabs, specifically these. In each boy's books, I'd put a green tab on the start of the assignments and a red tab on the pages where they could stop. Blue tabs were for anything of note. So much easier to keep track of things.

Sidewalk chalk. For littles, especially, sidewalk chalk can be a great tool. You can use it for spelling lists, diagramming the solar system, drawing out a game board where the kids are the game pieces, and all sorts of other things. Plus, drawing or writing with the chalk gets 'em moving. :)

Games! I know that many of the remote schooling options happening now mean that parents aren't in charge of what's assigned and all, but games are always useful to learning in my opinion. You can use them to reinforce a skill or idea, and they provide a nice break from the books/screens. When mine were smaller, I liked these books for game ideas. As they got older, we've played so many others. (If you're looking for something specific, shoot me an email. I probably have suggestions.) 

Printer. Obviously, when we homeschooled, I printed things at home to use. Now that we're in online learning mode, I'm actually finding that the printer is still very useful. With most of the work being done online, mine have found that having an actual hard copy of things is nice for reviewing. So. We're printing as we go.

Focus on strengths & learning style. Just as a general reminder, focusing on your kid's strengths and learning style is oh-so-helpful. It's been years, but I remember finding this book useful, as well as this one. The main point is that it's both easier and more efficient to work to your kid, not the generic student. Know how he learns best and what he's strongest at...what will interest him and enable him to shine.

Okay. That was all. Just wanted to share a few random recommendations. Hope everyone's school year is off to a strong start, no matter how weird and different things may be! 

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday...random things I'm thankful for today...

1. Our local landfill. I'd never been there before, but a week or so ago Noah and I took our old sectional to the landfill. It was a bit of a chore but less work than breaking each piece down to fit in our trash can week by week. I'm thankful to have it out of the house relatively easily and quickly. (It was literally falling apart and taking up a good chunk of space in the basement.)

2. That Asher still sings while doing homework. Lately, it's been songs from Hamilton. :)

3. Finding good deals on some workout equipment. Since we've frozen my gym membership and I've been doing boot camp from home since March...and since Micah, and sometimes Nathan, has been also working out in the basement...it was nice to add a couple more pieces to our collection recently. I'm particularly thankful because certain pieces have become either very difficult to find in stock or very expensive during this pandemic. 

4. Finally organizing our masks. Yeah. I'm anal like that. I'll own it, lol. But having all our masks just thrown in a box by the door was driving me a little crazy. So, I finally did something about it:

Yes, I labeled the pockets and everything. It was annoying having to sort through the masks to find the ones that fit my face (mixed in with the larger ones to accommodate Nathan's nose, lol). I also added the reminder sign on both doors leaving the house because it's not quite automatic yet.

(I'm debating whether to cut off those bottom pockets or wait and use them for things like gloves come winter...)

5. Prospector. Our local library participates in the Prospector program to borrow items from nearby libraries. It had been shut down earlier during the pandemic but has opened back up recently. I'm thankful for that because I love being able to access the larger pool of materials.

6. Throwback Thursday. I don't always remember that Thursdays can also be for throwbacks, but here's a sweet shot from 15 years ago...

Their eyes are shut because of the sun, lol. Aren't they adorable?! And look at all of Micah's hair and sideburns! (He was a few weeks old here.)

And that's my list for today. :)