Ellie building a Lego yacht

One of Ellie’s main Christmas presents was a big Lego yacht: a 600-piece kit aimed at 9-14 year-olds.

Once again though, she proved just how skilled she is at abstract thinking. She did require a little bit of help with this one, mainly to correct a mistake, but aside from that, she built the bulk of this with very little input from any adults.

Continue reading “Ellie building a Lego yacht”

December 2017

Last December, we were settling in for our first winter and our first Christmas in Oregon, and we certainly made the most of it.

We took a trip up to Mount Hood to go tubing and build snowmen, we took a ride on the Christmas train, we made gingerbread houses and generally had a jolly old time. Continue reading “December 2017”

Ellie making her first electrical project [VIDEO]

A couple of weekends ago, in the hopes that we could stop Jack from playing with all the light switches in the house, I made a simple box with four switches, each controlling a different colored LED. Pretty simple, but it did the trick.

Then one of Ellie’s friends wanted one and she also wanted to make one for herself, so I took the opportunity to teach her the basics of electricity and circuits and we made it together.

Now that she made one for her friend, she’s excited to make her own! Continue reading “Ellie making her first electrical project [VIDEO]”

The last many months

I know. It’s been a long time. Because moving, life, busyness etc. But I’m here now.

We’ve been up to a lot since we got to Oregon back in March. We absolutely love it here and have done our fair share of exploring, getting out and about, and enjoying the outdoors. Continue reading “The last many months”

Monthly daddy/daughter date at Starbucks and Home Depot

Recently, we came to learn that Home Depot runs a free monthly workshop for kids where they make something simple and different each month.

Locally, Home Depot just happens to be next door to Starbucks, so once a month, Ellie and I start off by having breakfast at Starbucks and then doing the class at Home Depot. Continue reading “Monthly daddy/daughter date at Starbucks and Home Depot”

“We are engineers.”

This past weekend I told Ellie that I needed to build a new cat tree that was delivered earlier in the week. She expressed a keen interest in helping me so I held off until she was able to help me.

On Sunday, we joined forces and she helped me out placing the pieces together and even tightening some bolts up. She had a great time and was really proud of herself. She went on to tell Mama that “Me and Daddy are engineers and we built a cat tree!” Continue reading ““We are engineers.””