rainy days of Spring

have led to lot of lego creations. Here are some of the latest ones...

Portal robot Atlas - Jaden designed it... ( Portal is a puzzle/adventure game Brian plays)

The Train- Ean has been pining for a lego train so Gabe the awesome big brother built him one. Complete with steam engine, coal car, box cars, flat cars and a caboose. Jaden was the dog--so Gabe says he "fetched" the lego pieces Gabe needed for the train, hence a team effort. Ean was thrilled to pieces.

Funny robot guy Gabe created

Battleship by Gabe

Magic Tree House meets the Swiss Family

So the boys have serious tree house- itis. Their desire for one has only increased over the last few years. There is often lots of talk about what Jack and Annie's tree house might really look like...and how neat it would be to have a tree house like the Robinsons ( I can't help but agree it would be sooo rad) Anyway inspired by a friend's outside the box thinking I told them --build your own (on a small model scale) so they did. It took about a week and a half but we had to so much fun. I was the official hot gluer but aside from that I was simply an excited spectator. Here are pictures form their hard work....

The brown yarn is wheat, the red are flowers

the fire pit

What did they use to make this? cardboard, leftover latch hook yarn (thank you Matante!) cardboard tubes (thanks to my dad's dumpster diving) and just some random scraps of stuff I have been collecting. They are very excited about their new tree fort and as you can see the playmobil and lego guys have already moved in....

Lego City

This is Gabe's latest lego city. I took the opportunity to take lots of photos as the light streaming in from the late afternoon sun just gave it such a neat glow...

oh and we can't forget the hours of MineCraft

This the castle the boys have built...

Recycled

It is the dead of winter. It is cold. The kids are tired of their toys. I am tired of dressing kids in multiple layers of clothing for a 10 minute outing. ( well actually Ean lasts about 20 minutes Gabe and Jaden can last a little over an hour). Spring seems like a LONG ways away. What do you do to cure cabin fever? In the past we have done body painting ... this year we are doing something a bit more tame. We are creating things we like from recycled materials. I have been stockpiling various "junk" for the better part of last year...foam from computer packaging, paper tubes, cardboard, cereal boxes, fabric scraps. Brian has brought home various packing materials from unpacking computers at work and I happen to be the daughter of an awesome urban scavenger. My dad frequents special spots in the city for "junk"-- giant cardboard spools, plastic spools from industrial sewing machines, wood scrap--you name it he can find it. Anyway the months of collecting have paid off and we have begun our construction. The following things the kids have made with little to no help (except for Ean) My main job was hot glue.

Gabe has been working on scnery for his Lionel train model . We recently learned how to create mountain-scapes from some scraps of rigid foam insulation and plaster of paris.

Painting

Gluing some miniatures on...with trees and shrubs

And we have the final product!

Gabe has also been wanting to make a crane for his train table. (Similar to cranky the crane in the Thomas movies) So he did. He had some help from dad designing the pulley mechanism.

Jaden has been working very hard on a castle. He has for sometime wanted the playmobile castle. I told him he should make one...so he did. And it looks awesome!!!

look carefully through the drawbridge...

And finally Ean wanted to make something too. He decided on a train (big surprise)

and it had to be YELLOW!

And of course Ben had to get in on the action...

Now that's not to say there has not been any lego creating...Gabe's recent lego model is a shark...

Robot Guys-

So the boys were very excited to get some bionicles for Christmas this year...and though they have spent some wonderfully creative time in imaginative play with their robot guys of course it was only a matter of time before the modifications were made...

(Thanks Uncle Kevin Auntie Katie, Audrey, LJ, Josiah, and Titus for the awesome presents!!!)

The Latest creations

Jaden's space base

space ship

Gabe's space ship

(above and below)