February FREE Family Crafts at Michaels Stores

Michaels has a series of Family Valentines Day events in the next two weeks. The Family Craft Time events are FREE.

On Sunday, February 10 they have a Wood Heart Frame Craft from 1-3p.

On Monday, February 11 they will have a Painted Heart Frame project from 5-7p.

The final Valentine's Day project is an Origami Bookmark on Tuesday, February 12 from 5-7p.

We have attended many Michaels craft events over the years and have had mixed experiences. Some events have been lots of fun and inspired us to purchase the materials to make the project at home. Other projects have been too difficult with us having trouble completing the project. These projects look like they should be fairly easy.

In addition to the FREE Family Events, they also offer Kids Club events where you can drop the kids off while you shop.

FREE Pancakes for National Pancake Day!

Today, February 5, 2013 is National Pancake Day.

IHOP is giving away a FREE Short Stack of Buttermilk Pancakes to celebrate. In return, guests are asked to leave a donation for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals or other designated charities.

I noticed that my daughter's school district has blueberry pancakes on the lunch menu for today. Sadly, my daughter doesn't like their blueberry pancakes. I would celebrate with pancakes for dinner tonight, but the rest of my family doesn't like breakfast for dinner.

So, will you be headed to IHOP for National Pancake Day?

LEGO Legends of Chima Challenge

According to my daughter many of the boys in her class have been talking about the new LEGO Chima sets. If your child is similarly enthralled, you may want to check out the LEGO Chima Challenge at LEGO Stores.

The LEGO Legends of Chima Challenge began on January 26. A new Chima Challenge will be introduced on February 11.

Does your child receive the LEGO Catalog? My daughter loves when it comes in the mail. You can request a catalog on-line.

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FREE February Model Build at LEGO

Each month LEGO Stores around the country hold a FREE Model Build on the first Tuesday of the month beginning at 5p and lasting while supplies last.

The February model build will be on Tuesday, February 5 at 5p. They will be building a cabin. The model build is for children ages 6 to 14.

I have seen these build advertised every time I visit a LEGO Store and would love to take my daughter. Unfortunately our nearest LEGO store is over an hour away especially at commuter time. That just is not practical for a school night.

Our next trip to Walt Disney World includes a first Tuesday, so maybe I should schedule dinner at Downtown Disney near the LEGO Store.

Who Does This?

Last week I opened a "new" LEGO set that Santa brought my daughter only to discover that the box had previously been opened and the set repackaged in Ziploc bags. Upon closer inspection I was able to see where the box had been previously opened. Fortunately my daughter was showered with LEGO sets between Christmas and a birthday the following week that she had another new set to build.

Seriously, who returns a LEGO set that their kid has already built complete with stickers applied? I understand that they are expensive, but do you really think someone else wants to pay retail for your used set? Is that fair to them?

My husband had purchased the set in question on clearance several months ago and put it away as a Christmas present. Fortunately the store still had the set and we were able to replace our used set.

I did inventory the set and discovered that there are two small pieces missing. One I am sure that we have in our LEGO stock and we might have the other as well.

Now that are two reasons I may not blame the returner.

1. They returned the set because it was missing pieces and told the store that. The store failed to mark the merchandise as defective and placed it back on the shell. FYI - if this happens to you, LEGO is very good about replacing missing pieces from a set.
2. They returned a gift not realizing it was not a new set.

If we had not been able to get a new set, I would have contacted LEGO for the missing pieces. Next time we will be sure to check LEGO sets as we purchase them.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and am compensated for sales through Amazon links. I appreciate your support of my blog by shopping through my links.