Master & Legend

Just like his dad, Big Bro loves Legos. For his 5th birthday we got him two Lego sets that he had been begging for since Christmas.

Big Bro started building right away in the 20 or so minutes he had between opening the gifts and having to get out the door to preschool. When he got home he went right back to building. Occasionally he would ask questions about the directions but he really built them himself. He is becoming a Lego Master.

Here is the "SUV with watercraft trailer" after he finished it:

And here is the tow truck after completion with minimal help from me (I tied the string and answered questions):

He was so happy and busy working on his Legos all day, it was a beautiful thing!

So last night we all started playing Legos after dinner. Big Bro and my husband were trying to find all the pieces to one of his old spaceship Lego kits. It occurred to me that if we sorted the giant bin of Legos from my husband's childhood collection we could actually put most, if not all, of the sets back together. Then Big Bro would have lots of sets to keep him busy and happy.

It was no small feat to go from this:

To this:

But the whole family was involved and having fun sorting. Lil Sis sorted the Lego horses once she tired of the colors. Big Bro even declared it more fun than building because he got to move around a lot. And he did move around a lot scoping out Legos and running to the kitchen to find more Tupperware to put the colors in.

After the kids were in bed, my husband and I started the laborious task of finding the specific pieces that went with old instruction booklets. The gray and black bins were by far the biggest and the hardest to sift through to find the exact piece we needed. At times it made our eyes swim. We both looked for 20 minutes or more looking for one black door hinge piece.

By the end of our night we had 4 kits reassembled and then broken apart again to be neatly stored in plastic baggies.

Here's one that I put together:

Here's a big, fancy one my husband (Lego Legend) put together.

This sorting task will keep us busy for many evenings to come since husband estimates he has about 40 old kits. But we had fun doing it, and I can't wait for Big Bro to see each kit. Big Bro and I have also been talking/working on being organized so Legos don't get lost. Maybe, just maybe, our hard work will be (at least somewhat) preserved.

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3/28/15: Well it took 2.5 hours including searching for pieces and improvising for pieces lost or dog chewed but here it is folks: rescue plane. I also made the medic female because both the pilot and medic don't have to be male! #positivefemalerolemodels

Winter Tradition

Technically spring started a few days ago but no one told the Northeast. In our attempt to both reduce our heating bill and our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, we keep our heat really low. Especially at night. The result is that we wake up in the morning and it is very cold. The kids come downstairs for breakfast and shiver away as we offer them sweaters and hats while we wait for the heat to catch up. This was particularly unpleasant before daylight savings time started and the mornings were dark.

Pretty quickly, our solution was to crank up the pellet stove and have a breakfast picnic directly in front of it. It has turned into a nice little tradition. Cozy, quaint, and easier than having me remember to turn up the heat well before everyone else comes downstairs. I imagine this tradition will continue and I think it will be one of those things that stand out for my kids when they think back to their child. At least I hope so.

Winter Tradition

Technically spring started a few days ago but no one told the Northeast. In our attempt to both reduce our heating bill and our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, we keep our heat really low. Especially at night. The result is that we wake up in the morning and it is very cold. The kids come downstairs for breakfast and shiver away as we offer them sweaters and hats while we wait for the heat to catch up. This was particularly unpleasant before daylight savings time started and the mornings where dark.

Pretty quickly, our solution was to crank up the pellet stove and have a breakfast picnic directly in front of it. It has turned into a nice little tradition. Cozy, quaint, and easier than having me remember to turn up the heat well before everyone else comes downstairs. I imagine this tradition will continue and I think it will be one of those things that stand out for my kids when they think back to their child. At least I hope so.