Legos, Legos, Legos

This winter the boys and I decided we needed a shared project to keep us busy during the long cold months. I had the idea that we should build every Lego set in our house, and combine them into one huge Lego city. The boys were actually a little reluctant to commit to the project at first, because they realized that a great deal of sorting a organizing would have to happen before the sets could be assembled, but eventually I talked them into it. Anyone that has spent any amount of time with my boys knows that they are Lego freaks, they LOVE them. The tiny toys are usually strew all about my house, and in various stages of being built into one masterpiece or another. Many days it makes me absolutely crazy, but my boys get a great deal of enjoyment out of them so I try to ignore it most of the time. Building all the sets gave me a chance to be a part of something they love, for hours and hours (and hours). In all honesty I'm a little embarrassed to admit to how much time we probably spent on this endeavor, but it was time we spent together so I think in the end it was worth every minute.

It was a momentous undertaking in our house so we felt that it needed to be documented. I've lately been interested in time lapse video so it this seemed like the perfect time to give that a try too.

I especially liked all the little details my boys added to the city. 

Lord Business with the Taco Tuesday Guy

I was told that an epic battle was raging here

Skydiving anyone?

These policemen have Catwoman cornered

This fireman trying to put out the tree, while an Orc tries to stop him

Hang on Woody!

The Lady of the Lake and the catch of the day

Magneto stops the SHIELD guys

These clowns, probably discussing how they'll use their three wishes over some pie

Frodo and Sam finally making it up the fiery mountain with Gollum on their heels

This lady delivering takeout to the castle

This one is my favorite, these guys just casually trick or treating at the haunted castle.

This zookeeper trying to coax some monkeys out of the tree

Shakespeare and the graduate

I'm so blessed to be a mom of two crazy boys. I'm really glad that we got to spend this time together. The kids are dying now to take their scene apart and play with it, which is scheduled for later this week, so if you're in the area send your kids over, because the demolition of the Lego city is also sure to be a major event. 

Mason's Baptisms

I've fallen behind on my record keeping as of late, at first it was because I was busy, but then after I was busy there was just so much catching up to do that I've been putting it off. First I need to write about Mason's baptism. It was such a nice day. We started by talking a lot about baptism in our family nights leading up to the big day. We even had one night where we just practiced the proper dunking procedure. As the day approached I felt like Mason had a pretty good understanding of things and he was excited for a day that was all about him. We were lucky enough to have my mom and dad come up for the weekend. It was great to have them. The baptism was very nice. Papa Jim gave a talk on baptism and told about what he remembered about being baptized when he was eight. He was baptized in the font at the Salt Lake tabernacle. Then he told about how my Grandma Pauline was baptized. He explained that in the small town where she grew up they baptized all the kids that had turned eight in a year on the same day in August. My poor grandma's birthday was in September and she really wanted to be baptized, so she got special permission and was baptized in a lake after she turned eight. I remember her telling this story when I was little and it was sweet to hear my dad telling it to Mason. Grandma Marie then gave a nice talk on the Holy Ghost, telling Mason what a gift it was.

The prayer of Maxwell

Sunday night at dinner Max said the prayer over the food. He tries to remember everyone in his prayers, so he prayed that dad's back wouldn't hurt, that Mason would remember his baptism, and that mom would make good choices.

Later that night as I was tucking him in he asked me to snuggle with him for a minute. I used to always lay by him for a few minutes before he went to sleep, but in recent months we've opted to have our bedtime story on the living room couch where there is more room for all. So I asked him why he had been wanting me to snuggle with him lately. He looked at me with a bit of pity in his eyes and said, "Because mom, I'm getting too big to snuggle with."

So that's it, I've been forewarned, my littlest is growing up...oh, and also I should make good choices.

 

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Snow Day

I know I've said it before, but we live in the greatest neighborhood. Towards the end of January the kids and I were blessed with a snow day. It didn't take long before all the kids in the cul de sac took to the street and reveled in the piles of new snow. Trisha brought out the four wheelers and us moms took turns towing the kids around on their sleds. It was the kind of day a kid dreams about.

 

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Snow and service

This winter we had so much snow. It fell and fell and fell. The kids thought is was the best. Shane and I gritted our teeth and tried to remember that spring would come, really.

One particularly snowy day Shane went out to clear the driveway and took the kids with him so that they could help. He decided that they would do some service for the neighborhood by clearing the snow from the neighors driveway.

Mason really wanted to drive the snow blower. So Shane handed over the reigns. Mason didn't really clear the neatest path, in fact it was quite random, so random that Shane and I couldn't help laughing quite hard.

 

Just as Mason finished our neighbor pulled up and surveyed the maze of snowblown trails in his driveway. He and Shane had a good laugh, and he graciously thanked Mason, who was extremely proud of himself.

 

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Basketball

"How tall ARE you?" that's the standard question Shane answers at least once with every person that he meets. The next question?

"Do you play basketball?" to which Shane must always answer an honest "no." You see, he never gained the skills in his formative years, so he feels that he can't play now because the expectations based on his 6'7" height (for those of you that haven't asked yet) are just too great. Now since Mason is headed down the same road, already standing a good 6" above his classmates we thought we'd better at least make sure he learned how to play. I must tell you, I'm not sure sports will ever really be his thing. Which Shane and I are ok with, there are a great many things in this life to be good at and Mason he is so clever and creative I know he will find his niche, but even so I really want him to learn to be a part of a team, and feel confident when people are watching him, and if it helps him not feel like the odd man out in gym class that's good too. So this winter we tried basketball. He got to play with some other kids in the neighborhood, and had a wonderful coach which was fun too.

Last spring Mason was on a soccer team that didn't make a single goal the entire season, it wasn't for lack of trying, but it was a little discouraging. So right away Mason found that he liked basketball because he and his team scored many baskets right from the start. The games were fast paced and even Max enjoyed watching them.

Altogether I think it was a good experience for Mason and we'll give it a try next year too.

 

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