And only four + a half hours later...

oh my goodness, yours has ours beat! Evan who is six received the King Arthur MegaBlox castle and bridge for Christmas. Over 700 pieces total :-0 Crazy!! But fun :0)

Hi Ali,
Thanks for sharing this story....until recently I thought I followed your blog so religiously for the scrapbooking tips/tricks/ideas.
I now realize that it is so much more! Thank you for all of the many ways you inspire. Even with a lego story. OK-at the risk of sounding over the top--It is almost as if you are in ministry with your blog!
thanks for all of the nuggets of inspiration!

LOL! Ali this made me smile. Luke is desperate for a big lego star ship like this but he's only just turned 4 and so I am always trying to to deter him for this very reason.

Wow! You get the cool, patient Mom of the year award. That looks really complicated. Good for you both! (And Yay! I can't wait for pics of the baby's room!)

My 7 year old would be very jealous if he saw this at it is on his wish list. He tells me he is going to be a Lego designer when he grows up!

Oh yay- how fun!! This is what I spent Christmas Day '07 doing- helping my 9 yr old make this- he was very helpful too. I really loved doing it. I could get hooked on Legos! I do wish they would package the pieces in bags that are relevant. I found that the pieces were bagged in a way that made no sense.

My book is lego mad and we took him to legoland in Windsor UK where we got to look around the place they design and make the models for all their displays. It was totally amazing and mostly done on computers which is a real eye opening process to watch. Long may Simon love lego, my boy is 8 and has been into it since he was 5. His room is a shrine to the Lego cataloque! Did you know (at least in the UK) you can sign up to monthly lego magazines which the kids love to pour over. Happy future building and best of luck for the new baby.

PS - I love the muffin tins - have to remember that for next time.

Ali...what patience you have! Fabulous job with that Lego Ship! Will have to steal that muffin tin idea for our next big project!
I don't know if you've taken Simon to Legoland in Carlsbad, CA, but I think it would be a fabulous time! We've taken our boys out there three times (and we live in Minnesota!). The whole place is made out of legos! I think the coolest part is the central area "Miniland". There are replicas of New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Sydney, Australia, London, England. Anyway, you get the idea. And the rides there are SO kid friendly. Not scary at all! Plus, you can take a glance "behind the scenes" where the master builders put together their creations! Definitely keep it in mind once that baby gets a bit older! I'm sure Simon would be in his element!

Wow that's incredible. I don't know if I could "do" legos for 4+ hours.

I may be a giant dork, but when I saw the title of this post in my reader, I thought for sure you were going to say that the baby girl had arrived.
I know, having done it twice myself, how unlikely that is. It's just that you were just talking about when she might show up, and how you're coming up on 37 weeks, just like Simon, and... well.
The Lego thing is cool, too.

ha! I was wondering when you mentioned it yesterday. That's the exact one that my 13 year old got for Christmas - he spent a fair amount of time on it himself, well over four and a half hours I'm sure.
Happy day after, Simon!!! Seven was one of my favorite years!

Have you seen The Brickman's Lego Art Gallery? He has commissions to build lego art from all over the world. He quite his job as a lawyer in New York to play with legos the rest of his life! Now he is quite a success. None of his designs have directions...have fun.

I am a huge fan of Legos & my 6 yr old son is immensely obsessed with Star Wars. However, one thing I knew ahead of time was to pick out lego set with 700 pieces or less! Now sorting into those muffin tins? EXCELLENT idea.

Ali, I mostly read your blog because I am so inspired by your creative style. I feel like you have single-handedly made scrapbooking cool (at least in my perspective). But, I love reading stories like these. There have been several Simon stories that you have posted that made me think that that guy is one lucky boy to have you. You just seem like such a level headed, easy going parent. And that, is inspiring too.
So, thanks!

That is SOOOO in my future!!! My son loves legos and I see making one of those when he's older. Love hearing that it's actually fun.. although time consuming.

Quite impressive. Well done!

egads! that's a lot of legos. i remember when my son loved those. i think his favorite was the castle. i wish i'd thought of organizing the little pieces like you did - brilliant!

Emma is totally jealous, she saw that end picture and asked if we could get/do one. Um, I said "no", I don't have as much patience as Simon's mommy, LOL!
BTW, one thing we use allllll the time, commercial sized baking sheets. They are about 18" x 30" and heavy duty. They create a wonderful workspace for kid projects and the lip keeps everything contained. You can get them at a restaurant supply store, there's one on Maxwell if you're looking.

Ali-I am so glad you posted this!! I could write the exact same entry as my son Ethan is just like Simon in more ways than I could ever describe to you through the web....I also love Lego construction-but I have to wonder who puts the ages on there....they are oh so challenging. Ethan is in charge of picking up all the pieces and getting them together for me to complete the next step-but he gets tired-then its just me at the table alone with LEGOS. I admire you for tackling such a big one-you rock!