And only four + a half hours later...

I have been reading your blog and I have to say it brings a sense of calm into my chaotic life. Your pictures are beautiful and I love the organization of your office. My life with 3 young girls is a bit crazed at times so it is nice to turn on the computer and see order. :) On that note I want to thank you for mentioning the Cyndi Lauper and Sarah Mclachlan version of Time After Time. I went on itunes and ended up buying the entire Sarah Mclachlan album it was on, I thought I had almost all of her music but I was wrong. I find her very calming so it was very appropriate it came from you. Thank you for sharing the moments of your life.

Such a loving mama you are. Great idea to use the muffin tins for sorting the pieces. One Christmas day a few years ago I spent a very similar four hours with my son and the Playmobil airplane and airport that Santa brought him. I'll never forget it. Best wishes to you all in anticipation of that new little one.

I think you have more patience than I when it comes to Lego! This is DH's fun job in our house a lot of the time!
Here's to baby and week 37!!

Ali, I really like your attitude about all this. I would have been tempted to get annoyed, want to return the thing to the store, and blow up, but it sounds like you used the time as a little time together with Simon to get a glimpse into his heart. What a great example. I'm heading into the Lego years and I know I'll remember this.

Too cute! My oldest daughter loved Harry Potter at 6, and she got a whole bunch of Lego sets for Christmas that year. I found them on sale at Toys R Us super cheap (those big sets are really expensive!) so I got Hogwarts castle, a Hagrid's hut,a shrieking shack, the Hogwarts Train.
Ho-ly-COW. It took literal days to put it all together!!!The instruction books were 50+ pages!
She did play with them a lot, but when we moved a year later we lost the instructions to a few of the sets. SO no more castle- its impossible to figure out with out the instructions! I should see if I can get replacement instructions, now she is 10 and could probably put it all together herself. We love Legos!
Moral of the story: Keep those instructions somewhere super safe!!

What an amazing ship! My baby boy is almost 26 and I can tell you that legos were not that involved when he was in to them! :)
Have a wonderful, restful weekend and happy 37 weeks! I'm looking forward to what you have for us next week.
Blessings,
Dana

This brings back so many memories. We have two boys (both grown now) and I was the official Lego Mom. Birthdays and Christmas were always full of Lego kits and there would be that huge set to be put together. Wish I had thought of the muffin tins but it was always so fulfilling when the project was done. I'm kind of looking forward to when my grandson (now 2) is old enought for these sets.

you finished in one night? wow, my son has 4 of the large ships and 1 is still put together. they dont move well and after all that work he's not to thrilled about doing them again. the fun part now is to see what they can create from the destoryed ships.

That was a good tip about keeping the instructions handy, they do unfortunately come apart, and as long as you have those instructions you can put them right back. We've had our share of meltdowns, my 8 year old daughter can spend hours putting a giant project together and one part falls off and she loses it. Good for Simon for keeping it together, that's some hard work!

happy belated birthday to Simon and have to say that I have 2 younger brothers who were VERY into Legos when we were younger and I used to LOVE helping them put their lego sets together every birthday and Christmas!

That is quite a project! My goodness-
Your posts about your relationship with Simon make me look so forward to my son growing up (currently 16 months) everyday I seem to miss the baby version of him and then this week Simons birthday posts and seeing his room it reminds me that it is all good. And my word "today" helps me capture the baby that is left.
Happy Birthday Simon- and 37 weeks to you, Mom!

Ah-my son is almost 8 and we have many, many little Lego sets...they take over the kitchen counter for days at a time while he works on the larger sets.
I do actually enjoy putting Legos together although my son rarely gives me a chance! :)
Love the photos of all the little muffin tins full of Legos...great pictures.

You are brave! Once the baby is old enough you all should head down to Legoland in So.Cal. if you haven't already been.

Legos are still one of my favorite memories. Just be warned! I was still vacuuming those little bitty pieces years after my son had married and moved away from home. Don;t know where they keep coming from, but they take forever to disappear! Now I have a granddaughter I am waiting til she is old enough to hand off the Duplos to! And it will start all over again.

Wow...what a great idea for sorting the Lego pieces. My son is into Lego as well and will have to remember your tip when he gets a new kit.
Enjoy the last few weeks of your pregnancy !!

Ok that is a totally cool lego ship! I give you tons of credit on your patience. I would have given up long ago. & what a great idea to use the muffin tins! You have to post pix of Simon playing with it. It's so neat.
Can't wait for a photo tour of the baby's room!! So exciting!
Wendy

I feel your pain, but they're amazing engineering feats huh? We have the exact same set...just wait till he decides it's time to take it all apart and make something new!

That's it, Ali. I vote you mother of the year. I don't know how you did that. I couldn't have. I'm also amazed that you automatically go for organizing it all in tins and cups like that. I want to be organized but my brain doesn't naturally think that way and I have to observe and learn from other people who have brains who do.
So, uhhh, do you have a place already in mind for that ship in Simon's perfect bedroom? ;)

Very cool lego ship! My husband would love it haha! There is a lego shop in Downtown Disney and I can't get my husband out of there without stopping in the store :)

That is AWESOME! My husband would be so jealous. A few years ago, while at Disneyland, we saw that they had a Lego Death Star! But we didn't end up buying it. I know my husband is kicking himself for that.