Time Flies

Tempus fugit. 'Nuff said.

Here's the fun new thing we found at the Lego store near us:
Jello molds shaped like bricks with studs and everything.

Now that my son is 7, we also really checked out for the first time the buckets of bricks in the back where you can 'pick your own' Lego's like they were blueberries or something. Previously he's mainly been interested in the full blown kits.
Later, my husband said there was one couple there who were filling a $100 bucket by clicking all the bricks together neatly so as to get the most they could into their bucket. Ah, to have that sort of time on your hands.

Now that my son is 7 a lot of things have changed with him. I know you always hear that '7 is the age of reason', but there really does seem to be some threshold he's passed over where there's a bit more suspicion about things like the tooth fairy, Santa, etc. It's sort of bitter-sweet.
He's got an increased interest in questioning just about everything, though, and being able to hold more than a 2 sentence conversation helps him sew all the salient points together much more easily.
I don't know how many times some 'well meaning' mother has wondered casually whether my son might have a hyper activity problem or attention issue. I haven't the slightest idea what would make them think this was fodder for casual conversation anyway, but he's always been great a school (where it counts most) and now finally seems to be coming into his own on all fronts. For others struggling with a 5 or 6 year old who just won't listen, you can feel assured, kids do grow up. I'll sort of miss all the insanity :).

On the other hand I won't miss: taking my son to the pediatrician because he's started to say 'what' even MORE often than usual in response to every question and I'm worried he's got an ear infection or worse. Hearing turns out to be fine (again).

Finally, for the more "sophisticated" folks out there, a new magazine I am enjoying somewhat for it's complete disregard for the idea that anyone might have a budget to stick to, and somewhat because the photos are pretty lush, if ridiculous at times: "GARDEN & GUN".
Seriously. I've been to the Peabody hotel once with the family, it was a blast. There's an article on the duck man and ducks they house there as well as an article on kids and Airguns.

Signing off now, hopefully NOT for another 6 months.

One more Lego tidbit

I remembered one more thing I like about the lego site / stuff in general - their video games are really a blast!
We purchased the Star Wars one and are probably going to get the bionicle one that recently came out. I really like that the people look like legos and when someone gets blasted they fall into a million little lego bits. The games are well developed, at least from my limited perspective, and have a lot of levels so kids don't get bored easily.

Lego dot com

I can not recommend heartily enough the www.lego.com website for kids. My 6-year old is a lego fan and very into the bionicle series, but any legos will do. We recently discovered that he can set up his own web page on the lego site and he has been really enjoying it.
It is pretty darn easy to set up, and so easy to update he's been editing it himself repeatedly whenever he feels like it! It is free, except for being a lego ad :)
The site allows him to add pictures of creations he comes up with, as long as they involve legos; the even accept drawings of lego characters so he's posted some of those. It has been a real inspiration for him. He has started using some of the character-type kits in unusual ways, going beyond the instruction booklets they come with, which of course is how the original legos were always supposed to be used!
Lastly, although I know this will mainly appeal to boys, there are girl lego products out there: click-its, etc., so some of the girls in your family may be interested in checking this out, too.