puzzle mania

due to a series of poor choices at the start of the week, madelyn lost t.v. privileges for the week. they don't watch a ton of t.v. to begin with, but i do let them watch when they first wake up sometimes and when i have a meeting.  it makes my life easier, but it definitely has an impact on their behavior.  it is best for us to have no t.v. in the house (and we won't in the new house).

anyway, the t.v. void has been filled by puzzles!  personally, i love puzzles.  all of our puzzles are in storage, but madelyn got mason a large cars puzzle for his birthday.  they can both do the entire puzzle on their own and put it together several times a day.  in order to challenge them a little, we picked up a few puzzles at walmart (i think that they were a steal at $5 for a set of three).  mason got three thomas the train 24-piece wood puzzles in a wooden box and madelyn got three princess puzzles of varying piece counts (24-134).  the time that would normally be spent watching t.v. (and then some!) is now spent doing puzzles.  i love it!  it is quiet and interactive, there is less risk of mess (than, say, crayons) and they rarely fight while doing it.

madelyn with her three princess puzzles that fit together as a larger scene.

i am currently keeping my eyes open for a puzzle for mommy.  i am thinking in the 500-1000 piece range so that the kids could help and it wouldn't need to stay out for days at a time (limited table space and all).  just something else to look forward to in the new house.  the kids aren't going to know what to do with themselves when we get everything out of storage.  i told matt that we may not see them for days as they rediscover what they already have.  love.