THANKFUL FOR LEGOS AND CREATIVITY

My family did the "normal" stuff for us again this year.  I bbq'd the bird.  My mom and Shannon's mom made the "side dishes" and desserts.  TJ finished the whole leg for the first time. The "blessing pot" was passed around (I'll write about that next time) and our post-meal dominos game was fun.  Bottom line: our table was full and we are all thankful for so much.   Seriously, I am beyond blessed.

WAY BEYOND BLESSED... 
One random reminder of that fact is oddly enough, the pile of legos that is in the "playroom" at our house.  I've had some of the pile for over 30 years and the rest is stuff my kids have steadily addd to on their own via gifts for the last 10 years.  It's grown to be a GINORMOUS pile of legos that probably weighs close to 80 pounds.  It has parts from space ships, planes, star wars, cities, police, castles, cars, and so much more. Really, it's gotta be at least 100,000 bricks and such.

Well, while in Disneyland earlier this month for Shannon's b-day we poked around in Downtown Disney and went into the Lego store to poke around.  While in there, I found myself inexplicably drawn to the pile of bricks in the corner that were in bins sorted by color and style. It was like magnetic for me and it really bad made me want to fill a ginormous cup with parts and pieces and just buy bricks by the pound like I was 10 again.  I did not do that, but what I did do was think, "I bet if we organized our bricks at home like this, we'd have a great time playing with them."  I bet I would have a great time playing with them.

So, last night Jake and I started sorting bricks in search of new inspiration.  We commandeered a rolling bin from my wife that was not being regularly used and started sorting away into it.  The result was awesome (we're still only 1/3 of the way done though) and it also came with 3 reminders:

DANG. WE'RE BLESSED.  THIS PILE OF TOYS IS HUGE!!!  
Seriously, we still have pieces I've had since I was 8.  I used to carry them around in a green pillow case with a draw string.  Now the pile is simply too big.  I don't even want to add up how much money we've spent over the year building this set of bricks.  It is A LOT though whatever it is.

CLEAN SPACES ARE MORE INSPIRING THAN DIRTY ONES.
Clean your office and you'll feel more productive.  If you organize toys... old toys become new.  When you clean your car, you want to drive it more.  I mean even when you clean your own body, you feel better.   If your life lacks some inspiration, trying re-imagining a space you're in.  We cleaned up the pile and made it into style and shape piles and the result was a forgotten pile of bricks became a blank slate of newness to enjoy.  Cleaning stuff up is simply inspiring for everyone.

CREATIVITY IS FUN TO EXPLORE AND IS CLEARLY TIMELESS TOO.  

Creativity is a terrible thing to waste and legos are just as fun if you're 10 or if your'e 40.   I found every white one I could get my hands on and told my kids, "I'm gonna build the white house".  TJ then started building a horse stable/police station/jail thing. Jake and Billy made houses.  Becky chose a hospital.  Tyler chose a fire station.  No plans.  No directions. Just a pile of bricks and an active imagination. So much fun.  The pictures don't show it... but these buildings are all like 5 inches tall and as long as 18".   I think everybody should have a pile of bricks in their life somewhere.  So go ahead, be a kid again.