Building memories

After making Jackson go back to bed at 2:30 a.m. (you know it's too early for your kids to be up on Christmas morning when you haven't even gone to bed yet), we started opening presents at a much more reasonable hour.

He can tell which ones are Legos with one shake.

Weird & Gross Bible Stuff. It's pretty disturbing.

Landon's excited to get some "big kid" toys of his own.

You, too, can have your very own potato clock for just $9.99 (potatoes not included).

This is a really cool Bible, that's designed just like comic books!

Kids, when I was your age, our forts came from our brain, not from a box.

When we were at a second-hand shop on Main Street in Monroe City, Mo., on Black Friday, Jack saw an antique wooden croquet set that he really liked. So I went back and got it for him.

Nanoblocks from Grandma. As the employee at Fat Brain Toys told her, "If he loves Legos, he's gotta have these."

The presents are opened. Now it's time to play!

A little zinc here, a little copper there ... and, whaddya know? It works!

A special treat was when my friend Paul stopped by and stayed for nearly an hour. Even though we've known each other for 10 years, this was the first time he and Leslie had ever met. Sure enough, Landon cracked up when he thought the Twister shadow figures were naked.

This "fort" system has been such a huge hit that Leslie went back to Kohl's yesterday and got another set. And, last night, Jack slept in it overnight!

The Hot Wheels "Gorilla Takedown" set we got for Landon actually sticks to the wall.

Here are some action shots of a car zig-zagging down the track....

Doin' a 180...

Across the bridge...

And zooming past the gorilla. How can you not like that?

When I put Jack to bed on Dec. 22nd, he told me, "All I want for Christmas are Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and silly string." And when Leslie put him to bed on Dec. 23, he said, "All I want for Christmas is a paper shredder and silly string." Well, son, you got your silly string.

Finally, after spending the whole day working on other building/construction projects, he was ready to tackle the Nanoblocks.

They're teeny!

And for anyone considering the K'NEX Ferris wheel, I'd say the package's recommended age of 7 years old and up is way too young. He's a 9-year-old Lego afficionado and had a really hard time figuring it out. Heck, it was complicated enough for me! But once we finally put together all 475 parts, Jack loved it so much that he had to bring it to the dinner table.