Puzzled?

What do you do when it's freezing outside, the kids have two weeks off of school and you're all cooped up in the house together? You do puzzles of course! Santa left some puzzles under the tree this year. He was thinking ahead to the long break and the hours that would need to be filled. I never thought I was a puzzle type person, but turns out I very much enjoy them. What is it about puzzles that's so addicting? It's kind of like reading a really good book.... hard to stop until you're finished.



Mary Kate and I warmed up by doing all the "easy" puzzles in the house. You know, the hundred, hundred and fifty piercers. We did eight in one night and she and I really bonded over Hello Kitty and Strawberry Shortcake. The Little Mermaid puzzle you see in the picture was given to Mary Kate by Grandma Winnie. She enjoyed doing puzzles too. I have many happy memories of doing puzzles with Grandma at her dining room table.

When we felt properly prepared, we moved on to a biggie. We tackled a seven hundred and fifty piece Disney panorama puzzle. Brooklyn from next door came over to help us. This puzzle took most of the day and half the night to complete (we're beginners remember). There were high fives and a great sense of satisfaction when we placed the last piece.






Puzzles are also great when you have lots of company to help with assembly. Mike's sister Laura, her friend Tim, my sister-in-law Dani and Mike's brother Lance, who has long been the family puzzle master, came to visit. I had just started a thousand piece country scene when they all showed up. We ate, chatted, and puzzled late into the night. The sky and blossoming cherry trees part of this puzzle turned out to be real beastly. Thanks for your help guys. Here's our finished product...



If you look closely, you'll see that there are fourteen pieces missing from this particular puzzle. Mary Kate spilled the box, not once, but twice in the game closet. I took everything out and scoured the closet three times, but never found the missing pieces. It remains a mystery. If you think that's frustrating, my parents (who are also into puzzles these days), had this one almost all completed when my dad slipped and fell to the floor pulling the whole thing down with him. They started all over again.....the die hards.



Yesterday, being the addict that I now am, bought this puzzle at Target, and even though I had a million other things I should have been doing, spent the evening, until 1:00 a.m. putting this five hundred and fifty piece puzzle together all by myself. I thoroughly enjoyed it too.

I've got three more I Spy puzzles that Mom and Dad have passed my way, sitting in the closet. Mom says they're really difficult. I'm not sure I should even start them. I do have kids to take care of and laundry to do and my family needs to eat. Maybe I'll save them and do them over spring break, but I probably won't be able to wait that long. We can always order pizza and who needs clean clothes when there is a puzzle to be done?

P.S. I figured out a great way to store puzzles. Cut the picture off the box, put it in a Ziplock bag along with all the pieces and store them in a rubbermaid. I got twelve puzzles in one small container and saved myself tons of shelf space by getting rid of all the bulky boxes that always get smashed anyway.