Showing posts with label wooden blocks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wooden blocks. Show all posts

07 November 2012

the newest keeper of the bins

*

you know how much i adore old things. if they come with a story, even better. if they were also handed down within the family, perfection! such was the case with these two boxes. my mother-in-law; also a lover of old things; recently gifted us with these treasures. here is their annotated history:

they were constructed by manlyman's stepfather's father over eighty years ago, for his children. eventually my father-in-law gave them to his own children, & in turn kept them safe for the many grandchildren to come.


years ago it seemed that the last of the grandchildren were too big for them, so my mother-in-law painted them white, added wheels to their bases & cushions to their tops, & moved them into her guest room.


which brings us to now. not quite the next generation of babies, but elfling is the most recent by a decade. my mother-in-law decided that the bins should be no longer collecting dust in her guest room, & lovingly gifted them into my keeping. i get chills just writing that!

so why were so many children in the family given bins with which to play? well, you see, their true treasures lay within.


you need only lift their lids to see.


treasures which were also made over eighty years ago, by my father-in-law's father.


blocks! both hollow...


& solid.


& 'lincoln' logs.


thehobbit scarce recalls playing with these blocks when small, but he did. now they are being used by elfling to make all sorts of fire stations glorious things. & i? well i shall keep them safe for my children's children.

~peace.
ps :: yes i know had a few too many blocks already, but these don't count. they are nearly antiques! & family heirlooms! also, be quiet.

10 October 2012

blocks, blocks everywhere


thebelfrys love wooden blocks. by the time thehobbit outgrew playing with his, he had an insane amount of them. through gifts, thrift shopping, & hand-me-downs there was more than would fit in one large storage bin. we discovered this when it came time to pack them away. (hint :: stacking them into a giant cube of a jigsaw puzzle was the key.)


when elfling was big enough for blocks, we dug out the bag of tower blocks (pictured above) from storage. eventually a set of alphabet blocks, & one of miniature blocks joined the fray. not a lot of blocks by belfry standards, but just enough to make a toddler happy.


& then my dear friend pom phoned, asking if we wanted her girls' blocks. the sane voice inside my head said no thank you. he has a perfect amount already, & we have a giant bin filled with more, in storage. - which i promptly ignored, exclaiming oh yes!!!!!!!! instead.


some of our new blocks had been pom's very own childhood ones! that makes me happy. interestingly they weigh much less than the blocks of today do.



everyone has been having oodles of fun building all manner of things. of course, elfling only asks that we build fire stations for him, but i have figured out a way around that. i just build whatever i want, & proclaim it to be a fire station. sooner or later he'll catch on, & demand proper fire stations, but for now i am gold.


in addition to the regular blocks, pom gave us not one, but two sets of alphabet blocks. for a moment i thought i should give them away, as we already owned a set. then i realized that they were each different sizes, which clearly means we still own only one! besides, it is easier to build words if i have multiples of letters.

which he wanted to do the other day. over & over again. for eleventy billion hours. i love blocks, but even i have my breaking point.


i told him that this read fire station.

~peace.

ps :: for those wondering - i have no idea how i shall store the blocks once we bring in the bin from the garage.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...