cardboard

 Our new sofa set came in boxes. Great big boxes.
The kids tried sleeping in the boxes one night,
but after about twelve wake-ups and getting-out-of-bed incidents 
(one of which involved Ellie riding the rocking horse in the middle of the night,)
Mom and Dad put an end to that activity.

On Thursday morning, though, I brought out the markers, set out all five boxes,
and suggested they draw spaceships.

 They chose to make GUP's, a sort of submarine, from their favorite cartoon, The Octonauts.

 Coloring and playing with the GUP's kept them busy for about six hours.
I need to help them be creative like this more often. 
Six hours of happy, fight-free imaginative play? 
Super awesome.

 I just loved Christian's little eyes peeking over the edge of Nick's box.

 And my mommy heart just loves the way they draw.

 Nick's steering wheel

 He called this the "Snack Shooter." Adorable! Look at that carrot!

 And Ellie's letter "E" only has three lines this time! Usually it has about twelve.

A friend remarked tonight that it seems like my kids are getting so much more grown up.
And she's right. They are changing and growing,
and while I know that new good things come with each new stage,
I hope I will always remember these times,
 like them sprawled on the tile, creating "GUP's" and exploring the deep ocean, saving fishes,
out of cardboard boxes.