Death by Death Star

For the last 2 years, Carsen has begged for the Lego Death Star.  I said NO WAY!  It was way too expensive and had way too many pieces.  Every time he was asked what he wanted for Christmas or Birthday, he answered "The Death Star".  When we went to the mall we always had to go to the Lego Store and look at it and beg for it.  We talked in the car, in line and before bed about how much he wanted the Death Star.  He dreamed about it and he brought it up every chance he got.  This did not work to persuade me to even consider buying it for him.  And then, he talked to Santa about it.  He sat on Santa's lap, half believing and half thinking "this is ridiculous, I heard this guy isn't real, but I'll humor my mom", and asked for the Death Star.  At that moment, I knew that Santa was going to deliver this sweet boy his dreams and keep him on the list of Believers.

Santa did not disappoint.  Christmas Morning Carsen unwrapped a 19 pound box of Legos.  The Death Star.  Carsen's Dream had come true.  And so had my nightmare.

Three days after Christmas, Billy came over to put the ship together.  The boys opened the box and found 4 boxes.  After opening the first box, the boys sorted out bags 1, 2 and 3.  They also pulled out the manual, which was the size of a dictionary.  Billy got to work with Carsen and after a couple hours the base of the ship was complete; so was Billy.
   
Box 1 of 4, Bag set 1

I urged Billy to resume his building project the rest of the night and by 10 pm I gave up on Billy and began to build the ship myself. Carsen gathered pieces and I carefully followed the wordless pictures. We worked for 2 hours and in the wee hours of the morning we had finished bag 2. 

Box 1 of 4, Bag set 2

And so the trend continued, for three more weeks.  Carsen and I spent all of our blocks of free time building the illustrious Death Star. 

Box 1 of 4, Bag set 3

We didn't want the pieces to get mixed up so we only worked when we could spend at least 2 hours of solid building time.
Box 2 of 4, bag set 4

I learned to enjoy the process.  It was satisfying to complete a level.  This was my very first Lego ship that I have ever built; largely because I am not patient, but also because when i tried to help Carsen last year I kept messing up.  This year I did it and I was proud that I could figure it out. 
 
Box 3 of 4, bag set 5

I also enjoyed it because I was able to sit and talk with Carsen one on one.  Life gets so busy and kids want to play instead of talk, but I had his full attention.  It was nice.
Box 3 of 4, bag set 6

When Carsen got overwhelmed, I was able to encourage and help him complete the project.  We were so excited to open the 7th set of pieces.  The finale to this monstrous project.
Box 4 of 4, bag set 7

Once the ship was assembled, the boys added the mini figures.  There were 25 mini figures in this set.  WOW!

At the beginning of this project, I really thought it might kill me, but I survived.  Thanks Santa for this experience and helping one 8 year old to BELIEVE in the magic of Christmas.