Puzzle-ing

I have a puzzle table set up in the living room ALL THE TIME. Except for a few weeks during the holidays (when I put the Christmas tree up).

I do puzzles at night (to keep me out of the kitchen), and when the kids come, Lilly and Warren will both take a crack at whatever puzzle I'm working on.

Lilly has been puzzling since she was about 4 years old...and she is REALLY GOOD at it...

My puzzles of choice are 500 pieces. And, of course, I have my favorite puzzle companies.

Springbok, Sunsout, White Mountain, Cobble Hill, Bits and Pieces...

Obviously -- ALL MY PUZZLES come from thrift stores. I have a big stash of board games as well as puzzles-pending

If you buy your puzzles at Hallmark stores, you know they can cost $15 or so. But I OFTEN buy my puzzles for 25 cents...and I never pay more than $1.

So, the savings is HUGE...but the risk is always that there may be some missing pieces.

I tell the kids that a few missing pieces don't matter.  Puzzles are like people -- some are better than others.  IT'S ABOUT THE ENTERTAINMENT the puzzle provides, right?  And, the truth is, about 90% of the time, the pieces actually are ALL THERE.

Take this puzzle, for example.  It was a picture the kids both loved....We sorted out all the bright yellow pieces for Warren.  We started this puzzle on a Friday night...It went together pretty quickly...

But, at the end, we had TWO EXTRA PIECES....

I've gotta say -- THAT WAS A NEW PROBLEM!!