Ohmystinkinheck

Remember a while back I posted a photo of my gift to me from The Houston Museum of Natural Science’s Entomology Exhibit? I was VERY excited to get started on it, but had to wait for mine and my mother’s schedules to mesh - since she’s my fellow puzzler.

And finally, our schedules did come together and we began working this beautiful puzzle with its brightly colored beetles.

Little did we know that we would work it that night, another night, hen-peck at it here and there, and finally…FINALLY, with the closing help from my **Dad and Mr. OMSH, we finished it up.

And really, as hard as it was, it was worth it (I think.) - look how beautiful it is.

As is the custom in our family, we grabbed a pen and wrote the date the puzzle was completed, along with the people who worked it (I included my dad’s name and might even slip the above photo in for proof grins.) right on the back of the box.

Years from now, when we’ve all passed on, someone will find about 200 puzzles in my grandmother’s attic (for all puzzles eventually end up there at some point) and have a small piece of our family’s history together.

It’s kinda neat when an older puzzle gets pulled out on the table without a date or names and we all guess when the last time was that it was worked; that’s a puzzle in and of itself.

Mom and I can’t remember the last time a puzzle took us so long. Of course, she was faithful not to work it when I wasn’t there, but still - THREE sittings? Usually we finish in a single evening; we’re pretty diligent puzzlers after all.

The best part about the whole thing wasn’t finishing the puzzle though - although THAT was fabulous.

The BEST part was the reward.

Oh yea, baby…chocolate peanut butter chip cookies and Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell ice cream.

** You cannot imagine how PRICELESS this photo is of my Dad working a jigsaw puzzle. The man HATES jigsaw puzzles. For years and years and YEARS you could not catch him anywhere near a puzzle - he stands back from the table as though it might just reach out and bite him - or worse yet, force him to FIND a piece. But the above shot?! THIS IS NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE.

18 Responses to “1000 Pieces of Beetles”

1. bethany actually

   Ooh, Blue Bell ice cream! Good reward. :-)

2. Elizabeth

   Awesome. Great puzzle. You should do a puzzle swap. Oooohhh, the potential!

3. Capturing Today

   My middle daughter, age 6, adores puzzles. She works them all the time. Mom my is like your Dad. She cannot stand to be near them.

   The shot of your Dad’s face is perfect. His expression ~ it’s like it pained him to actually see a piece, know where it went and then actually have to put it there! Fabulous!

4. Michelle

   My mother used to work puzzles all the time, but she just stopped… I was never really sure why.

   I guess complaining was taking up too much of her time.

5. ukrainiac

   I love doing puzzles as well. In fact, I spent many nights (early mornings) when on vacation working on them. Both as a child and then as a parent. Interesting what great conversations take place around a puzzle — relaxed, no rush, uninterrupted moments. And usually LOTS of laughter as we would get so tired but refuse to give up!

6. Sue at eLuckypacket

   What a lovely tradition. And you really are fortunate to have family so close to puzzle with. My family are puzzlers too but I haven’t lived close enough to do one with them in years … decades even :-(

7. karen

   Lars and I adore puzzles and Chris & Ross will work a bit on a puzzle if it’s out. This is one I’ll keep my eyes open for! The worst (best?) puzzle I remember from childhood was a “Shmuzzle” puzzle (all the pieces are the same shape!) of a bucket of worms. I loved the photo complexity but missed the shapes aspect.

8. Robin~

   puzzles are a huge thing for both of my parent’s families, so we always had them around. The hardest was an almost-all black one with brass instruments; we got it for Christmas and it was still not quite done at Easter! That one got matted and framed and hangs in the hallway; we were never going to try it again, lol!

9. MidlifeSlices™

   I’m with “dad”. I’m just puzzled by puzzlers. *grin*

10. mommymae

    ooo…i love puzzles! i had a 3-D puzzle of a german town that i put together once that took for. ev. er. once my kids are older, i might buy some gorgeous puzzles like this one and do them together. i would love one made of butterflies.

11. Kristin

    Oh, Blue Bell! I’m so, so jealous. I grew up on Blue Bell, but here in WA state we can’t get it. That is some puzzle reward. Good for you!
    -K

12. Dad

    The only reason I “painfully” (thanks Capturing Today!) found and inserted one little puzzle piece is … no cookies and Blue Bell for me if I didn’t. Life can be hard being a part of the OMSH family.

13. Michelle

    What a good idea. The picture of the Blue Bell reminds me of when we were PCSing away from Texas and my daughter and I saw a postcard with a Blue Bell container filled with bluebonnets, and she’s like, “What’s the deal?” And I said, well, Blue Bell is only in Texas. She was horrified. Luckily, I was wrong!! It used to be the case, but not anymore! *Love* Blue Bell!

14. RebelRescuer

    Oh I LOVE puzzles!!

    But not as much as I love Banana Blue Bell ice cream! I lived in TX for a while and I SOOOOO miss that banana-y goodness!

    Maybe its time to have my own mom over to do a puzzle!

15. Mandy

    That is so awesome. And I would so be gluing that baby together and hanging it on my wall!

16. Erin

    I love your photos of the process - it’s so cool that the whole family gets together for this. Thanks for sharing!

17. JackieW.

    Was your mom really really concentrating or dislikes having her pic taken ?

18. Belinda

    I feel so sad for people without Blue Bell.