Sheriff Leia

When you've got three kids -- ages 11, 7 and 5 -- running around the house, you've also got a whole bunch of toys laying around the house.

My two boys used to love "Star Wars," and the remnants from their obsession are littered all throughout the house, including these tiny (maybe 1/2 an inch tall) rubber Squinkies. The boys loved all the usual suspects: Luke, Han, Chewie, Yoda (my favorite still), Obi-Wan and plenty of the bad guys too, including Vader, the Emperor and Boba Fett. My daughter's favorite: Princess Leia, naturally.

But now, the boys are into Legos and superheroes. So consider this a composite of sorts, marrying old and new in our house -- Princess Leia wearing a Lego sheriff's hat -- while also blending my sons' tastes with my daughter's. The toys were sitting on the counter, likely left behind when one of the boys decided it was time to move onto something else, and I absentmindedly put the hat on Leia's head while chatting on the phone this afternoon.

Looking back on this photo several years down the line I'm sure will bring a smile to my face, remembering when all of my kids' favorite things were inside my home, when they spent every night under my roof and woke up every morning in the same place, happy and safe. Some day far too soon, I won't be able to say those things any longer. I'm doing my best to soak it all in.

Oh, and don't mess with Sheriff Leia. Looks like she means business.