The Clubhouse

We moved in on Sunday!

Before the movers got here

After the movers left

Up until that day, we weren't sure where we were going to put everything. But it worked out beautifully. We set up Nico's loft bed and put his mattress underneath it instead of on top. We stacked the cedar chest and some other things on top of the bed and we drape blankets over the rest and it becomes a CAVE. This is where Nico sleeps at night and where Guy sleeps during the day.

The place looks a lot more organized than what you see in the pictures, but it is still a tiny space with lots of stuff in it :) 

I love having a kitchen! Tonight for dinner I made Fish Curry. Both Guy and I agreed that we were getting tired of sandwiches. Nico even ate some of the curry! 

So the only thing we don't have in this room is a bathroom. We use Jeff and Allicia's 2nd bathroom as our own. This has worked out just fine so far. 

I realized after moving into the clubhouse that this is the time we have been planning for, and that we need to take advantage of it starting right now, to start paying off debt. I know that we will only be able to last so long living in a tiny space, so we are not going to fritter away our time! This is serious business, and we are going to get it done. We are people on a mission!

Feeding the chickens grapes

Nico and Evie in the clubhouse

Waiting for the bus last Friday - Halloween Party day! 

Nico says: "Paint a pumpkin red!"

Nico says: "Biiiiig"

At the pumpkin patch, riding the bucket train

He has picked his pumpkin!

Moving Day is Upon Us!

The big news this week is that they finished the clubhouse!

We move in on Sunday. We are trying to get everything in order for when the movers arrive. We are hiring movers because there are 2 flights of stairs that need to be dealt with. They are moving our stuff down one flight, and then the furniture that was up here before needs to be returned up here from the basement, 2 floors down. Movers to the rescue! We hope to move most of the kitchen stuff down before Sunday so that they can just focus on big furniture.

I told Guy that the first meal I'm going to make in my new kitchen is Fish Curry! Then I said "now I just need to find some fish!" The next morning, my Mom called and asked if she could take me to Costco, "just for the halibut" (but some other stuff too). Halibut is exactly what I needed :) Thanks Mom!

I am looking forward to cooking, and to cleaning, and to routine-ing it up. I miss routine. It was nice for a while not having one, almost like a vacation! And I guess the vacation worked, because I am ready and raring to go back. This really WAS like a vacation. Soaker tub with geothermal water, eating off of paper plates, no dishes to wash, making sandwiches every day and eating lots of chips and larabars, so no food prep. I am so grateful!

Guy worked Monday and Tuesday during the day again. He has been very tired, but he is motivated. I am very proud of him.

Tomorrow Nico gets to wear his Halloween costume to school! TIGER.

Carving the pumpkin Nico picked out at the Farmstead pumpkin patch on his field trip.

And lots of pictures this week from the preschool.

 This one doesn't have a lot of Nico in it but I LOVE his face and can hear his reaction to seeing the duck being dropped into the water.

Showing Nico this picture, he told me about the sizes of the pumpkins and how heavy the big pumpkin was.

I love having these pictures so I can ask Nico was he was doing! He told me they made play-doh!

Painting apple trees.

Work, Botanical Garden, and Pumpkin Patch

We found out last Saturday morning that Guy would be going in to work on Monday and Tuesday during the day (10AM-5PM), and then back to night shift on Wednesday like normal. This is how it will be every week for the foreseeable future. So Guy stayed up on Saturday with a short nap in the middle of the day. In the morning he drank some coffee and then all of us, including Allicia, Evie, and Avery, went to the Botanical Garden. Keeping Guy busy while he is tired seems to help with him staying awake. We had a lot of fun!

Then Nico had a field trip this week to the pumpkin patch. I am sure his teacher took lots of pictures so I will be uploading some of those when they're available. Nico came home with a pumpkin and has been asking to turn it into a jack-o-lantern. We told him we would do this with him on Sunday which is Guy's next day off.

The Clubhouse is almost finished, they think it will be ready by the end of this weekend. They put the kitchen cabinets in and the flooring, they just need to do the finishing touches.

Monday was Guy's birthday. To celebrate I made him a video rendition of one of his favorite radio sketches by Bob & Ray. He got a kick out of it.

Nico and Evie doing kid alphabet yoga. Driving Cars.

Reading books in their "house"

A queen bed seems to fit all of us. Nico is a big fan of sleeping next to Daddy.

Cabin and G.G. and School

Sickness kept going through the house last week. Guy was down for a few days, Allicia caught it and lastly Jeff. Kids were first, then the grownups, the usual! We have some coughing and phlegm hanging on but the bulk of the illness is over.

There was a huge Harvest Party at the cabin on Saturday. Nico and I were able to go for a few hours. What an incredible shindig! I was impressed with all the decorations and food and organization. Grandma Salisbury is quite the hostess. Harvest vegetable soup had so many different squashes in it, plus different potatoes, it was very good.

On Monday we went up to the cabin again for a while. Grandma Salisbury made us a VERY yummy lunch which was just rice, ground bison and salsa mixed together. So simple, but sooo good. And then cinnamon tea.

We were able to go see G.G. on Tuesday! Yay! Nico was happy to be able to continue watching the Curious George movie through Netflix on G.G.'s tv. He was also able to feed Scamper a treat while we were there. G.G. sent us home with tomatoes and a nice Halloween centerpiece for our table!

And speaking of Curious George, there is a new Curious George Halloween movie out on Netflix that Guy and Nico just started watching today.

The latest news about Guy's job is that we're not sure when or what form it will take. We heard that they might want him to come in during the day shift (9-5) but STILL work his night shift too. Whacky! Not sure how that would work, but am trusting that God has got a big ol' plan and I'm not too worried :)

Did you know.. that we don't have a water heater? The hot water here is entirely geothermal and it comes out piping hot. Every time we take a hot shower or a bath, it's like we're at a hot springs! Nico sleeps a lot better at night after taking a bath. We all do!

Nico's teacher takes pictures of the class and posts them online protected by a password. I am so thankful she takes pictures! Here are some of them from last week:

Collecting leaves

Playing dress-up

He has had no trouble getting on the bus. In fact today he was excited to go to school, he told me about a game they play where he can win a toy to play with.

I even took some pictures this week, too!

Making use of empty moving boxes

Two sickies coloring together at our table

Guy putting together his steel steam locomotive (Bday present from Grandparents Salisbury)

Today we went to Kid to Kid and bought all of Nico's winter apparel. We found a snow suit with a winter coat, a jacket, pants, and shirts. He is going to be all set for winter! He keeps growing, you see, like kids do, and his 3T pants are too short for him these days. On to bigger and better pants!

We also stopped by Barnes and Noble since it was right next door to the clothing store, and Nico played with the train. I couldn't keep myself from Christmas shopping so I made a few purchases. Nico keeps talking about Christmas now and asking for his presents. heehee. I could hide the front of the items by holding them tightly but he could still see the sides and back of them when we went to buy them.

See you all next week!

More or Less. Mostly Just the Less.

It's been harder to do blog updates since moving, partly because I have gotten completely out of the habit of updating my daily journal with a few lines of what we did that day. So I sit here on Thursday night trying to remember. It is hard!

But here's what I got:

Touch-a-Truck was on Saturday. Guy took Nico to this. Nico got to touch and sit on so many different kinds of trucks. Garbage truck, fire truck, police car, limousine. I am sure there are more but these were the ones that he talked about. Then Guy took him to the bookstore to play with the train. Ever since then Nico has been daily putting together the train that Jeff & Allicia have downstairs. It's the same kind they have at the bookstore. It is so great to have a built in playmate for Nico. And we all take care of each other. I watch the kids while Allicia is out, she watches Nico while I am busy or out, and it's sometimes actually easier to watch 2-3 kids than just one, because they can entertain themselves!

On Monday I had a sore throat that turned into a full blown head cold (or maybe even the flu) on Tuesday. Fever and chills and aches that lasted a long time, laid on the bed all day and Guy took over that evening. He took Nico to the Co-op to have dinner, then went grocery shopping, then played downstairs with everyone else until bed time. Nico also was sick but it didn't hit him as hard. Tuesday was also the day we were supposed to go see G.G. But we missed it. Again! I completely forgot about it, though I would have canceled anyway because I was sick. What a bummer! We are set for next Tuesday and I am excited because IT WILL WORK this time :)

I only have one picture from this last week! We will get into the swing of things soon.

Great news on the job front for Guy! He may be moving to days in a few weeks! His job might be completely changing, too. He is a smartie and he came up with a process change that would save time and money, and they want him to implement it. This means: programming! This is what he has wanted to do for so long, and we think the opportunity is finally here. I am praying that everything goes smoothly. His boss loves him and is pushing for him. The boss' boss' boss main boss is on board, so, that's good news. We have never lived in Boise without Guy working nights. I know it will be an adjustment but I am looking forward to facing it, I am ready! Thank you God for the perfect timing!

Evie and Avery playing upstairs with Nico