Brianna and Grandma Camp

The super-secret craft we did last week was for Grandpa Russell's birthday! We made him some coasters from clay. We rolled them out, cookie cuttered them and baked them, then painted the sides of them and glazed the tops. We had enough clay to make some for ourselves, too! Unfortunately we have found that the glazed tops tend to stick to hot cups, so I've been turning mine over.

On Friday Nico and I took our friend Brianna to lunch for her birthday, at Red Robin. Nico got a gluten free kids hamburger (perfect size). He reeeally loved it. She brought him a gift for his birthday - the game CLUE! After Red Robin we went over to my parents' house for a bit and then headed home.

Saturday we went to one garage sale together and then Guy went on his own for a few hours. Nico and I hung out at home, it was a relaxing day.

On Sunday Brianna came over and hung out with us for a while. We played a game of Clue, Brianna won!

Monday was the start of the last Grandma Camp of the summer! I dropped Nico off early Monday morning and received him back this afternoon. One of their first activities was Box City, where they used boxes to create a city. Bruce and Nico actually built a robot costume! Nico was then able to attempt to break into Lexie and Rory's box BANK that they built.

Then there was Papa Time, where they built a treehouse (in loose terms), what I think they did is attach boards onto the tree so they'd have a place to sit up there! Super cool!

They also had a hula-hoop contest where they had to see if they could hula-hoop for 3 straight minutes. Bruce and Nico won. 

Twice through the week Nico face-timed Guy and I in the evening before he was heading to bed. That was really neat.

Last night Nico lost a tooth while at their house, my mom sent me this story this morning:

It was evening time, we were all comfortably sitting in our chair of choice, jammies on, pillows and blankies around us and the kids waiting to hear a story from one of the books I had written.  These are special fun times  with my grandchildren because they can relate to the people in my stories, their parents!  As I was half way through one of the stories, Nico raises his hand.  I continue reading a bit and then stop in mid story and ask Nico if his question can wait.  He informs me with a calm, “no, I just pulled my tooth out” and with a raise of his other hand he showed everyone his bloody hand with a small tooth in it!   I sat my book down, jumped into action and escorted him to the bathroom where we cleaned him up and had him rinse well.  He was quite proud of the fact he had pulled it out, and even more excited that he could leave it under his pillow.  I suggested he take it home so he could show his parents and leave it under his pillow at home.  He was quite adamant that he leaves it at our house as he had heard about how leaving a tooth at our house under his pillow will bring him $20.  Bruce and Lexie confirmed that.  I decided to stop my story I was reading and offer up a story not written in my book about how one of their parents (can’t remember which one) after losing a tooth, had put it under their pillow at night.    I then went on to explain that in the middle of the night I had forgotten that they had placed it under their pillow and so got up to pull some money from my purse. But before I could finish the story on how I accidently pulled a $20 bill from my wallet instead of a $1 bill, my storytelling came to a staggering stop!  Across the room, snuggled in her chair, happily listening to my story, Lexie jolted upright, looked at me with shockingly big eyes and exclaimed, “You gave them money, I thought it was the Tooth Fairy?”  My gut tightened and my heart sank with the realization that I had just revealed the Tooth Fairies identity.  But it didn’t stop at that!  As the others were chiming in that parents were indeed the Tooth Fairy they began to offer other revelations which sent me into a quick motion of shaking my head at them to please don’t say anything further.  But Lexie is a clever girl and the revelation of who the Tooth Fairy was gave way to her conclusive mind and she looked at me and said, “My friends told me that parents are the Tooth Fairy, but I didn’t believe them until now.  So that means that Jack Frost, the Easter Bunny”, and then looking at me with eyes that gave a complete and desperate look of “tell me it’s not so” in a question like manner…exclaimed:” my parents are also, SANTA CLAUS???!!!”   

Oh, the agony of watching a child’s balloon pop as the truth sinks in.  I let her cry.  The cousin’s tried to console.  Through her sobbing tears she said, “that means that everyone that we can’t see is not for real”!  I finished our stories early and I got the cousins to bed and then went out to do some comforting of Lexie. She was sitting in Papa’s chair, cuddled with her favorite stuffed animals and a blankie around her.  She was in shock.  I had her come sit on my lap.  She apologized.  I asked her why she was apologizing.  She said, “because I’m feeling sad about this and I shouldn’t”.  I responded, “yes, you should!!!  I felt sad when I found out!  You can cry all you want.” So, she cried some more.  After a while we talked about the happy parts of Christmas.  We talked about how St. Nicholas was a real person and he had a big and generous heart and that is where the Santa Claus story began.  I then said, do you know there is someone else that you can’t see, but is real?  She asked who.  I told her, Jesus.  She smiled and sighed a happy sigh. We finished with a prayer and silly song and she was soon on her way to a happy dream land.

Today before Grandma dropped Nico off here, they went swimming!

Guy and I watched The Last Jedi on Tuesday night, that was a really good movie! Nico face-timed us during the movie. It was an entertaining intermission. Brianna and I were able to go see Christopher Robin in the theaters on Monday. Cute movie! 

School starts next Monday... eek! Can't believe it's here already!

Here's a video of Lexie teaching Nico how to play soccer.

Grandpa Russell, Library, Water Park

On Friday we welcomed Grandpa Russell into town! He came over in the afternoon and we all went over to Red Robin for dinner. Nico asked the server for soda water with coconut after Daddy asked for soda water with lime.

Then it was home to play The Game of Life. Nico is really into this game right now, we play it every day. Grandpa won!

On Saturday morning Grandpa brought Nico some coconut soda. I went to my post at the Saturday market to do some henna, and the boys had a fun morning hanging out and going places. They went to the Dollar Store so Nico could buy his marbles, and they also came downtown to go to the market and to see me. They also took a trip to the library before they dropped Grandpa off at the airport. It was a fun visit. We are all really looking forward to seeing the Grandparents Russell NEXT WEEK when we fly in to Seattle and stay with them for a few days! Next Thursday's update will happen from Arlington!

On Sunday Nico and I went over to the Grandparents Salisbury's house, Nico played Minecraft with Papa and I hung out with Grandma and my Aunt Ellen. 

On Saturday, a big moving truck went down the alley and severed our cable internet line. We were without internet until Monday night. So on Monday I loaded up my computer and we went to the library so I could get a bit of work done. We discovered his school friend Linus hanging out there with his sister, and they were on iPads playing Minecraft, and it turns out the library lends out iPads while you're there so you can play on them. We got one for Nico and he sat right next to Linus and all 3 of them played Minecraft. I sat next to Nico and got some work done. It was so cool we decided to come back on Wednesday. We were hoping to run into Linus again but they didn't make it to the library that day. But, his step-mom and I exchanged numbers and Linus and his sister will be going to Nico's birthday party! Mark your calendars! July 29th, Saturday, 1PM at Pojo's.

Playing Minecraft

On Tuesday we got to see GG in Nampa! Nico wanted to bring Life over to play with her, so we did that. GG won!! :)

This morning we went to the Roaring Springs water park and met some church friends there. Nico's friend Leona took him around to the smaller slides and rides and he had so much fun, and lasted about an hour. He was shivering so much. It started out around 70 degrees and windy, so I can understand that! I was cold at a few points and I didn't get in the water! He curled up under his blanket in the sun and warmed up, then we headed home. He took a shower, we ate lunch, then we went downtown to get a smoothie from Jamba Juice.

A few random pictures from this week

When was the last time Nico fell asleep in the car??

Park play date with Allicia and crew

 Silly picture time

Birthday, Bike Rides, Pojos

On Sunday we went to Red Robin to celebrate my birthday, after church with the Grandparents Salisbury and my Aunt Ellen. I had a great birthday! Got some fun gifts and had a fun time with family. That evening Guy and I and Nico went to Whole Foods to get some treats and we sat in the car and drank Izze Pops, then came home and ate dinner and split a Hail Mary dark chocolate tart for dessert while watching a Tinkerbell movie. (my choice:))

Nico and I practiced our calligraphy, I used my brand new pens from the Grandparents Russell and Nico used the pens they got him for Christmas.

We've been going for bike rides, it's a fun way to pass the time. We made it over to where we used to live on Krall street the other day and saw a killdeer hanging out near a puddle on the street. We ended up at the Fort Boise Community Center so Nico could go to the bathroom, which is the furthest we have ridden!

Since the greenbelt is flooded, we are spending time biking the neighborhoods, which I suppose is a good thing because Nico is learning all about bike safety when riding on the street. We rode into the middle of the East End neighborhood and I told Nico to find our way home. He went for a while before recognizing a street and then he knew where we were.

We have rented a storage unit! We are inheriting a few furniture items from the cabin that we want to store until we move, and the moving men brought the stuff from the cabin on Monday. Grandma Salisbury came and picked us up and took us to our storage unit, which is just down Warm Springs about 1/2 a mile away, so the moving men could unload it.

Nico asked Grandma when they could hang out next, and Grandma invited him over to their house on Thursday (they were already planning on watching him on Thursday because of a doctors appointment I had), and Nico was very excited. Grandma told him to be there at 9 AM and so he was sure to remember. I took him over there today at 9 AM. He had a really fun day. He brought over the game of Life and they played it 3 times. They also went to Pojos! And when I came to pick him up, him and Papa were playing Minecraft on the iPad.

Nico is doing a Reading Bingo that he picked up from Rediscovered Books when him and Guy went there to buy a fidget spinner. If he gets a blackout then he gets to go to an after-closing party, so he is working on reading books to fill up the whole thing.

Right now he is reading El-Deafo, a really good graphic novel auto-biography of a girl who became deaf after a childhood illness. He is reading this one to be able to fill in the square that says "A book with a differently abled character".

I spent some of my birthday money on some patio furniture! Target was having a good sale.

"I want to go outside without shoes and take a picture too"

"Not tonight, you need to be in bed reading!"

Now we can sit outside and .. do stuff!

That's it for this week!

Spring Break!

Nico had a bit of a cold last weekend, with a fever on Saturday. We were planning a trip to see Allicia's Roller Derby game on Saturday night but I stayed home with Nico and Guy went to the game. He had never seen a game before so we figured that would be the best arrangement! We actually had a pretty fun night ourselves, we ate dinner and watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Saturday and Sunday I went over to the Grandparents Salisbury new house to help unpack. All their stuff was moved on Friday.

Grandma and Aunt Ellen laughing.

SPRING BREAK is happening this week, and Guy also has the whole week off. We've had plans to go do some fun things but haven't realized those plans yet. It has been rainy and we've been working hard to get stuff organized for our garage sale and clearing the clutter out of here. We purchased a wardrobe and switched around Nico's bed so that he is now sleeping on top of the bed. When we pulled his mattress from the floor underneath the bed we discovered mold on the bottom, so we tossed it outside and ran and bought a new mattress.

Monday - went through all our storage in the cellar, pulling stuff for the garage sale and repacking the storage boxes.

Tuesday - sorted through Nico's toys. Met Grandma Salisbury, Bruce, and Rory at Red Robin for lunch, then they took Nico for a sleepover at the Grandparents Salisbury new house. Tuesday evening I had a henna photoshoot at Quarry View Park. The photographer took pictures of the kids (Evelyn, Nico, Sammy, Aadam) with henna and also Allicia with henna. I took a few shots of Allicia myself after we came home, just to capture the moment, since I won't get the professional photos for a few more weeks :)

Wednesday - went to Pojo's with Bruce and Rory and Grandma Salisbury. He got 383 tickets and had quite a bit of fun playing games and riding bumper cars. We went to Big-Os to get the oil changed, here are Rory and Nico sitting down at Big-O Tires.

Thursday - This morning Nico opened a package from the Grandparents Russell that had some fun activities in it, we colored some bird coloring pages and we picked out where he would hang up the bird migration poster. This was also a Lego sorting day. Nico sat down with Guy and I at the table and worked on a miniature Lego panda while Guy and I sorted Legos. Rain rain and more rain, so much rain, snow too. But mostly rain, hard rain.

Here's a picture of Nico tucked into bed ready to sleep tonight. First night he has ever slept with a TOP SHEET in his own bed. I figured it was about time. We are using a quilt now that Grandma Russell made (can't remember if I helped or not?) It is beautiful, though, and so soft. And you can see the wardrobe we purchased. It has a mirror in the middle panel and Nico has been enjoying that. We find him practicing his ninja skills in front of the mirror sometimes.

It has been quite a cozy Spring Break so far.

Red Robin, Weather, Turkey Burgers

Saturday was the Sensory Friendly Movie - Trolls was playing. We brought Evelyn with us, they both enjoyed it! It was cute, I enjoyed it too.

Sunday after church we met the Grandparents Salisbury and two of my brothers and their families at Red Robin to celebrate Papa's birthday! Happy Birthday Papa! We love you!

Waiting in the waiting area, we took over this corner! It was great to see everyone. We were missing Jeremy and family.

Monday was a pleasant day outside, and we noticed someone riding their scooter to school. After school Nico put his helmet on and played outside on his scooter with Aadam, Sammy and Evelyn for the first time since last year before the snow came. The sidewalks were finally clear enough, and the temperature wasn't too cold. Winter is losing its grip on us!

But then Tuesday morning came, and Nico said "I want to ride my scooter to school!" So I said OK! We got his helmet on. And I said to him "Hey Nico, try wearing your regular shoes instead of your boots today, I don't think you need to wear boots anymore!" And he put on his normal shoes. So we're all ready for school and we open the door...

SNOW!

It was snowing big heavy snowflakes and there was 1/2 inch accumulation so far on the sidewalks.
"Well, Nico, put your boots back on!"

We had 2 inches accumulate that morning, until around 1 PM when it started to melt. By the time I picked Nico up from school it was all gone! Phew! Disaster averted!

On Tuesday our friend Brianna came over after Nico got home from school. She stayed for dinner and I made blender banana pancakes with strawberry topping and sausage on the side.

After school on Wednesday we took another trip to the Discovery Center. We tried out the bed of nails a few times, and watched a demonstration about a metal that contracts when you get it hot.

We've made every Thursday "Turkey Burger Day". Nico loves them.  We were going to make it on Tuesday so it could be "Turkey Tuesdays" but Brianna comes over for dinner on Tuesdays now and I'm sure she'd get tired of eating the same thing every time she came over!  

It's nice having routines. He loves Saturdays because it's "Pancake and Pizza Day"

He is reading...

Garfield comics (checked another one out from the library on Saturday)

He is watching...

Pokemon 

Home Season 2

We are playing...

The Game of Life

Bird Matching Game

Diggin' Doggies (with Daddy)

Red Robin, Bike Trailer

Well, last week I forgot to mention two things that happened, both were Birthday parties. You can see a video at the end of this post of the highlights of each. Nico's friend Vincent turned 3, and then Nico's cousin Rory turned 6!

Now on to this week...
Sunday was Father's Day. It was also the summer solstice, which we completely forgot about. Whoops. We considered celebrating last minute, but we are going to try to instead, celebrate this coming weekend, so we can have some time to plan ahead. I think we are going to attempt a picnic. Someone at church gave us a $25 Red Robin gift card, so Guy had a pretty good Father's Day. Nico even ate the tomato they put on his cheeseburger. Surrprise!

Then we did other things that Guy loves - we bought coffee and went to the Co-op. Happy Father's Day Guy! 

Then started another week of school. One thing I like about our bike rides every morning is that Nico has adopted the habit of saying "On your left!" whenever we pass someone. So the person hears it twice, first from me, then Nico echo. It is pretty cute and most people laugh and say Hi as we pass them.

On Monday we bought Guy a bike, which we've been saving up for for a while. On Tuesday we bought Nico a new helmet. This is part of his birthday present. The rest of his birthday present is going to be a skateboard and knee/elbow pads. He knows this and we are likely going to be purchasing this for him sooner than his birthday.

Today we went to the PO Box and picked up a box that Grandpa Russell sent to Nico. He got a frisbee that lights up and Nico was so excited about it he went to bed with it, telling me that it was great because it would be a nightlight for him, and he put it right by his head. Then he got up several times, "What color is that?" (the color on the frisbee changes, and he was curious what the non-color was, the normal flashlight color. White!) "Can I get Daddy's flashlight?", "Can I put together some legos?" then he got out of bed silently and walked across the room holding the frisbee in front of him. I asked him what he was doing out of bed, as he had walked right in front of me without looking at me while I was sitting on the couch. "I am looking over here with the frisbee." then he turned more lights off. hehe. I had showed him briefly how to throw it like a frisbee, so we will make it to a park soon to try it out. 

Tonight I told him it was time for a shower and he said no. So I told him that we'd have to skip reading books tonight if he didn't take a shower. He said no. Then he looked very concerned and asked me: "Am I going to turn into a potato?" I explained to him that even if he didn't take a shower, he would not turn into a potato. Then he asked me if he would turn into a potato while he was sleeping. I told him that he would never in his whole life turn into a potato. 4 months ago Guy had told him a story about a little boy that didn't take showers, and how this little boy turned into a potato.  I didn't think that Nico had taken it so seriously, but he had!

When he asks to play with legos at night in bed I say "Try to sleep for 10 minutes, then if you're still awake you can do legos." Every time, he falls asleep. Then in the morning, DING! Lego time. One morning last week when this had happened the night before, Nico woke up at 5 AM and said to me from his bed "Where's my legos? It's too dark in here. Mommy! I can't even see my BED! It's too dark in here, I can't see anything." Then he got up, got his legos, took the lamp with him, and went into his bed and put his lego together. When he was done, it was then time to get up.

Hmm... I am pretty sure nothing else happened this week. I hope I'm not forgetting something.

Enjoy a few more pictures from last week's Parktacular...

Video time!

I found out that for some reason, YouTube is really sensitive to GoPro camera settings and I obviously haven't researched it enough to get good results. All the biking videos I upload there are translated into bad quality, though they look pristine before the upload. :( I will try to fix this, but in the meantime, here's the bike trailer video of us going to school (I enjoyed picking out the circus music, it's kind of silly). And just a warning, there is fast forward movement in this video in case you need to prepare yourself (for those who may get dizzy:))

I keep editing this entry, because I keep forgetting things. The part where the video slows down (where it's not in fast motion) is the part where Nico and I go downhill really fast. You may be able to perceive the really big bump we go over.

Also, if you switch the settings to HD in the lower right corner of the video - click on the gear symbol and select HD, then the quality will improve a bit.

Birthday Party Video

Daddy Dinner Date, and Snippets

Saturday Nico and I went to the tire shop to get our tire looked at, it had been leaking air. While they were looking at it, we went for a walk around the block (we were downtown). Stopped into a bike shop and Nico counted all the bikes. One of the clerks said to him "Be sure to tell us how many there are!"

It turns out our tire had a nail in it, but they fixed it (for $15! cheap!) and said it was good as new. Well, ALMOST good as new.

Saw Allicia and Co. on Monday, briefly.

On Tuesday evening I taught another essential oils class. I sent the boys out an hour before it started. They had a GREAT time! Guy took Nico to Red Robin and they ate dinner there. Nico had a hamburger patty with a tomato on it, some broccoli and a few fries. Then they went to Pick-a Park and then off to the bookstore to play with the train-set there. All of those things are Nico's favorite things to do, so he had a lot of fun.

Of course, Strider rides and walks and park visits happened quite a few times this past week. Today we went to TWO parks! One right after the other.

Nico came home from school on Wednesday and without me even asking him what he did in school that day, he started telling me. Rory, Connor, Bailey, Miss Marybeth, T, Timothy the Tiger, t t t t (with hand motions), fix a house, hammer a nail (swings his arm up and down like he's hitting a nail). That seemed to be a pretty fun day for him! They are talking about construction workers and builders this week. His homework is a Bob the Builder activity page.

No pictures this week, so I figured I better put together another snippet video. Thankfully I have a few snippets :) And some pretty good ones, I think. Nico imitates a Clifford episode while watching it, calls Evie and Papa on his play phone, and vacuums his room. There might be another one in there I don't remember.