G.G. Visit and Trip Preparations!

This will be a quick update, since we are getting ready for our trip tomorrow! We are going to ARLINGTON!!! With a night stay-over in Yakima first. Tomorrow we leave at 9 AM.

Tuesday we went to see G.G.!

Nico brought the Creationary game, plus two of his favorite comic books. He can read them! Most of the books he has memorized, but if he says it wrong he can look at the words and correct himself. I was excited while at the doctor's office last week he started reading Hop on Pop and was able to read the first few pages all by himself without help from me.

Anyway, video below shows Nico reading these books to her. We were sorry to hear that G.G.'s beloved dog, Scamper, passed away last week. :( He was dealing with some health issues that just kept going downhill. He will be very much missed. We love you G.G.!

The rest of the week has been us getting ready for our trip. I purchased some stuff from the dollar store for Nico's swim night tomorrow at the hotel. Goggles, a foam sitting board, a foam noodle, and an inflatable "tire". He has been talking about this trip non stop, and is looking very much forward to seeing the Grandparents Russell!! We will see them on Saturday!

The beach cottage we're renting on Camano Island had a run in with the ocean due to a tremendous storm, but all is better now, though they told me it smells musty. They asked what kind of treat we want waiting for us at the cottage and I told them some local raw honey might be a nice treat. They enthusiastically told me that it would be there waiting for us. They said the beach was in a bit of disrepair but I'm thinking there might be some interesting things washed up that might make our beach adventures more exciting. We'll see! I bought a bucket and shovel from the dollar store too. AND a pair of sunglasses.

The other thing we did for Nico for this trip was to setup my iPhone for him to use. I downloaded all his favorite songs. I also downloaded 7 audio books from the library and loaded all his VBS songs onto the iPhone as well. Plus Tom T. Hall. We bought him a pair of Spiderman earphones for him to use. We don't want him playing on his iPad on the trip because it makes him sick, so we thought listening to stuff would be the answer. Tomorrow morning when he gets in the car he will see his new pair of sunglasses and all the swimming stuff I bought him. Then when we stop for lunch in Baker City, we will give him the headphones and the iPhone. 

"I'm strong! Take a picture!"

That's it for now... video time!

G.G., Easter Party, Jesus

On Friday we went to see G.G. in Nampa. She showed me these adorable stuffed dogs that she made, I just can't believe how cute these things are!! She sent me home with the purple one for baby Ivy, who loves it!! 

Nico had fun playing with the blocks, building some of the things displayed on the side of the bin. He also had fun "hiding" Scamper's dog treat under the table for him to find. Scamper had to be coaxed over to where it was lying on the floor because he didn't see it.

Then G.G. showed me the firetruck quilt. Wow!! I am so impressed by this. I love that cute little dog in the corner.

Guy had last weekend off and he took Nico out on Saturday. Nico and Guy have started going to McDonalds when they go out, so that Nico can play on the toys. Guy just buys some french fries for himself. Nico calls it "Old McDonalds". "Can we go to Old McDonalds?"

On Tuesday Guy and I put together our new 3x4 cube storage that is replacing our dresser. It takes up much less space than our dresser did so it feels like we added a whole new room to our house. That is what I'm talking about! We are trying to organize this space a bit better and we're on our way.

Wednesday was Nico's Easter Party at his new preschool (that is how we differentiate between the two preschools - old preschool and new preschool). I teared up while they were singing their song about Jesus. I'm such a sap. I just like that he's learning about Jesus taking our sins away. He often tells me out of the blue: "You can trust God", quoting one of his favorite songs. He repeats it "you can trust God, you can trust God, you can trust God." Then he'll say "Jesus lives in my heart." He'll tilt his head, look at the floor, and tap his heart with his right hand. Tonight I encouraged him to pray before bed after I prayed and his usual thing is "no you do it". But I asked him to come up with one thing to thank God for. "I don't know", so I asked him what is one thing that he loves. And he said "Mommy" So he repeated after me "Thank you for Mommy"...

Me: Is there anything else you want to thank Jesus for?

Nico: Daddy?

Me: Yep

Nico: Thank you for Daddy. Evie?

Me: Yeah

Nico: Thank you for Evie. And Allicia. And Lexie. Amen

Nico eating his Easter Party Snack and looking at a picture of himself on Teacher Melissa's phone

All of Nico's friends at his new preschool

The latest in nighttime reading traditions is letting Nico read the words "it" and "was". These are the first two words in the book "Curious George Cleans Up", so that's how he chose them. But he reads these words in every book, not just that one. When I come to one of those words, I stop and point to it, and then he reads it. I think he is excited about being able to read. 

Putting together a lego with Daddy. A beautiful day to have both doors open to get a breeze! Can you perceive the extra light coming in from the open back door?

Until next time! (I'll have news next week of Nico's first Kindergarten transition meeting)