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

First Day of New School

We came back from Salt Lake City on Saturday and we were very happy to be home! We got to be here for all of Guy's weekend and we got some good family time in.

Tuesday was Nico's first day at his new school. Everything went fine, he got on the bus fine and came home fine. On Wednesday when I told him it was about time to get ready for school, he resisted. That's ok, that sometimes happened before, but in the past I would just tell him that he needed to go to school and he was fine. This time, he resisted, and kept resisting, I almost had to sit on him to put his shoes on. He kept pulling his shoes off as I was putting them on. I had to drag him to the bus where the kind bus driver got down and had Nico sit on his lap. Eventually they brought him onto the bus, but the whole while he was still saying "No, Mommy, no, I don't want to go to school. I don't want to I don't want to!"

When he got home he had quite the welcome committee. Me, Daddy, Allicia, Avery, and Evie were all sitting on the front porch waiting for him. After bringing him from the bus, he came right up onto the porch and pulled out some stuff from his backpack to show all of us.

The same resisting thing happened today but in a lesser degree. As soon as he was on the bus he was fine.

Other strange things are happening… potty accidents for him AND for Evie, and acting out a lot. I'm thinking it must be growing pains, moving pains, change and transition pains. We had to miss a trip to G.G. this week because of time outs going long. We rescheduled for next Tuesday.

Last week I launched my essential oil YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/joannabananaberry), so I have been busy while Nico is at school. We've been eating off of paper plates and I think we'll continue to do that until we move into the clubhouse which they are projecting will be ready in one month's time!

Clubhouse progress

Getting Nico off the bus

Sharing some snickerdoodles with Daddy after dinner.

Moving, New School

We moved officially last Saturday. My parents took Nico up to the cabin overnight so that we could focus on moving and unpacking. Once moved in, we had planned that Nico would sleep in a twin bed in the main suite but he asked to sleep in Guy's bed which is in the closet. So, we let him! It turned out to be a good thing because there is a door to the closet area (it's a large closet), and Guy and I could shut it and then play games of cribbage. Jeff & Allicia got us a cribbage board as a move-in present. We've played it a few times already. We have everything we need except a kitchen sink and a stove. When we move into the Clubhouse (the renovated garage), we will have both of those things! The stove will just be a burner, but we don't need much else. The reduction of dishes and things in our living space has been very freeing. I know that most of them are packed away in storage and will resurface when we move to a bigger place one day, but right now I am enjoying living minimally.

Nico has been very happy to live "in Evie's house", and asks to play with her soon after getting up every morning.

On Monday we went to meet Nico's new teacher, Miss Erica. The classroom has a fish that Nico got to feed. From the looks of it I think Nico will be well suited to be in that class, the older kids are all in the afternoon class and she said there are some good outgoing personalities in that class that will get along great with Nico.

On Tuesday Nico had his last day at his old school. They were sure to give him hugs and tell him they will miss him. Tuesday after school, Grandma and I picked Nico up from school and started our journey to Salt Lake City for 6 days. We are here now! There is a dōTERRA convention here so that is what I've been doing while Grandma and Nico play. At the zoo, all the swimming pool, at the toy store, they are having a lot of fun. And so am I! We plan to drive back to Boise on Monday.

Only a few pictures this week.

Watching his iPad on top of a box

Nico and Grandma at the zoo

Not a very thoughtful composition since the name of the zoo is cut out, but it is the Hogle Zoo. They rode the train at the zoo three times! Nico just kept wanting to ride it again.

And a video! Tuesday morning, eating breakfast in our new place.

Moving, School

Nico was sick with a head cold over the weekend. We skipped church. But he did get to play with Meatball the cat. He brought his airplane outside to show him. The cat followed him around while Nico poked among the rocks.

Tuesday night we went to Jeff & Allicia's to drop off a bunch of stuff for storage. We took it down into their cellar. They had room for all of it! I am so glad we won't need to rent a storage unit. This afternoon I took some stuff up into the suite, kitchen stuff, and blankets. We move this Saturday, in TWO DAYS!

Today while Nico was in school I called the bus to tell them our new address. They told me to call his teacher to have her submit the new address, so I called his teacher. She called me back and I gave her the new address and she asked me "now did you make sure that you are still in the boundaries for Madison school?" Umm… no :( I told her that I had assumed that since we were just moving a mile away that it would be the same school. Uh oh, I was wrong. She looked it up and it looks like after moving we will lie in the district for a different preschool - at White Pine Elementary. My heart broke. I asked her if there was anything we could do to keep Nico at Madison and she said not likely. She called later to confirm that there was nothing they could do, no exception could be made.

So it looks like Nico will be going to a different school. Next Tuesday will be his last day at Madison. We told Nico when he got home today and it didn't seem to phase him. I will keep repeating it over the next few days so that it's sure to sink in. It may be more of an adjustment for Guy and I than Nico!

And wouldn't you know it, I forgot to take pictures until today. So you've got three of them.

Hanging out in the cooler

Waiting outside for the bus. We read books, break sticks, or whatever else we think of.

Throwing sticks on the ground

Short and sweet today! Remember next week this blog will be password protected.

BBQ, GF Bread, Zoo

Just a reminder that in two weeks this blog will become password protected. Write me at joannarussell06@gmail.com if you want the password!

On Sunday afternoon all of us headed up to the cabin for a family BBQ. Hotdogs, fruit salad, and a photo recognition game my Mom put together. Each of us had an old picture of ourselves on a poster board and everyone had to guess who each person was. There were prizes and everything!

I left early with Nico because I wasn't feeling well, but Guy was able to stay later and Jonny and Alanna took him home that night. He very much needed time hanging out like that, as this was his first weekend in about 20 days where he wasn't working overtime. He was needing some relax time and he had a lot of fun with everyone at the cabin.

On Monday Nico and I went to Allicia's house and she made us tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. She used tomatoes from her garden, and made a double batch. 8 cups of chopped tomatoes! Also on Monday I tried out a gluten free bread recipe. We use a lot of bread and will likely use more of it after we move into our clubhouse. Bread is easy to eat and very versatile. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, it can be used for everything. Guy will be eating a lot of sandwiches over the next few months or years. But he doesn't mind. He has fond memories of eating cheese sandwiches for lunch in elementary school. And we talk of someday opening a gluten free sandwich shop. Learning how to bake gluten free bread is the start of that.

We all tried the bread out on Monday evening, and Nico woke up the next morning with a tummy ache. He ate more bread for breakfast and his tummy ache persisted. I rubbed some essential oils on his tummy and then he asked to snuggle. He fell asleep for nearly 2 hours on the couch, at 9 AM. When he woke up he said he still had a tummy ache. More essential oils on his tummy and it was about time to make a decision of whether or not he would go to school. He wasn't lethargic or sad, he was very chipper, but always answered "Yes" when I asked him if he had a tummy ache. I decided to keep him home. I called the bus and his teacher. 5 minutes later Nico said "I want a snack"! I fed him and then he said his tummy ache was gone. So I think this episode of tummy problems was due to the bread. I will need to find a different recipe that Nico can tolerate.

Tuesday afternoon we watched Evie and Avery while Allicia went to an appointment. They had a lot of fun playing with Nico's race track and learning how to share.

This morning we met Grandma Salisbury at Whole Foods to go grocery shopping. Then Gma took Nico to the zoo while I finished grocery shopping. It was a fun excursion, and I'm so happy we can do these things in the morning before school in the afternoons. Thanks for the fun time, Gma!

We FaceTimed with Grandma Russell today to sing her the Happy Birthday song. Happy Birthday Gma!! Nico has been hand-writing birthday cards. I write out the words for him and he copies. Then I ask him what else he wants to write in the card and it's always different. We are sending the latest birthday card to his Uncle Tom tomorrow.

We got a tripod for my camera so I can shoot videos, and Nico enjoyed taking pictures of everything while the camera was hooked up to the tripod. I showed him how to use the handle to move the camera around, up and down and side to side, around and around. I went through the pictures later and could see his thought process, taking pictures of everything, not pictures of nothing, but pictures of everything. He took pictures of all his artwork on the walls, one at a time, pictures of me, pictures of the printer, all from the tripod in the same spot in the living room. He would sometimes announce what he was going to take a picture of next.

First tripod test

Nico's picture of the iPad

Then we moved it into the bedroom while I did laundry. For this he just pointed it at the bed and click click clicked to take picture after picture of me folding laundry.

Cleaned my oven. Want to see? I used a homemade paste to clean it, I found the recipe online. You leave it on overnight and then rinse it off the next day. It didn't make all the ickiness go away, but it improved it significantly. I figured I needed to leave the oven looking nice when we move out.

Before

After

I do have a tip for anyone wanting to clean their oven: Hire someone else to do it. Pay any amount required.

Looking forward to just using my toaster oven and having less appliances and things to clean and take care of. There will be plusses and minuses to living so minimally, but it will be an adventure no matter what. T minus 10 days.