Where the Sidewalk Ends, and Thanksgiving!

Saturday afternoon we took a walk in the afternoon and let Nico decide which direction to take us. Where the sidewalk ends!

We walked through a neighborhood on the way back, and ran into a few of Nico's school buddies. Nico said he wants to live next to them. That sure would be fun!

For pizza that night we rented Wizard of Oz, it was Nico's choice. We watched it downstairs because Jeff and Allicia and the kids went out of town on Saturday for 5 days!

On Sunday Nico and I attempted to walk to church, but turned around shortly thereafter because he started feeling pretty sick. We came home, he ate a ham sandwich, and then we drove to church. He has been trying to fill up his exercise chart before the end of November, that's why we attempted the walk. We might try again this weekend!

Monday morning bright and early Nico packed up his bags and I took him to my parents' house for Grandma Camp! He spent 3 nights there and we brought him home tonight after a day full of Thanksgiving!

They went roller skating, they went to Jump Time, they decorated placecards for everyone for the Thanksgiving dinner, and they generally had a lot of fun.

Guy had this whole week off, so him and I chose to watch the Jason Bourne movie series, since we ALSO had downstairs to ourselves the whole week! We also tried the gluten free chocolate cake that Amaru makes. It was very very good. We also went to Chipotle on Tuesday evening.

We watched two movies on Tuesday, knowing we wanted to watch the 4th, called Jason Bourne, on Wednesday, but we sadly discovered that you couldn't rent this movie on Amazon Prime, and though it was available for rent on RedBox at the Jacksons gas station on the corner of Broadway, neither of us wanted to drive over there and get it. Talk about stay-cation!! So we watched an episode of Father Brown instead. 

Wednesday afternoon we also received another shipment of red velvet ribbon, so we processed it fast and shipped it off to Amazon Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday, Thanksgiving!!! We arrived at my parents' house at about 10AM. Guy set up MST3K in the living room (the new season was released TODAY on Netflix) and most everyone watched that leading up to dinner which was at 2PM.

MST3K

Picture time!

After eating, we divided up the leftovers and then started the Lego challenge. The challenge this year was different than any years past. Instead of being on teams, we each had a Lego to do individually, and the twist was that the Lego had to be put together WHILE STILL IN ITS BAG. Some of the Legos came with two bags, so we dumped those into one Ziplock.

Ready, set, Go! Myself, Guy, and my brothers Jonny and David each had the same Lego set to put together. I won between the four of us, but we were also competing with Alanna, Bambi, and Karli, who had different sets. Karli won between the 7 of us!!

The kiddos also had to do this. They each had smaller sets.

Before the next game started...

Papa gave us all a retyped copy of the Boles Family History, written by my dad's great grandfather. After giving each family a copy, he read a story from it. Bud was his name, and he was 14 years old at the time of the story. He couldn't join the Civil War because he was too young, but he followed his brothers with the troops. He said he felt safer there than at home. By himself he went back home 100 miles on his horse, over 3 days. Wow!

There are so many stories like that in the book, I'm glad to have a copy of it! Thank you Pa and Ma!

We had a Christmas Song guessing game, and then a huge present the kids took turns unwrapping. Anything you found on your way to the middle you could keep. Each kid had 15 seconds. Nico won a kitchen dish towel, and lotion bar, a kaleidoscope, some other knick knacks, and in the very middle of all this wrapping and boxes there was a fanny pack. He was the one who unwrapped it, so he kept it, inside there was a $25 Amazon gift card.

When we arrived home tonight, there was a package waiting for Nico. He spent his own money on a game and it arrived while he was gone this week. You have to build a structure based on the top, side, and front views of it. He chose this game out of a 70-page toy magazine I received.

He also received his Little Passports delivery while he was gone. He will have lots to do this weekend!

We are super Thankful for all our family, and the ones we didn't see today, Grandma and Grandpa Russell. We can't wait to see you guys next month!

We came home tonight and I ate a huge slice of gluten free cherry pie! Amen!

Geode, and our new Sign!

On Saturday Nico and I went over to Grandma and Papa's house in the early afternoon. We stayed for a few hours and met Jonny and Alanna. The grownups discussed Thanksgiving while Nico and Lexie played. I left Nico there and he stayed overnight!

Guy wasn't able to come with us because he had a very bad migraine :(

Nico's tummy aches started back up again, we left church early on Sunday because he was feeling too sick, and we skipped Bible Study on Sunday night because he wasn't feeling well (Guy was still able to go!) He's gone to school every day this week with a tummy ache, it seems to start shortly after eating and can last a very long time. We are still trying to get to the bottom of it.

Nico found a Geode in his stash of toys and so he broke it open.

Playing Clue on top of an unfinished puzzle. The rules of this game were as follows: You can't talk. It was quite a challenge to communicate without talking to play this game, but we did it. Well, THEY did it, because I lost the "no-talk" challenge about halfway into it. Oops!

Nico rediscovered the National Geographic Kids magazines. He told me all about "Urban Sprawl" that he learned about at school, about how people were tearing down animal habitats to build housing that no one needed. He said that if he was president he would stop it from happening.

He also seems to have an interest in traveling, to all over the world, and expressed interest in being a photographer so that he could join National Geographic Kids.

He asked us tonight that if we could move to any place OUTSIDE the US, where would we move to? Guy's answer was New Zealand, Nico's answer was London. I'd have to agree with Nico, I think that would be fun.

Tonight all of us went to band practice together, it might become more of a regular thing, as I work up to maybe playing the piano in the church band every once in a while. When we got home, we saw the new sign that Allicia got us for The Clubhouse!

Gorgeous!

Here are some pictures that are from Grandpa and Grandma Russell's visit last last week, when they went to the Botanical Garden.

They had the Scarecrow Stroll going on during their visit

That's it for this week!

Grandparents Russell and Happy Birthday GG!

I came home from Moscow/Pullman last Friday and stopped by to see my Aunt Mary Anne in Lewiston on the way home! Nico stayed Friday night with Papa and Grandma Salisbury, and we picked him up Saturday morning.

A puzzle Nico completed on Friday. I heard him and Papa played a ton of games after school on Friday!

From their house, Guy and Nico went straight to the airport, where they surprised Grandpa and Grandma Russell as they were flying in from Seattle! They came to Boise this past weekend to surprise GG at her 90th birthday party, which was Saturday night.

Before the party, Grandma and Grandpa took Nico to their hotel to take a swim in the pool. Yay! We met them at Jaker's that night, where GG stopped in at 6 PM and was surprised by everyone there.

Nico chose the kid's steak. Oh my goodness does this boy love meat! The kid's steak comes cut into strips. It was so handy, and he ate it all up.

Happy Birthday GG! They had a beautiful cake for her.

Sunday before church, I was resting on the bed after telling Nico to do his chores. He took the trash out and then, on his own, without asking, he started fixing the front doorknob. We discovered Saturday night that it was low on batteries. So he got his toolbox out, and screwdriver, and took the handle off. He discovered it needed a 9V battery, which we didn't have, and this is when I found out what he was doing, because he asked me where the 9V batteries were. We walked over to M&W Market to buy a 9V battery and came back. He had a hard time reattaching the screws. Even with me helping him we couldn't do it, but we soon figured out the problem and reattached the screws. I told him I was so proud of him for seeing something that needed to be done, and doing it without being asked.

After church the boys were able to hang out with the Grandparents Russell for a little bit while I visited my Aunt Liz. They brought over a new brand of Lime Soda Water we had never tried before. It is very good! It is not sweetened and contains no juice, but to me it tastes like lime cotton candy. Crazy! Waterloo brand. They left Sunday afternoon to fly back to Seattle. It was a quick visit but so fun to see them. I am sorry I didn't get more pictures! Can't wait to see them again in a few months for Christmas!

Monday night we did a bit of an assembly line to package up the huge Red Velvet Ribbons we got shipped to us. We needed to put each into a bag, seal it, and then put a label on it, and place it back into the box. There was 60 total. I let Nico do 8 of them Monday night. He was so super careful with each one and did a great job. We would have used our table instead of the floor, but there is currently a puzzle on it! Someday we will own a table just for puzzles, whaddya say?? ;)

There's a short clip at the end of the blog with Nico putting one of the huge ribbons in a bag. You can watch him be super gentle.

6 of the 8 boxes we shipped out Tuesday morning

Tuesday Nico and I had doctor's appointments. I picked him up early from school. After the appointments I took him to a new food and smoothie place I had never been to before - Fresh Deli? Hmm.. Can't even remember the name. It is downtown next to the Edwards Theater. I bought him a Chunky Monkey smoothie, and myself a juice. I asked if they made any of their wraps or paninis gluten free and they said yes. Oh my! Nico picked out the Turkey Bacon Avocado wrap, and I chose a Turkey Pesto Panini for Guy. I can't believe they had gluten free wraps!! I was very impressed. Nico super duper loved it.

I can't believe I didn't snap pictures of all that! I had a really fun time with Nico that afternoon. 

Nico checked out a Geronimo Stilton book at the school library last week. He read it and returned it today, and picked up a new one!

Speaking of books, the Grandparents Russell brought Nico the next installment of Dogman!! He has already flown through it.

He has chosen the book he is going to do his book report on next January. Stick Cat: Tail of Two Kitties. He got it approved by his teacher. He has chosen to create a crossword puzzle for his report. 

Ok on to the video! See you next week!

Halloween and Sleepovers

Grandma Camp last Friday! Grandma makes good food, this was a rice and ground beef dish with a poached egg. He asked for a second poached egg.

Papa dropped Nico off after lunch on Saturday. We made a quick trip to Fred Meyer and then settled into Pizza Night! It was my turn to choose, so we rented The Incredibles.

On Wednesday I drove up to Pullman for a "business trip" to see my Aunt's business and learn more about how it runs. I missed Halloween, but I'm sure it was a blast. Can't wait to hear about it when I get home and see all the candy he got!

The video will come next week! Stay tuned! :)

Grandma Salisbury is watching Nico tonight and tomorrow night. And guess what!

Evelyn is staying overnight at Grandma's house too! Grandma will take them both to school tomorrow morning.  

I am driving home tomorrow, stopping to see my Aunt Mary Anne in Lewiston on the way! 

This past week we implemented our rules for iPad and sweets (all bets are off at Grandparents' houses!). So far so good. But he hasn't really been home much to experience it :) 

Guy is reading Nico another one of his favorite books - The Wizard of Oz. Nico is enjoying it very very much. 

That's it for this time around!

The Watershed, and Parent Teacher Conferences!

Nico didn't have any school on Friday, so him and I and my mom ventured out to a market in Caldwell that we'd never been to before - Cliff's Country Market. They had so much gluten free stuff! We will go back there before Thanksgiving to buy a gluten free apple pie, and rolls, and stuffing cubes. While we were there we bought some gluten free bread and snacks, and a few new flavors of Zevia (the most common soda brand in our house these days!)

Friday night we made hamburgers again (Crabby Patties). Nico has decided that he wants to open a burger joint when he gets older. He's working on the menu right now, coming up with all kinds of different names for burgers. It will be called the Diamond ... uh... forgot the last word. Oh yes! Diamond Dominion. There will be the Diamond Patty, and Hot Diamond, and a bunch of other types of burgers. There will even be one with 4 patties on it. And one with a patty on top of the top bun.

On Saturday, Guy took Nico to the Watershed. They learned about what happens to toilet water once it gets flushed. Ew! He also got to hold a snake? This is a python!

Then Saturday evening was the Halloween Chess Tournament. Evelyn joined him. Evelyn was a dinosaur in an egg! Everyone was really impressed with her costume :)

Coach Vellotti handing out trophies. Nico got 1st place in his division. He played 4 games and won 2 of them. Evelyn was in a different division.

All the chess kids from Adams Elementary!

On Tuesday we had our friend Brianna come over for dinner. Wednesday was Nico's Parent Teacher Conference. We took him with us and he played on the playground while Guy and I went in to talk to his teacher. She said that Nico is great, of course! He is excelling in Science and Math. She says he can see problems and understands them quickly. He is struggling with paying attention and getting distracted easily. We've noticed this being more of a problem recently, as well. His teacher was also concerned about him during his recent stretch of tummy aches. She said we could bring in an essential oil roller bottle and can bring in any kind of gluten free snacks that he can eat when the other kids might be having a snack he can't eat. She intuitively didn't let him have any of the gluten free cookies I provided her, ever since that week that he was struggling with his tummy. She said without prompting that she knows that the wrong foods can play a big role in tummy aches. She emphasized that Nico is a very kind and smart boy but is having trouble being all that he could be because of his trouble with being distracted. I sure love his teacher! She is so kind and seemed genuinely interested in working with us to do everything we can to help him! Guy and I will sit down this weekend to talk over some things. It will likely include: less sweets (oh no Halloween!), less iPad, more activity, and more of a commitment to essential oils and supplements (we've been lax...) And, more prayer. His next doctor appointment is in 2 weeks so I'll bring this up to her then.

This morning I took him over to my parents' house for Grandma Camp! He has no school today and tomorrow. Guy picked him up from their house tonight to take Nico to the Corn Maze at the Farmstead farm. Our church was meeting there to do the corn maze tonight. Unfortunately they have been there since 6:30 and have not seen anyone from the church! Sure hope we got the day right! Hehe.

Guy sent me these pictures just now:

I think Nico is playing "9 Square" in this photo.

That's it for this past week!