Advent Time

Catch up on Pictures from Thanksgiving. Thank you to Alanna for setting up this photo op. It was so much fun!

 The Fam

Papa and Nico

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we went Black Friday shopping! For the first time ever, I participated. We went to Fred Meyer. It was crowded, but not bad. I got myself a new scarf and bought Guy a pair of jeans. Grandma Salisbury blessed Nico with two new toys, one of them having a Thomas the Train engine in it, which we have spent many hours this past week playing with. You CAN race your trains around the track FAST for 10 minutes straight without stopping, it's absolutely possible.

Then Grandma came over for lunch, it was a great day!

On Sunday we went to a new church. We are going to start going to the one that my parents and brothers and Aunt go to. I am so excited! Nico got to play with Lexie in the church preschool room. He did just fine. Since he's been in school he has had no trouble saying bye to Mommy and Daddy :) Sunday was also the start of the advent calendars, which we have 3 of this year! (We actually have 4, but decided to save one for next year). Grandma Russell gifted us an interactive computer-based advent calendar (love this tradition!) Every day you get to experience something new. Nico loved the intro scene with an old fashioned car driving around, we repeat that one every day. The ritual for this calendar is to do it when Daddy wakes up every afternoon, after we've eaten dinner. Nico remembers, and asks for it.

The second calendar we have is actually our Christmas tree. We aren't getting a real Christmas tree this year, we are using this little one instead. There are little drawers to open for every day and in each drawer is a new ornament to hang on the tree. Nico gets it, and has strung together one of his longest sentences because of it: "Open number four tomorrow". He says this throughout the day, depending on which number he gets to open tomorrow. Then in the morning he asks "Open number four?" As SOON as four is on the tree, and yes even as he is opening four's drawer, he says, "Open number five tomorrow!"

The tree has lights and can also be wound up to play a song

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

Our third advent calendar is a chain that they made in Sunday School. Each chain has a verse on it and every morning before breakfast we break a chain off and then read the verse while eating. The chain is out of order, so we read about the birth of Jesus on December 1st.

On Monday we went to visit G.G. She had Nico's Christmas present all finished and I was able to see it. He is going to LOVE it and I am SO excited for when he gets to open it! The Grandparents Russell will be coming into town before Christmas and all of them will be coming over to celebrate and exchange gifts. I am so looking forward to seeing them!

Today I volunteered at Nico's school again. Cutting out gingerbread men and stars and making copies of the story of "The Mitten" and "The Hat" - great children's books by Jan Brett. Thanks to Mom Russell (aka Grandma Russell, depending on context) for introducing me to those stories.

I came to the school a little early so I could sit in and watch Nico as he got his speech therapy session. Suzie takes two students into the kitchen area where they have a little table set up. They play games where in order to take a turn you have to first say a word that you're working on. Nico was working on final "M" sounds, like "ham" and "mom". She told me that Nico has learned how to do final "S" sounds and final "F" sounds already (off, house, mouse). He demonstrated while we were there and I was so proud of him. She said she will send home with him a list of words to practice so that he can start to use them consistently instead of saying "bus" correctly at school but not at home. Also, when his friend sat down at the table next to him for the speech therapy session, Nico said "Hi, Ben!" Woah! 

He LOVES speech therapy and was so excited that I was there to share it with him. When I had first arrived and knocked on the door to the classroom, I could hear him say "Mommy!" over and over inside, even though he couldn't see me. I had told him I was coming to see him today, so he was prepared. One of the teachers said "I don't know, is it your Mommy? Let's see!"

I hope I'm not forgetting something.. hmm. YES I am! We went to the Fish Park, probably for the last time this year. We had a mild day outside on Monday so I took advantage of it.