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.