IEP, Spring Break Plans

I forgot a few pictures last week! On the Friday that Nico had off, Guy came home from work early and we attempted to hike the Table Rock trail but when we arrived there there were signs saying the trail was closed due to mud. Nico was very sad about it, he was looking forward to hiking and spying out birds with our binoculars. He had packed his fanny pack with a Lara bar, sunflower seeds, and pistachios.

Guy looking up the trail report after we saw the signs

We got back in the car and drove instead to the library where we played two board games. One of them was called "Secret Code 13+4" where you are trying to pass through lasers to get to the end of the game, and each laser has a number. You roll 6 dice and try in some way to get that number by adding, multiplying, subtracting, whatever it takes. We all enjoyed that one.

Ok now on to this past week!

Whenever I see birds, I take a picture, even if it's a goose, so that I can show Nico and ask him "What kind of bird is this?"

We sold our car on Saturday. We posted it on craigslist and 30 minutes later had a call about it. Then he came over and bought it right then. It was so rushed we didn't have much time to think and plan about what we needed to do to actually sign the title over to him. We signed the title over right but forgot two things - to remove the license plates and to detach the release of liability from the title so we could mail it in. We were very anxious over the next few days as we tried to get it all sorted out. But, it is all sorted out now.. phew!

On Tuesday was Nico's yearly IEP meeting. Guy and I arrived a bit early so we sat on chairs in the hallway that just happened to have a straight shot to where Nico was sitting in his class. He never saw us so I had to take a picture.

The IEP meeting went well, Nico will continue to receive speech therapy in 2nd grade. His speech therapist said that Nico has come a long way since starting in Kindergarten, and even in this last year. He is very polite, has a sense of humor, and is always looking out for his friends and helping them. It was nice to hear all the good things they had to say about him. 

I tried a new recipe this week, a quiche with sweet potato crust. Nico liked it. That is a great thing. Honestly, a lot of the recipes I try are flops!

We made the hard decision to cancel our trip to Arlington over Spring Break. Due to our car situation we think it's best. We will really miss being able to hang with the Grandparents Russell at their house and also just being in Arlington. We may try to take a trip in June, we will see how things go!

Over Spring break we plan instead to find some places around Boise to visit. We are thinking Birds of Prey and perhaps the Bruneau Sand Dunes. 

Nico was reading "Heidi Heckelbeck Makes a Wish" to Sammy and Aadam today, Tiffanie took a picture for me. They were laughing and laughing.

That's it for this week!

Christmas Program, Polar Express Field Trip, Grandparents Russell!!

Last Friday was Nico's Christmas Program at school. Guy and I went to the 9:15 showing. There was Elmo and Cookie Monster puppets, and songs.

Cookie Monster learned that sharing his cookies showed the spirit of Christmas. So he ate one and gave the rest away.

On Sunday after church there was a potluck. I made a pumpkin pie and a salad. Nico told me that I make the best pumpkin pie in the world! I'm pretty sure he's never tasted a different one though ;) When we have pumpkin pie in the fridge I give some to the boys for breakfast. 

On Tuesday Nico had his Polar Express field trip. They put all the kids on a bus and took them to the downtown library! He got to wear his pajamas and he brought with him his suitcase to carry his blanket, slippers, and stuffed animal. They drank hot chocolate and the principal read them the Polar Express book. Then they watched the Polar Express movie at the library. They also got to decorate cookies and go on tours of the library.

Wednesday was a half day,

and today the Grandparents Russell came over! They came into town this morning and will stay through Monday, they are staying with GG. Jeff and Allicia and family also left today for vacation and so we have a bit more room to stretch out. We ate Jimmy Johns for lunch and made some gingerbread cookies this afternoon! They turned out pretty good.

They brought two new ornaments for Nico. The snowman is from Great Grandma Dee's collection.

I promise I'll have pictures of the actual Grandparents next week! ;) 

Merry Christmas to all our family!

See you next week!

Star Student!

This week Nico is the Star Student at school. Each kid gets a chance to be the star student and this was Nico's week. Every day this week there's something different. Monday he had to bring a show and tell item. Tuesday he brought pictures. I asked him if he wanted me to print a bigger picture of him and Uncle Tom because the one we have is so small, but he held it to his chest and said "No I love this one because I love Uncle Tom." Wednesday was another show and tell item, and today he showed everyone his poster.

My birthday is: July 29th 2010
5 words to describe me: really fast, funny, nice, sharing, smart
My eye color: blue
My favorite foods: pizza, rice and ground beef, pancakes
My favorite color: blue
Donald Duck Trick or Treat... is the best book I've read
Here's what bugs me: Flies
Sports and Hobbies: Soccer, basketball, read books
My one wish is: to be Darth Vader
A self portrait

About my Pets: I don't have a pet

In my future I see... seeing Darth Vader in a movie

My favorite movies: Star Wars (he hasn't seen this), Masha's Spooky Stories

My favorite movie star: Darth Maul

One question for my teacher: Do you have any pets?

My favorite TV show or computer game: The Incredible Machines

I collect: Grosseries

Things I'm good at: riding bikes

My best school subjects: reading

My fingerprint

Tomorrow the teacher will be reading a letter that Guy and I wrote to Nico. I'm sure she'll be giving him the letter afterward, then I can post a picture or something. Some mushy stuff about his name meaning "Victory", etc etc. ;)

Drawing the Spring Fair with henna.

Nico taking a picture.

That's it for this week! Short and sweet. It's been a busy one!

School school

On Saturday our neighborhood had a block party at the end of our street. I set up a little henna booth there just like last year, but this time the people who organized it said I should charge, so I did! There was a bouncy house just like last year, and just like last year Nico jumped so much he started feeling sick. Guy took him home to bed and he was soon feeling better.

Sunday was Aadam's birthday. He didn't have an official party but he did come over with his brother Sammy and the boys played out front at our table for a while, eating watermelon and playing. Aadam had treat bags for all the kids, it had some sweet treats in it that Nico could eat and a hotwheels car and a Minions cup.

Then another week of school started! Nico has been doing well. We figured out that library day is Tuesday. Our routine after he gets home from school is--> homework-->snack & iPad. It's been good so far. For a few days he wasn't eating his sandwich in his lunch but just eating his crackers and carrots. I told him to focus on eating his sandwich first and ever since then he's been eating his sandwich too.

Last night (Thursday night) was the Parents Orientation. We heard a speech from the principal (very good), and then we went to the classrooms and met our child's teacher. Nico now sits in the very front row. I sat at his desk and Mrs. Smith told us we could look through our child's stuff, so I did. I pulled out all the stuff he had in his desk and looked through it. Oh fun! She explained how homework works and the kinds of things they're doing in the class. "Walk to Read" and "March to Math" are both daily/weekly things that they do with the other 1st grade class. They are put into groups dependent on their skill. At the end she asked us all to write something to our child in their journals. That was very cool. He is at school right now and has probably already read it!

She also talked about "Mindset", about teaching kids that doing hard things grows your brain and making mistakes is how we learn. She said that a good question to ask our kids every day is "What hard thing did you do today, how did you grow your brain?" I did notice that he started saying something new just the other day, he was saying it to himself while trying to put on his suspenders without luck "I can do this, I can do this, I CAN do this." Way to go teacher!!

Thursday was a late night for me so that's why I'm updating this morning! Guy has today off and we are hoping to watch some Netflix together today while Nico is at school. It is a long weekend so Guy also has Monday off!

I perfected the gluten free tortilla! It can fold!!

15 minutes before bed: Can I have some henna? Nico told me where to put every part. "Put a vine here, and here, and here and here"

Treasure Hunt and First Day of School!

Monday was Nico's 1st grade Sneak Peek. We went and found his classroom, found his hook and his very own desk with his name on it! We put his folder and notepad in his desk and his crayons and other supplies into his very own bin. We found out which of his friends are in his class this year.

Tuesday morning was the treasure hunt!

We gathered at 9 AM right outside the clubhouse. I told them all the rules, gave them popsicles to eat and then Allicia hung out with them while I went and hid all the clues. Some of the clues were in the park so I rode my bike there. I came back and we started. They took turns grabbing the clues (youngest first - Ivy!) and Sammy was our reader. We were done a little after 10 AM and then they spent the rest of the time writing their own clues for their own treasure hunts. Sammy, Evelyn, and Nico, all made their own treasure hunts and had the others go through it. We broke at 11 AM for lunch!

Here's some pictures that Allicia took!

Check out the treasure hunt video at the end of the post!

Wednesday was the first day of school! The bell rings at 8:40, so we left at 8:25-ish. There is a line outside that those in Room #2 line up at when the bell rings, so we found that. Then he ran onto the playground and... goodbye! It was quick. 

Wednesday was an early release day, so today was the first full day of school for him. He loves it. He had homework today, just reading through flash cards. We need to do this every day and then on Friday is "Flashcard Friday" where we go through our stack and any that he can read quickly "in a flash" we discard, and only keep the words in the deck that he still struggles with and needs to practice.

Guy and I decided to embark on a "No Spend-tember". We are so close to paying off debt that we are going to try to finish it off by the end of September! We are selling things and reducing our budget significantly. We still have to spend money on stuff like food and gas and rent, etc., but all other spending is cut off for September. We also decided to go through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Univeristy (FPU) again to keep us motivated to stay out of debt. Our church is having an FPU class and we have decided to go to it! Our first night will be next Monday. After we pay off debt we are going to celebrate. Not sure exactly how yet but it will be extravagant (for us) and probably involve a lot of food.

Guy is also going to be helping out at church in the sound booth on Thursday nights and then will be running the sound sometimes on Sunday. He is there tonight for his first training session.

Enjoying pizza on Saturday using GG's tomatoes. The sauce was REALLY good!

Nico didn't want to go to bed so he moved his pillow outside his bed and fell asleep on the floor. He's asleep in this picture. I turned the light on just so I could take his picture :)

That's it for tonight... enjoy the video!

G.G., and a postcard from 1st grade

On Friday Guy worked late and I had a henna booth that I had to leave early for, so Nico got to hang out with Evelyn for a few hours and eat dinner with them. It was a busy henna weekend, I had a henna booth at the Nampa Art Festival all day Saturday and Sunday. Guy and Nico came to say hi on Saturday. I gave Nico a quick owl tattoo and then he played on the playground that was right behind our booth.

Guy and Nico made pizza by themselves on Saturday night and watched Three Stooges and Wallace and Gromit.

Monday we had a play date at the park with just Allicia and kids, no Tiffanie. The kids pretty much know I carry fruit strips with me, so Avery asked me for one even before we left the driveway. When we got to the park I gave them each one and they like to eat it while sitting on this big rock.

On Tuesday we went to see GG! It was a great visit. On Monday night Nico had looked at the calendar and remarked "Tomorrow we go see GG! Yaaay!" Then on Tuesday morning I reminded him what we were doing that day and he said "Awww GG is my favorite Grandma!"

GG had some books for him there, a little book that used to belong to his Great Grandpa Bud. It's a small yellow book called "Bugs of America" the date inside says 1939. It has pictures of bugs and descriptions of them. She also had a book called "Jeremy Draws a Monster" that is very cute. Thank you GG! Nico loves them both. In fact Nico is in bed right now reading Jeremy Draws a Monster.

I had another henna booth on Wednesday at the College of Western Idaho, their new student orientation. Nico spent a few hours with Evelyn since I had to leave before Guy got home from work.

Today he received a post card in the mail from his new teacher, Mrs. Smith! Nico read it.

When he got to the end where she signs off with her name, Mrs. Smith, he says "What??? Mrs SMITH?? But I told them I wanted Mrs. Hoff!" He was pretty sad. He wanted to write a card to Mrs. Smith to tell her that she's not his teacher. With more probing he told me that he liked Mrs. Hoff's classroom and that they get to do lots of fun stuff and go to recess THREE times per day! I assured him that in Mrs. Smith's class he would still get to go to recess three times per day.

A random funny - Nico was leisurely washing his hands in the sink, he was mumbling under his breath like his hands were talking to each other. I turned the water off for him (he can't reach it at the kitchen sink) and he stood there and said softly "I like the rain, and now the rain has stopped. I am not a happy pig!" that is a quote from a Piggie and Gerald book.

I've got two videos today! One from Grandparents Russell visit and one from his Birthday party! Enjoy!

Typo ahead...