Goodbye school year!

On Friday Nico had his end of year party for Beautiful Savior Lutheran Preschool. This was at a park at 10 AM, we ate lunch there. He played in the sand. He told me he wanted to wear his suspenders that day, so we pulled them out and put them on him. This makes spotting him in pictures easy. That and his red hat. It was held at what Nico at one time dubbed "Picka Park". The proper name for this park is Baggley Park. (For a treat, click here to watch Nico dub this park Picka Park. We told him to pick a park, and he said he wanted to go to Picka Park)

Then we came home for an hour and then headed back out to go to his preschool graduation from White Pine Elementary. Grandma Salisbury was also there. You can go see a video clip from this at the bottom of this post.

So, Nico is out of school now! He has this week off and then next Monday he starts the literacy program. On Tuesday Nico and I rode the trailer bike to Municipal park, but on a whim we PASSED it, crossed the Parkcenter bridge, and rode all the way to Sage International school, which is where the literacy program is happening. So I decided that we will ride our bikes to the school every morning so I can drop him off. When we got home (we stopped by the park on the way home, don't worry), I looked up a map of the greenbelt and found that there was an even shorter way to get to Parkcenter. We tested it out on Wednesday and it took us 10 minutes to get to Parkcenter. I added another 5 to that to come up with 15 minutes, because we also have to cross Parkcenter to get to the school. 

I should have shown where we cross Parkcenter. 

Other things we did... park! Nico and Evie were picking "poison cherries" from the trees and Evelyn was stuffing some in her pocket.

Today we went up to the cabin! Lexie was up there so Nico had someone to play with. They did legos and played with squirt guns, and watched movies. He had a lot of fun. I did too! Thanks Pa and Ma!! Then tonight after dinner and after Guy went to work, Nico wanted to get all wet so we put his swim suit on and he told me to squirt him with the squirt gun. So, I did! Then shower and then bed.

Now I am sitting outside on our "porch", enjoying the pleasant evening, and writing the blog. I have dreamt about having a place to sit outside in the evenings, and now I have it! I am soaking it in.

The teacher who is speaking is Miss Erica, Nico's teacher. 

G.G., Easter Party, Jesus

On Friday we went to see G.G. in Nampa. She showed me these adorable stuffed dogs that she made, I just can't believe how cute these things are!! She sent me home with the purple one for baby Ivy, who loves it!! 

Nico had fun playing with the blocks, building some of the things displayed on the side of the bin. He also had fun "hiding" Scamper's dog treat under the table for him to find. Scamper had to be coaxed over to where it was lying on the floor because he didn't see it.

Then G.G. showed me the firetruck quilt. Wow!! I am so impressed by this. I love that cute little dog in the corner.

Guy had last weekend off and he took Nico out on Saturday. Nico and Guy have started going to McDonalds when they go out, so that Nico can play on the toys. Guy just buys some french fries for himself. Nico calls it "Old McDonalds". "Can we go to Old McDonalds?"

On Tuesday Guy and I put together our new 3x4 cube storage that is replacing our dresser. It takes up much less space than our dresser did so it feels like we added a whole new room to our house. That is what I'm talking about! We are trying to organize this space a bit better and we're on our way.

Wednesday was Nico's Easter Party at his new preschool (that is how we differentiate between the two preschools - old preschool and new preschool). I teared up while they were singing their song about Jesus. I'm such a sap. I just like that he's learning about Jesus taking our sins away. He often tells me out of the blue: "You can trust God", quoting one of his favorite songs. He repeats it "you can trust God, you can trust God, you can trust God." Then he'll say "Jesus lives in my heart." He'll tilt his head, look at the floor, and tap his heart with his right hand. Tonight I encouraged him to pray before bed after I prayed and his usual thing is "no you do it". But I asked him to come up with one thing to thank God for. "I don't know", so I asked him what is one thing that he loves. And he said "Mommy" So he repeated after me "Thank you for Mommy"...

Me: Is there anything else you want to thank Jesus for?

Nico: Daddy?

Me: Yep

Nico: Thank you for Daddy. Evie?

Me: Yeah

Nico: Thank you for Evie. And Allicia. And Lexie. Amen

Nico eating his Easter Party Snack and looking at a picture of himself on Teacher Melissa's phone

All of Nico's friends at his new preschool

The latest in nighttime reading traditions is letting Nico read the words "it" and "was". These are the first two words in the book "Curious George Cleans Up", so that's how he chose them. But he reads these words in every book, not just that one. When I come to one of those words, I stop and point to it, and then he reads it. I think he is excited about being able to read. 

Putting together a lego with Daddy. A beautiful day to have both doors open to get a breeze! Can you perceive the extra light coming in from the open back door?

Until next time! (I'll have news next week of Nico's first Kindergarten transition meeting)

New Preschool, and New Books!

Monday was a holiday, so Nico's first day at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Preschool was on Wednesday. And darn, I did forget to bring my camera to take pictures. I will try to remember tomorrow. When he gets to class the first thing they have him do is wash his hands, then he can play! I brought in a whole bag of safe Nico snacks for them to use as needed. One of the other students, Michael, made Nico a Valentine even though Nico didn't go to their Valentine's Party. Michael and Nico really hit it off as friends, too. Nico came running up to me excitedly while I was talking to his teacher after school, and asked me if he could go play in the grass with Michael and another boy. Michael is also going to Adam's Elementary next year, just like Nico! They are trying for afternoon session, though, and I am vying for mornings. But, it might work out anyway.

Nico did get to go to his Valentine's Party at White Pine, though! Grandma Russell had sent Nico some boxed valentines that she had found in Great Grandma Gohl's stuff, so Nico chose the Spiderman ones and made all his friends a valentine. He wrote their names on the valentines all by himself, and also signed his name. Going down the list of kids in his class, he came to his own name and made himself a valentine, too. To Nico, From Nico. He also made some for his teachers. They were going to decorate cookies in class, so I sent him with a huge gluten free chocolate chip cookie plus some homemade pink frosting and some pink sprinkles from Whole Foods. I couldn't find a good gluten free sugar cookie, so he got to make himself a frosted chocolate chip one :)

So he still loves his pigeon books, but lately he has been really getting into Curious George. He has "The Complete Adventures of Curious George" book that we got him for his birthday 2 years ago, that came with a CD. He loves to listen to the stories and flip through the book. He is getting very good at this, even though the stories that are read aloud do not have that useful sound that tells you when to turn the page. He has figured it out. He is recognizing more and more words. Orange and zoo are two I can think of off the top of my head.

Then a few days ago he pulled out a different Curious George book that he had, and we read it, and then he flipped the book over and saw that there were 7 other Curious George books that he DIDN'T HAVE! So he asked me to get them from the library. I put them all on hold and this morning we picked up the first two. He is turning into quite the reader. I think he would enjoy more read-aloud picture books so I think I will search for some of those at the library. Any suggestions?

Nico had a stuffy nose for the past week, and then on Monday he had a fever, I think it got up to 101 something. I kept him back from school on Tuesday so he could rest. He now just has a slight cough and stuffy nose.

Tonight at dinner Guy and I were talking about this funny website about Women Laughing Alone With Salad. I just happened to be eating a salad so I joked about taking a picture of me eating it while laughing. Nico heard me talk about taking a picture so he asked me to take a picture of him eating his hot dog. So I did. Then I gave the camera to him and he took a picture of me eating my salad while laughing. He did a pretty good job of framing it I think.

Speaking of salads, the Grandparents Salisbury have been providing us with sprouts that they have grown. Sunflower sprouts, alfalfa, bean, all kinds! Grandma gave us a tray of sunflower seed sprouts that were still growing in their soil and everything, so I've kept it on the counter to harvest them at will. At dinner time I tell Nico to go pick out two or three for himself and he harvests them and then eats them. He doesn't seem to mind that they're green and vegetable since he gets to pluck them out of the soil himself.

See you all next week!

Low on Pictures, High on Life

I only have one picture from this week - the pile of used boys clothes we inherited from one of Jeff and Allicia's friends. Since Avery won't fit into them for a while, they went to Nico. We have pants, and pants, and shorts, and shirts, and pajamas, all 4T. We were totally blessed! I don't think we'll need to buy any clothes for him for summer.

Take a look at that shirt, totally cute right? I love it!

I'll have more pictures next week :)

I talked more with Nico's teacher about reducing his days at school, and she told me that Guy and I have a major part in the decision, they can't just cut his days without our go-ahead. So we decided we agree that cutting his days to two days per week will be the best, and then on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday he will be going to a different preschool. We enrolled him in Beautiful Savior Lutheran Preschool in the afternoons on those days. 12:30 - 3:00. No bussing, obviously, so I will be dropping him off and picking him up, it is about a 10 minute drive from here.

We visited this preschool on Monday afternoon to meet the teacher and the assistant and all of the kids. Nico LOVED it, he jumped right in and started playing with the toys. The teacher answered all my questions about food allergies and we set up a plan for that, I filled out all the forms, we gave them our deposit, and he's all set to start next Wednesday (since Monday is a holiday). He keeps asking to go back to the "New Preschool", so I think he will enjoy himself. And I am excited they have a Bible lesson every day!

Oh boy, I am so excited for Nico, he is blossoming in so many ways. He took an incredible stride forward and is really blowing us away with all of his socialite skills. He is ASKING kids and adults what their names are, when their birthdays are, how old they are, and then introducing himself to them. He is talking more and more and more and in conversational ways, like asking me "Mommy how are you feeling? Did you sleep well?" He's telling stories, and imagining scenarios. The bus driver even told me that he has noticed in the past few weeks that Nico is talking more and interacting with the bus attendant and the other kids. He said that usually you don't see kids change that much in such a small amount of time, especially because Nico has been the same quiet kid since school started… until a few weeks ago! He is chattering about clouds, and books, and all sorts of things while riding on the bus. Last week he gave the bus driver an imaginary letter because he was pretending to be the mailman delivering letters. He says "Hi" to the bus driver now instead of being silent. He is more confident and comfortable in situations. I love to see that!

That's all the news from this past week, I think.

I will bring the camera to his first day of his new preschool next Wednesday and hope to get some good pictures.