Pinewood Derby!

Last Friday was the Pinewood Derby. Out of 30+ cars, Nico came in 18th. He was very excited. Each car races 4 times and then the scores are tallied up to determine the winners. Since him and Guy had spent so much time working on the car, I think Nico was expecting a bit more winning. His very first of 4 races he came in last place against 3 other cars. The look on his face was sad (checkout video at end of blog), but then in the next race he got 3rd place out of 4 cars and he was SUPER excited! At the end, each person was given an award, Nico got the Lean Green Racing Machine Award. He was very happy about that.

When we first got there, it was imperative to have a little play time first. The other kids were crawling through the chairs and Nico joined right in.

The MC was joking at first about how we'd be there until midnight because Pinewood Derby races take a long time, especially with a whole bunch of kids. But, she explained the rules and the kids generally followed through. We were done in about an hour and a half. When it's time to pay attention, you put two fingers up in the air.

 3rd place in one of the races

 Afterward. Digging the baby interaction in the background.

On Saturday we tackled the huge task of cleaning out under Nico's bed and organizing his toys.

Organization central. We got rid of a trash bag full of stuff.

Afterward.

For pizza that night, Guy chose The Fuller Brush Man to watch, prompted in his desire by a nostalgic text from Grandma Russell about the movie. "Wanna buy a brush?" It's a black and white comedy/murder mystery, and Nico and I both really enjoyed it! I am delighted the way that Nico has been interested in a variety of movies. We were able to watch the movie downstairs, as Jeff and Allicia and the kiddos were out of town for the weekend.

Nico loves the vest that GG got him for Christmas. He wears it almost every day and he says it's his "Lucky Vest" because GG got it for him. He wore it to church on Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, Nico went over to "the boys' house", and soon came back over with 2 of the boys. Since Jeff and Allicia were out of town, Guy and I retreated to the basement so they could play in the Clubhouse as loud as they wanted. 

On Monday, Nico didn't have school, so he came with me to my parents' house where my mom and I were going to do some work together. After lunch Papa took Nico to the park. They batted for a little bit and then Nico played on the playground. It was windy! Papa said they both stopped for a minute to listen to the wind in the trees.

Nico's been on a kick with taking things apart. He has been searching for things to take apart and then put back together. He took apart his remote control car and the remote, some of his game and some of his cars. When Rylan came over on Wednesday, he helped Nico with one of them. Then they went outside with Guy to try to fix the turn signal on the car, as part of the "taking things apart" campaign.

Wednesday morning we had Nico's yearly IEP meeting for speech (Individualized Education Program). In a few weeks we are having his 3 year review. They re-evaluate his need for speech services every 3 years, so he is going to be going through some testing in the next few weeks to determine needs. I love talking about Nico with other adults that know him. We had to list strengths, Guy and I came up with a list, but then hearing a list of strengths from his teacher was very nice. Nico's strengths:

He is very outgoing, makes friends easily, is not scared to be the center of attention when speaking in front of the class, is funny, gentle, interested in a lot of things, loves organizing things and loves science and understanding how things works. 

Nico is reading the next Tom Gates book, and is enjoying Press Start books, he checked out three of those from the library today.

That's is for this week, enjoy the video!

Thoughtfulness, Bike Trail, Hot!

On Friday Nico rode his own bike to school instead of the trailer bike. While we were locking up his bike, someone that Nico calls "Grandma" walked by and stopped to talk to us (she was also one that stopped to talk to us in the video last week). She told me that I was raising a very sweet and thoughtful boy. When they were in line and leaving the classroom one day, Nico noticed Grandma lagging behind at the end of the line so he left his spot and went back and grabbed her hand to walk with her. I like hearing stuff like this!

We tried to beat the heat on Saturday by going early to the bike trail (aka Strider Park), but it was still super hot and muggy. It was the first time Nico tried this bike trail with his actual bike instead of his Strider. It took some getting used to because pedaling over the bumps is hard. I pushed him up the bumps sometimes because he lost momentum. But then he would yell (playfully?) "I'm going too fast I'm going too fast!!!!!" This is where he also learned to back pedal to brake his bike. Before this he was stopping himself by dragging the tips of his toes on the ground. 

We did the trail twice.

Sunday, Guy woke up very early due to a Nico outburst. 2 PM maybe. It actually gave us time to sort through a lot of Nico's toys and do some reorganizing and purging. It was great. We even pulled out a bin from storage that had toys in it that Nico hadn't seen since last September. He was very excited, and so, for You and Me Time one morning, he wanted to put together and take apart and put together his airplane toy, all while I played with his other toy that made a different airplane fly around a track. You can see the video at the end of this post.

We had some very hot days here this past week. It was hot! 107 degrees I think on Sunday. We had a heat advisory to stay indoors in an air conditioned building. Our swamp cooler was working hard but we still had some trouble keeping the temperature comfortable in here. We set up our canopy out front yesterday and that actually seems to keep the house a bit cooler. It catches some of the sun for us. This weekend we will probably set up the little kiddie pool underneath it. 

This is the last week of Nico's literacy program. Tomorrow is his last day! He has a week free before VBS Mega Sports Camp starts, which will last one week and Evelyn will be going with him. He is excited about that, and also the dance class that they are also taking together that starts soon. He likes to do stuff with Evelyn.

Guy left work a little bit ago and came home because he wasn't feeling well. Here's hoping he feels better soon! :(

That's it for today. Until next time!

Illness, Garbage Disposals and Baby Ivy

We've been getting our place a little more organized, we bought a new table that Papa picked up for us from Nampa on Sunday (thanks Pa!), and a new cube shelf a few weeks ago that holds fabric cubes that has become our dresser. They are also the perfect size to hold a three-drawer organizer from Fred Meyer. Here you can see Nico showing Evelyn all his coloring books and stickers and paper that we are storing in that three-drawer organizer.

Guy caught a cold, I think the same one Nico has had coming upon him for the last few weeks. He went to work Friday night even though he didn't feel great, and spent a few days of his weekend feeling kind of crummy. 

On Monday Nico didn't eat much of his lunch and asked me to hold him as we got out of the car to walk into his preschool. Red flag! I asked him if he was feeling okay and he asked me to hold him. I asked him if he had a tummy ache and he said "Yes". To which I explained that we probably shouldn't take him into preschool. I explained that if he needed to throw up it would be better to do it at home, but he insisted that he no longer had a tummy ache and that he was ready to go to preschool. I decided to believe him with my actions by taking him to preschool. I told the teacher that he may or may not have a tummy ache. He did not throw up that day, but I did turn around to pick him up from school as soon as I got home. The teacher called me saying that Nico was crying and holding his tummy and wanted me to come get him :( I felt so bad. I raced back to the car praying that he wouldn't throw up at school to save him the embarrassment, I could have just been projecting my own fears onto him, though. I brought "the bucket" with me. He was outside waiting for me with his teacher when I pulled up. He was fine a few hours later after I rubbed his feet with oils several times and we snuggled on the couch. It's funny how quickly his demeanor changes when his tummy ache is gone. He perks up and asks for food and then eats like he's starving. I wrote to the teacher telling her he was fine, and Teacher Melissa wrote back and said "I was a little alarmed at how much pain he seemed to be in for a few minutes, there, but am very glad he's alright."

He went to school on Tuesday, and as he was getting off the bus, the bus driver told Guy that Nico was coughing a lot and asking the bus attendant to hold him :( He had a full blown cold at this point, and his fever spiked that night with an intense ear ache. Oils to the rescue. Then the next morning his fever was down to 99.6. He stayed home from school, and had to miss his snack day... that's the day that he brings snack and also gets to bring something to show the class. He was going to bring his bubbles in and tell them that Grandma Salisbury got them for him from Shopko.

Not all is lost! He had a great day today. He woke up with no fever and had a fun time at school and got to eat ASTRONAUT ICE CREAM. As soon as he walked in the door he told me about it and he told me it tasted sweet. And I am thankful that it didn't give him a tummy ache! Then tonight while we were reading bedtime stories, Jeff came in to fix our garbage disposal (accidental teaspoon clog, whoops), and Nico had a chance to hold baby Ivy. He talked to me about her tiny feet and her tiny legs and asked about the socks on her hands. He was very sweet with her.

I got a turn too, of course.

I think that's it for this week. I wish I had taken more pictures!

Kindergarten: Registered

I got a new phone! I got an Aquos, which is a smartphone, pretty sleek looking. My very first smart phone. I tested out the camera and set it up to automatically "back up" my pictures online, and somehow that picture storage is connected to this blog, so I am able to pull pictures into my blog post that I took on my phone, with no extra effort on my part. So here's some random pictures from this week.

We have been dealing with some discipline issues with Nico that at times have seemed unmanageable. Guy and I decided that it was pretty important to be able to sit down and talk with each other without Nico around, as often as we can, so we can discuss these issues on a regular basis. So far our adventure into parenting has been mostly unagressive, meaning that we haven't really taken an active role in working together to raise Nico with the right sense of self - to be able to make good decisions and not bad, among other things! So on Monday afternoon, Guy and I left Nico with Allicia and went to the Co-op for an hour. We each got a treat. I chose an apple and Guy chose ginger ale. Then we sat in the common area and pulled out a pad of paper, and made a plan. We each left the meeting with action items. One of the things Guy did this week is make some clubhouse rules with Nico. Nico was very responsive to this. Just tonight he kept pointing to #2 and saying "Mommy you have to be polite, you have to tuck me up!" This was part of a bedtime struggle (which has become increasingly more common), in which he had made a choice that led to me not tucking him up. Tucking up means that I put his blanket on him. He had to do it himself tonight, and he was very upset. But he was being very polite when he was trying to convince me to be polite.

Guy and I are both realizing that in order for Nico to learn good manners and clean up after ourselves, that we have to model that behavior. I tell ya what, having a child has grown me up in so many ways, it's the toughest job I've ever had.

Tuesday morning Grandma Salisbury took Nico out again and got him a few treats including another Lego, which him and Guy put together that night before they made the chore chart. Tuesday I drove out to Mountain Home to hang out with my sister-in-law Bambi, and my nieces and nephew. I brought my henna supplies and gave all the girls a henna tattoo.

Made a good dinner on Wednesday night, except we only have one burner, so it took a lot longer since I didn't read the directions very carefully and I needed two pots going at the same time. Whoops!  Oh well. Yummy pecan-crusted chicken.

 This morning, went to the library and then visited this bridge.

I picked Nico up early from preschool today so we could make it to Kindergarten registration on time. It started at 3:30, and we were there at about 3:20, and were the 2nd people in line. We got our packet of stuff, then we went to 5 different stations so Nico could be tested in Reading, Writing, Language, Color, and Math. The only thing he struggled with is knowing whether two words rhymed or not. That is something we have never worked on, so that wasn't much of a surprise. But he knew his letters and numbers and colors and could write his name. He was quick as a whip. When I filled out the paperwork a month ago, I had told them that I preferred AM kindergarten, but they didn't say anything about that today, so I'm not sure what the plan is yet.

I am spending some of my energies organizing the Clubhouse and trying to get it into better shape so it doesn't feel as cluttered. That has been fun!

Oh, Nico made a card for his friend Lazarus at church, but he couldn't remember his name. So I told him that the next time he sees this boy that he should ask him his name and then we can give him his card. So after Bible Study on Sunday, Nico tells me that the boy's name is Lazarus and asks for the card to give to him. But we didn't have it with us, so we will try next week (if we can find the card!) Lazarus is 2 years old. Nico loves going to Bible Study because he gets to play with his friends and watch movies while the adults talk :) We love it, too, and are making friends.

That's it for now!

Organizing, Snow, and Grandma Gohl

Jeff & Allicia went out of town last week and they told us we could organize their library while they were gone (we asked if there was anything we could do). So, we did! We organized their library, and then also cleaned the rest of their house for them. The cleaning part was a surprise to them and they were delighted when they came home on Sunday.

On Saturday I made sushi for the first time. Nothing with raw fish, just veggies rolled up in nori and rice. It was very good! I think we'll make that a regular dish.

On Sunday, Guy and I and Nico took a trip to Best Buy to look around. We had a coupon, and Guy was trying to find something to spend his birthday money on. No luck! Then we went to Red Robin to spend his gift card. I love their sweet potato fries!

Starting on Monday morning, Allicia and I started going through at least one box of stuff in their basement to try to organize it a little better. We are trying to go through her whole house, getting rid of stuff and organizing it. She is due with her 3rd child in March, and I'm sure things will go more smoothly after the baby is born if her house is in order. We also created a chore chart. There's only one thing on it so far, but we are working up to more. Starting small is important.

Monday we also found out that Guy's Grandma Dee Gohl had passed away. We will miss her. Guy is going to the funeral which is on Saturday. I will drive him to the airport tonight. One thing clearly stands out in my head when I think of Grandma Gohl. I think of eating meals with her, and her always saying "Beautiful!" to describe the food. Then the girls (Mom Russell, me, Grandma), would sit around the table after everyone was done, and we'd continue to eat.. and eat.. and Grandma was always so pleased with me the more food I ate. And I loved obliging her! She will be missed.

Here's a picture of all of us the last time we saw her which was about 1 1/2 years ago:

We had our first snow fall yesterday! Nico and Evie spent a lot of time playing in the snow yesterday morning. When we woke up THIS morning.. more snow! And school was canceled, so they spent time  this morning out in the snow, too. Nico ate snow for the first time, and they built a fort with help from Allicia.

That's it for this week! We'll see you all again next THURSDAY night. I won't forget!