Nicco Watching Videos

Just about every day, Nicco watches airplane videos on the computer via YouTube. He has his favorites, most of which are set to music. This is him watching a video set to Linkin Park's "Numb."

Thanksgiving

There are so many things to be thankful for in our little corner of the world. Last week at school we went around our circle and asked the kiddos what they are thankful for (after discussing what it means to be thankful and giving some examples and reading a story, of course) and one of my girls said "nothing." It didn't really surprise me coming from this particular child, but I told her that she has so much to be thankful for whether she knows it or not and she really ought to start thinking about it. The fact that we have a home, family, food, transportation, school, friends, etc...She finally confessed that she was thankful for her parents because they are always nice to her. That is true too...spoiled little thing that she is. I was impressed by one of my boys who said he is thankful for the military because they protect the United States. Yes, a direct quote from a 4-year-old. There were some other good ones, but those two stuck out to me. Personally, I can't even begin my list of things I am thankful for, but my family is at the very top. We are so lucky to be close to my parents and to have them be part of our lives. I am thankful that my friendship with my sisters spans the miles between us. I am also thankful for unlimited long distance. I am thankful that all my cousins and aunts and uncles remain close and that we all keep in touch regularly. Last but certainly not least, I am thankful for my two boys.They don't look anything alike, do they? Love you all! Happy Thanksgiving!

Nicco the Airplane

At Grandma and Grandpa's house, Nicco flew like an airplane over and over and over again. I was worried that he would repeat a childhood incident of his Aunt Danae's and break his ankle jumping off the couch, so I made him put pillows down to cushion his landing. He had a little routine for takeoff, and he made sure to follow each step as any good pilot will do. He first put out his wings, made his Daddy count to 3 for him, (he would NOT take off if Patrice said ready, set, go. It had to be 1,2,3) then he flew high in the sky:


This was not a perfect takeoff, but it was the only one I recorded : )

Musical Chairs

Every afternoon at school we have little 20-minute enrichment programs for the kiddos. Monday is dance, Wednesday is science, and Friday is Hebrew. We are basically going through the Hebrew alphabet and teaching the kids a word that starts with each letter. Today, the letter was Kaf and the word we learned was kisay. (Chair in English) To help reinforce the word, the kids played musical chairs. There were only two kids who stayed for the afternoon in Nicco's class, and they got a little prize for winning. The prize was an ink stamp "tattoo."
Clearly, with only two kids they each won a lot! Nicco ran out of places to stamp, so he has an airplane covered belly.

A Chip Off the Old Block

We went to mom and dad's house for Sunday dinner and on the way about a mile from the house, Nicco said "Mommy, I like reindeer. Did you see that reindeer?" I thought he may have seen some Christmas decoration that I missed, but then he said "Look, there's 1, 2, 3 more reindeer." And sure enough, there they were! Just regular old deer, not actual reindeer, but close enough for a 3 year old, right? Grandpa Madsen would have been proud. Before I know it, he will be spending his birthdays on the hunt with dad!

Quote of the Day

Every once in a while just out of the blue, Nicco will say "Mommy, I sure I love you." Sometimes it is not out of the blue...sometimes when we are teasing or tickling him he will give us this little bit of love, perhaps to make us stop? Anyway, we were driving home from Target (not anywhere NEAR $16 this time...) and out of the blue Nicco said "Mommy, I want you." I asked for a clarification, "You want me to do what?" His answer, "To do laundry." Hmm. Well. I don't know what to say. I will know better than to ask next time!

E-I-E-I-O

The other day, Nicco carried his "lot of things" to the couch and arranged them just so, set himself up and read his book. The book is nursery rhymes, and the page he is reading is "Old MacDonald." He went through each animal on the picture, pausing before saying the name...
"Old MacDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o. And on that farm he had a.......SHEEP! e-i-e-i-o." It is hard to describe and I was lucky to get a picture, let alone a video. If I had tried to record his little song, I would have been met with squawks and shrieks. I'll just have to try to remember his high little voice singing to himself.

Daddy's Little Helper

We have to take advantage of nice weather and get all the leaves cleaned up before the snow starts falling. (Don't tell Patrice I said the "S" word...) Nicco loves to help.
Here he is, "helping." I think maybe his airplanes are getting an aerial view, in case Daddy needed a better idea of where the leaves were concentrated.

Now he is actually getting into it a little, dragging the rake behind him.

Real work: he honestly helped! He pulled a big pile of leaves toward the fence and helped put them in the bag. He only did this a couple of times before he figured out it was more fun to run and jump in the leaves.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I know, I am not supposed to say the "C" word until at least after Thanksgiving, but Nicco was just too darn cute helping his daddy with the lights the other day. F.Y.I., just because we put our lights up on November 1, does NOT mean we turn them on! They will not be on until December 1, I promise!
Here is Nicco playing in the leaves. I could not get him to look at me. He is suddenly camera shy.

Every time Patrice moved his big and huge ladder, Nicco moved his. He likes to be strong and carry/move heavy things, exclaiming "Oh man, this is heavy." What a little helper.

It was tricky to get a picture with Nicco actually looking at me, but here he is alongside his daddy on his Nicco sized ladder helping with the lights. Now he thinks that when the sun is goin' down, we can see the pretty lights. Not so, not so. I WILL wait until after Thanksgiving!

Holiday Excitement

I went to Target yesterday to pick up a few odds and ends--I only spent $16!!! Amazing! Nicco was excited to see the Pumpkin and Monster. I told him that since Halloween was over the Pumpkin and Monster would probably be gone. He said "I think I will go trick-or-treating tomorrow." Sorry buddy, you missed it. That excitement would have been welcome a couple days ago!

Our Christmas store put up its "big and huge" Santa Claus, so now that Halloween has been over for a WHOLE WEEKEND, it is time to get into Christmas. Nicco saw the big Claus when we drove past on the way to school and said "Santa Claus is wakin' up. Time to get ready for Christmas. I like Christmas."

The Final Phase of Nicco's Birthday

The thing about being born on October 25th is that Grandpa and Grandma will most likely be in Utah for the deer hunt, so celebrating with said grandparents is either done early or late, depending on the most convenient time for all parties involved. This year, we celebrated late.

Here is Nicco with his daddy singing the birthday songs. The cake was a major disappointment. Patrice objected to my baking anything other than "The Cake," but Nicco wanted pink...hence the strawberry pillsbury cake from a box. My cake decorating skills leave something to be desired...the birthday boy didn't seem to object, so I guess that is what counts, right?

The Birthday Pancakes were daddy approved.
A quick thank you hug to Grandma, and Nicco is off...
...to give a quick thank you hug to Grandpa, then he is off again to play with his new toys.
Thanks again to Grandma and Grandpa for making the celebration a success!

Happy Halloween from the "BOOdous"

These are my spooky Halloween decorations. The halloween Ms are on top, almost gone...(scary...) and under those are my harvest Ms. I will have to restock my bowl with more harvest Ms to be festive for Thanksgiving.
Here is Nicco with the pumpkin Grandma and Grandpa got him, that we never got around to carving (SLACKERS!!!)

Nicco with his well-loved Halloween ghost card from Grandma and Grandpa. When the card is closed the ghosts do not light up..."You are not a ghost."

But when you open the card, the ghosts light up..."You are a ghost! OOOoooOOO"

Thank goodness for grandparents, or we would not have had any kind of Halloween to speak of at all!

SpongeBoo NiccoPants

Patrice and Nicco worked really hard to make a SpongeBob costume to wear for Halloween. As you can see, Nicco (with airplane in hand) was very happy to help and excited to watch the creative process.
Putting on the finishing touches...

And the final product! I think it looks great. However, it remained in Nicco's room all Halloween day and night. We watched Halloween specials and built up the whole trick-or-treat idea all day and I thought I had him at a sufficient level of excitement to put his costume on and at least go around the cul-de-sac. But alas, no. It apparently would be "too sad" for Nicco to go trick-or-treating. I still don't know what that means...
So, we spent our evening handing out candy to those who ventured up to our doorstep. It was not nearly as intimidating as the Biles' patio, all I have in the way of porch decorations is the nasty spiderweb on the porch light.

And more Africa...

The zebras stand together in groups to confuse their predators

Cheetahs resting in the mid-day sun.

How awesome is this to have a lion looking right at you!

Papa lion, keeping his eye on the passers by. You can tell he is at a distance...

Ken & Damaris and some of their group at the Southernmost point of the continent at the Cape of Good Hope.

Africa continued

You do not want to be in the wrong place when the hippos decide to close those jaws!

A little giraffe family lunching and wandering.

Elephant family marching along. Cute baby! The elephants are very caring and affectionate to each other. Dad told me a story of a pair of elephants who walked toward each other and wrapped their trunks together and nudged each other then went along, just like good friends giving a hug and a kiss.

Elephant ride...it will be difficult to appreciate the zoo after this trip!

I love this picture of mom and dad's shadows from the back of the elephant they rode.

Guest Post...Mom and Dad report on Africa

Here is a small sampling of Mom and Dad's adventures in Africa.

The sun setting on the Zambezi River. Beautiful!

A little school in Zimbabwe. A school teacher here makes $200 a year. Four teachers quit because the government was not paying them anymore, so mom and dad's tour group collected $800 among them to pay the salaries of those teachers, on the condition that the money go directly to the teachers and would not pass through the dirty government hands.

You have to look sideways to see this incredible view of Victoria Falls.

Mom and dad in front of the falls and the multiple rainbows.

The falls again...