Quote of the Day

Nicco put a scarf (one from school that we use for "juggling" and with music) on his head and said "I'm not a princess, but I can't be a cowboy because there aren't any horses here." I asked if there were any other choices besides princesses and cowboys, to which he responded "Have you ever been to Texas?" I guess I'll take that as a no.

...And it's over.

(To borrow a phrase from Nicco) We sent Papi and Mamie on their way on Thursday afternoon. We had a nice visit. We are glad that they decided to spend the whole month, rather than the two-three weeks they had previously discussed. It was important for Nicco to get to spend quality time with them building a real relationship (as opposed to the un-real web-cam relationship they had before.) We had some small adventures together, but most important was for us to be together as a family, especially considering it has been 2 years since our last visit. It is always a little difficult to be a guest and a host for an extended period of time, but I think it went well for all of us. Nicco was excited (surprise) to go to the airport to see them off. When we went to check the computer to see if Papi and Mamie were online this morning, he said "I don't think they are there. They are still in the airplane." It is a long flight from Denver to Bordeaux, but not THAT long! They arrived home safely with all their bodies and belongings intact, and now we hope it will not be so long until we can see them again.

Oodles of Noodles

Every so often, the Italian side of Patrice's mom makes an appearance and she spends an afternoon (or more) making fresh pasta. We borrowed the neighbor's pasta machine and Mamie, Papi, and Nicco spent a day making noodles. Nicco was a big help, of course.

There is nothing that quite compares to fresh pasta, especially on chilly days when all you want is to sit by the fire and eat some kind of comfort food. Then again, there is Patrice's fresh green chili he made and froze earlier this fall. Oh yeah...and also the homemade tomato soup to go with grilled cheese sandwiches...

The Jet Center

At the Centennial Airport, there is a restaurant and lodgy type place for pilots of small/private planes to rest and relax while they refuel and prepare their planes for the next trip. You can go to "The Perfect Landing" resaurant and watch the planes land, load, and take off. We thought that would be a great place to take Nicco with Papi and Mamie. Nicco was very excited when we got out of the car because he could hear the airplanes flying.
Nicco showed his small airplane the bigger airplanes on the runway.

Watching a plane take off with Daddy

Walking to a hangar where a jet was getting ready to take off with Papi and Daddy.

Nicco at the restaurant. It was so cool for him to sit right by the window and watch the airplanes. I think he could have stayed all day. After we ate our brunch, Patrice drove us around the airport so Nicco could see the airplanes up close. It was a little bit of heaven for him, I think.

Independence Day

Apparently, today is the day that Nicco feels independent and big enough to stay home alone. He wet his bed this morning (only his second bed-time accidentl) and he took his wet jammies off by himself and told us it was "just an accident, no big deal. I will just get some fresh jammies." Then he told me he didn't want to go to school today. I told him it is not a choice. He said he wanted to stay home and snuggle daddy and when I told him that daddy had to go to work too, he said "Okay mom, you go to school, daddy can go to work and I can stay here by myself." I asked what he would do by himself and he answered "Watch Sponge." Et voila. There you have it. He did go to school after all.

Quote of the Day

Yesterday I tried setting up my sewing machine so that my mother-in-law could do a little sewing while my father-in-law and Patrice worked on some other projects. I have two machines at my house, one that I can't get to wind the bobbin, the other that I can't get to load the bobbin properly. The one that doesn't wind but does load the bobbin was only making zig-zag stitches. I thought my brain was going to explode. Nicco, ever present and happy to help, expressed his own frustration with the machines saying "I just can't figure this out. It isn't working! This is a mystery, indeed." Then when I reached the point where I had to just shut it down for the night, Nicco made up his own combination of "This is killing me" and another expression of frustration and irritation:

"This is killing me off."

Happy New Year

We wanted to celebrate the New Year with friends, but we didn't want to go anywhere. We invited 13 people thinking that not everyone would be able to come (hoping they would, of course) and we ended up with 18 at our table. We put the food on our dining room table, which Patrice made festive with our Nativity sets and poinsettia.

We had to move our family room couches into the living room and outside to accomodate the two long tables we set, and we had to borrow chairs from the neighbors.

While we were setting up and getting ready, Nicco passed out under the tree. After a two hour nap at 5:00, Nicco was all rested and ready to go!

He made friends with Colin (again...they really hit it off every time we get together. What a kind and understanding boy Colin is, to put up with a 3 year old buddy!) The two of them conspired together to sneak several sodas. Nicco kept calling him Braxton for some reason...I guess he somehow resembled Braxton in Nicco's little head, even though we don't see him often, or even see picures of him much. (ahem, Sheila) They were really quite adorable together and very well behaved. Not pesky at all!

Here are the two boys, ringing in the New Year with a little horn. Nicco tried to grab it every time Colin blew it. They giggled and giggled. I was amazed at how much energy Nicco had at midnight, even with his late nap. When we all made noise though, it pushed his button and he passed out roughly 3 seconds after I put him in bed.

Between us and our guests 2009 is going to be an exciting year. We have a couple of friends who got engaged at Christmas, a couple who are expecting a baby in June, and Patrice starts a new job in Denver at the end of the month. We hope and pray that all 3 of those big events turn out to be blessings for all of us.

Happy 2009!

The Airplane Museum Part II

The other day we had a small adventure. We want to make sure that Papi and Mamie enjoy their visit and get to see some fun things while they are here. Luckily, they (like us) are mostly content to stay home and visit, play games, watch movies, and watch Nicco. It is nice to get out once in a while though, so we took our French relatives to a French restaurant for lunch (Le Central) and they were not disappointed...a good review, I'd say, from people who regularly consume fantasitc authentic French food. After lunch, we went to the airplane museum. The second visit was much more interesting for Nicco than his first.

Here are Papi and Mamie eating mussels at our American French restaurant.
Here is Nicco saying "cheese" in front of one of about 8 little airplanes in a row. He went down the row, stopped in front of each one and smiled his "cheesy" smile for me.

Every time Nicco sees an airplane he exclaims "Oh my gosh look! Airplane!"

He was also fascinated by the electricity ball.

All in all, a good day!