The Saga of the Bike

So last year, when I started riding bikes to work, I actually road a bike that I bought Dave for his birthday one year.  At the time, we had three bikes, Dave's, my mountain bike, and an old red hipster bike.  The old red hipster bike was an impulse buy at a garage sale in 2005 for about $10.  I didn't like ride it much, because the handlebars are very forward and very narrow.  And I always felt like I was on the verge of crashing into a pole.

That said, we bought the bike trailer and had it hooked up to the mountain bike (for Dave to tote Nico to school and home) when Dave's bike (re: my primary mode of transportation) was stolen.  It was shitty and I was annoyed.  And it forced me to reconsider old red hipster bike.  After a new seat and a tune up, and about a week riding around on it, I loved it.  The guys at the bike store were super cool about it- especially since they were like, "The manufacturer doesn't even exist anymore... and they made the size very weird".    Since its so anti cool, I was very aware of how hipster I was being riding the thing.  I didn't want to be one of those people wearing skinny jeans, a plaid shirt, and infinity scarf pour $$$ into this old bike.  The guys at my bike store got this.

Anyways... I got the bike tuned up in the fall and they said, that my tires were pretty far gone and that I should consider getting some new ones.  I was about 2 days away from putting Old Red up for the season, so I made note of their suggestion and went on with my life.  Well, when I got Old Red out for a ride, I ended up needing a new tube for the bike tire.  I got a friend to help me change it and she said, "You should get a new tire ASAP. Otherwise you're going to keep getting flats."  This was on a Wednesday.  I got a flat the next time I rode it, on Friday.

So, I took it to a ANOTHER bike shop and gave them the speel: "Its an old bike.  I've been told the wheels are not a standard size, so I'd like to know what to do about special ordering tires."  The guy who helped me (who liked like that dead-eyed mutt Todd on Breaking Bad) proceeded to pull tires down off the ceiling and attempt to put them on the bike.   Aaaaaand none of them fit. Even better?  To totally replace the wheels?  $100.  Dollars.  EACH.  Seriously?  That is almost half what I paid for my first car.

Much miscommunication ensued.  I finally got the bike back on Friday and have been anxious to get back to riding.  I rode to the gym on Saturday, which was cool.  Of course today's weather report would call for rain+gale force winds.  Of course it would.

 

Speaking of the gym, I have started the beginning olympic lifting class (OLY).  I'm not sure I will ever do it competitively.  I only started doing it because I felt like I could do CrossFit better if some of my technique was a scotch better.

Easter

Do I even blog anymore?
I know.  I know.  I wish there was some excuse that was better than, "Busy", but sadly, no.

Easter was fun.  We did the egg "hunt" in the our neighborhood park.  I say "hunt" because it wasn't so much a hunt as it was a "walk around and find only 4 eggs, because that is the limit that the park imposed so all the kids could get eggs."  Note to self, find an actual egg hunt next year.  Makes me miss those crazy egg hunts that the daycare used to put on.

Nico has this great thing he is doing with his face lately, mostly when he is in on the joke.  It's pretty funny.

It's  a half smile, but with his eyes glancing off to the side.  It's pretty great. He is also starting to *finally* get helpful when it comes to arts and crafts and cooking (except for the cracking of the eggs... he's got some more work to do in that arena.)  This is great, because this was the first year that dying eggs wasn't a major debacle.  Seriously, its a bit of a beat down when the kid knocks over the egg dye.  Yeah, Nico totally did that his first and second easters.

Finding eggs is starting to get pretty fun.  Totally a far cry from these days:


The week before easter, Nico's school was out for Spring Break, so he and Dave hung out.  There is some type of Lorax expedition down in the Loop, so Dave took Nico down to it.  Which is cool.

That day was funny because we were all at the chiropractor together (it's a long story).  But as we were leaving, Nico blew a kiss to the lady chiro doctor.  I don't even know what that was all about.  It was pretty funny though.

Score one for the parents!!

Okay, so I mentioned it last post, but I need to elaborate on it here: We may have turned the corner with Nico.

We did baby time largely standing on our heads.  He was a super easy baby- and my expectations were pretty low.  Plus, that first year really flew by.  But then when he got to be about 2.5- the shit kind of hit the fan (sorry, Nico honey, that is just how it was- I can't sugar coat it).  I think a big part of it is that he is clearly very smart and a scotch stubborn, so he'd sometimes get his mind set about something, and was not to be dissuaded.  So, we'd go from 0 to a meltdown in 5 seconds flat.  The worst is that Dave and I are super flexible about stuff.  Oh, we're out of beer?  That's okay.  I will drink something else.  Compare that to Nico.  Out of mac and cheese?  THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST!! I HATE MY LIFE.  I HATE YOU.  I HATE EVERYTHING. (He didnt say he hated everything, that was the tone of his fit).  Now imagine that every.single.time something doesn't go his way.  HOLY BEAT DOWN CENTRAL.

It's been ramping up for the last couple of months, but was really apparent on the trip.  He is mellowing out.  And he's growing up.  So now, when something doesn't go his way, he's okay.  Out of mac and cheese?  That's alright dude, he'll just have some PBJ.  No big deal.  This is all fine and grand, but I haven't even mentioned the best part.

He does stuff that we ask him to do- without fussing or fighting it.  And he is starting to use "Yes M'am" and "No M'am", "Please" and "Thank You" without being asked. Brilliant.  Its awesome.  The best part is that we have been able to do this largely without threatening him or putting him in time out or other such measures.  Parenting FTW!!

Been around the world...

We had a fantastic trip to Florida.  Seriously- it was just what we needed.

We left late on Wednesday night (after I taught), but we settled into the drive quite nicely.  Nico went to sleep right away and I dozed till Indianopolis, where I took over for Dave, who was quite tired. I got us through to Nashville over night (in terrible rain) and Dave took over.  We pulled into Tallahassee late on Thursday to stay the night with G and LJ, (Nico's good friends from Creative Preschool).  I was a little nervous that they would be awkward- like suddenly they would think, "Why did we hang out so much together back in the day?  You're lame!"

But my fears were unfounded.  In about 45 seconds, they had picked up exactly where they'd left off.  Which was fantastic.  Nico was a scotch bummed when we left the next day to head down to Ft. Myers Beach, which makes me think that they are still good friends after all.

We got to Ft. Myers Beach around mid afternoon.  My and Dad have a week in a time share on Ft. Myers Beach, at Spring Break, which is why we were that far south.  Once we got there, it took us about 20 minutes to get in the pool.  Seriously,we swam for probably 2 hours.  It was fantastic!!

We ended up doing some shelling on the beach and Granny made us smores (in a kitchen- weird).  Nico even entertained by singing his rendition of "Let it go" (from Frozen- which is just weird... normally he is pretty shy about things like that, with people who are not Dave and me).  Saturday morning, we checked out and headed over to Miami to see Dave's parents and Aunt Rosie.

We didn't do much there- except hang out and swim.  Grandma and Grandpa got Nico a toy heliocopter, which required some playing.  I got sunburned at the beach.  We went to bed late and slept late.  It was really restful.  I am so glad that we got to go and the weather was nice.  

We left Monday night to head back.  Yeah, we ended up driving 4 days in a car, to stay 3, but I really liked the trip- mostly because I like road trips.  If we were on vacation, I wouldn't do much more than I did in the car (read, listen to music, talk with my boys, and eat snacks).  The car had XM radio- so we blasted Radio Margaritaville and The Bruce Springsteen channels pretty much the whole way.

I should add, that save the 10 minutes while we were leaving G and L's house and 10 minutes just outside of Louisville- Nico was an absolute gem.  Seriously... I am reluctant to breath mention of it... but we might have turned a corner, which I will talk about more later.

School Choice

Not much new has been happening.  Nico asked me to help him make an obstacle course last week.


His overhead squat needs some work, but other than that, how cute, right?

JJ came to see us last weekend.  It was a short trip- but he got to see his friend from highschool.  Nico was upset when JJ had to go.  Like for serious.  So I promised him a trip to Michigan when we get back from our trip to Florida.  This works out- because the week after we get back, Nico's school has spring break.  Might be a good time to sneak away for a couple of days.

We got Nico's letters about school next year.  For the selective enrollment schools the cutoff was 160 point, and the average score was 100.  Nico scored 144- which is pretty great.  He scored in the 98th percentile for math and 87th percentile for reading.  Which was cool- a bit expected, since we don't do all that much reading with him.  I know... I am a terrible mom for not reading with him all the time.  But, I've taken this as proof that we need to take more time for it.

He got into a STEM magnet school close to my work, which is cool (seriously, it's 1.1 miles away).  He got wait-listed at several others (including a #2 and #3 spot).  Today, we got the call that he got into the #2 school.  We're not sure what we are going to do about it, but think we might go on both tours and see what we see.  The magnent school that is close to my work looks cool.  They even have after school chess, drama, and science experiment clubs.  Chess?  For kindergartners?  Yeah, that is my jam!!  I even saw a website that mentioned it might have a community garden.

Dave got the proof of the book he's written (The Political Almanac of Florida).  He's terribly excited to be done with it, which I can totally understand.  I think he's looking forward to doing other things.

In any case, Nico is excited to go to Florida and see the grandparents and his friends Graham and Lydia.  Hopefully Spring will have sprung by the time we get back.

Gungdum Style

Don't have much time, I have a ton of grading to do.  So glad this is the last week of the quarter.

Can we all share in the awesomeness that is this kid?



Apparently at his school- its called Gungdum Style...

I'm not really sure what is with the finger dancing early on.

Talking Trash

One of my favorite things that Nico has been doing lately is talking trash.  It's mostly when we are getting ready to sword fight.  And he will start.  Something like this: "I'm in charge of the winning list, and you're not on it!"  or "I'm driving the winning bus tonight, and we are not stopping at your stop!"  Seriously, where does he get this stuff?

)

The main difference in our sword fighting between now and back at Christmas, is that its increasingly violent.  He is really figuring out how to swing that sword.  Every now and then he will catch me pretty good in the leg or on the hand and I begin thinking he's going to be too big for this soon.

Other than that, not much new is going on.  We are waiting with baited breath for spring.
Which is convenient, since we're likely to get another 6+ inches of snow tonight.

We're experimenting with no naps on the weekends.  Could you tell?  

5 years.

It's our anniversary today.

It's weird.  When I was a kid there were things that I really looked forward to in my life.  Even at a young age, I remember being cognizant of how anticipation could make time go by so slowly.  At first it was things like Christmas and going out of town for soccer tournaments.  Then it was graduating from high school and going to college.  Then soccer seasons starting.  Then soccer seasons ending.  And graduating and moving to Tallahassee.  And looking forward to meeting the guy I would marry.  Then it was moving in together and getting married and having Nico. And more soccer seasons starting.  And more soccer seasons ending.  And finishing my degree and moving to Chicago.

What I have come to realize is that these things come to pass in what feels like a blink of the eye.  When I think back on the day we got married, its so clear in my memory, it seems like yesterday.  But then I think of how much things have changed since then, so I know, intellectually, it can't have been yesterday.  I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around it sometimes.  It's disconcerting sometimes.  Regardless, I am happy it was Dave.  He's been a wonderful husband and father.  

Happy Anniversary, Babe.  Here's to another 50!

Oh good, just what I didn't want...

So, its that time of the quarter.  Where we begin the downward slide (some might call it a spiral or a tumble) to the end.  The final is on Monday the 17th.  The thing I had forgotten when teaching as a grad student is that time when I had created all of the course material and so therefore my "teaching" was really posting stuff on Blackboard and then grading. But since I have never taught this class before, I am preparing things on the fly.  ON. THE. FLY.  Seriously, that is some real non JBR shit going on there.

It could be worse- since I am doing the experiment with the flipped classroom, I have to edit my powerpoint slides, then record them, then edit the recording, then upload.  But it sure as hell beats the process that would have happened with me doing live legit lectures every week.  Uggh.  As it is now, we run through the lecture and I touch on the high points and clarify stuff that needs to be clarified.  Because I hate listening to my voice.  I hate it even more when it says things like, "I don't know."  So there is that.

So needless to say, I have been working my ass off.  Seems like all I have been doing lately is working, working out, and teaching.

Plus, my gym is doing the CrossFit Open.  It's definitely a big hullabaloo.  CrossFit HQ will release 5 workouts, once a week for the next five weeks.   Everyone who has signed up for the Open are supposed to do.  You have to do it on video and upload it, or you have to do it during a set time, so that a coach can count your reps and judge.  It's supposed to be all comraderie and such, like, "yay, we're doing this with 432095094580934 people around the world!!"  For elite athletes, it is the first step to get to the games (people with the highest scores are invited to regionals... if you do well there, you go to the real games).

I have no hope of going to the games, and I am not being modest (so don't get on my back JJ about the power of positive thinking).  It's just not in the cards for me right now.  But maybe some day.  Regardless, I will be spending a lot of time shooting in the next couple of weeks, which is great.  I'm just really busy now.

I requested vacation time yesterday, which is cool.  We are planning to take our postponed New Years trip to Miami in April.  I am hoping to run 7 mile bridge in the keys.

I Love you to the Moon (and Right on Back), I Love you to the Moon (and Right on Back), I Love you to the Moon (and Right on Back)....

The days are getting longer.  Not much longer.  Just a scotch.  But I will take it.  Obviously, this event is heralding spring coming, so we went ice-skating this weekend.  Apparently, outdoor iceskating only happens through February.  So we went.  

Nico was a champ.  An absolute- bonafide champ.  It took us probably 20 minutes to go around the rink once (just like the only other time I've been ice skating, once was enough for me).  He fell a lot.  But he didn't cry and didn't fuss.  He was so grown.  I love it.  

I'm coming up on just a shitty part of the year with my work+teaching.  We're at the midterm- so there are a lot more assignments to grade.  Plus, faculty are starting to think about the research projects they will work on over the summer.  So, I've been working a lot more.  Dave got Nico out of the house on Sunday and went to Kohl's Children's museum in Glenview. 

While there, Nico played at working in a sandwich shop and being a cashier, which is pretty funny.  

Tuesday I went in a bit later than normally, so I got to be at the house when Nico woke up.  He was very snuggly and it ended up being the best part of my day.  He's starting to get into singing and songs.  Which is kind of new.  It used to be I would sing to him and deliberately mess up the words or change the words and he would get annoyed.  But now, he thinks its hilarious.  The latest song?

"I love you to the moon and right on back.  I love you to the moon and right on back.  I love you to the moon and right on back.  Yes, yes I do." (obviously, then I love him to the Lake and right on back.  Then I love him to the train and right on back, etc.  To the tune of "Wheels on the Bus".)  Even better, when I went to sing it the other day, I "couldn't quite remember" the order of the words.  But he did and taught me.  Seriously, that kid has a great ear, just like his Dad 

Winter

Over the weekend, I took Nico sledding to another hill (close by).  We met one of his little friends there.  I really like the parents- they remind me a lot of Dave and me.

We apparently need to get on the stick though, because February is the last month of outdoor skating for the winter.  I think we might try to find a place to go skating this weekend.  I hope it's better than the last time I went.

Speaking of winter, I pushed Nico into a snow bank yesterday.  On purpose.

He was being a jerk.  I told him I didn't want to race after school and he got mad.  He started pushing me.  I told him to stop.  He didn't.  I told him to stop again.  He still didn't.  So when he started to push me again, I grabbed his arm and spun away from him, engineering him into a snow bank.  "Natural and logical consequences", right?

He didn't like it, and started crying.  I got him in the car and told him to pull it together and that he had by the time we got to Walgreens to decide how he wanted the rest of the night to go.  He could have a good attitude and have fun for the rest of the night, or he could have a bad attitude and be mad and go to bed right after dinner.  (Seriously though, this kid gives downward spiral a new meaning... usually things only get worse from here... )

By the time we got to Walgreens, he had sufficiently pulled himself together and was a gem for the rest of the night.  Seriously... I am not sure if I am really awesome because I was able to get him to calm himself or if I am terrible for pushing my kid into a snow drift.  Probably the latter.  He likely won't remember that it was him that started down that path; his only memory will likely be that his mom pushed him into a snow drift.  :(

Parents 5, Nico 19834798132

He's probably like most 4-year olds.  But Nico, is a bit of a picky eater.  I don't know how it happened... actually... that is a lie.  I know exactly how it happened.  It happened because things like chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and macaroni and cheese are really easy to heat and eat.  Dave and I like the occasional curry or choizo stuffed pablanos... and what kind of parents would feed chorizo stuffed pablanos to a baby?  Exactly... so we started making Nico his own food way back... and have just kept it going.  This wouldn't be a problem, except Nico is the tiniest wee bit obsessive about stuff- so he will go through periods where he ONLY wants macaroni and cheese.  Or only chicken nuggets.  Which is, as you can imagine... a scotch of a beat down.

But something happened last week.  Dave took Nico to White Castle.  Now, before you call CPS, just know that Nico now loves chicken sandwiches.  He tried a chicken slider and liked it.  And now likes chicken sandwiches. Can you even believe that?  Yeah, I know.  And something else happened last night. 

Let me pause this story to give you some back story... my gym is currently doing a paleo challenge.  Now, since I am easily peer pressured,  of course I signed up.  Now granted... I think I am about the only person int the world who is on the verge of being kicked out of their gym's paleo challenge.  Seriously, I think my coach might be thinking, "Are you even trying?  At all?" (with the paleo challenge, we are abstaining from processed foods, dairy, grains, legumes, and alcohol for two months. Let's just say that some of us abstain better than others). 

After dinner last night, I opened up a freshly bought bag of apricots and Nico asked me what they were.  I explained and also told him that they were the sweetest, gummiest, yummiest fruits ever.  I proceeded to spread a bit of sunbutter on a few... and you wouldn't even believe it- Nicholas Michael Cornelius Jacob Timothy McClelan Jackson Lee Royse ate them up.  In fact, he kept stealing mine!  I could not believe it.  It was awesome.  Of course, I have breathed mention of this- out into the universe... So, that is a sure fire way to send this in the other direction.  But it's a win and I will take it.  

Also, it should be known that Nico's middle names are not Cornelius, Jacob, Timothy McClelan Jackson and Lee.  I make up middle names to call people when I am exasperated with them.  :)

Winter Fun

Sorry I haven't been really good about posting.  It will be a while before it gets better... with all the work, and the teaching, the CrossFitting, the parenting, etc.  Its times like these that make me really sad I am a muggle.  If I could do magic, or even if I had access to a time turner, things would be so much easier.  

Dave's cousin Will and his wife and daughter (Tracey and Darby) stayed the night with us last Friday night.  They were in town for a conference and checked out of the hotel and stayed with us Friday night... we had Lou Malnati's on Friday night and went sledding on Saturday.  So much fun!!

Seriously, isn't he adorable?

Happy Birthday to Dave

So, this weekend was pretty fun.  Dave is in the last week of his big project- so we were trying to stay low key and close to home.  We snuck out to the Y for a workout and a swim on Saturday.  On the way back, we dropped by what is getting to be a favorite place for lunch (East of Edens).  They have a low-carb platter that is basically just a pile of gyro meat and a grilled sausage.  You can't really beat that.

When we got back to the house, I put Nico down for a nap and began a new knitting project (a hat for me).  

 After nap, Nico and I commenced with the sword fighting.  Now that he's a bit older, he's really getting to be fun.

  

Sunday, was Dave's birthday.  But he had to work, boooooo!! Dave is pushing hard on this project... Nico has even said a couple of times that he can't wait for Dave to be done with the book.  

Nico sent the first email from his own email account (I signed him up for a gmail account for a couple of years ago).  We also ordered a pair of bean boots from LL Bean, but they hadn't arrived yet.  Dave's hurricane boots finally bit the dust- so we got him a pair.  

After Nico and I ran errands, we headed back to the house for a quick nap.  

Birthday dinner was ribs, german mashed potatoes, and kale chips.  

Our grocery has these gourmet brownies, that were delicious.  In fact, so much so that when I finished Nico's last night, there was a bit of a fit this morning.  

Other than that, we're just trying to find a post-holiday routine.  The cars are driving me crazy.  With the first big cold snap, the 4Runner ended up needing a new radiator.  It turns out, the Kia's battery is a bit grouchy in the cold weather... we've had a couple of days where it wouldn't start.  For some reason, we didnt have any jumper cables, which was weird because John C. Bishop's oldest daughter should have jumper cables.  So, we bought some and I jumped the Kia.  It was the first time I have ever jumped the car.  So there is that.  Can't wait till the weather gets better so that I can get back to to riding to and fro to work.  

Maniac

So one of the fun things we have been dealing with around here has been the Christmas leftovers.  Leftovers?  you ask.  What do you mean?  I mean this:



Apparently, it never occurred for Nico to do this until Max showed him how... to be fair, Max showed him how to get up and down the stairs this way, because we had a baby gate up to keep Becks from trying to get up the stairs.  And when Max showed him, he didnt have the commentary.  That's all Nico.  And also Nico's idea to go headfirst.  Like a maniac.

Sledding...

So much fun lately...

Dave went on a run for lunch and found a cool hill for sledding.  After nap on Sunday afternoon, we ran up there for some sledding.  Obviously, Mom Bishop can weigh in, but I believe this was the first time I'd ever been sledding.  Fantastic!!

The sled was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Royse.  The hill was cool because it was at the edge of a park, with stairs running up both sides of the hill, so you could just climb up the stairs to get to the top. We went at the perfect time because it wasn't too crowded- but there were also lights.  Here is a video of the boys going...

A lot of fun...

Test Schmest

So, Nico had his school testing yesterday.  

He started out the morning dragging his feet about going.  Didn't want to go.  Wants to go to school with Justin and Collin (his little friends).  I hung around the house and helped get him dressed, then he and Dave dropped me at work and headed down to the Loop to do the test.  They got there a little early- so the tester people took Nico a little early.  Apparently he was on the verge of tears and was about to not go when he finally agreed to go "Just for a few minutes".  Well, he went in, and apparently was  a bit of a rock star about it.  

The teacher/tester had three pictures: one of a boat, one of a fire engine, and one of a backpack and just asked Nico to tell him about them.  And Nico did.  Even better, he said he had fun and that he wants to do it again!! Can you believe it?  

We won't know how he did till later in the Spring.  But I am just so glad that he went into the test. :) 

Coldy Woldy

Some images from winter around here: 

Icicles hanging off the roof over the back yard.  

The avalanche of snow leading down to the basement. 

Gordon hanging out in the snow.  

So, it has been interesting around here.  Winter Storm Ion came in and put the muscle on us.  So much so, that I experienced my first snow day (true story: DePaul was closed on Monday!!  Yippeee!)  We ended up with another 10" of snow over the weekend, combined with brutal cold on Monday and Today, and things are just not back to usual.  On Sunday, we walked to a Korean grocer at Brynn Mawr (which was like maybe 6 blocks away).  Nico walked the whole time and was a champ about it.  

I have decided that Nico's pink cheeks make me very happy. 

I finished Nico's hat.  The wheels came off a bit when I was decreasing to finish it.  But altogether, I am very happy with how it came out.  Although, I am not sure I will make him any more, since he whipped if off his head and threw it on the floor (to be funny).  Let's see how funny it is next year when his giant melon head doesnt have any hats to keep warm because his mom wont make any...

It's still pretty chilly here... below 0.  But its supposed to warm up substantially this week... like in the upper 30s.  Given that it was -48 with the windchill yesterday and we're going to have RAIN later this week, I am left with the conclusion that Chicago is drunk.  Go home Chicago.  Go home. I am actually working from home today, in the basement.  It's fricking freezing.  Like for serious, I have the hood on my hoodie sweatshirt pulled up and I am contemplating finding one of our space heaters to supplement.   

Dave and I took Nico to school on Monday (which was open for a few hours), and we got stuck coming back (and trying to park the car).  I hopped out and pushed the car out.  So yay, for my muscles- made by CrossFit.  Speaking of CrossFit, our gym started a paleo challenge this week.  I know, you all are rolling your eyes.  Paleo?  Really?  But, I am a social person who also is peer pressured very easily.  So, I am doing it.  In all, I think it is a bit of tie really... no processed carbs like bagels and bread, but you can put bacon on everything.  And for some reason, butter is okay, but not milk or yogurt.  

I have been, for six months, been trying to find a paleo blueberry muffin.  Mostly for Nico and me... since I don't like him eating a lot of processed foods.  I found a recipe for muffins using coconut flour, which isn't terrible.  You have to not mind coconut, which some people do.  I mostly just use this as a method of getting butter and the tiniest scotch of maple syrup to my mouth.  

In any case, someone ate the last three of these guys for breakfast.  So- they must be alright.  Speaking of food.  Last night I made a spaghetti squash carbonara.  Basically, I fried bacon and then tossed spaghetti squash in the fat (along with sun dried tomatoes and garlic).  Then topped with a fried egg.  Guess who ate that?  The boys!!  I put a little marinara on Nico's and didnt tell him it was spaghetti squash and he ate 1.5 servings of it.  I know, right?  Mom cooking ninja!!

Before Christmas, we had to make our selections for Nico's school for next year.  Chicago has this crazy lottery system... where you choose schools you want your kid to be considered for and you might get in, you might not.  But there are also selective enrollment schools, where your kid has to test to get into.  So, we signed Nico up for both.  And his test is tomorrow.  I'm not nervous for him... the biggest obstacle for him is whether he will go into the test (the kid has to be able to separate from the parent to go into the test room by himself).  If he can, I think he would be fine.  Because he is really bright: he's reading, telling time, doing math, etc.  

In one sense, I understand that Nico is essentially being shafted by the system... since CPS doesnt allow redshirting, we figured that it wouldnt do much good to keep him at his preschool another year (since he would be starting first grade when he starts).  But, maybe being able to separate is a good indicator.  And maybe it would to him some good to go somewhere where he could be the kid out in front.  I dont know.  I just kind of wish it would be over already.  Will keep you posted.  

Ringing in the New Year

After the holidays are always kind of a bummer... it's a bit of a let down, right?

Winter Storm Hercules made us a visit over New Years.  We got a bunch of snow.  Which was cool.  Like enough to render cars buried in snow.  Dave is still working on his deadline, so Nico and I hung out most of New Year's Day.  We played Royseball and I taught him Slap Jack and Old Maid. Coincidentally, when you are only playing with two players, most (and in our experience all) games of Old Maid end in a tie.  The good news is, that I love this age with Nico because we can start playing board games and card games.  Although, something tells me this kid is going to kick my ass at Boggle. Still, I am looking forward to him being a scotch older, mostly because he needs to be introduced to the Bishop method... which is running all your errands and doing all your chores on Saturday morning and spending Saturday afternoon, evening, and Sunday lazing around the house and reading the 9314129347 books you got from the library.  

We also did a fair bit of shoveling on Jan 1.   I wonder what I have to do in order to keep the novelty of shoveling snow for him. Because it would be great to have a 12 year old that shovels all the snow.  Don't tell Dave I said that... I'm not allowed to talk about difficulties of winter weather.  For ever.

I also did a fair bit of knitting.  My mom taught me to knit in the round, which is just like regular knitting, only easier. The socks I am wearing in the picture below were knit by her... in peacock colors... I am halfway though a hat for Le Boy... If Dave doesn't watch it, he's going to end up with a hat too!!  Although he probably wouldnt wear it, because he likes the Stoner hat that Aunt Judy got him last year (he wears it pretty much everyday).  

I'd been procrastinating on some errands that needed to happen.  So Wednesday afternoon, I sent Dave to Panera so he could work.  When Nico woke up from nap, we shoveled the car out and set about our errands.  Mind you, I had never driven in snow, but I figured a good way to start would be on a holiday with few people on the road.  I did a pretty good job shoveling the car out- it was surprisingly easy to navigate our road.  Most of the main roads were pretty well shoveled and salted.  

Before anyone gets their knickers in a twist with me using my phone while driving, know that we were at a stop light stopped when the light turned.  

Parking the Kia was a different story- because when I got home, I almost got stuck trying to park.  I finally ditched the parallel parking idea and chose to bury my car in 10" of unshoveled snow in the next block.  

Apparently a 10" snow is business as usual, because Thursday DePaul was open and Nico's school was open.  So I was back at work.  I got a lot going on and am trying to get my feet under me.  I know that my job isn't like being President of the US or even being an Assistant Professor, but damn it's hard to take almost three weeks off.  In any case, I am back on the grind.  

Am I fired?

Are you going to take my blog away?  Are you sick of me not posting?  I know- I am terrible.  I hop that Nico understands when he gets older than where there are huge gaps in the timeline of his blog that its because we were too busy having fun for me to be blogging. 

So, Christmas.  Yeah, it was a pretty great holiday.  Mom and Dad came up north.  On Christmas Day, they drove over from Michigan with JJ and Uncle Scott.  Nico and Dave chatted with Mike and Gay on skype so they could watch Nico open some of his presents.  When Mom and Dad, Uncle Scott and JJ got to Chicago,  we started up the oven to get the three pans of egg fondue that Mom brought going while we opened presents. Mom (Granny You) set Nico up well- with police walkie talkies, and other police gear (like handcuffs, a badge, and a police beanie hat).  Mike and Gay set Nico up with a little guitar and a Captain America sweatshirt (along with a U of L sweatsuit).  Santa brought Nico a train and some blocks, both of which he was pretty excited about.  

After we opened presents, I started in making Christmas dinner.  We ended up putting a ham in the crockpot and a turkey in the oven.  Along with dressing, mashed potatoes,gravy, cranberry sauce, and two types of pie (apple and pecan).  In all, it was way too much food- but that is just how I roll.  Uncle JJ was a bit sick on Christmas Day, so he relaxed and tried to take it easy.  

Nicole and Cody arrived with their kids on Boxing Day-which was pretty much the main event.  Nico had basically been counting down the days till they would get here, because he loves playing with Maddox, Emme, and Becks.  The kids had a really good time playing with each other.  We introduced the kids to Home Alone, which was funny. When asked what the movie was about, Nico explained that it was a movie about a lady that returned home to her son. I don't know what that means.  

We got some snow, so the conditions for a snow ball fight were pretty much perfect, which was fine by Max, because he'd been wanting a real snow ball fight for a while. 

As a Florida girl newly transplanted in the Great North, I didn't really understand the rules of snowball fights. Apparently, you're supposed to take great care to not peg anyone in the face.  I may have gotten Nico once or twice in the face.  On accident.  Maybe.  SorryImnotSorry. 

While they were here, we managed a trip to Legoland.  LEGOLAND.  It was really cool.  In fact, Dave and Nico have decided that they want to build a replica of Chicago at our house. Like so:

Which is fair- it was really cool. The kids were all champs.  And we even  had our first 3D movie experience. 

Other than that, it was a pretty chill holiday.  It was nice getting to see so much of our family.