Forest School

We found the most wonderful addition to our homeschool this year - forest school! We finish all our learning in four days a week so we can spend most of Thursday up the canyon enjoying the beauty, playing with friends, and learning from nature. It has been so great!

Obviously, it's tons of fun...

It's been so amazing to watch the seasons change...

I think we hit the absolute peak day of fall color. It was a cold day so we wouldn't normally have ventured out, but it was the PERFECT day to see those beautiful fall colors!

Haley even joined us for Forest School one week!

Now the weather is turning cold. The trees are mostly bare, but it's still so beautiful. And cold weather means fires, hot chocolate, and roasting apples.

I have loved every minute of Forest School. I love seeing my kids explore and create in nature. I loved the fresh mountain air and beautiful views. I love feeling like we have a "break" day once a week without our normal school structure. I love how curious my kids have become about nature, and how much more they want to learn because of the time they spend up the canyon. Most of all, I love the weekly chance to slow down, enjoy the beauty of God's creations, and remember why we're here on Earth. The outdoors are good for the soul!

I Want It To Be Called, "Orson, the Silly!"

Orson helped me title his birthday blog post, so Orson the Silly it is! This silly boy turned 4 the beginning of October. He is the cutest, and we just love him to pieces. 

Orson starts every day by climbing in to our bed to snuggle. I love it! He's a very affectionate little boy in general and is always giving great kisses and hugs.

Cooking with Daddy or Mommy continues to be one of Orson's favorite activities. He and Lenora always argue about who's turn it is to help me cook breakfast. According to Orson, his favorite breakfast is oatmeal, his favorite lunch is sandwiches, and his favorite dinner is biscuits and gravy.

Orson has been picking his own outfits and some of them turn out so fun.

When it comes to working with his hands, Orson is such a hard, dedicated worker. He LOVES to help with projects. We recently laid sod in our backyard, and Orson helped a lot raking and pulling weeds. He's surprisingly strong for his size too!

Orson definitely has a silly side. He and the girls are always coming up with funny games. I love hearing Orson's sweet laugh ringing through the house when they get him going.

One of Orson's favorite things lately has been to explore and figure out how things work. He was fascinated when he learned how the toilet flushed. He has been designing and building lots of Lego slurpee vehicles. We've have slurpee trucks, planes, boats, and cars. I don't know why it's always Sluprees, but it is!

Orson's birthday coincided with General Conference this year, so we took a weekend trip down to Freemont to visit Michael's Aunt Calla and watch Conference with her and Nathan. We had such a fun weekend! Capitol Reef National Park is about 30 minutes from their house so we spent Friday afternoon there. It was so beautiful! This makes two years in a row we've visited a national park on Orson's birthday. It may have to be an annual tradition.

For the first time this year, Orson had a strong opinion about what he wanted for his birthday. He wanted the cop costume he saw at Costco so much! He asked me all the time to go to Costco to get the cop costume. Even Grandma heard how much he wanted it. He was THRILLED when he got the cop costume from us AND a firefighter from Grandma and Grandpa.

Orson, the silly - we love you!!!

Two Cute!

Somehow our baby Conrad is already two years old! We love him so, so much. If I had to describe him in three words they would be: adorable, wild, hungry (mostly in that order). 

Conrad you are so adorable! You have the best facial expressions and sayings. Right now, you will often ask us to "Kick-kit bedder" (kiss it better) when you get an owie. When we get hurt, you're always quick to kiss it better for us too!

You LOVE to be outside and exploring. Hiking, walking, riding your tricycle, playing with Haley, throwing her ball, jumping on the trampoline, and more - you just love to be outside! 

Being outside is good for you too because you have limitless energy. It's all we can do to keep up with you most days. One day you were playing outside with your siblings. The next thing I know Lenora runs inside yelling, "Conrad is pushing the lawnmower down the street!" I assumed she meant your toy lawnmower and that you were at the next house, but when I hurried outside I found you pushing the full sized lawnmower down the sidewalk. You were already nearly around the corner! 

Which brings us to your next love in life - being wild. There is never a dull moment with you around Conrad! It's certainly not that you're trying to make mischief, you just are profoundly curious about how the world works and fiercely independent! 

To give you an idea, here's a sampling of your wild adventures this week. You learned to uncap and squeeze the toothpaste tube and were so proud that you squeezed it out all over the carpet. You had an accident on the kitchen floor while I was upstairs, so you used a generous amount of dish soap (all over the sink, counters, and floor) to clean it up. You climbed up on the toilet to reach the sink and filled it up with water so you could play. We were trying to finish school and I thought the water table play was perfect with you, so I let you continue. Next thing I know, you'd taken off your pants, climbed in, but couldn't climb out when you had to go number 2. We all had a good laugh over this one! Another day this week you found butter on the table and painted a lovey butter painting. Keep in mind, those are all just from this week. It was a pretty average week for your adventures haha. 

I'm so thankful that you are my fifth child and not my first. I've had enough toddlers to know now that curiosity and independence don't necessarily equal mischief. I've also grown a thicker skin and accepted that my house will always look like a toddler lives here. If you were my first, I think I would be struggling, but for the most part we just laugh at the chaos you create and remember to enjoy this brief phase.

Last up, you are always hungry! You eat great meals but always have room for a hearty snack. You love almost any food. Aunt Jamie joked that our budget will be in serious trouble once you're a teenager. I think she might be right! 

All of my kids have found a passion at two years old. Hazel loved dresses and the color purple, Eliza was obsessed with her toy ice cream cone and chicken, Lenora loved Trolls, Orson loved his white blankie. Conrad, you love trains! Grandpa took us to see "Big Boy" while it was in Provo, and you were hooked.

You talk about Big Boy ALL. THE. TIME. The best part is how adorably you say it. Instead of Big Boy you say "Boy Bay." It is so cute! You have quickly learned that Grandpa shares your love of trains. Yesterday when we went to visit, you jumped out of the car and ran in to the house saying, "Gam-pa, Boy Bay, Tains!"

Your other obsession is your baby doll. For a while, you took baby everywhere with you. You also really love shoes so you took some boots from the girls dolls and added them to baby. When you would ask for her, you would often say, "Bay-bay. BOOOOOS" (baby boots). 

My personal favorite picture with baby!

For your birthday we enjoyed birthday doughnuts and a nice long morning up the canyon where you explored your heart out. That night was family night at a UVU Volleyball game so we took you to that.

 

Big boy Conrad, we love you so much! We love your adorable side. We love your wild side. We love your hungry side. We love your thoughtful side, your messy side, and especially your rarely seen cuddley side.