So Long CGO

 Well yes, I did say that visiting Center Grove Orchard is a great way to transition from summer into fall, but the end of that transition seemed to sneak up way to quickly this year.  This week we watched the weather carefully for a day that would be warm enough to visit one more time, and we were still all plenty chilly as we headed north one last time- this time to pick out pumpkins!

This is the closest we've ever gotten to finding Spookley the Square Pumpkin!

Eventually everyone found The One-  you can tell by the light that it took Adam a bit longer than everyone else!

The apple cider donut making process is just as mesmerizing as ever. 

And the cider kept us all extra warm!

I'm not saying we didn't have fun, but boy I am not ready for another cold winter!

And with that, our yearly time at CGO has come to an end. And it was great while it lasted!

Online Learning Week 8

 Last year and all of the years before that all the way to 2012 when Leah started kindergarten, my heart has ached just a little with sadness during the school day when my sweet babies have been so far away from me.  I love school, and I know they love school, and I fully support them going to school.  I know they are doing good things, I know they are learning important things, I know they are growing up and into the people they are meant to be, but it always hurt my heart just a bit that I couldn't see any of that growth all day long.  School days were so long and often all I got was the exhausted child who was too tired to recall any of the experiences they had all day long. 

And now, for the first time and probably the last time, I get a chance to see their school day learning and growth and struggles and triumphs up close.  

I get to hear them share their excitement and questions with their teachers and classmates, receive praise and correction on their work, work through tough problems, get excited about their specials and develop relationships (kind of) with their teachers and peers.  I get to sit down and help them with math problems, read over their writing, and hear them talk about the new concepts they are learning about.  I get to watch them connect with each other at various little pockets of time throughout the day. 

Every single day!

School at home is a once in a lifetime experience for me too, and I am loving it. That doesn't mean every day is easy, or exciting, or note-worthy, but it has been an experience I never thought I'd have.  

And I'm grateful for it.

And my heart hurts a little bit again when I think about them going back to in-person school, although we will be fully committed when that day does come.  I hate to think of how quiet the house will be and how many hours apart we'll have every single day.  I wish there was some kind of happy medium! We still don't know when they will go back in person, but until that day comes, I don't want to lose sight of how rare and wonderful this opportunity has been.

And who wouldn't want to hang out with these goof-balls all day every day?!

It's Pronounced UR-u-nus

 When the night skies are clear and there is a star shining so bright that you know that it must be a planet, you pull the telescope out of the garage and the kids that are still awake out of their beds and you all laugh and laugh and laugh at all of the funny things you hear yourself saying. 

"Uranus is so bright!" 

"Uranus looks so big!" 

"Uranus is sparkling in rainbow colors!" 

You know, all of that mature stuff that makes kids giggles.

We also saw all kinds of constellations, and most amazingly, the Milky Way itself.  It was a night to remember!

Boys to Men

 Learning how to tie his own tie on a Sunday when Daddy was already gone, 

Adam seems to have grown five inches in the last week. 

Moments of Laney Cuteness

Basking in the fall sunlight- 

 This one took Adam months of trying, but Laney finally decided she was ready to roll over!

And walk like a human- anything for a treat!

Teaching her to do tricks are one of the cutest parts of having a pup! Now if we could just teach her the trick of not freaking out when packages are delivered... 

Snow in October 2020

 It's 2020! So of course we should have expected snow on October 18th, the earliest snow we've experienced in Iowa to date.

It was just a dusting here at our new house, compared to the dumping that happened on our old street, 

but it was enough to pull out the sleds

and test out some of the hills in our new yard!

And dress up the newly shorn Laney too!

And the next day, more snow!

This time there was enough to build a funny little snowman and for these two to lose track of time and skip an extra 15 minutes of school in favor of sledding, 

which earned them an extra 15 minutes of school during recess.  And by 4:00 the snow had all melted, so I'm guessing they'd say it was worth it!

Spotted On My Walk

Once the sun peaks over the hill I can almost always count on seeing a red tailed hawk,

so many blue jays, 

a few cardinals, 

a bald eagle, 

a yellow-rumped warbler,

a red-headed woodpecker,

a tree full of turkey vultures,

and our house.

Online Learning Week 7

We had Monday off and it was no surprise that none of the kids wanted to go anywhere.  Legos and arts and crafts for everyone! Plus we went on a bike ride up into the neighborhood, which was an exercise in patience as we navigated the hills.  

Daddy took our picture from the porch as we ascended the hill!

We also enjoyed a picnic lunch in the treehouse. 

Any plans we had to cover up this view with walls or a roof have been entirely abandoned in favor of a less visibly offensive wire option instead.

The kids raked leaves 

and jumped in their piles 

and it was a perfectly perfect fall day. 

Since Noah's birthday has passed, we finally pulled out the Halloween decorations this week!

Which provides hours of 

which provide hours of entertainment.

Putting these Halloween Legos away might have been the best choice I made last October- everyone was so excited to put this set together again!

And the days marched steadily on.  There was time for yoga, 

time for pumpkin carving, 

and time for origami. 

At the first dip in the weather Emma pulled out her winter coat.

Every day is a full day and everyone is working hard to do their best here at home.

One day during school a weird noise came from the basement. 

Emma, with her headphones on asked "What happened?!!"

M- That's Adam with his trumpet.

E- Oh! I thought someone was moaning. 

That's right.  We've added the trumpet to the musical mix of distractions that we get to juggle here in Morales School. 

And boy is he excited! And boy is the trumpet LOUD!

Noah is 7!

While he was counting down the days to his birthday, Noah was not entirely sure about being 7.  The night before he frowned and said, "I'm really going to miss being six." I assured him that he wouldn't feel any different the next day, and sure enough, by the next morning Noah was all smiles about being 7!  Quiche and orange rolls for breakfast and a stack of presents helped too. 

The girls insisted that King Noah wear a birthday crown!

Noah is the only one of the kids that has a birthday that sometimes falls on a school day, and traditionally our deal is that he can skip school on his birthday if he wants to.  But not this year.  School at home means there is no reason to not get work done. So we decorated his chair and his teacher and classmates all wished him a happy birthday at home!

And we had a tasty lunch, in which he rejected the noise level around him, and then he finished up school and we were off for his birth-date!

Noah picked IHOP for his birthday dinner because of all the amazing things he had heard from Adam about the pancake the size of your head.  

Noah was definitely more excited about the chocolate Oreo milkshake.

We had a great time chatting over dinner, and when he was done he was done.  He was getting all of the attention because we were one of 3 families at the restaurant but he politely declined the complimentary birthday scoop of ice cream and was ready to head back home to unwrap the last of his presents and play with his new Legos!

The next day Noah had a birthday party!

He invited four friends- two new and two old - out to celebrate.  The theme was Ninjago, of course, and the weather was perfect for an outdoor ninja challenge and treasure hunt. 

It's been a while since we've put our artistic skills to work for a party, and the LEGO ninja faces and Garmadon pinata were a hit!

The treehouse is nearly finished, and the boys enjoyed their treasures up there.  It was fun and a little crazy watching 5 seven year old boys run all around the yard. 

Looks like Noah got some help blowing out his candles!

Of course the real theme of the weekend was LEGOS!! Noah was thrilled to receive all the Legos sets he had been hoping for, along with some extras!

I think the sweetest gift of all was the homemade one from Adam which included a small Lego set that Adam bought with his own money.  He is one thoughtful brother!

And the girls made Noah an awesome birthday banner for his bedroom.

We all had a great time celebrating Noah!  His birthday is the gateway into the holiday season at our house and everyone looks forward to it with great anticipation!

Noah is the sweetest baby for our family!  He doesn't act much like a baby though- last week I started singing "This little pig went to market..." and he stopped me and said, "You don't have to sing that to me anymore.  I'm not a little kid anymore." To which I overreacted and started fake crying which made him cry but it all cleared up when I started rapping the rhyme instead.  He'll always be my baby, even if he doesn't think so!

But he's definitely growing up, too. We had a great conversation the other night about heaven, and he asked all of the big questions, most importantly WHERE IS HEAVEN?? I loved peeking inside his brain as he tries so hard to make sense of the hardest unknowns about this world. 

Noah is tender.  He doesn't like loud noises, and I made him cry (again) at dinner one night when I banged on the table to emphasize a story.  I try to not startle him so much. 

Noah loves Adam. And he loves Leah.  And he loves Emma.  He has a sweet and special relationship with each of them that is so fun to watch. 

Noah does not like to kiss on the lips like Adam does.  After watching his brother do it one night Noah leaned into me, somewhat uncomfortably and hesitatingly planted a quick one on my lips.  I told him that he didn't need to kiss me on the lips just because Adam does, and there have been several times since that he has happily kissed me on the cheek instead. 

Noah is a happy and avid reader.  He loves math problems, too.  School at home hasn't been too much of a challenge for him yet, and he's always looking forward to learning new things.

Noah is counting down to his baptism!  On his birthday he announced, "One year from today I will be baptized!"

Noah is a sweet friend.  He isn't rough and tumbly at all, he is very cautious in an attempt to avoid getting hurt, and he doesn't like roughhousing too much (except when Daddy pulls out the Nerf swords). 

Noah is responsible.  He takes care of his pup and unloads the dishwasher without complaint and is trying his best to take care of his things. 

Noah is funny!  He says things all the time that make us all laugh.  He may be the smallest of us all (for now) but he has no problem keeping up with conversations and jokes. We were looking at options for one of our favorite family traditions- an escape room in a box that is delivered to our house every other month.  I was reading the description for Escape the Titanic- which said, "The ship is already beginning to angle into the water, but your team has been tasked to head deep into the bowels of the ship to save an agent and to recover a cursed object which may have brought about the disaster."

And Noah immediately quipped- "It's an iceberg."

Noah is kind.  He always gives me a big hug when I've been gone and says, "You're back! I've missed you!" and when I leave he says, just like Adam, "Bye Mommy! I love you!  See you when you get back!" over and over again until I'm out of the house. 

Noah doesn't love riding his bike.  Too much potential for pain, but he humors me anyway. 

Noah likes fair. He wants to be a police officer when he grows up so he can help people make good choices. 

Noah still wears a unicorn night mask to bed every night (see the above birthday pictures). And he's a good sport who comes up with all of the silly and fun ideas his siblings put him up to.

Noah tries really hard.  He came down for church fully dressed and I was so impressed- mainly because he managed to fully button up his shirt inside out!

Noah is the best little buddy, and we are so glad he is in our family!  

Happy 7th birthday King Noah!