our first snow

We finally got some snow this year!! As soon as Timothy saw the snow outside he said "I want to scoop it up and dump it out." As soon as he was dressed, he was out the door, he found the snow shovel and was shoveling the drive! I had to snap a photo.

mailbox

Reid had a great idea he wanted the kids to paint our mailbox. They had a blast. I feared we would end up with a brown mailbox, but with a little direction they did great. And now the front of our house looks a little less sterile and a little more fun.

happy halloween

Does anybody else think I am in for trouble??

the pirate and the fairy princess.

Here is Charlotte's scary pirate face.

Charlotte's ballet class.

more riding

she rides

She can do it! Charlotte has been riding her bike without training wheels for about 2 months now!! She had been practicing some on her balance bike (before it got stolen), and was doing pretty well. Then one day, her friend Willow came over with her mom, Stacy. Willow brought her balance bike and she and Charlotte rode like champs for 30 minutes. Charlotte learned a lot from Willow in that 30 minute window, she really focused on picking up her feet and balancing more.
When we got back to our house, Charlotte wanted to try her big girl bike. The girl was determined. Stacy worked with Charlotte for 30 minutes and I couldn't believe how persistent Charlotte was-falling and trying again-numerous times. I think it really helped that Stacy was with her and not me. That's all it took-she has been riding ever since. She rarely needs help even getting started these days. She goes so fast that she is waiting on Timmy and I all the time. Timothy is riding his big wheel and sometimes I push him very fast just to catch up to her.
She is very proud of herself, and really wanted to be able to show everyone her riding. I let her know I was going to put this post on the blog, and she said "no!" at first, but I explained that she may not see some of you for a while and that she could show all of you then.
Her new skill has made a fun new outing for us, and next summer I am sure she will be riding along with us-we will have to teach Timmy next (and find a new balance bike too).

family adventure

We recently went on a family adventure. We headed to Laramie to see a football game, then we went on to the historic town of Centennial. Next we headed to Saratoga to soak in the hot springs. On our trip we got to go fishing, camp in our new popup camper, go inside a train caboose, and see an old fire engine. We had a great weekend.

pumpkin patch

We had a blast at the pumpkin patch yesterday with friends. We loaded up a van full of kids and headed just past Riverton to a beautiful patch with "thousands and thousands of pumpkins"-according to Isa. The kids had so much fun riding in the wheelbarrow, picking out pumpkins, rubbing pumpkins, and jumping around that we could have stayed all afternoon.

We already had our carving pumpkins at home, so it was fun to just choose some pretty varieties-green, white, striped, orange/red. I am such a sucker for color and form; I could have easily bought twice as many!

I have been meaning to post on here something Timothy said this week about our carving pumpkins. Charlotte and I picked the pumpkins out at the grocery store and placed then by the front door, when Timothy saw them later that afternoon he exclaimed excitedly "Mama, tomatoes for Christmas!!!" I have been laughing about that one all week. He was on the right track.

fall

It has been such an amazing Fall here. The weather has been mild for at least a month and the Aspens are now peaking. Timothy, Charlotte, Oma and I headed up to Sinks Canyon to meet the Schneider's for a beautiful afternoon walk, snack and, playtime. Charlotte fell asleep on the 10 minute drive and Oma was wonderful enough to stay with her while Timothy and I ventured out.
It looks as if we missed the whole month of September on the blog, so I have some updating to do. We have been super busy wrapping up summer, starting preschool, finishing house projects, selling a business, and starting a business.
Charlotte started preschool in September and goes to Child Development Services, CDS, 4 mornings a week (Charlotte cracks me up-she calls her school EFG instead of CDS). It took her a few weeks to get in the groove, but a field trip on the bus every week has given her something to look forward too. She and I have been reading a book about the butterfly life cycle, and we were out on a bike ride when all of a sudden she said excitedly "Mama, I see a butterfly hatching from a tuba!". She meant pupa of course, and I was cracking up. She is making such leaps emotionally, mentally, and physically lately. Look forward to a blog post soon where she will announce some of her new skills. For one she is an accomplished liar these days, sometimes she even fools me. She has more patience with her brother and they now play wonderfully together and get into much mischief together as well. At school she has been learning about Fall, working on her letters, and learning teamwork. She has gotten pretty goofy lately, and it is pretty funny to watch.
Timothy has been silly right along with her. He still follows along with whatever she does, but is starting to have directives of his own as well. He is full of words and sentences and is quite a good talker. He is still as particular as ever and knows just what he wants and is getting a bit better at letting us know what that is. Lately if he is talking, and you answer or join in his conversation, he will let you know that he was not speaking to you. He says "No, I was talking to ______." Sometimes in the mornings he will shower me with kisses and then say "Give me kisses, I like kisses." He melts my heart. He is such a boy, he greets anyone he is excited to see with a growl/yell, and it is fun to watch him get excited about things. We went camping this month in our "new" popup camper (we sold the airstream this month), and Timothy talked the whole week before about our upcoming adventure in his camper. I have really enjoyed the fact that he has spoken early and often, it gives me insight into him and his thoughts. I did not know that children his age were capable of so much.
Reid sold his frame shop!! And is on to dreaming of new ventures. I am very proud of him.
I am sure there is much I am forgetting, but hope to have more time this month for posts. Thanks for hanging in there :)

construction zone

 

Our house has been busy this week-track-hoes, drywall, and concrete-oh my!! The highlight so far for the kids was the track-hoe that came on Monday to dig a huge hole in the yard, and make a huge pile of dirt and rocks right next to it! Oh boy some clean-up ahead. We have been working to drywall the section of wall that was removed, pour a concrete pad for the wood stove to sit on, and put in an egress window in the guest bedroom downstairs. It has been exciting and I do love seeing things coming along.

coconut

 

 

 

The girl is obsessed with the word "coconut" lately. I am not sure how it happened but she calls everyone "coconut". I must hear that word 50 times a day (better alternative to some others that have been flying out of her mouth lately). Uncle Grant and Aunt Leah had the great idea to buy the girl a coconut so she could see just what it was all about. She had fun trying out the milk and the fruit, and maybe seems slightly less obsessed with them now?

uncle grant and aunt leah

What a fun visit we had with Uncle Grant and Aunt Leah (minus of course the 24 hr stomach flu that everyone but Charlotte took their turn at getting). Charlotte and Timothy just love having family visit and always hate to see them go.

Sleeping in the living room (or pretending anyway). The moments that they play together well are just heaven around here. They get to enjoy each other and work together. Here they gathered all the pillows, babies and blankets they could find to make themselves a bed.

Camping at Green River Lakes.

playdate

Charlotte and Timothy have found some great friends in Isa and Sylvi. They all seem to get along remarkably well, and it gives us moms a little break. Today they played hopstotch outside in fairy costumes, or with trucks in hand (the usually accessories for Timothy these days).

maiden voyage

The kids had fun pretending to be captain's of their own boat in the creek right at our campsite.

string to leigh

We went camping last weekend at the base of the Teton Mountains. We put our canoes in on String Lake and paddled over (with a small poratge in between) to Leigh lake and our campsite, 14A. We were joined by our friends Lauryn, Jordy, and Baby Whit (you should definitly check their site for lots more Schell photos). We had an amazing time. I cannot believe what a difference a year makes as far as the ease of camping. Charlotte fell asleep in the canoe both on the way to the site and on the way home. And she and Timothy were so content and played so well that I should have brought a book to read.
Our campsite was perfect for kiddos; a small stream running through it for play, a sandy beach along the shore for more play, warm mornings and very few bugs. There was a big waterfall not 5 minutes from our site, and pretty big trout in the lake too. This will definitely be a trip we do again.

just fine

As you can see, the kids were just fine while we were gone. I heard a rumor that mid-week, Charlotte stated she did not want Mama and Papa to return she wanted Granny, Grandpa, and Brook to stay forever. Hmmmmmm, I wonder why???

our pack trip

We had a blissful, quiet time with each other and four beautiful horses. The fishing was easy and we had 2 dinners of trout. At one point, I got tired of pulling the fish off of my hooks and I just stopped fishing! Pretty unbelievable. There were moments where we lacked anything to do but sit and be quiet.
It was fun to see Reid use skills that I have never see him use (horse-packing), and it was fun to learn from him, and fall in love with him all over again. I loved plodding along on the trail, it was a bit meditative to ride and get lost in the view and the clip-clop of the horses feet. But that moment only lasted a short bit as there were things to do-check to see if the horses still have their shoes, rein Bob in as he is trying to pack and eat again, check the paniers to see if they are riding okay on the pack horses, keep my horse, Rojo (roha) in line as she likes to let her mind wander.
It was just the vacation I needed. Reid's father, Frank. asked when we returned if I was homesick---uuuumm, no. I love those little buggers, but I knew they were just fine.

we're off

Reid and I are headed out for 5 days on horseback into the Wind's, need I say more :)

segment #11

The last of our vacation pictures. There were so many good beach pictures, and I am sure I will find more to post later-but for now I chose to post some of my favorites. They just feel so pure, and free. Which is the way the beach felt when we arrived each morning at 6 am -the best time to be there!