Banduccii's Pumpkin Patch

Last Wednesday for playgroup, Aidan and I and some friends headed to Banducci's pumpkin patch. This was our first time and I was mighty impressed. They had a great little set up that was geared for kids. We learned how a pumpkin grows, went through a corn maze, and thankfully didn't get lost, picked out a pumpkin, and unfortunately through some small ones into the pond. :-) It was such a fun experience and Aidan just loved it. He was very thorough with picking out his pumpkin. He started out with a big one and "hugged" it just the way the guide told him to, only to set it down and find a "smaller" one that was his size! :) He loved it!

Here is my little poser sitting on a cute pumpkin bench.

Aidan and Rigdon aka "Riggy" which is what Aidan calls him. They have the relationship of brothers; they fight, they play, they fight, they play! But this picture was taken when they were having one of their better moments!

Da boys! Rigdon Both, my little man, and Rocco Collins.

Me and Aidan inside the corn maze.

Double trouble! Aidan and Rocco

Here they are peeking out of the corn stalks. Aidan found an ear of corn and promptly said, "Oh look a mom a corndog!"

A scarecrow and a crow! Which is now what Aidan wants to be for Halloween.

Pumpkin Patch with my little man.... (warning! heaps of pictures to follow!)

Trying so hard to carry it around....

My little man huggin his "too big" pumpkin!

Aidan with some of his playgroup buddies.

Me and my little man

Now he switched over to a "smaller" one that was his size, and he loved the baby ones too!

50's Bop and Chili Cook-off!

This past Friday was a busy one in our household. I spent the day with some friends playing changy-rearrangy in my living room. Trying to figure out furniture placement in order to make my living room bigger. I think we pretty much achieved what I wanted, but not quite sure if I love it yet. (It's now starting to grow on me!) In between all the changing furniture I finished the poodle skirt and shirt I was working on for Laney's daddy daughter 50's dance at her school! It was a lot of fun to make, thanks to my friend Cyndi's MAJOR help. I never could have figured it out on my own! :) It turned out cute despite it not being pink as Laney put it. (Who would have thought that for school and her birthday when all she wanted was lime green clothes and scarves, that she would now want a pink skirt instead of a green one!) Anyway, while cooking chili and cornbread for our ward chili cook-off, I helped Laney and the hub get ready for the big dance. I was super excited for them and think they looked pretty darn sharp!

Not quite sure why my hubby has such a tough guy look on his face, but he sure played the part quite well don't ya think? I sure thought he looked "cool" in his "Danny" attire! He even wore white socks!
They had a wonderful time dancing to the jive and "Hoedown." They even had pictures taken at the dance that turned out adorable! Now if I can only figure out how to scan them in so I can post them.....

While they were out dancing the night away, me and the boys headed over to the church for the chili cook off. Little man fell asleep on the way over, but woke when I told them there was food and pumpkins. It was a relaxing night and the cultural hall was nicely decorated. I even won the grand prize for my chili! However, it wasn't my recipe; I called my friend Melinda for hers. She said she has never lost a chili cook-off with her recipe. It's a great recipe and Lemuel even liked it, which as most of you know is a big feat! Thanks Melinda for sharing your recipe and making me the "winner!" I brought home a ribbon, a little trophy and a bouquet of tootsie pops! It was a fun night for the entire family!

Garage sale shopping!

My friend Mandi introduced me to the world of garage sales! I love this mirror I got while doing just that one Saturday morning. I forgot to take a before picture, but this is the after picture. It was a not so lovely gold. I used some spray paint that I had leftover from last year, and distressed it with some brown paint I took from Mandi's supply. I love the look! It hangs proudly in our bedroom! And the best part is that it cost $2! Amazing!


I have been taking to heart the counsel that President Uchtdorf gave us in the Relief Society broadcast last October. He states,

The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty. Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children. You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.” If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination. But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy.4 Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things...What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside. If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it.

I love this talk and it really hit home to me when I reread the talk this summer. I would always sale myself short. I would not try something for fear of failing. I thought I out grew that trait I started in high school, but often I would find myself falling into the same circumstances. So with a nonexistent budget, I am finding things around my house to use or from garages sales for extremely cheap! It is amazing the things you can do with a little bit of creativity and a lot of inspiration from friends and blogs! I am happy trying and doing new things. It makes me smile and feel proud, and I think we all need to feel that way over something that WE have done! So go out and create! No matter what it is! JUST TRY IT!

Project table!

I am not really doing so hot in posting. It is October already and I just can't seem to catch up with all that is happening around here. I'll just go ahead and post some of the things I have been working on. This past month I bit the bullet and decided to refinish our kitchen table. As you can see from the picture below it was a nice ugly shade of blonde and just wasn't working with my children anymore. If you look closely you can see the marks from a permanent marker that leaked through the paper and stuck to the table. Plus the finish was starting to peel off. So, with a whole lot of sanding, and 1 gallon of black paint, some power muscles and a portable band saw of my friend Karen, (who cut the rounded part off of the chairs) I transformed it into something I am so much happier with.

Can you see the difference in the chairs from this picture to the bottom one? Sorry the pictures are not so great, they were taken with my phone since I couldn't find the cord for our camera!

I love it! It is big and black, but oh so much better! I love the chairs without the rounded top. It looks so much less country to me. It's amazing what a difference some elbow grease can do. It took a bit longer than I wanted it to, but it is done! Total cost of project $20 for a gallon of paint, and I still have quite a bit leftover for other projects around the house! Yippee!

Finally an update.....

Thank you for all of your concerns, yes we are alive! Sorry it has been awhile since I posted. A lot has happened in the last month. I still can't believe that we are almost into October.

Since the last post my Laney turned 10! She had her birthday at the end of August. She didn't want to have a birthday party this year, she wanted gifts. So we surprised her with clothes, clothes, and more clothes. That is all she really wanted, so it was easy! She started the first day of school on her birthday.



A week later I celebrated my 32nd birthday! I still can't believe I am 32....I still feel young I just don't look it anymore! ;) For my birthday the only thing I wanted was to spend some time at the beach. So we headed to Escondido so the hub could pick up stuff for work, and got stuck in MAJOR holiday traffic. We finally arrived at Ocean Beach in San Diego at 4:00 in the afternoon. We stayed until the sun set and then headed to some friends house for the night. The next day we were back at the beach around 10:30 or 11 and stayed until 5 o'clock! We had so much fun! The weather was in the 80's all day! Despite the crazy crowds, the kids were in heaven and boogie boarded the whole time. We headed back to the Wilson's and showered ate dinner and then headed back home. We missed all the traffic and had a very quiet ride back. The kids were pretty worn out. It was a perfect birthday!

Another event that took place after Labor Day was that my little man started a joy school! He loves going to school and loves that he is a big boy now! Once a week I get 3 hours all to myself! it seems a little strange, but I can get quite a bit done in 3 hours without having to stop!

He was so excited to get his own backpack for school. He choose a Spiderman one.

On September 12th we had our ward temple trip and headed to LA for the day. The kids did a service project of planting flowers at the temple grounds, the hub did a session and I helped with baptisms! It was a beautiful day and I love to be able to spend it with the kids as well. I think it helps them appreciate the temple a bit more.

In the mist of all of our crazyiness, our beloved cat Yoshi ran away. The kids have been very distraught. He was such a great cat and the kids really miss him.

There is so much more to post, but I gotta dash, I have a leadership meeting in an hour! I promise to be better. I have been fully chastised for not blogging enough! ;)

Hogle Zoo-Salt Lake City Utah

On August 1st we had a Crookston Family Reunion at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, Utah. We met up with my mom and my sister Amy and her boys. My dad and brother in law were playing a round of golf before meeting us for lunch. The kids had a good time despite the heat.

Laney, Will, Sam, Machi and little man just before entering the zoo.

Sam and my little man checkin' out some monkeys. Little man lookin' like one too!

Machi, Sam and Will by the cool new elephant that they built that makes noises and actually blows air through his nose!

This is all of my mom's brothers and sister and their spouses along with my grandparents. So neat to see them all together again! I know my grandparents loved having them all there.

Me and my herd with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Lucy.

Laney with Auntie Haleigh

Little man on Grandma's back with Laney by the gorilla's trying to cool of in the misters.

Little man the size of a toddler gorilla, despite not having go go gadget arms!

His hands don't quite match up!

Machi's are a little closer but no match for the gorilla.

Mine are pretty darn close although you really can't see it since little man was taking the picture!

Me and the kids in front of a new gorilla statue.
They have made quite a few improvements since the last time we were there.

Laney and little man riding the train with Will and my brother in law in the background.

Machi and Sam chugging along on the train.

Laney chillin on the playground.

Little man posin' by the giant caterpillar

My mom, sisters Haleigh and Amy, my pops, and Laney staying in the shade while the boys played on the playground.

Machi hiding out in a giant egg.

We had a great time and it was awesome to see all my aunts and uncles as well as some of my cousins and their children. Being in California, we don't get to see everyone very much. We met for lunch and then all went separate ways throughout the zoo. Wish we could have spent more time together talking and visiting, but it was good to spend time with everyone. I had a wonderful time visiting with my grandmother and she told me some fun little stories.