The Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday, we took our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. The Grossen's came with us this year. The Barn seems to have changed things a bit with when they make hayride runs so it was more busy and I think we came at a pretty slow time.


Traditional Family picture 2009

(Love the big rig in the back! :)

Traditional Family Picture 2006

I love to see these time changed pictures. This was the first year we went. We didn't go in 2007 and I forgot my camera last year.

When the tractor pulled up to the patch and Max saw all the pumpkins he was soo excited, and started saying "pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin" over and over! He LOVES pumpkins. One of his books has a pumpkin in it and he learned to recognize it pretty quickly. He calls it a "bundin". As soon as I got the pumpkin candy buckets out he puts things in them and carries them around.

My strong man, unloading the kiddos. Two looks like a handful. I can't imagine 3! And, NO I am not implying anything!

Max was totally into venturing out to explore. He just took off. Although navigating the terrain gave him some trouble.


Zac looking for just the right one. (It was a beautiful day!)


Max wanted to stand and sit on the pumpkins most of all.




I grabbed a few pumpkins for me for my porch. I am not so into carving pumpkins. I am going to try something else this year. Inspired by my friend, Shelly. Now, if we can just fit pumpkin activities in with costume making ;)

Then we all went back to get some fantastic doughnuts and AMAZING apple juice...I am craving it right now! It was soooo good. I'm not a fan of biting into an apple (weird childhood dislike caused by crooked teeth, that has stuck with me). So the juice is like drinking delicious crisp apples. I wish we had bought another gallon!

Then we went to a friends and enjoyed a victorious BYU game (obviously, not yesterdays . . . :(

Kitchen Repainted

Here are the before and after pictures of our kitchen and family room. We finished the kitchen back in October.


Before (Summer 2007)


Mid


After


(Jon got these great stools from work. The office was getting rid of them. I really like how they look and the style. But they aren't the most practical for little kids and their messes.)


Jon also installed hardware on the cabinets and drawers. There was none before. It was a very detailed project and Jon did great! And it was just what we needed for the finishing touch.


The kitchen was inspired by: http://lifeongrace.blogspot.com/2009/04/retro-cottage-kitchen-and-painted-wood.html

This is what the family room looked like right after we moved in. We painted it last year.


We finished this room in the fall.

(Back posted on Jan 17, 2010)

As of Late

Here are some random pictures of what we've been up to lately.

This year I ended up making the boys' costumes. Probably a bad idea. In the end they are going to be more expensive and have taken tons of time! Zac is going to be Batman and Max will be Robin, the comic book versions. We had a few Batman elements already and Zac really wanted to use them. But I couldn't find pajamas that would be the right color for the base of the costumes. So I had to make them, and even at that, it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I couldn't find any stretch knits (t-shirt/sweat shirt) material in a bright green so I had to go with flannel. It worked ok, but not ideal.


So I have been working on the boys' costumes any chance I can get, and I am still not done! (We also decided to do costumes for ourselves this year, which also have to be hand made....well see how that works out (pics to come, as we haven't even started yet!)...next year will be simple :)

I love this picture of Max!


Then it was Dave's Birthday so I made him a Birthday Cake and we went and sang to him at his apartment.

And we started a very big project: painting the kitchen cabinets. Here they are after being primed.


"After" pictures to come later.

Jon reading with the boys. This was too sweet to not take a picture.



This is a common occurrence while mopping the floor. . . a fort with the chairs. It takes quite a bit more work to mop when a fort is involved. But the boys love it (and it keeps them off the floor for . . . 5 mins? :P). I just hope Max soon realizes the fragility of some forts. Its a lot of work to come in every few minutes to "fix it". After a few times of fixing it, the couch cushions became jumping pads instead of walls-much less maintenance.

Little Sewing Projects

I saw these at the Swiss Days and I thought they were so cute! So I looked online and found the supplies needed to make them. They are pretty quick and easy. And they make it easier for me to lock my car with 2 kids in tow and unlock it when coming back with 2 kids in tow.

I made 2 others with different fabric, but somehow the picture got lost. So I will have to make them again. These are what I am giving for my "Craft it Forward". So that's Emily, Callie and Radene. I already gave Emily hers when she had her 3rd baby a few weeks ago. How are you doing by the way?!


Then I also made these 2 little boy receiving blankets for my friend. She had her first boy after 2 girls. It was fun and easy to make these.


And I made this Ikea pillow case for Rachel. It was really simple too-after I figured out how the pattern measurements were wrong, that is :)

I like this fabric so much I am going to incorporate it into my house too! It looks like it belongs on my couch :D


I love making simple, quick things. It makes me feel so accomplished!

Projects This Weekend

Since I am sooo behind on blogging, this was a few weekends ago.

Remember this?

and this?
and this?
Well after 6 months or so, it is now this . . .


I LOVE it!!!! I love having my space to spread out, and there is a place for everything and it is accessible when I need it.

Also, our ceiling fan broke so we installed a new one. We had really been wanting a new one so it was perfect timing.

The Melting Pot

We got to go with Rachel and Jeremy to celebrate Rachel's birthday and their wedding anniversary.

We went to the Melting Pot.

Here Rachel and Jeremy are trying to decipher the menu. It wasn't in a different language, but there were so many options to choose from (but not as much as the Cheesecake Factory).



Check out this silverware!! This is the same silverware my parents had when we were little! It was funny to see it again and very nostalgic. A three pronged fork?!


I normally don't take pictures during meals, but this was a one of a kind place. We decided to get the whole sha-bang. $78 per couple, for the whole 4 course deal (not worth it! More on that later).

We got house salads, which were bagged, and a little brown at that. Then the cheese course. The cheese fondue part was really good. We got a Mexican cheese and a spinach artichoke cheese (and they were out of spinach . . .) They give you some vegetables and apples to dip. The carrotts were dry . . . I love the apples in the artichoke cheese dip. Then we got the meat course. You choose a cooking method. We both chose a poaching method (boiling in chicken broth). I suggest doing a saute one. The potatoes never cooked all the way through. I think the broth had some kind of wine in it. . .it tasted a bit funny. Personally, I only liked the filet minon meat-it was sooo good, even though we over cooked it a little bit.

This is the meat course. The plate looked really pretty with all the meats (such as "marbled meats" . . .)


Then the dessert was really good too of course! We got a white chocolate and a turtle chocolate (with carmel and pecans). As far as the treats to dip, they are basically the same as Zupas fondue. But the chocolate dips were amazing.

We were pretty full when we left. I have heard before that people don't get very full eating here.

All in all, I think we would go back, and just get the cheese course and dessert. But perhaps we'd leave still a little hungry??

Steam from the stove top and us


It was a really good time. I always love going out with these guys. And I wish we did it more! We live so close for the time being. We need to be better at planning. Rach- when are you guys coming for dinner and bringing Monopoly??

Little Sahara

I wish I had done this earlier, while the trip was more fresh in my mind. Let's see how much I can remember.

Right after Zac's last soccer game where he got his trophy we packed up the car and headed to the Sand Dunes. My Parent's family did the annual family weekender there this year. It was a lot of fun. We camped, and Jeremy (BIL) brought his family's Ranger.

We got there about lunch time. When we arrived Lexie was getting cleaned up after a run-in with the dashboard. Poor thing. She thought she had broken her nose (and probably did since it was still hurting a week later), and she had a small gash on her nose and eye brow. But she was in good spirits and didn't seem in too much pain.

It was sure hot. I was so surprised how warm it was since it was the end of September. It was hot during the day and nice at night.


Then the boys started a game of horseshoes. To be honest I didn't pay attention at all to the score. I don't even know the rules or how to get points. All I know is "all that matters is where the shoe ends up" . . .


Max loved that Rachel shared her gushers with him. I think ever since then he always wants to be with her when she is around.


Rachel also shared her water with him, which then became his water :)


Lexie and Zac having an etch e sketch competition.


Lexie and Ben (yes, her BF came) making lunch.


Our first family ride on the Ranger.



The boys jostled around the whole time. It seemed pretty hectic. I tried to keep Max's head somewhat supported so he wasn't leaning forward all the time. He had a bike helmet on and it was so heavy for him. Zac loved and I think Max liked it ok. He wasn't mad that we took him off, but he didn't want to climb back on right away.

Max thought it was cool to sit on the 4-wheeler all by himself.


He also LOVED playing in the dirt. There wasn't much sand right at the campsite but that didn't stop him. Just like at the beach he loves to put it i and dump it out, over and over.






We use a sunscreen stick for faces, and the dirt stuck to the grease so bad. This is Max after his face was wiped. We was eating Halloween Oreos, not dirt :)


I just thought this picture was funny with his finger right in front of his face


Oh yeah, and reader beware . . . spiders! Yes, black widows to be precise!! The rest of my family went up a day earlier and discovered the many black widows in the bathroom. Luckily, my mom was able to get a hold of me and tell me to grab some spider killer. It was so comforting to have.

I actually think this one was killed with the spray before the picture. Before we left, I counted 14 black widows, 2 of which were the only ones still alive. They were on the ceiling not reachable. But they appeared to have NOT moved the entire time-going in the bathroom was VERY eerie!


The boys would have been ok wearing bike helmets, but I couldn't get a hold of anyone to be sure. So we rented a couple for them at Toy it up, just in case a Park Ranger stopped us. Zac's was so big and heavy, but he still liked it.


After we went out a couple times with the boys, Max started to make this funny humming sound. At first we thought it was whining because he wanted to get off. But in the end it seemed like he was mimicking the sound of the Ranger's motor. And he liked it, even though he could barely keep his posture. It was pretty funny.

Zac's sweaty head taking a rest from the helmet.


On Saturday Night one of Jeremy's friends, whose dad co-owns Polaris or something like that, brought 2 more Rangers. It was so fun to ride around with everyone, even though having kids aboard was limiting. We all went out to get a family picture.


It was a fun trip and I am glad we got to go. This totally makes me want a Ranger. So much smoother and capable than 4-wheelers!