Pumpkin Patch {2nd visit}

10.23.12

On Saturday we went to Buckelew Farms, a different pumpkin patch from the one we went to a week ago {Agua Linda Pumpkin Patch }. Although the first pumpkin patch we went to was pretty nice it did lack good pumpkins not to mention that they didn't have any white pumpkins so I left that pumpkin patch feeling a little cheated and made it a point to visit another pumpkin patch to get nice pictures of the kids in the middle of them. We found just that at Buckelew Farms.

In dealing with my kids attitudes honestly I lay down the rules either before we leave the house or while we're in the car. I'm very straight forward and I never sugarcoat anything. I hate beating around the bush. There are times when one of them is in a bad mood and before we get to our destination we tell them that their attitude better change or else they will get grounded and have their electronics taken away. I also bring up that their bad attitude also puts a damper on the rest of the family and that I will not let either one of them ruin our fun outing. And you know what? They do listen because they know I mean business. Anyone that knows me good knows that I'm strict and I never give in. It's either behave or suffer the consequences.

This is why more often than not we end up having a great time when we're out. Also, what I like about the way Sydna and Nathan are is that they know their mom pretty well. They know what I expect of them, what upsets me, and to be available and have their eye out for me if I need their help. Sometimes I really don't need the help and once in a while I don't ask for their help but wait to see if they will assist me on their own ... and they do. I do this because I want them to remember to always be willing to help people even if they don't ask for help.

The few times that one of them is acting pissy I go up to them, remind them of what's expected of them and just leave them alone until their little episode passes. Jacob and I constantly bring up bible verses and God when we discipline or give advice. No, we don't throw religion in their face. We do this in an encouring way and how we are expected to live by His word. They listen and after several minutes their behaviour changes completely. We're not the type to listen to Christian music {maybe one day I'll start} and I believe Christmas music is just as meaningful also, I believe that country music is great uplifting music as well. We tend to listen to a lot of George Strait, Allan Jackson, and Garth Brooks. A lot of the songs the lyrics are deep and they touch my heart, our hearts.
I want to live my life like country music ... to have a close knit family, God in our lives, learning together, live simply, a lot of cozy times, hearty meals, and fun outings. And thanks to God we have all this.

Praise the Lord.

However raising a strong God loving family is a joint effort and the assistance of both parents is imperative. I don't pretend to know all the answers but it is obvious that we cannot be spiritual successful if we don't put God first. We hardly go to church and yes I wish we went more often but then again now as an adult I don't believe I have to go every Sunday to be right with God however I do believe it is very important to have our children go as much as possible. Maybe what we should do is this: aside from all of us going to church Jacob and I should take turns in taking the kids so the kids can go every sunday but it gives us adults a chance to get something done around the house then one of us can stay home and do that. I don't think it's hypocritical because it's the relationship one has with God that matters and not by how many Sundays one is at church.

Wow! This post really took a different turn than talking about our time at the pumpkin patch. I guess I got sidetracked because I was talking about how I lay down the rules before an outing and it went straight to God talk. I wont apologize though. Let's move on shall we.

We arrived at the pumpkin patch just before noon. Again this was our first visit to this one. I liked that they had ample parking and their pumpkin patch was huge AND they had white pumpkins. Woo hoo!

It didn't matter that I was about the only one wearing sandals, lol. Doesn't matter because you know I don't like the feeling of lotion on my legs so as soon as I got home I washed my legs and feet off. They did have wheel barrels but they were only to use from the wagon ride to your vehicle. That's silly. They should be available to haul throughout the patch! Anyway, we had fun looking for pumpkins in this massive patch. We even came across a rat. Sydna about freaked out. They don't bother me.

We typically don't buy food at these places because the times we have their burgers are less than desirable and overpriced so you feel duped ... but we do buy snacks and yummies. The kids got slushees and Jacob got kettle korn. He always has to buy some when we go to fairs or places like these. I wasn't craving anything {I'm more the pastry type}so after about two hours we left.

It was past lunch time so we stopped at Five Guys on our way to the house. This is the new location by the house.

After we ate and rested Jacob and Nathan went out front to play a bit of football ... so Riley and I tagged along. This little guy is going to love football just as much as big brother.

Then Sydna and Jacob played Othello while Riley drank his milk bottle. We had disneys A Christmas Carol on. That's his routine at night. We always watch a Christmas movie as a family before going to bed.

You know what my kids constantly say all on their own? When we're out for whatever reason they say that they want to go home and watch something cozy. Whether to them cozy means a Harry Potter movie, a Christmas movie, or a family movie it doesn't matter because what they feel is what they are referring to. The ambiance that we create as a loving family is what they long for. I love this!

A Birthday, A Game, & the Pumpkin Patch -1st Visit

10.16.12

Finally ... finally we got to experience 70 degree weather over the weekend. Perfect timing to enjoy my birthday. You bet I was happy.

I turned 37 years old.

I'm the youngest of my siblings. The youngest of my friends. And the youngest of my cousins of my generation. I'm also the only one from both sides of my mom and dads family that has a teenager, a pre-teen, and a toddler. With the exception of one cousin {Edna} I'm the second one from both sides of my family to marry someone of  a different race, but I married first. And with the exception of my sister Claudia I am the second one to be a right wing Christian Catholic conservative. I'm a cat person and my top 3 favorite actors are: Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford, and Bruce Willis.

I feel blessed to have a 15 year old daughter, a 12 year old son, and an almost 2 year old toddler. Having been married for 16 years and being only 37 years old. I pray that God continues to bless me {us} with good health, happiness, and a tight family bond with my husband and children.

After we got ready for the day on Friday we left the house to enjoy such a cool breezy day.

When my husband got home from work he surprised me with a bottle of Conundrum and of course a card. We had gone to two different stores in Tucson a few weeks ago that sell wine but unfortunately we hadn't found the one I was looking for. We had yet to go to BevMo and that would have really been our last resort to find this wine or else I would have had to order it online. So thankfully they had it at BevMo. I definitely wasn't expecting Jacob to buy me the wine. I drank a glass and it was as good as I remembered it to be.

Instead of a traditional cake I actually went back to Trader Joe's and bought their pumpkin cheesecake. It sounded so good to me ... and it sure was. I'm not a huge fan of cheesecake because it's just too rich and although this one was it was so darn delicious. You should definitely go buy one if you haven't tried it. Just make sure you eat a small piece along with milk instead of coffee. I will totally buy it again before they stop selling it.

*****

Saturday.

All I can say is: Extremely pleasant weather.

It was actually cooler Saturday morning than Friday. Nathan had a football game. We sat at our usual spot under the tree and it was soo fresh, breezy that Jacob, Sydna, and my inlaws said they were cold. They are such wimps. It was fresh but not cold. It was in the high 60's at 11:00am. We had not experienced this cool weather in months. Not even when we visited San Diego in July or late August. You know I loved it!

The rock collector.

Unfortunately Nathans team lost. They lost bad. Try 32-0. Ouch!

After the game was over Jacob took Nathan inside the Y so he could change his clothes. We had plans on going to the pumpkin patch. Felt bad he was sweaty but it wouldn't hurt him just this once. We first stopped to eat some good old carne asada tacos. Delicious! Then we drove 45 minutes South of Tucson to a different pumpkin patch. A lady that works at Gymboree told me about this one. She said it's super nice and what made me want to come to this pumpkin patch was that they had a petting zoo and other farm animals. We typically go to Apple Annie's but they don't have a petting zoo but they do have a great pumpkin field and awesome views.

We love farm animals. Jacob stayed behind petting the horse and I took Riley to visit with the donkey. I grabbed some grass/weeds and put them in his hand. I told him to give the donkey the food and he stretched his arm and the donkey picked it right off his hand. I was SO stocked! I think I was more excited than Riley was and I am so happy I got a picture of it. Of his first time feeding a donkey.

Donkeys and Shetland ponies remind me of our dog Peyton. It's true.

How cute is my little guy on here ... with his little head all to the side. I didn't have him pose like this. It was all him.

Jacob wanted Riley to visit with the horse. The horse was totally macking on the pumpkin. Riley thought the sound was funny.

Thankfully Riley is not afraid of animals but he is cautious. He made sure not to stand too close to the animals legs or mouth.

He wanted to see the roosters up close too.

Then it was off to the kiddie hay maze. It was so funny to see him inside the maze. It was his first time in a maze but he knew he had to walk until he found a way out. I'm also so happy I got the picture on the right. Doesn't he look funny? I love it! Makes me laugh out loud. He's totally having a great ol' time.

It was still partially cloudy, breezy and cool by 3:00pm. I loved all the trees they had here. They provided great shade. It was very comfortable.

Unfortunately after looking out to where the pumpkins were at I noticed that it looked scarce. We were a bit far but I couldn't see any pumpkins. I also noticed that the 20 people that were dropped off of the hay ride -only 3 of those people had pumpkins. That totally made me not want to go out there so we left.

I'm glad that the kids had a good time. Riley never whined once. We really all had a good time. Although this place lacked great pumpkins I did get several great shots. I'm thankful for that. Not to worry though, we will be making another trip to a different pumpkin patch in the next few days. I'm excited for that!

Apple Annie's Pumpkin Patch 2011

We drove to Willcox to Apple Annie's Pumpkin Patch and Orchard again this year. We first discovered them the year we moved here which was in 2009. It's about an hour and a half East of us. The temperature also seems to be about ten degrees cooler in Willcox. I like the patch, it's pretty big plus you can pick your own veggies as well. This time we just went there for the pumpkins and I also got a few large sunflowers.

This was Riley's 1st Pumpkin Patch experience.

Pumpkin Patch on the left.

They had this tractor trailer that took you to the far end of the patch. We walked instead since we had Riley's stroller and didn't want to leave it and have to carry him while we searched for pumpkins. Not really convenient.

They had the most prettiest sunflowers.

Had to walk past them to get to the pumpkins.

Nathan was in charge of the loppers for stem cutting.

Had him walking all over the area we were at whenever we saw a pumpkin we liked.

In search for our pumpkins.

Just look how big this patch is ... and this is just this portion of it. It is MUCH much bigger.

Me and the little guy.

(I sorta gave up on waiting for Riley to look at the camera. I just tell Jacob to make sure he gets enough background and not to worry if Riley is not looking at the camera ... just point and shoot.)

Riley helping out with carrying the smaller pumpkins to the wagon.

This picture I just LOVED the way it came out. NO EDITING to it whatsoever.

Sydna picking out a couple of her favorites.

The white pumpkins are so pretty and rare looking.

What a cutie!!!

Right after this picture was taken Riley leaned forward and fell/rolled in a small ditch scraping his right eyelid in the process. He was too fast for me to try to get to and prevent the fall.  Not a good thing to happen to a little guy on his first visit to the pumpkin patch. He was fine after about 5 minutes.

Took this picture because right behind Sydna a dust funnel had formed. You can see debris flying behind her left shoulder and dust on the ground.

Here's a bit of a close up.

I was somewhat nervous that the funnel would head our direction. I sure didn't want the little guy to get dust in his eyes.

Happy with our pick of pumpkins ... now on our way to the veggie barn where they had the smaller pumpkins, caramel kettle corn, slushies, and roasted corn.

Aren't these pretty?!

But first ... I just had to stop and cut myself some to take home.

Ok, I'm not a kettle corn person but the man that was giving out samples said it was caramel kettle corn, I immediately said yes to a free sample. The caramel sure gives it a way better taste than just plain kettle corn. I loved it and bought a bag all for myself.

♥ My Boys ♥

Riley still not caring much about posing and smiling for the camera.

Well, here's a tiny smirk while big sister is holding him.

Here we go ... happy to see a real big smile after falling in the ditch.

Poor little guy had red marks on his face from crying.

Their roasted corn had to be the most tender and sweetest corn we've EVER eaten.

I just wished I hadn't put on parmesan cheese on mine ... didn't like the taste.

Sweetness!

Once we left the pumpkin patch we headed over to their orchard to have a piece of pie á la mode ... my favorite kind of apple pie is the apple crum pie and theirs did not disappoint. The problem is finishing it because they give you such a large piece and the largest scoop of ice cream I've ever seen on top of a pie. 

These are the pumpkins we picked.

The three little ones were my favorite.

The stem on them I just simply loved. All three stems were different which gave them a cool look.