Come see our new house!

You’re invited to the

Crookston Family

“Meet and Greet”

Open House

Saturday, April 24^th

2 pm until 7 pm

At our new home!

905 Knowles Lane, Logan

(just off 10^th West and Three Point Avenue, about 400 South)

Questions call Lee or Becca

(435) 213-3279

"I bow my head and close my eyes and say a little prayer"

The night before we moved, we all had a bowl of ice cream (I needed it gone) during family scripture reading. After the ice cream was gone, and scriptures were over we said our family prayer still sitting at the kitchen table.
Laura bowed her head right into her bowl.

Purple Cast

Emma has a purple cast on. I think she has been doing great with it. She stayed off of her leg for a week, but it didn't slow her down any. She would army crawl anywhere she wanted to be. Now she walks on it. I don't really know how to keep a busy three year old off of her leg. Grandma told her to hop on the other leg. She does sometimes, but mostly she just hobbles on it as if was a cane, not much weight on it, just used for balance. I think she walks like a pirate, straight knee and a peg leg. She gets more x-rays done on the 14th. They will either take the cast off and leave it off or put on a smaller cast depending on how the bone looks. Three weeks isn't so bad, it could sure be a lot worse.

The InstaCare Called This Morning

Yesterday when Emma came out of story time at the library, she was limping. I asked Emma what happened and she said "Hurt". I asked Andrew and Toby (our neighbor that goes to story time with us) what happened, but they didn't know. I asked the teacher what happened and she didn't know. I figured she would be okay, just needed some time. When I asked her where it hurt she said "Knee". She has a scraped up knee from a few days ago. It is the only place on her leg that looks hurt. Later when she was still limping, I asked her what happened and she said "Boy". She then would agree with what I said. Did a boy knock you down? Ya. Was it an accident? Ya. Did he help you back up? Ya. Did he say he was sorry? Ya. And then I threw her a curve ball. Did your teacher see it? And she said No.
When she crawled into the kitchen I decided it was time to have a doctor check her out. I took her to the InstaCare and she got this sticker.
She told the doctor her knee hurt and when he checked her leg, she had two different places that she said "Ouch" to. They took four x-rays and the doctor said they looked okay and sent us home.
This morning the InstaCare called. A radiologist looked at the x-rays and thinks she should be put in a splint, just in case. The spot in question is just under her knee.
She is in a splint that starts at the top of her thigh and goes past her toes. She can't put any weight on her leg at least until Monday when she sees an orthopedic doctor. It's a good thing I haven't packed these yet.

How big is Laura?

I just weighed Laura. Fully dressed she is 19 pounds. She is almost 18 months old. Our doctor had us switch her car seats a few months ago. He said that even though she hasn't reached the magical weight of 20 pounds yet, she has good muscle tone and head control. She can have juice occasionally, but for the most part she drinks whole fat milk and an Ensure type product. He told me to give her full fat foods like cheese and yogurt. I can't even find yogurt that isn't low fat. She doesn't feel like it if you pick her up, but she is a pretty good eater.
Here is the funny part. This pink shirt is a size 9 month. It is Carter brand, which I remember with the boys (Emma was smaller too) was a brand that was sized small. So, if the tag said 9 months, they could maybe wear it up until they were 9 months old, but no later than that. Actually this shirt might be a dress, but it fits her as a shirt, so that might also explain the smaller sizing.
The two pictures were taken less than a week apart. This shirt is one I put on her in a hurry one morning. I grabbed it out of the laundry basket, but it is Emma's shirt. It is a size 4T. Emma has, I mean had, two shirts this style. They now belong to Laura. Just another example of my saying, don't trust the tag size.
P.S. The dress I got Emma for Easter is a size 6. Her legs are too long for smaller sizes.

USU Gymnastics Season

We enjoyed going the USU Gymnastics meets again this season. You just can't beat free tickets. The scores are sometimes closer than others, but USU didn't win any of the meets we attended. For a couple of meets Tyler and Andrew started watching the scores and realized that "we" didn't win. When we were in the car on the way home, either mom or dad would ask, "Who had fun?" They said, "Not me, we didn't win." We had a lesson about sportsmanship. (And also told them that USU hasn't won any of the meets we have gone to for the last four years.)
For the last meet this year (the only one I remembered to take the camera to), the boys got invited to watch a movie at the Merrill's house across the street just as we were leaving. They really do have fun at the meets, but of course they went to watch the movie.
The girls sure had fun. It was senior night, and they loved holding up the signs when it was the lone senior's turn.
I caught a shirt. Emma thought it was so cool. She opened it like a present, and Laura enjoyed the ribbon. I actually put the shirt on Emma, but it is an adult size large, so she took it back off. A few minutes later I caught another shirt, well, they threw it into the empty seats on our same row. I gave it to the lady sitting on the row behind us. Lee caught a shirt the week before, but as he caught it the lady sitting behind him scratched him with her fingernails (on accident) because she was trying to catch it too. She said something about her daughter (she was on the team) and Lee gave it to her.
We got a poster signed on autograph night and three of the gymnasts commented to Tyler about his dancing. We were sitting close enough to the bottom that they could see his great moves. He was also on the jumbo-tron a few times too. They told him to keep it up, and that he should be a mascot. It was a great season.

Green Eggs and Ham

I do not like green eggs and ham!
You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may, I say.
I make green eggs and ham for St Patrick's Day Dinner every year (it might seem like a breakfast food, but that is Lucky Charms). The boys are used to it, Emma needed some persuading, just like in the book. She is probably too young to remember that she ate it that way a year ago.
This year to accompany the green milk, green eggs, and ham (I don't attempt changing its color) we had rainbow muffins. The kids thought it was great, I thought they looked tie-dyed. They were a fun new addition to our food coloring altered dinner.
Andrew and Emma used the shamrock cookie cutter to cut their sandwiches for lunch. I bought the "new color of love" all green m&m's around Valentines (because I remembered last year thinking they had bags of green ones in February, why not in March?!) and put them with some gold wrapped Rolos in a cool container as a delicious display, but that was emptied long ago.
We had a fun day. Except Tyler said he got pinched a lot at school even though he was wearing lots of green. I guess grade schoolers haven't changed.

Parenting Advise

Scott (my brother) and Elise welcomed Gray Douglas Gibby into the world on Sunday, March 7th. (One week past his due date.) Scott and Elise will be great parents! They probably don't need this, but as an activity at her baby shower we wrote down advise and put it in a cute book for future reference. I ended up writing three pages! So, I guess if I post it here, you can also learn from my mistakes. (Is that why I had so much advise to give?)
Not in any specific order, here is the list.
*Enjoy the stage they are in. *Take lots of pictures. *Use shampoo with a pump lid, use all the other soap you get as a refill (babies are slippery when wet). *Don't trust the tag size, especially Carter brand. *Binkys are easier to get rid of than a thumb. Pull the plug like a band-aid, all at once. It will be harder for the parent then the child.*If you want them to keep a hat or bow on, start early. *Use a pre-wash, we like Shout. *Talk to other moms, you are not alone (and sometimes it is nice to hear someone else had a worse day than you did). *Have fun (from Tyler). *Presentation counts, kids might eat better when sandwiches have been cut with a cookie cutter, make apples fry size, cut string cheese and carrots into "coins", etc. *Don't leave pens in a child's reach. *Recycle, especially when they get to be school age. We have a special spot for each kid to hang favorite work, when their spot is full, they have to choose something to take down if they want something new up. *Make everyday fun. *Make a holiday funner than a normal day. *Know the symptoms of Mastitis, don't live with it. *Follow through, for both bad consequences and rewards. *For a tummy ache, rub clockwise. *Don't spank in anger. When upset, clap your hands; you might be surprised how much force you use. *Make stuff (from Andrew, he was talking about daddy making German Pancakes, but it could be crafts (even for boys) and other activities too). *Bath and Body Works sells small hand sanitizers that fit great in a purse or diaper bag and smell lots better that dirty diaper hands. *Every child deserves a mom that will take a shower and put a ribbon in her hair. *Before discipline think "Does this have an eternal consequence?" example: spilling milk-no, telling a lie-yes. *If nursing, (my cousin said, try it for at least eight weeks, don't give up...it is hard.) wear a bracelet that is easy to get on and off, and switch arms that you wear it on, so you know which side to start with during the next feeding. *Patience is a virtue most parents don't have. *Use the free diaper bag from the hospital as a trial run for a few weeks, then you will know what features you like or don't like if you buy a different one. *Adjust the switch in the mother's lounge, so you can hear the talk or lesson. (Yep, that mic the teachers complain about using allows you to hear the classroom.) *Don't be afraid of food coloring. It helps when potty training too, just a drop in the bowl and kids make the color change. *Start saving "pencils" (Tyler means Box Tops and Labels for Education, they both had pictures of pencils, the Campbell's logo just changed). *Baby oil helps get marker and temporary tattoos off skin. *Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works like magic, it can get marker, pen, crayon, and more off walls and furniture. *Check out Signing Time at the library. They make movies that are educational and entertaining. Sign up for Sign of the Week on their website. *Take a time out for yourself, not as a reward. *Laundry (and dishes) are never done. *Don't forget Family Home Evening, family prayer, and family scripture study; make it a habit early. *Don't threaten children with something you won't follow through with. *Go on dates, marriage comes before children.*Something that my aunt said that I really liked was, Each child is different, love them each individually and unconditionally.

So what is your favorite? What advise can you share with me?
P.S. Elise, some of these I didn't write in your book, I just remembered them. Thanks to Laura for reminding me about markers.

Under Contract

We are under contract!! We will be moving into this house the first week of April. It is here in Logan, but on the other side of the city. We will wait to change schools until next year, so we will be doing a lot of driving back and forth during the last two months of school. During the next few weeks we need to buy a fridge. (We would love to buy lots more new furniture, but that will have to wait.) Lee said he would bring home boxes from work today. Maybe that will help this move sink in, it doesn't seem real yet. Move number fifteen, here we come!

Happy Heart Day

Who taught her to pose like that?

Even though you can't tell, Emma's hair makes a heart. Happy Valentine's Day.

Does she get any happier than this?

Last week Laura had an appointment with the ear doctor. Before the doctor came in, the Physician's Assistant was checking her ears. He asked me how many ear infections she has had, and gave me a look of concern/disgust when I said I didn't know. Then he looked in her ears, he said that the left had too much wax so he couldn't see her ear drum, and that the right had some wax but he could see part of the ear drum, and it looked good. Enter doctor Scheuller. He asked me if she pulls at her ears, no. Does she seem to be in pain, no. Does she get a fever, no. How do you know she has an ear infection, a doctor says she does during a well child check. He gave me a head nod and said that's what he thought. Dr. Scheuller said that (just like Emma's ears) they have had fluid in them most likely all her life. The longer the fluid is there, the less that the symptoms bother the patient. This was her normal. Then he looked in her ears and said they had lots of fluid that was a dark amber color and that tells him that it has been there for a long time. (The PA was still in the room and I think he felt like he had just got caught making a mistake.) The doctor said that looking at her past visits, and hearing tests, and because she just finished a dose of strong antibiotics but still had fluid in her ears, it was time to do tubes.

Today was the day. We woke up way early in the morning, got kids ready to go to school and grandma's, and went to the McKay-Dee Surgical Center in Ogden. Laura was happy, even though she couldn't have breakfast or anything to drink.

Laura was trying to help the nurse by holding the stethoscope. She made the nurse make funny faces and laugh. A different nurse told our nurse it was no fair that she got the cute patients.
She had a fun wagon ride down the hall to the surgical room. The anesthesiologist told her to "smile for the scrapbook." I told him it was really a blog, he laughed.

The doctor said her ears were full of a thick syrup like liquid. (This should definitely help her hearing!)

After she was done, she wanted a drink as soon as she saw a cup. She downed a lot of apple juice, so much that she didn't want breakfast at grandma's later.She slept on the way home. Had a normal afternoon of fun with her siblings and then brought me her blanket. She sat on my lap for a couple of minutes and fell asleep again. I am, again, awakened to how things must seem new to her. Hearing things that she hasn't been able to hear before. Eating things that would now taste good instead of bland. It opens up a whole new world, so many new things to discover.

Since your going to the grocery store anyway...

Why don't you pick up a few speech classes with that ice melt.
A couple of weeks ago, as we were walking into the grocery store, we saw some of the teachers and early interventionists that worked with Emma in the Up to 3 program. They were out in the community to let people know about the services they provide. They were all excited to see us and we visited in the doorway, kind of blocking the exit, for a couple of minutes. Then Kathryn (Emma's service coordinator) asked how Laura has been doing. I told her that we still have concerns about her hearing, that we have appointments set up (again) with the ear doctor, and that she still doesn't talk (no mama, dada or other basic sounds). Kathryn filled out the appropriate form right there at the grocery store and qualified Laura for services. The next week they scheduled Laura for testing and a language sample. Kathryn said they were almost fighting over who was assigned to Laura, they all wanted to work with her. (We started Emma in the program when Laura was two weeks old, so they have watched her grow up.) I can hear my life getting busier, it is so worth it!

As a side note: We contacted Kathryn when Laura turned one, but she didn't qualify then. Since Up to 3 covers many disabilities including gross motor and Laura doesn't have any gross motor problems, and at 12 months children could have a vocabulary of eight words, she wasn't far enough behind. They put her on a watch list and were planning on checking up on her at 18 months. We just got a jump start on it, at the grocery store.

Michael Finnigan

There once was a man named Michael Finnigan, He had whiskers on his chinnigin. He shaved them off and they grew in again. Poor old Michael Finnigan.

Lee is not Michael Finnigan. This hair on his chin-y chin chin is the product of one month's worth of growth, taken right before he shaved it off.


He was getting some pretty strange comments though, he was told:
*He looked evil and sinister
*He looked more mature
*He looked like a Frenchman
*As he was shaving, Andrew told him not to cut it because he liked it...too late.
*I found it interesting that it had a lot of auburn in it.

Pine Wood Derby Marathon

The Cub Scouts did the Pine Wood Derby for Pack Meeting in January. It was on a Saturday, and the boys and dads got the cars to start working on that morning. They had a few different car designs pre-cut. The boys and dads sanded the wooden blocks.

Then they decorated them with markers and stickers. We didn't know we needed to bring markers or stickers, so it was nice that Tyler was able to borrow some. (I was surprised at how many of the dads I saw doing the decorating.)

They added weights to everybody's car to make them the exact same weight. Lee is helping with this part because Tyler wanted it to be like a person sitting in the car.

The Pack took a picture of each of the dads and boys. They will use them for the decorations at the Blue and Gold Banquet in February.

The race. Our Pack is done on the Stake level, so they had about 70 cars to race. The boys watched their car race four times, once in each lane, and then went and did different activities in other rooms while others raced. Tyler took second and third each time, he said he didn't win, but he didn't lose.

Here they are starting a Scout journal, and writing about the Pinewood Derby. Each family member made a page about the day. The leaders kept the journals and the boys will be adding to them during the year. The boys had to tie the covers and pages together which passed off knot tying.

They had certain ways they had to walk on the balance board. Walking sideways, forward, and backwards. Here Tyler is walking backwards. They even let the other kids try, so Andrew and Emma felt included on the fun too.

They did a few other activities like a high jump, a ring toss, paper cup races, and made toboggans out of candy canes and a candy bar that they raced down rain gutters.

Tyler passed off so many things at Pack meeting. When we got home and were signing off his book, he found other things he could do (like summer-salts, learning the turning hand signals for riding a bike, reading a book, signing the letters of his name, etc). We flagged the pages he worked on so the Wolf leaders knew what to update. He had over twenty new things signed off from that day.

Student of the Week

Tyler was picked as student of the week. (For the whole school, not just his grade or class!) He was excited to show me the bulletin board all about him when I came to teach art. He got a certificate to Cold Stone Creamery.

This is what Mrs. Pitcher filled out about him-
My name is: Tyler Crookston
I am in: 2nd grade
Something I am good at is: Math and helping others with math
Something special about me is: Amazing reading and fantastic drawer
Why I was chosen as student of the week: Has 100% of homework returned, winning Reflections entry, is kind and a bucket filler

[At Adams they talk about filling people's "buckets" and helping them feel good, instead of dipping into "buckets" and taking away from their self esteem.]