Christmas

We have had a blessed Christmas, lots of family, lots of food, lots of presents, lots of fun, lots of stuff to unpack!!
Today we are playing, unpacking, washing, cleaning, burning (trash), and enjoying time spent at home just to play and do whatever!!!!

We began our Christmas fun with Grandma Nikki on Friday evening, she came to our house, we unwrapped, and unwrapped and unwrapped some more!! We are very thankful with our biggest gifts being, Brandon - a very wanted gun cabinet (safe), Lori - a Chi hair straightner, Tayden - a kitten cooner coon light , Tucker - a DS
We are very grateful as Grandma Nikki usually goes a little overboard with her shopping!!!!!! I try to tell her every year to not buy as much and do less, but she doesn't listen!!!

We then got to see Grandma Charlotte, and Grandpa Jim (Brandons Grandparents.) It was fun, relaxed, older kids, a little sad( we miss Aunt Annette)!! We appreciate our monetary gift from them!!!!

Next was Christmas Eve at Grandma Chucks(My grandma)!!! Wow I remember leaving there and singing Grandma got ran over by a reindeer, being very very giddy in the back of the mini van when I was a little girl!!! The chicken salad sandwiches were great and we enjoyed the gift of homemade food!!

Christmas Eve we then headed to Glenwood, MO to great aunt Lindas (Blbs great aunt), where there is a lot of laughter, some untraditional fun!!! Late nights and we head home to get ready for SANTA!!


SANTA did come to our house, the boys even left feed and hay for the reindeer and then the reindeer even left droppings!!!!

As soon as we were showered and ready we headed to Grandpa Gary's and Grandma Suzy's (mom and dads) . 10 grandkids + 8 adult kids = fun and lots of noise. We had a great time and the yearly homemade gifts were fun as normal!! I will do more on that later! Presents Highlights were Brandon - ProV 1 golf balls, Lori - pressure canner, Tayden - camera and lincoln logs, Tucker - hot wheels wall track

When presents were opened and fun was had we headed to Grandpa Dickies (blbs dad)
Grandma Lisa and uncle bradly were also ready to see us!! Presents highlights - Brandon - knife and $$$, Lori - scentsy warmer (and boots ) $$$, Tayden - Mario Brothers DS game, movie, Tucker - wall tracks and Toy Story Dump Truck!!
We enjoyed time with them and even a NAP!!! It was fun and Brandon and Dickie always hunt in the afternoon!!!

Today we are home for a while at least...

Merry Merry

As we all know,... this is my favorite time of year. Kids are excited, love life, and really happy. Families are bonding, planning food, and keeping each other company, lambs are being born, and the joy of all babies is amazing. Teachers are counting down the hours until Christmas break, moms are wrapping and trying to make Christmas perfect!!!!
I reflect on the things in my life around Christmas. I realize how lucky I am to have a family, a home, a husband, and all the extended family around!!!!
I am only focused on getting through tomorrow, then let the fun begin. HO HO HO we will be home!!!!
Merry Christmas!!!

ps most know the other reason I really like this time of year!???!!

Life

Life is full of adventures. Some are good, some are bad, but they all make us stronger. One of my favorite quotes.
"What doesn't hurt (kill) you, will only make you stronger!"
I am only 26 - soon to be 27 and I have a pretty good concept of some challenges in my life already. The 1 thing I can always find that is positive is my health and the healthy family( extended and all) I have. This weekend my husband has taken Tayden deer hunting. He loves it they both love it and enjoy the time together and the excitement. Tayden shot the biggest buck he has ever shot on Saturday afternoon.
He is a nice 9 pointer and Brandon, Tayden, Tucker and I were very proud of the little buck killer!!!

However, one of these days the 7 year old is going to fall and probably hard, because hunting isn't always that easy, exciting, and you don't always see big deer!!!

Life - I guess the life skill I am thinking about is... While the excitement and positives are going on hold on and enjoy, however sooner or later you will fall, and probably fall hard!!!!

That is life and we will hold on to the roller coaster that god has chosen for us!!

It is sometimes hard to have faith, find joy, peace and love!!!

Thank God for kids

It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!!!
I have listened to Christmas music today, made some Christmas candies, enjoyed company, and I think the song below sums up most of the magical Christmas feeling!

The Song Thank God for Kids by Kenny Chesney pretty much sums it up!

If it weren't for kids have you ever thought
There wouldn't be no Santa Clause
Look what the stork just brought
Thank God for Kids

We'd all live in a quiet house
Without Big Bird or a Mickey Mouse
And Kool-aid on the couch
Thank God for Kids

Thank God for kids there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile
Do you ever stop to think? or wonder why?
The nearest thing to Heaven is a child

Daddy how does this thing fly?
A hundred other where's and why's
You really don't know but we try
Thank God for Kids

When you look down in those trustin eyes
That look to you, you realize
Its love that you can't buy
Thank God for Kids

Thank God for there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile
Do you ever stop to think? or wonder why?
The nearest thing to Heaven is a child

When you get down on your knees tonight
To thank the Lord for his guiding light
And pray they turn out right
Thank God for Kids

Thank God for Kids

Nice or Naughy???

Tomorrow is December 1 and I finding myself using the well, that is naughty or oh I am glad you will be nice for that.
I do like the season! I do like the excitement, joy, happy, eager kids. They are fun and it is a fun time of year!!!!
Will you be on the nice, or naughty list this year????

Happy Thanksgiving

A day late... oops.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all, hoping you had a great day filled with food, fun, family and all the entertainment you need!! We did and I will say that I am thankful for the extended family on all sides of our family.
We are working on a new project at this house... -pictures to come.
We got new windows on Tuesday so, things are in a mess.
We didn't have our children from 5:00pm Tuesday through 11:00 am Thursday- Thanks Aunt Missy!!!
It is only Friday and we have the whole weekend ahead of us to enjoy!!!!

Happy Black Friday!

Wreaths

W- we made it
R- really we made that many
E - excited we are done
A - awesome work
T- thanks
H- help was awesome
S - so long!!!

We did it. We made 350 wreaths for the 4-H club!!! We completed it this afternoon about 3:00pm.

Shuneum Seasons has filled the biggest order yet. It was fun, overwhelming, entertaining, worth it and to know that we can do it and continue our normal schedule is AWESOME!!!!
Thanks siblings for the quality amount of time spent in the shop!

Happy 7th Birthday Bug!

Tayden Lee Bish - 7 years ago today!!

This was the day our official family begun!!! We became a family of 3 and boy oh boy is it fun!

Happy Birthday Tayden Bish!!! 8lbs 3oz 201/2 in long. Born at 11:30 a.m.

Introducing...

The new addition to our family farm is Wilbur. Wilbur was born on September 11th at Grandpa Garys farm. His mother is Penelope and she has been taken to another home now. Wilbur has 3 black sisters and they are at the homes of the 3 sibling of mine. We got the boy, because we have 2 little boys at our house. He will entertain us for the next few months before he becomes the bacon in our freezer. The boys really like him and he has already be teethed by the dad at the house because he bit Tucker not long after he was home. So wish us luck and we now have a horse, pig, goat, sheep, cows, and chickens on our farm!!!! oh and dogs!!! Lucky us we have 1 of everything!!!

Wreaths

Today starts the day that I will begin helping, assisting, making 300 Christmas wreaths. Last year we began Shunem Seasons with making some Christmas wreaths and some, (some) money. Well this year we are going to make the wreaths for the 4-H club to sell and they ordered 300!! YIKES
The big question is CAN WE DO IT?????
The Shunem Seasons business is ran by my parents, 2 sisters, 1 brother, 2 brother in laws, 1 sister in law and my husband and I!!!I will keep you posted on the progress. Leslie (teacher sister ) and I have been making bows on the way to school and home!!!

Tucker

We all know that Tucker is a sick little boy, now granted he could be a lot sicker, ya know!? (cancer, leukimia, heart problems, birth defects) Those are things that happen to little boys and we think oh my!!! The 4 year old at this house has allergies and breathing issues, we have taken steriods for 5 days and he is no better, therefore we called the chiropractor and we got in we are taking vitamins and go back tomorrow. I think he is somewhat better, but no drastic change. We are avoiding milk, we are lowering sugar levels and eating whole foods, fruits, vegetables, and mostly meats. We are changing things to see if it will help his health, attention, wildness and his overall self. We will keep u posted on how things go!

Mommys biggest buck

Yes I killed a buck during early muzzleloader season. I shot a deer a few years ago, well about 4 and I have hunted 1 other season and then I missed, therefore I got a tag, so I can go because the weather is nice, the kids can go to Grandpas and it gives me and Brandon some quality time. He also enjoys hunting anything with any of us. So we went Sunday morning got up got the kids ready dropped them off, all before sunrise and we were setting in the blind, thinking no probably nothing with come out, then here he came. Trotting the what seemed like a huge deer ran, Brandon grunted and I shot. Game over deer was dead and I was excited, Brandon was excited, the boys were excited and the oldest said, "mom my deer is bigger than that!" , "but good job mom" Therefore we are the proud owners of another antlered deer!


Look out Lee and Tiffany here we come! (a famous t.v show of Iowa hunters, husband and wife, The crush)

New Look

Well, the blog has a new look and hopefully it will work okay!! We got family pictures taken yesturday and it was fun and adventerous!!! Thanks Mrs. Beeler.
there are sneak peaks at http://beelerphotography.blogspot.com/2011/10/utt-sisters.html. Help yourself and see!!

Please try to comment, I have heard there was trouble with that! I am anxious to see what the trouble was!

10 point Buck!!!

Tayden had a great week last week a doe on Monday and a 10 point buck on Sunday!!!
Way to go Tayden!!!

Tucker actually hung out with Grandma Lisa and Grandpa Dickie while Brandon and I went with Tayden in the deer stand! Tucker thought the buck was pretty awesome when we pulled in the driveway!!
I am not sure who was more proud of the buck, Tayden, Mommy, or I think maybe DADDY!!!!!!
He says, "That boy can shoot a gun well!"

Fun to get to see him kill his first buck. Tayden did say when we took this photo, "man i wish my brother was here!" (so glad they do love each other although very seldom shown!)

1st Buck 2011
10-3-2011
10 point typical

3rd Annual Chuck Utt Reunion

Cub Cadet rides THANKS PAPA GARY

The whole bunch, with exceptions of the photographer and a few others that weren't at that time.

Mayson is a cheessseeer!

Gotta love the fun with cousins!!!

1st Deer 2011

Tayden Lee Bish
1st Deer killed on 9-26-2011

Tucker had to be in the picture too!!!

Thanks Daddy for taking me for 3 days in a row!!!
It was quality bonding time for them both and Tayden stuck to it until he killed 1 this evening.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for the help!!

He even had to help gut the deer!!! Daddy says if you are big enough to shoot em then you are big enough to gut em!!!!
Overall Tayder Bug was pretty excited and has officially killed his first animal!! One proud boy, daddy, mommy and little brother!!!!

Calling All Communities

We are working very hard at school for a chance to win 50,000.00 for school. U.S Cellular gives away money to the top 18 schools who vote for their school. SCR-1 Elementary is in number 29th spot and we need to be at least 18!! There are 12 days left to vote and we would like all the help we can get! Please spread the word and help us out!!! Go to a participating U.S Cellular store, get a voting code, enter your code everyday at uscellular.com every day for the next 12 days!!!! PLEASE HELP US build a new playground!!!!!

Blessed

I know I am blessed in many ways, however I don't even think about small things until an stranger says, "just be glad they are asking for fruit!"

We went to the Dutchman Store tonight. Yes I needed groceries and the boys and I loaded up and headed that way. I was going to buy fruit, veggies, milk, eggs, you get the point. Groceries! We were just started through the store when Tayden says, "oh mom, what about green apples." I said "yes Tayden and what color of grapes."
A complete stranger (hispanic-yes odd in Cantril, IA) says, "hey just be glad they are asking for fruit."
That is what I reflect on when I forget I have good eaters, they eat most everything and are very easy to fix for, especially the 1st grader who no longer gets snack.
I also have a friend at work who constantly says, "well, not your kids because they will eat all kinds of rabbit food!" (love ya Mrs. Beeler)

Moral to the story - I am happy I have good, unpicky eaters!!! (what can I say I like FOOD!!)

happy thirsty Thursday (hey they called it that on the radio)

baby goats

I believe this name is Brownie.
We were at the Salebarn on Saturday and Tucker got to buy not 1 but 2 baby goats!! They are pretty darn cute if you ask me and they are pretty nice.

We just had a little bad luck. Snowflake tried to get to the pond and got stuck in the mud. We didn't find him in time and he is resting peacefully in the ditch. Life lessons have been learned several times with our animals on this farm!!!

Roosters

I truly enjoy my chickens on the farm, and I also enjoy the roosters!!! I have a rooster ring on my phone that I really like, I have a rooster Lucky in the barn that I really like( the others are plain red and black) I even enjoyed taking a picture of the large rooster place we ate at in Branson on vacation in June!!

Just an odd obsession of mine I thought I would share as I was looking through pictures!

Green Beans

I am proud to say I am on my 4th canner of green beans!!!! Yeah, last year I didn't have enough to can, this year I have had to baby my beans this year with water, but it has paid off, I believe I have 26 quarts canned with a 5 gallon bucket left to snap!!!
I also have enough tomatoes to do 16 pints of salsa!! That is all the canning for now, and I am okay with it, until my 2nd batch of beans begin to produce more.

O wait I guess I froze 7 bags of sweet corn!! Thanks to buying the corn!

Exciting post coming up as soon as I get a picture!!!!

1st Day of Preschool

Yes I have 2 children getting on the bus!!

They were waiting and being quite silly if I do say so myself!!!

The 1st day for Tucker, day 5 for Tayden and he is still getting up and being quite happy to get on the bus!!!

Tucker Ross Bish's 1st day of Preschool 2011!!!!

I captured the moment of them getting off the bus as well, I will admit today was day 1, but when I got home and the bus wasn't there yet, I sat by myself and thought, "wow, i guess it is quiet and this is odd that I am home waiting on them"!
Tucker had a rough night at home, they went out to look for monarch caterpillars and he got stung by a bee 3 times, ouch and swollen ear!! Then they were playing in the garage and he blooded his lip, little does he know, it is almost bed time!!!!

Hopefully our good start to a year keeps on trucking!!

1st Day of 1st Grade

This happy 6 year old started 1st grade today!! He was excited, he took his lunch, he rode the bus from home, he didn't quit talking from the time he got up, he wasn't hard to get up and I think he had a good day at school. He has now pillowed his head and is sound asleep!!!
Way to go Tayder bug!!!

We were ready for Open house last week!

This little boy got off the bus today and was somewhat excited to see his mom!!
(maybe ...I think... or not.)

Hopefully we are off to a great 2011-2012 school year!!!!!

Hello School

Well we are back to school and have been for 2 days with the children. They are all excited, which is what makes teaching fun. They want to please me and listen great! They are a fun group of boys and girls and I am kinda (hoping) eager that we are going to have a great year. Get lots of extra(painting, playdough, outside work) things done.
I am a little tired since I have been getting up everyday at 6:00, and housework has come to a hault, but oh well!!!

Tayden starts 1st grade on Tuesday and Tucker has a week before he begins his pre-school career!!!
Hope all is well with all of you!

Eminence MO

We stopped and checked out Alley Springs it was really pretty and really cold. This is a natural spring and it was neat to see.

The rocks around the spring were pretty cool!

We vacationed with the Bish's from left to right Tayden, Tucker, Brandon, Lori, Bradly, Lisa, Dickie. We stayed with Lisa's cousin Anita!!! It was fun and we enjoyed the Bairds (Lisa mothers madien name)

Another picture of the blue natural spring.

The boys before we went canoeing on Thursday!! More canoeing pictures to come, if they turn out!!
With all the pictures, I think we are done with Vacations for the year. We spent 2 of them 6-7 hours away in Missouri and the other at Fun City!! We are going to try to do 1 a year for the kids to remember!(this year we just did a little extra) We aren't going to make it to the Iowa State Fair this year!

I am going to enjoy the last 2 days before school starts!!!

Growing

Summer of 2011 - The boys are 4 and 6!

Summer of 2010 the boys were 3 and 5!

Summer of 2009 The boys were 2 and 4!!!

My how time flies and we don't even notice. I don't notice that Tucker is the same age as Tayden in the bibs, I don't notice that Tucker no longer sucks his thumb. I don't notice that Tayden has grown what seems like 2 ft in a matter of weeks. I don't notice that they are old enough to be self- efficient, using the bathroom, opening the door, sleeping all night, getting a glass of milk (if gallon is half empty). We have enjoyed our fast and furious summer of going different places, golfing, swimming, mowing, playing with the puppies!!! The boys are growing and I forget to let them be boys and relax!! 1 week and we will be back in routine from Aug. 16- May 20. then fortunately enough we will get to enjoy a summer of 5 and 7!!!!!!!

Beach

The slide at the kiddy area! In order (if I can tell) Tayden, Brett, Briley, Clara, Culee, Tucker this might have been the most used slide of the day!

Baby Canon even got to go to the beach, he was a champ and slept under the shade the entire time, except for the changing of pants and feeding.

The group is ready to enter the beach. Nice shades Smith girls!

This was the before picture. They were ready to come down.

Tucker always enjoys snacks regardless where you are or what you are doing.

The Loughs, Smiths and Bishs spent Wednesday afternoon at the Beach in Ottumwa! It was fun they had a blast and we enjoyed the water on a hot day!!! Thanks girls for going it was a lot of fun!

Camper Complete Pictures

The camper is in my words AWESOME, the inside slept the family of 4 just fine!

The curtains could be a little heavier, therefore we could sleep a little longer.

The bullseye on the back is an addition of my partner in crime! (blb)

The paint job was not bothered until the air conditioner hole. It will be fixed someday, just not sure when!

Can you figure out what the BLT squared means on the top of the camper?? We had a fun time at the fair and hopefully we will get the camper out 1 more time this fall!

There are 3 updated posts so please scroll down to check them all!