December 3rd - One Hundred Ninety Six

I'm sure this is super exciting news.

There is less than 200 acres of corn pick as of this very moment!!!!!!!!

That means that harvest will officially be done in just a couple more days!!!

You might think this picture was taken earlier this summer when most farmers are baling hay, but if you look closely....this isn't hay....it is corn stalks.

This is a tell tale sign of a frugal farmer...baling stalks after the corn is harvested. Almost all of our hay winter killed last year, so there was very little to bale this summer. Not near enough to feed 200 head of cattle all winter long.

Do ya' know what the going rate for a bale of hay is....lets just say there aren't any coupons in the Sunday paper for those!!!

So, I'm pleased to report (and the cows are relieved) that we baled 196 big round bales of corn stalks off of one of our farms. That's a whole lotta fiber!!!

Now the question is how many trips 7 miles south will it take to get them home???

December 2nd - JD {green}

Traditions.....I can remember certain traditions associated with the holidays from when I was growing up. I always thought that I would try to continue them with my own family, but it's funny how, without much thinking, you kind of develop your own....with your own family. There are some things that we do similarly to when Jory and I were kids, but we have some new things special for our own little family. One of those is having their own trees in their rooms. You saw the girls' yesterday....this is Aiden's tree. The kids get so excited about putting up their own trees....it's usually the first thing we do when decorating for Christmas!!!

December 1st - Finishing strong.....

In case you haven't noticed, I have totally been slacking on the blog posts for....oh...say...about 5 months....HA!!! I had the best of intentions to post daily photos, but I completely lost my edge long about May. In self defense....this was the beginning of baseball season and our crazy life got crazier. Anyway, I have done pretty well at taking at least one photo per day, if not 100, so I shouldn't have any trouble putting together my Project 365 album. I do want to be more realistic next year and post regularly, but maybe only weekly.

In my feeble attempt to end this thing strong, I am going to post daily....I repeat....I am going to post daily for the month of December. An advent "blog" of sorts...

So, here we go. December 1st.............drum roll...............THE PINK FEATHER TREE!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, this hangs out in the girls' room for the month. We have a few more ornaments to put on it, but they are stowed away quite efficiently in the {big} box of Christmas decor. You know the box that is far to heavy for me to lift off the top shelf in the storage room. Yes, Jory could help, but he is still in the field trying to get this crop out....I know...it is December 1st. It is just one of those years!!!

Wait until you see Aiden's tree tomorrow....one hint.....green!!!!!!!!!!!

November 26th - Belden Thanksgiving and Happy B-day Papa Jim

These girls were having quite a conversation....wish I knew what was so funny!!!

What a beautiful and happy baby....Ella is a delight!!!!!!

We had a wonderful feast at mom and dad's house today....just thought I would share a few pictures from the day. The kids had a great time playing with each other and we all were positively stuffed!!!!! Yes, that is Johnny on the Spot's (aka nana) Christmas Tree in the living room. I tell ya'....

july 18th - cool chic!!

Calyn was sportin' some serious shades this morning!! Having the breakfast of champions...a Casey's donut!!! She loves them with sprinkles, please!!!!!

july 17th - s.s.....

S.S. and I go way back. Like probably half my life.

He has seen me dishwater blonde, way blonde, long, short, happy, sad, mad,....and now graying!!!!! I go in every six weeks for a cut, sometimes some highlights and usually a movie review or two, a teensy bit of world problem solving and a whole lot of laughing.

Thanks Steve....you're the best!!!!

july 12th - my bff and her peeps....

I had the honor of going to visit Amy and her family today. Got to take some fun photos, chase Cael around and try to get him to smile, and love on baby Schae. What great fun....here is the slide show of the day.