More carving!

Yesterday I went and helped Madison's 2nd grade class carve pumpkins. Her teacher was taking home the seeds and baking them for the class party today. Now I'm off to celebrate two more Halloween parties for the day! I'll post pics tomorrow:)

Carving Time!

We carved our pumpkins tonight! The kids worked really hard and very well with their designs. Madison and RyLee drew, and for the most part carved their own. Clay told me how he wanted his face drawn and I helped him carve it. I did one by myself for Tessa. It was a nice evening, and then Charlie Brown's Halloween Special came on TV. It was festive!

RyLee broke out the sunglasses after Tessa was done with them. She was carving its freckles...you can see on the left where she drew them.

Madison with her 2009 Pumpkin!

Clay with his 2009 Pumpkin!

I love RyLee's shock. She cleaned out her pumpkin pretty much all by herself, but when she popped out a freckle she was quite surpised! I'm glad I caght her reaction.

See all the slimies?

RyLee and her 2009 Pumpkin! Oh, she totally wiped out on the asphalt yesterday at recess. She said she cried, but Nurse Shelly made it better. Nathan told her this morning that she needed to use her hands to stop her body, not her face. Advice was a little late, dad. :)

Happy Carving 2009!

Big. Fat. Pigeon.

He MUST have been pigging out on Iowa's fabulous corn.

The "Haunted Train"

This Saturday...thanks to the rain.....we had our dad around so we went to the Haunted Rails in Mt Pleasant at the Old Threashers Reunion grounds. It was alot of fun! I highly suggest going no matter your age, but I would "suggest" you be over 5 and realize Halloween is just people dressed up having fun. My favorite was the haunted trolly ride when the "Headless Horseman" charged our trolly and ran beside us for a while:) For $10/person, you had unlimited rides on the haunted train, haunted trolly, carolsel, carnival rides, hey also had hay rack rides, hay bale maze, bouncy deals for kids, and a haunted house(that was additional). We'll be going back next year:)

Hanging out by the bon fire

Enjoying some hot choco:)

Whats New?

Not much. Nathan is still plugging away in the fields....dodging rain drops. And hoping for proper moisture. Its a normal fall for the kids and I. I, however, FINALLY changed my license plates. And they came! Do you realize how hard it is to find a farming license plate thru the Iowa DOT?! Wow. I had a list of like twenty spellings of farm sayings.... "Sorry, its taken... this one is taken, and taken."

Excuse the bug-a-licious car. I had just washed it, drove home to take the picture....this is what it looks like driving a few miles home. Nice."Farm In Iowa"

Like riding a bike:)

Sorry I didn't upload my "Fishback's Food Frenzy" blog last Friday....but I had MUCH better things to do:) Like help my best friend get ready for her wedding! It was beautiful and Lexi was GORGEOUS (I knew she would be) and she found the perfic guy to complete her life, Tayte. I was honored when she asked me to photograph her wedding day-and it was almost 2 years to the DAY I had photographed my last wedding. People were asking, "So are you having fun photographing? Is it just like it was when you were photographing weddings?" Yes and YES! It was just like I had climbed on a bicycle after two years of not riding.....and I got to be with Lex ALL day long:) So here's a few to share....... And so I'll remember...it was FREEZING! We weren't even outside a whooping five minutes and went back in. Mostly because I'm a pansy to the cold and didn't wear my long undies. It SNOWED on her wedding day! My friends and I have ALL had snow on our wedding day....so I guess it was a sign of picking the perfect wedding day for the right guys for us!:OShe's SOOOOO beautiful!
Their beautiful new family....Lexi and Tayte with Tayte's little sweet heart of a daughter, Madison:)

And the FAB-U-LOUS duo......:)

And our WHS Class of '98.
Congrats Lexi and Tayte!

Visitor from Brazi

A week ago I opened my email with an amazing request from Jeff at Successful Farming. They had a group of magazine/newspaper reporters coming to Iowa, staying a night in the Iowa City area, and wanted to know if they could visit our farming operation. We were excited, and despite the weather and very little combining happening, I lined up some of the people we do business with in Washington to answer questions the group may have. They were able to ride in equipment, visit with people, see Hal's unique shop, and enjoy a "traditional" Iowa dinner at the Washington County Farm Bureau Building on behalf of Washington State Bank. A special thanks to Fred Greiner of Pioneer Seeds, Rick Fulton of Fulton Insurance, Nick from LiquiGrow, Kendall and Kevin on behalf of CAT/Lexion Combines, Jeff from Washington State Bank, Jerry at Wash Co Farm Bureau, The Owen Family and Hal for letting us bring the group to their fields and buildings and our hard working guys Matt and Mark. Nathan's dad, Larry, was also able to join us. So Thursday morning was a little hectic, but well worth it! The entire group-all of us-Photo by Washington Evening Journal*

Riding in the combine thru the field with Nathan

Liking the sprayer Nick from Liqui-Grow brought out.

Interviewing Kendall and Kevin

Interviewing Nathan

They REALLY liked Hal's shop. And with special thanks to all the decorations, Brazillians will probably think we all deck out our shops complete with a bar and full service winery:)

So I ran out of coffee at 10:30, so Hal thought he'd break out his homemade wine. They thought it was amazing. I guess it was five o'clock somewhere, right?!

We all enjoyed pork loin, cheesy potatoes green beans and a roll at lunch. This was her "cheers," but they say "Ching!"

Thanks to Jeff and Successful Farming for visiting, we were honored! And especially to the entire group for spending their morning with us!

Family Picture Time!

For those of you who don't know me very well, I use to have a photography studio in Washington where I was a member of Professional Photographers of Iowa. I met ALOT of fabulous photographers thru this organization, and everyone has their own style and look to their art, just as every farmer grows a crop-but a little bit different from their neighbor.

This year, Jodi and Rodney Gehman did our pictures, and they just gave me a sneak peek on their blog, so wanted to share! http://www.gehmanphotography.blogspot.com/

In case your wondering, we're on Oct 6th entry with the combine:)

Thanks guys! You were great to work with!

My First Hawkeye Game

Yep. You heard it right. Thirty minutes from Iowa City all of my life, and Saturday apparently marked an Eastern Iowa milestone....I went to my first Hawkeye Game. It was fun, and I can honestly say I've never seen so much gold and black in one are my ENTIRE life. And like 20 red shirts...appparently not many from Arkansas were able to attend. And, of course, in TRUE Rachel style, I took my camera:) It was Nathan and I (we've had a TON of rain....so no field work:( )