Happy Birthday, Amy!

by Marci

I'm not sure how this one didn't make the cut last year.

Go Cougs!

See Fish Sing

Here are my sweet guys singing "I Am a Child of God" on our walk to the mall.  I love it and it makes me a little teary.  They only sing the first verse but I included all verses because the words are so beautiful and true.

I am a child of God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

I am a child of God,
And so my needs are great;
Help me to understand his words
Before it grows to late.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

I am a child of God.
Rich blessings are in store;
If I but learn to do his will
I'll live with him once more.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

I am a child of God.
His promises are sure;
Celestial glory shall be mine
If I can but endure.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

EGGS!

Greg came in late last night more giddy than I have ever seen him. He proclaimed "I have great news. We have eggs." I felt my heart leap - which is not something I normally experience. Seriously it felt like sharing you were expecting or engaged. So this morning I got all the kids out of bed and took them out to the coop where we discovered two little brown eggs. The kids were so excited and I had to rush them around all morning to get them to church on time. I even took one to church to use as a prop for my lesson. Today's meeting was about hope and I told the kids how I had faith and hope for so long that the hens would begin to lay. It is so fun to see this amazing process. I have been babying the eggs and trying to be so gentle. I am sure that the pictures below cannot do their beauty justice. I am also sure that this was not the intended use of the Tiffany candy bowl my mom gave me 10 years ago.

Happy Birthday, Amy!

We love you and feel so blessed to claim you as one of ours!

See Fish Raise Chickens

By Amy

We are on a chicken raising frenzy in the Fish family. At this point I believe four of the nine adult children are raising hens.

Nine years ago when we moved to the Upper Midwest, my husband Greg insisted that we buy a house in one of two cities where we could have chickens. Time passed and he never really showed too much interest in building a coop and getting going until this past spring when he decided it was time. He loved having animals at home a a kid and thought it would be a great way to show our kids more responsibility and work ethic. Greg hunted down a 20-year-old kid from church who is incredibly handy. He asked him to draw some sketches and Jonathan came through with 4 different possibilities. Greg told him to build the one that was most appealing to him and a month later we had an amazing coop and 16 chickens.

I grew up in a very suburban town south of Chicago. I had never even seen a mouse except at the pet store or a cow except on the side of the road. When those chicks arrived on June 30th I had no idea what I had gotten into. They stayed in my laundry room for a month and my kids named each one. We have Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons and Americaunas. We have given away 7 since, but we are left with 9 crazy hens who will start laying eggs any day. We cannot wait! Will the first be brown or green?

By Marci

Without meaning to, we also started the chicken coop project within weeks of Amy and Greg.  Moving around with the military, we've never had a place where we could raise chickens until now.  But what finally sent me over the edge was our tick population, some of which carry Lyme disease.  Greg and I also grew up with guinea fowl, and their specialty is eating ticks.  So, we decided to get both chickens and guineas.

Guineas are the cutest as babies but have quite the ugly heads and obnoxious sounds as adults.

We have 16 hens of the following varieties: Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, and Americaunas.  Well, we thought "hens" until Dancey turned out to be a rooster.

Michael did some research on coops and solicited the expert help of Paul, Dave, Kurt, Candace and Big D. I was also sucked into design and hard labor, even though I was less-than-stellar help at 8 months pregnant. A few weeks and many popsicles later, we had a mostly completed and very large coop! We will report someday in the future that we have electricity and a paint job.

Our chickens are four months old today, so we hope to see eggs anytime now!

See Fish Bake

By Amy - the former home economics teacher and unhealthy cook

So it's that time of year again. We are fully experiencing the splendor of fall where I live. That also means it is the beginning of the baking season! From now until just before Thanksgiving I will be endlessly making buttermilk cornbread, tomato soup, beef stew, mac and cheese, hot chocolate, apple pie (actually my husband makes that but I eat it), chili, and PUMPKIN MUFFINS. I have been told that you cannot call something a muffin if it includes frosting, but by calling it a muffin I feel better watching my kids consume tasty bite after tasty bite. If it's homemade you can eat as much as you want right? Somehow the sugar and fat must be minimized if you make it at home.

PUMPKIN MUFFINS
WITH CREAM CHEESE AND VANILLA BEAN FROSTING

Pumpkin Bread
Cream the following ingredients:
3 c. of white sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 can of pumpkin, 15 ounces or whatever is closest

Sift together the following ingredients:
(I never sift them because I am a lazy baker -- I don't even usually measure, but I did today to make sure it was right)
3 1/2 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. allspice
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves

Add the dry ingredients alternately with 2/3 cup of water. Mix well after each addition. Don't over mix because it causes your muffins or bread to peak and/or crack. Fill muffin liners 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 12-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (I feel like such a hypocrite giving you my home ec style instructions when I follow none of them -- I actually just touch the tops to see if they are done). This also makes two large loaves and they take about 75-90 minutes to bake.

Frosting
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 block of cream cheese, softened
4-5 c. powdered sugar
2 T. milk or more if you need
1 t. vanilla bean paste (You don't need this; I just think it is fancy.)

Cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar until you like the taste. Add milk if necessary and vanilla bean paste if desired. You can frost them however you want. I cut the corner off of a plastic bag and pipe it into little circles.

Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste
So I love this stuff. You can use it interchangeably with vanilla ( it is more expensive) and it gives you the vanilla bean flecks I think look cool. It is much easier than simmering vanilla beans in milk and scraping them out. I use it all the time. I can find it at the higher-end grocery store here and they have it at Williams-Sonoma.

This recipe is adapted from the back of a Del Monte pumpkin can.