Now behold, it came to pass in the commencement of the eleventh month of the reign of the five Bishop boys, an exhausted mother and father attempted to keep on top of the arduous task of keeping a house and entertaining five spirited boys.
A small one answering to the name of Jace, had the single-most talent of destroying anything in his path either with his brute strength, for he was unnaturally strong for his age, or with the wiles of his small two-year-old mind. On many occasions he was found on top of a high object such as the kitchen island, the washing machine, or the top bunk found in the bunk house at the end of the home on Indian Rain. On one particular morning, the mother had to throw all of her plans of grocery shopping and post office errands to clean up the strategically sprinkled laundry soap after a chance happening with All and a little, green scoop. Who knew that those green scoops could entertain for so long? After the mess was created, the mother just allowed the fun to continue for it kept the wee one from other messes for the time being and it allowed her to put sheets on the bed before tackling the aforementioned disaster area.
Wherefore, the mother of this little elf-like boy still loved him dearly, for no one in the world gave tight squeezes such as his. And the Father hath shown great wisdom in creating such angelic faces and crafting such precious speech development in the world’s two year old population to keep them alive despite their parents’ frustrations.
And it shall be said that the oldest of these boys, Aiden, loved his school days and delighted in the pleasure of the company of his peers. The six, including the mother and the five children, enjoyed a party for a classmate at the park, and behold, the mother’s eyes were opened. For one, the children came to adore, the boy named Aiden and it was his attention that the others at the party sought. Unbeknownst to Aiden, he was singled out and invited to all the various festivities, and he basked in the positive interactions of his peers. Popular and clueless is a pleasant combination, and, therefore, this six-year-old had no idea how favored he was. Perhaps this trend may cease, but a mother can hope that it will continue, for a humble, clueless young man may be a quality worth possessing when the ladies begin to call upon him in years to come.
If thou art called to pass through disaster with one’s eyebrow, Gage answered the call. Yet again, this young boy raged with the furniture, and the furniture won- and yea, it raged with his eye once more. While practicing his stealthy Batman acrobatics, Gage tumbled into the TV cabinet. A blood curdling cry escaped his tongue and blood spurt from the slice above his left eye. With tutoring students coming in minutes, the mother was preparing the meal for later and really did not want to drop it all to spend six hours in the Quick Care. Do you really need stitches? The tears began to dry in a short time, and the mother ascertained that if stitches were necessary, perhaps the face could be sown AFTER tutoring, dinner, and the father returned home. And, lo, a doctor in the ER was upon the Bishop family in just a few hours, for the tutoring students that were in route were the children of an ER doctor. The students were sufficiently taught and, hark, the doctor did come to retrieve his children. The mother candidly asked the fine physician if stitches were required. After taking a look, he said, “Oh, yes, but I have Permabond in the car and that should do the trick.” What fortune. The kitchen island was made into a make-shift table with just a pillow. It took both the father and the mother holding Gage down for the ER doctor to adequately administer the glue, but a few weeks after the disastrous day, Gage looks great and only a small pinkish line remains.
And now behold, the second born child too has a tale to tell. Young Grey accompanied his father home teaching and after the visits, the father took his child to Wal-Mart to preview some Christmas gifts, for the season is upon us. They walked up and down the toy aisle looking at Lego sets, tackling the Transformers, scrutinizing the superheroes, examining the Express Engine, considering the cars, sizing the cycles, and probing for present ideas. With plastic tubs in hand and only plastic tubs, Greyson questions his father, “We looked at all those things, and you are not buying me anything?” With a smirk on his face, the father replies, “Nope, it is Christmas!”
And now I bid the final details of the smallest of the Bishop boys. And again, as with all the Bishop babies, young Cooper is considerably larger than all other babies his age. This young one, just a week from his fifth month, is fully filling his 12 month clothing. And behold, when Cooper is beheld, no one can believe that he is still a four month old baby. Huge and heart warming, this baby flashes his gummy smile to everyone, and mother enjoys every moment with him. This week he ventured off with his parents for a conference in Denver. He flew on his first airplane, visited the US Mint, enjoyed frozen custard hours after his mother enjoyed it, and just generally enjoyed all the attention from both his mother and father since the remaining four were with their grandmother in Las Vegas. And it came to pass, that a grateful daughter gives a billion thank yous to her mother for allowing her this experience. Mitch had a Groundwater Conference in Denver and Coop and mom got to go along for the ride.
And again, we must comment on one other trip we have had this month in the city of Saint George for the holiday of Thanksgiving. The seven journeyed up to the quaint little city in hopes of spending time with 65 others. The Great grandmother, in her ninety-second year hosted Thanksgiving and the masses joined her. We had a cousin campout for three nights playing UNO, wrestling on air mattresses, and eating whatever we could find in the cupboards. Seventeen of us stayed in a condo in Green Valley, Saint George and we treasure the memories that were created! The boys are already requesting a return trip!
And behold, I bid you all a farewell. I do offer my apologies that I do not get time to pen these as often as I would like anymore, but I do hope you enjoy them all the same. I do look forward to reading all the Christmas letters that arrive during this season. And with that, I close.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Kim Turns 29+
Happy birthday to one of the greatest people in the world! (Of course I'm not biased, that's just fact, OK.) This is that great time of year that Kim becomes two years older than me and not just one. So for the next two months I am going to live it up. It is what we the younger generation do you know! H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y K I M ! ! !
Monday, November 05, 2007
Jaceroo Turns Two!
He gave us a little scare when we first saw him two years ago. Not able to breathe real well, he had to spend a few days in the hospital before he was able to come home, but there was no looking back for him. After a brief stint as the "Best Baby in the World" (a title that thankfully he passed on to Cooper) he has exploded into full toddler-hood. As evidenced by the above photo, he frequently bumps his noggin, gets everything on his clothes, face, hands, etc. Yet even on the verge of tears, he can crack a smile and give us a "cheese!" with the simple appearance of a camera. We love our Bubs and wish him all the best on his special day today!
The Bishop Royal Family
So Halloween came and went. We had a wonderful time dressing up, and since we were invited to a party, we actually got to use the costumes three times (party, track-or-treat, and Halloween night.) Kim made Cooper's jester outfit and some touches on her costume and mine. Thanks to Audri's wedding dress, Kim had the perfect medieval chic look going on. I added a Bishop family crest to my shirt that I found on the internet that looked a lot like a framed one my dad had when I was a kid, so we truly were Bishop royalty.
King and Queen, Two Knights, Two Dragons and a Jester
Cooper Jester (He really hated the hat when it was too tight. As soon as Kim opened it up for his huge noggin, he was just fine.)
Jace - tough guy - Dragon (Notice the sucker in the mouth and one in the hand.) He loved Halloween and as soon as he realized he would get candy from every person on the track he was really into it all. He would hold out his pumpkin, get candy, and then keep holding it out to see if they would give him more. It usually worked. Have we mentioned how much this kid loves candy?
Sir Aiden leading the pack of knights and dragons.
Sir Gage fending off the fierce candy mouthed dragon. Those are the worst kind. Instead of spewing fire, they drown you in thick, syrupy slobber and paw you with goobery hands.
King and Queen, Two Knights, Two Dragons and a Jester
Cooper Jester (He really hated the hat when it was too tight. As soon as Kim opened it up for his huge noggin, he was just fine.)
Jace - tough guy - Dragon (Notice the sucker in the mouth and one in the hand.) He loved Halloween and as soon as he realized he would get candy from every person on the track he was really into it all. He would hold out his pumpkin, get candy, and then keep holding it out to see if they would give him more. It usually worked. Have we mentioned how much this kid loves candy?
Sir Aiden leading the pack of knights and dragons.
Sir Gage fending off the fierce candy mouthed dragon. Those are the worst kind. Instead of spewing fire, they drown you in thick, syrupy slobber and paw you with goobery hands.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
h A l l O w E e N - Ha hA Ha ha! ! !
So, we're trying to come up with what the Bishop family costume concept will be this year. We pretty much have had a group theme every year. Starting with me as a baker, Kim as the oven and Aiden as the "bun" inside Kim's belly. We've done Batman theme, zoo theme, construction theme, farm theme, Cookie Monster and cookie jar, etc. I do think there were some years in there that Kim and I didn't dress up, I know "Blasphemy!" you say, but I'm sure we didn't.
So this year, I was thinking of going as the super cool Yodajuice as pictured above - that's a little shout out to my bro, Bryan, and his SupaJuice days - Not to be confused with his high school band SuperTed, which was also excellent. But, this year transformed from Star Wars to Magnificent Seven to scary monsters to knights and dragons (no, we won't have twelve-sided dice). Let us know if anyone has cool knight costume ideas. We have the dragons (Grey and Jace) - although only one of those truly fits the "dragon" persona, Grey really wanted to be one instead of a knight. Kim and I will be the king and queen, but I thought we should be servants since that's how I feel.
Here's a little blast from the past:
2003 - Cookie Jar and Cookie Monster
2004 - Life on the Farm
2005 - Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Poison Ivy and the Penguin
2006 - Zoo Family
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Bishop Family Update - October 7, 2007
Oh, how I wish I would keep up with these newsletters better. So much time passes each time. I imagine things will never slow down so I need to accept that I am only mediocre in my journaling.
I thought perhaps I would do our news in alphabetical order…
A is for artichoke! My boys love artichokes. I have bought them three times in the last month, and they literally devour them. On all three occasions Mitch has been late coming home when we have eaten them. One day he did not get any. The other two times, he ate only a few leaves. And yes, Jace knows how to scrape them too! When I go to the grocery store, Gage begs me to buy them. Some kids ask for ice cream and others ask for artichokes- OK, Gage begs for ice cream too!
B is for Beige Man Group! Jace found some of my liquid make-up (which I never use) in the bathroom and covered himself in it. He was literally unrecognizable. His head, arms, and legs were covered in it, and he had splotches of it on his clothing. Gratefully he was in the bathroom so I stripped him and threw him in the tub. I did have to scrub the tub afterwards, which was the most clean up of all.
C is for Cinnamon Rolls and Cartoons! Jace took a spatula and chopped Mitch’s homemade cinnamon rolls that he baked at 6:00 a.m. for their new season of cartoons Saturday Morning Extravaganza! The boys had been looking forward to the new season of Saturday morning cartoons for weeks and Mitch made a yummy breakfast to accompany their morning of TV. Jace decided that he could “help” Dad by cutting them up. Gotta love him!
D is for Dropped a table! Mitch and I got a stellar deal at the RC Wiley Clearance Center on a new kitchen table. As we were trying to get it into the house, I dropped the table out of the back of the truck. Yes, the table top cracked a little, but we are hoping that with a little TLC we may be able to make it less noticeable. Argh!
E is for Editing! I have been editing my friend’s English papers every week. It has reminded me of the good ole’ days of college papers. Were those good? Oh, yes they were because in the midst of the papers, I remember the drives in the canyon where boys peed on the fire to put out the flame, Y days where I organized massive service projects, and dollar movies at Movies 8!
F is for fundraising. What is with a different fundraiser every week for the schools? I taught for years and I never knew where the funds went that we raised. I just send it all back and Aiden languishes over the fact that he never earns those Oriental Trading like prizes that I could buy thirty times over for the amount that he has to sell to be awarded one! What a marketing scam! It is kind of sad that I am an educator, and I do not do fund raisers. I will if they ever sell anything stellar, but thus far- nothing.
G is for Gallbladder. I finally got my appointment, and I am getting a test on my gallbladder, liver, thyroid, and cholesterol check. Apparently my doctor thinks my body is all out of whack. I have done the blood work, and now I wait for the ultra sound. I have had no other attacks- yeah!
H is for Hot Air Balloons! We went to Balloonapalooza with our five boys and Deven- our nephew. The boys loved the bee balloons and the panda balloons the best.
I is for Italian Seasoning! Jace poured a Costco sized Italian Seasoning on a plate of Texas Sheet Cake brownies. Oh, was I sad. I love Texas Sheet Cake brownies.
J is for Jace and the laundry soap! Jace spilled an entire box (warehouse sized) of laundry soap on the floor as we were trying to get Aiden off to school. I was not willing to trash it. I swept it up and put it back into the box. I decided if laundry soap washed dirt out of clothing and linens, then a little dirt and dust from the floor would not hurt it.
K is for knitting hats. We're back knitting hats. Our stake is making hats for people in Serbia, so I've started knitting and have enlisted Mitch again. He asked me yesterday how much I spent on the yarn and if it wouldn't be cheaper to just buy some. I told him that then they wouldn't receive something homemade. It was very funny as we discussed the different goals of the effort. He argued it was to keep them warm. I argued that it was to keep them warm and give them something I had made. I won, of course, so we're still knitting.
L is for Lukas David! Krista and Derek had their baby on Monday, September 17, 2007.
M is for Mount Charleston. We drove up to look at the fall colors. The aspens were changing and it was breathtaking.
N is for Naked Jace! The other morning, I lost Jaceroo. I was looking everywhere and calling for him throughout the house. I was starting to look in each room more carefully hoping that he would be hiding somewhere. When I came into my room and called him like three times, he opened the sliding closet door and in just a diaper (He was clothed prior to me losing him.) exclaimed in an even seductive like voice, “Hewwo Mommy!” I am totally dying with fits of laughter. If I didn’t know any better, I would think he has been watching some adult TV. No wonder we call him the "Naughty Gnome!"
O is for Open House. We went to Aiden’s Open House and my, we were the sight to behold. I think we barely all fit in Aiden’s classroom. Aiden’s teacher even asked for a favor from Mitch regarding a field trip to the Springs Preserve. I imagine she loves having Aiden in her class. Not only is he a terrific kid, but he has connections!
P is for Pie Painting! While entertaining friends, we enjoyed pie for dessert. We then turned our back to the counter where Jace climbed up and helped himself to the remaining pieces in the pie tins. He then climbed down, all unnoticed by the six of us who were playing Apples to Apples and thinking that all the boys were in our bedroom watching Tarzan. He went into the bathroom and created a masterpiece on the bathroom mirror, using chocolate silk pie and dutch apple cheese cake as his paint. Oh, we wanted to eat those remaining 5 pieces, but I draw the line at licking the mirror even if I had just wiped it down hours before.
Q is for quick. Our days just fly by and before we know it, another week is done.
R is for Ringing Chimes! Aiden goes to a little music class at the library and learns how to ring those pipes to Christmas tunes. He has said now that he wants to play the piano. I do hope I can get my kids into piano lessons some day.
S is for sewer run! Mitch spent three hours using a huge trencher that is self propelled on Friday for the sewer run for the casita. He was so sore. He did an awesome job and we saved like 5500 dollars doing it ourselves. CRAZY! Thanks to Grandpa and Bryan that came to help him steer the beast!
T is for tutoring. I am tutoring five kids now and I got three more calls this week alone. I told them no! I am so proud of myself. I do like tutoring and I enjoy keeping up with my skills, but I need to say HOLD IT because I want to enjoy tutoring not dread it.
U is for uninvited guests. Each morning, because the evenings are cooler, Mitch and I have an extra child or two or even three in our bed. They typically join us about 3:00. Grey rarely ever joins us so in the night time hours, Grey is our favorite.
V is for Victory! We went to Uncle Derek’s alumni football game and Derek’s team won. We have to say that Derek is a good player. He can tear it up even at 26 or 27. These guys played full contact, tackle football in pads and everything. Derek’s team won 21 to nothing!
W is for Wrestling! The boys live to wrestle. When Mitch and I were trying to push the table back together, Jace climbed on top of Mitch’s chest and began to hug and wrestle. Mitch was lying on the floor with his arms above his head and squeezing with all his might, and Jace thought he would join in the fun.
X is for XII Night! For a Girl’s night out, Tara, Kim, Cooper, Dax, and I braved wind advisory 50 mile per hour winds at Lake Las Vegas to watch Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. It was too cold for Dax to sleep so we had to go home early, but it makes for a funny memory. We also lost the car in the parking garage. As soon as we packed up to go home, Dax just smiled and chilled in his stroller- gotta love babies. They learn to rule our worlds so soon, don’t they?
Y is for Yawning! Do I need to explain?
Z is for Zucchini! Mitch took Grey and Gage to the Gilcrease Orchard and got a zucchini as big as Cooper. We made six loaves of zucchini bread and froze enough to make 5 more- incredible. It was delicious!
Hope you have enjoyed my alphabetical journey.
Until next time…The Bishops
I thought perhaps I would do our news in alphabetical order…
A is for artichoke! My boys love artichokes. I have bought them three times in the last month, and they literally devour them. On all three occasions Mitch has been late coming home when we have eaten them. One day he did not get any. The other two times, he ate only a few leaves. And yes, Jace knows how to scrape them too! When I go to the grocery store, Gage begs me to buy them. Some kids ask for ice cream and others ask for artichokes- OK, Gage begs for ice cream too!
B is for Beige Man Group! Jace found some of my liquid make-up (which I never use) in the bathroom and covered himself in it. He was literally unrecognizable. His head, arms, and legs were covered in it, and he had splotches of it on his clothing. Gratefully he was in the bathroom so I stripped him and threw him in the tub. I did have to scrub the tub afterwards, which was the most clean up of all.
C is for Cinnamon Rolls and Cartoons! Jace took a spatula and chopped Mitch’s homemade cinnamon rolls that he baked at 6:00 a.m. for their new season of cartoons Saturday Morning Extravaganza! The boys had been looking forward to the new season of Saturday morning cartoons for weeks and Mitch made a yummy breakfast to accompany their morning of TV. Jace decided that he could “help” Dad by cutting them up. Gotta love him!
D is for Dropped a table! Mitch and I got a stellar deal at the RC Wiley Clearance Center on a new kitchen table. As we were trying to get it into the house, I dropped the table out of the back of the truck. Yes, the table top cracked a little, but we are hoping that with a little TLC we may be able to make it less noticeable. Argh!
E is for Editing! I have been editing my friend’s English papers every week. It has reminded me of the good ole’ days of college papers. Were those good? Oh, yes they were because in the midst of the papers, I remember the drives in the canyon where boys peed on the fire to put out the flame, Y days where I organized massive service projects, and dollar movies at Movies 8!
F is for fundraising. What is with a different fundraiser every week for the schools? I taught for years and I never knew where the funds went that we raised. I just send it all back and Aiden languishes over the fact that he never earns those Oriental Trading like prizes that I could buy thirty times over for the amount that he has to sell to be awarded one! What a marketing scam! It is kind of sad that I am an educator, and I do not do fund raisers. I will if they ever sell anything stellar, but thus far- nothing.
G is for Gallbladder. I finally got my appointment, and I am getting a test on my gallbladder, liver, thyroid, and cholesterol check. Apparently my doctor thinks my body is all out of whack. I have done the blood work, and now I wait for the ultra sound. I have had no other attacks- yeah!
H is for Hot Air Balloons! We went to Balloonapalooza with our five boys and Deven- our nephew. The boys loved the bee balloons and the panda balloons the best.
I is for Italian Seasoning! Jace poured a Costco sized Italian Seasoning on a plate of Texas Sheet Cake brownies. Oh, was I sad. I love Texas Sheet Cake brownies.
J is for Jace and the laundry soap! Jace spilled an entire box (warehouse sized) of laundry soap on the floor as we were trying to get Aiden off to school. I was not willing to trash it. I swept it up and put it back into the box. I decided if laundry soap washed dirt out of clothing and linens, then a little dirt and dust from the floor would not hurt it.
K is for knitting hats. We're back knitting hats. Our stake is making hats for people in Serbia, so I've started knitting and have enlisted Mitch again. He asked me yesterday how much I spent on the yarn and if it wouldn't be cheaper to just buy some. I told him that then they wouldn't receive something homemade. It was very funny as we discussed the different goals of the effort. He argued it was to keep them warm. I argued that it was to keep them warm and give them something I had made. I won, of course, so we're still knitting.
L is for Lukas David! Krista and Derek had their baby on Monday, September 17, 2007.
M is for Mount Charleston. We drove up to look at the fall colors. The aspens were changing and it was breathtaking.
N is for Naked Jace! The other morning, I lost Jaceroo. I was looking everywhere and calling for him throughout the house. I was starting to look in each room more carefully hoping that he would be hiding somewhere. When I came into my room and called him like three times, he opened the sliding closet door and in just a diaper (He was clothed prior to me losing him.) exclaimed in an even seductive like voice, “Hewwo Mommy!” I am totally dying with fits of laughter. If I didn’t know any better, I would think he has been watching some adult TV. No wonder we call him the "Naughty Gnome!"
O is for Open House. We went to Aiden’s Open House and my, we were the sight to behold. I think we barely all fit in Aiden’s classroom. Aiden’s teacher even asked for a favor from Mitch regarding a field trip to the Springs Preserve. I imagine she loves having Aiden in her class. Not only is he a terrific kid, but he has connections!
P is for Pie Painting! While entertaining friends, we enjoyed pie for dessert. We then turned our back to the counter where Jace climbed up and helped himself to the remaining pieces in the pie tins. He then climbed down, all unnoticed by the six of us who were playing Apples to Apples and thinking that all the boys were in our bedroom watching Tarzan. He went into the bathroom and created a masterpiece on the bathroom mirror, using chocolate silk pie and dutch apple cheese cake as his paint. Oh, we wanted to eat those remaining 5 pieces, but I draw the line at licking the mirror even if I had just wiped it down hours before.
Q is for quick. Our days just fly by and before we know it, another week is done.
R is for Ringing Chimes! Aiden goes to a little music class at the library and learns how to ring those pipes to Christmas tunes. He has said now that he wants to play the piano. I do hope I can get my kids into piano lessons some day.
S is for sewer run! Mitch spent three hours using a huge trencher that is self propelled on Friday for the sewer run for the casita. He was so sore. He did an awesome job and we saved like 5500 dollars doing it ourselves. CRAZY! Thanks to Grandpa and Bryan that came to help him steer the beast!
T is for tutoring. I am tutoring five kids now and I got three more calls this week alone. I told them no! I am so proud of myself. I do like tutoring and I enjoy keeping up with my skills, but I need to say HOLD IT because I want to enjoy tutoring not dread it.
U is for uninvited guests. Each morning, because the evenings are cooler, Mitch and I have an extra child or two or even three in our bed. They typically join us about 3:00. Grey rarely ever joins us so in the night time hours, Grey is our favorite.
V is for Victory! We went to Uncle Derek’s alumni football game and Derek’s team won. We have to say that Derek is a good player. He can tear it up even at 26 or 27. These guys played full contact, tackle football in pads and everything. Derek’s team won 21 to nothing!
W is for Wrestling! The boys live to wrestle. When Mitch and I were trying to push the table back together, Jace climbed on top of Mitch’s chest and began to hug and wrestle. Mitch was lying on the floor with his arms above his head and squeezing with all his might, and Jace thought he would join in the fun.
X is for XII Night! For a Girl’s night out, Tara, Kim, Cooper, Dax, and I braved wind advisory 50 mile per hour winds at Lake Las Vegas to watch Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. It was too cold for Dax to sleep so we had to go home early, but it makes for a funny memory. We also lost the car in the parking garage. As soon as we packed up to go home, Dax just smiled and chilled in his stroller- gotta love babies. They learn to rule our worlds so soon, don’t they?
Y is for Yawning! Do I need to explain?
Z is for Zucchini! Mitch took Grey and Gage to the Gilcrease Orchard and got a zucchini as big as Cooper. We made six loaves of zucchini bread and froze enough to make 5 more- incredible. It was delicious!
Hope you have enjoyed my alphabetical journey.
Until next time…The Bishops
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