The way I see it...

This Weather!

Isn’t it crazy that in this day and age with all the technology that we have that what happened with Monday’s weather happened? I heard words like “light dusting” or “under an inch.” Well, that wasn’t the case, was it? I heard one meteorologist say the storm “surprised” them. I’ll say!

We woke up to several inches of snow and that wind. I guess that’s the bad part of living in Iowa is that it’s so darn flat and just a little snow and the wind can cause blizzard conditions very quickly.My cousin’s husband works for the sheriff’s department in O’Brien County (Northwest Iowa) and she said they were just swamped all day. He was supposed to get off at 6 PM...then 9 PM...then 1 AM. I’m not sure if he got off of work then or not. He said they couldn’t see more than a couple of inches past their windshield and this was the worst storm they had ever worked in.

When Mr. Barry called our house this morning (Tuesday), he said that West Marshall had missed eight days now because of the weather. It will be interesting to see how many days end up being tacked on at the end of the year. I feel bad for the teachers because I’m sure it’s hard to get the students into a routine with all these late starts and snow days.

Just remember spring will get here sometime. We live here because, for better or worse, we get to experience the four seasons. Think of the beautiful colors in the fall, that Iowa humidity in the summer and the rows of corn along the roads. Iowa is definitely not for the light-hearted, but everything we endure during the winter makes us that much more grateful for the rest of the year, but that’s just the way I see it.

*Brooke, if I messed up where Brad works I'm sorry! I didn't have time to call you. :)

Scar #1

I'm a little behind here, but Brody got in a little fight with a shelf and lost! Poor kid had blood oozing from his nose and I'm pretty sure he'll have a scar there for a really long time, although I'm sure it will be just the first of many. I felt bad for him, but at the same time he looked so tough and cute with his camo band-aid!

My little model

Ok, so my first born is currently obsessed with being a model. It is hilarious!
As I've said before she is a three year old who acts like teenager. She has such a good imagination,which is a good thing! Jenna asked me to take some pictures of her the other day being a model. When she really is a teenager, we're going to have our hands full...

The close-up...notice the chocolate pudding on her face leftover from lunch!


Imagination...the blanket is her "dress". What a little poser!


I told her not to smile and this is the look I received. :)

Family Photos

One of the best things that happened at the funeral was that it brought the Beadle side of the family together. Because this rarely happens, I just knew we needed to take some family photos. Here's just a few of them:


The Beadle Clan - quite the crew!


Mom and all of her kids and grandbabies


Grandma Jo and her grandkids

Coaches vs. Cancer

Aaron was the driving force behind West Marshall's Coaches vs. Cancer event last Friday. He volunteered to get sponsors and fundraise money for it. I was fortunate enough to help him out by giving him publicity in the newspaper, making signs, and designing the t-shirt that everyone wore for the game (see right).

The original goal was to raise $2,000. At the end of Friday night over $4,000 was raised for the American Cancer Society of Iowa. Aaron got alot of compliments on the work he did and I was really proud of him for helping out with such a great cause!

The way I see it...

I got a request (you know who you are!) that I put my weekly editorials on my blog because some people in my family don't get to see them. So, if it's something sort of interesting I will try to post them. My column is called, "The Way I See It" and I always end every column with that line to remind people that whatever I wrote is just my opinion. :) Here's this week's:

My Heart is full...

It was a rough week for me, as you can imagine. We had the visitation for my grandma on Wednesday and the funeral Thursday. Swea City, where everything took place, is just eight miles from where I grew up. I could not believe the amount of people that came over in support and to pay their respects to our family from Armstrong.

Then, I got back and went to the basketball game on Friday. So many of you passed along your condolences and I even got some hugs. You all were just so nice. My heart felt full...my cup runneth over....whatever you want to say, I just felt so grateful and thankful to all of you out there for your support.

After my column last week, another wonderful thing happened. When I write my columns, I always hope to make you think about what I have to say or remind you of something from your past and bring up old memories. Apparently, my column about my grandma sparked memories for a few of you out there and it felt good that you shared your memories with me.

Although funerals aren’t really a happy occasion, the one thing that it usually does is bring families together. Our family, I’m sure like a lot of yours, struggles to all get together at the same time, because of everyone’s busy schedules. Even though it was a sad time, I got to see all my aunts, uncles, and cousins and catch-up with them. The really neat thing was that there were second cousins that I haven’t seen for, I kid you not, at least ten years. At the end of Thursday, we talked about having a family reunion in August.

I guess it just goes to prove that there are always two sides to every coin. Where there are clouds, there’s also sunshine. The best part is, I just know that my grandma, the rock and center of our family for so many years, was looking down at us smiling because she brought us together yet again, but that’s just the way I see it.

Losing Gram

My Grandma Beadle passed away peacefully on Monday morning. Gram was the best and we will all miss her alot. The following is what I wrote in my editorial this week for the paper:

It’s hard to lose someone you love and care about. This morning (Monday), I got a phone call from my mom that my grandma had passed away. She got sick a couple of weeks before Christmas, ended up having a massive stroke and we all can’t believe she made it as long as she did. I’ve written about my grandma before – she’s the one whose mashed potatoes I adored!

My grandma was one tough cookie. The hospital told us three times she wouldn’t make it through the night and she kept fighting. That’s the kind of person that she was, the kind that didn’t just roll over and give up and kept fighting. She was a tell-it-like-it is kind of person who was full of spunk and I always loved and admired her for that.

Isn’t it strange how when someone you love passes away you remember really random memories? I instantly thought about how she never ever forgot our birthdays or anniversaries. Ever! And, when she wrote your name on the card she always put quotation marks around it. Isn’t that a strange thing to remember?

My grandma, as I’ve said before, was a farm wife. The constant hostess no matter if it was family or a neighbor stopping by, there was always a pot of coffee ready to go and a cake, pan of bars or cookies that she just “whipped up.”I think I got my love of cooking from her. For my wedding shower, she got me a church cookbook and wrote my name on the inside cover and wrote from “Gram” (as we always referred to her). That is my favorite cookbook out of all of the ones I have (and I have quite a few), but now it means even more to me.

In her hostess mode, if I were coming for a visit, she would always ask what I wanted to eat. I would always respond, “mashed potatoes and homemade chicken and noodles.” You know the noodles I’m talking about – the egg noodles where you make them from scratch and roll them out and let them dry and they are just delicious.

I bring this up because sometimes in life there are things you can’t explain. I have never ever made, tried, or even attempted to make homemade chicken and noodles. This past week I decided to give it a try. So Sunday, for the first time in my life, I gave it my best shot and we had homemade chicken and noodles for supper. They turned out pretty good, but of course, not as good as Gram would have made. Monday morning I got the phone call. Isn’t it the strangest thing that the one meal I always requested that my grandma make I had made just hours before she passed? How do you explain it? Sometimes life just works in mysterious ways.

Our family won’t be the same without Grandma. You can never replace somebody you have lost because every person in your life brings something special and unique. The thought of the week seemed appropriate, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” And even though she’s not here with us anymore and I know she’s in a better place, she will still live on in my heart and through my memories, but that’s just the way I see it.

My Spaghetti Lovin' Boy!

With Aaron gone quite a few nites a week, I sometimes ask Jenna what she would like for supper. It seems like she always says, "pasta with red sauce." A.K.A. Spaghetti! While I am a huge pasta fan, I always cringe a little because I know what a mess Mr. Brody will be after-the-fact. Here are some photos of my spaghetti-loving boy after a recent meal.


I have no idea how he got it on his forehead!


Sooooo messy, but soooo cute!

Sioux City New Year's

We finally made it to Sioux City on New Year's Eve to celebrate our Christmas with Frank and Linda. And, we got to stay all the way until Sunday, which is a miracle in itself since we never get to stay that long.

We had a good time hanging out, shopping, watching football and all that good stuff. Aaron and I even got to go on a date to a movie and for supper Saturday night, so a big thanks to Frank and Linda for allowing us to do that!

Here are some photos from Sioux City:

Jenna modeling her new apron: Warning - Chef in Training. Perfect for her since she always loves to help in the kitchen.


Brody helping Grandma open her gift.

One of the places I loved to go when we lived in Sioux City was the Art Center. It was just a cool place to go and look at exhibits. They had a kids room and I always said when I had kids I wanted to take them there, so we all bundled up and headed down there on Saturday morning.


Jenna and Brody playing with the legos.


The kids loved these unique blocks that were in unique shapes (you can see the feet!). Brody's favorite part was knocking them over.


They had giant mirrors and markers that the kids could color on.

Random sidenote: We had some crazy run-ins with wildlife while on our visit. On our way into town we saw two does just standing in the middle of the street about a block from Frank and Linda's house. We also forgot about the amount of wild turkeys that are in the area. We saw them in a couple different yards and another time just walking down the middle of the street. Weird, since we were in the middle of town.

Turkeys eating some grub in somebody's yard.