25 Things...

25 Things That Made the Hale Family Smile In 2007

1. Bandit the dog is living in the house with us
2. Moms Blog: www.halefamilysite.blogspot.com
3. Ella made the All-Star softball team
4. William was voted all-star in basketball
5. Harrison’s B-ball team came in first
6. William got his driving permit in Feb.
7. William has not had a wreck (YET)
8. Mom’s facial expressions when William is driving
9. Lucy, Rachel, Harrison and Mom at Beta Convention at Opryland Hotel
10. Lucy, Rachel and Mom going to Church Girls Camp
11. Molly learned to read
12. Ella’s massive amounts of AR points
13.William and Lucy got their braces off
14. Dad quit his Bridgestone job
15. Dad opened up ACH Appraisal Services
16. Ella’s awesome teacher from Germany
17. Rachel sings tenor in choir and William can sing higher notes!
18. Harrison got 650 AR points last year in school
19. William can solve the Rubik’s cube in under 2 minutes
20. William made the Boyd basketball team
21. Harrison received the 6th grade band award
22. Lucy and Rachel each received the citizenship award for their homerooms
23. Molly got our favorite 1st grade teacher
24. We are going to the beach for Christmas
25. When we get back we are going to stay in a cabin in the mountains

Christmas preview

Call it what you want but we are suckers and let the kids give each other one present tonight to open. They drew names about 6 weeks ago and have been shopping for just that person. They keep it a big secret until the gifts are opened. Some people had figured it out, but a few had no idea at all. 3 people thought that William had them! They chose a gift to give their person. We will do it again tomorrow night and then Friday morning we are having "our" Christmas since we will be celebrating the real Xmas day at my parents house. Rachel gave Molly Webkinz clothes, charms and a charm necklace!
Harrison gave Rachel Webkinz charms and a Webkinz Google. Adrian said, "that's a platypus, not a Google" He has no imagination!
Ella gave William a 4 by 4 Rubik's Cube and Lucy gave Harrison a very fun car that never gets stuck and does all sorts of cool tricks.
Molly gave Ella a box of really tasty and pretty ribbon candy. William gave Lucy a label maker and colored labels. Very exciting. And very OCD. She plans to label everything. Please don't stare at me if you see me walking around with a label on my forehead. She just likes to be organized!
And not to be left out... We are teaching Bandit to wear a hat so he looks cuter. Because a house with 4 daughters in it is always trying to up the cute factor.

I did a really dumb thing

I am wearing a dunce cap. Yep, a big tall one. It says DUNCE down the front in big black letters. Last night I was super mom. I made 11 loaves of pumpkin bread to give as gifts to teachers, neighbors, houses we visit to go caroling. I made them in two batches. The first four were beautiful. We gave them away tonight when we went Xmas caroling. The last seven were a little funky. they didn't rise correctly. they had a funny color. I stared at them for a few minutes.

HMMM.....

Then I looked at the counter where all the bowls, measuring cups, ingredients, 2 big unopened cans of pumpkin, ...HUH? Did she just say 2 unopened cans of pumpkin? YEP.

Adrian ate some of the unpumpkin bread today. He said the top tasted good. William tried some later. He thought the top tasted like a cookie.

Tonight I baked 12 more loaves. Beautiful, fragrant, orange in color. I put a little extra pumpkin in these to make up for forgetting it in last nights.

OOPS... Fun Monday!!!

I am hanging my head in shame. Well, actually I am kind of laughing at myself. Which is pretty common, I find myself to be pretty funny. But anyway, I completely forgot Fun Monday. My brain just said bye bye Fun Monday thoughts. Very naughty brain. Thank you lil mouse for leaving that nice comment about my sweet 6 children that I did give birth to all by myself. No, my husband didn't really help. But I am kind of a do it yourselfer in that sense. I don't like help. But today is not about birthing stories even though I have plenty of good ones.

Today is about this here old house we live in.

Kitten has given out today's assignment:

Today for Fun Monday I thought it would be neat to hear about the story behind your home and the road you live on. It doesn't have to be historical, maybe just something that stands out to you. It would be nice to have pictures to go with your little story. I also would like to know who has the oldest house. Whoever has the oldest house will get a little Christmas treat from little ole me

I don't know much. I talked about it when I posted about the 100 year old tree being cut down. We have lived here for 10 1/2 years. the Luna family lived here from the mid 1950's until we bought it. The original house was built directly in front of our. It was a true farm house. Didn't even have a faucet. There is a spring down the hill a wee bit that they would haul their water up from. There are the remnants of a little spring house over it. I can just picture them storing their milk and cream in that little spring house.

Our house was built in 1964 as a very modern Tennessee ranch. If you have ever lived in Tennessee you can picture our house. 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, kitchen, living room and we were lucky enough to have a garage. Plus our 12 acres and 1 shed 1 large shop with a partial concrete floor, a big barn and a pig barn. The pig barn has been taken over by the kids, They have built a stage and curtains and painted and decorated. They spent a lot of time down there when they were small. Teenagers don't spend a lot of time in clubhouses, sad to say. The girls have had a few cam pouts down there this year, but that is about it.

There is a creek bordering one side of the property. That was a requirement when we were looking at houses. My husband said he had spent too many years watering cattle. He wanted good water.

A few years ago a family stopped by when I was in the shower and left before I got out. My husband spoke to them. They had there elderly mother in the car with them. She had grown up here on our land in the old farmhouse. She couldn't decide if all of the out buildings were the originals. She said they were all in the original spots, so probably are original. We didn't even find out their names. I am really sorry I missed her!

We are going to have to tear down the shop with the concrete floor. It is standing, er I mean leaning on rotten posts. And the roof is starting to cave in. My cuckoo husband still goes in it. Crazy!

We sold all the cattle several years ago to pay for a 900 square foot addition. Family room, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. Now we rent the barn to a sawmill/ pallet business. I like making money off the land without having to chase cattle. They always made me nervous. I was always afraid they would get out and get on a busy road and cause an accident. I worried about that because they were always getting out on busy roads. Luckily, no accidents!

It is dark so I cant go and take any pics of the house but I recently took pics in the barn because I wanted to write about the sawmill.

Here is the big barn

Inside admiring the sawmillOutside where the wall has been cut to allow the logs in and the scraps out

The logs being cut

These pictures are not very helpful, but they give you a little bit of an idea.

Tag, your IT!

I have been tagged by Chrys at Solomon Surprises. I think the surprise is on me. Okay, you all know how this works...



The tag rules are: 1) Link to the person who tagged you. 2) Post the rules on your blog. 3) Share 7 facts about yourself. 4) Tag 7 random people and include links to their blogs. 5) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



1. I have been white water rafting once. Just once. I thought I was going to die. I hated it. But the guide was cute. (very small consolation, I wouldn't do it again, no matter who the guide was!)

2. I love pudding. Cold and creamy and dreamy. I love cold and creamy foods.

3. I am desperate to have more children. I am absolutely sure we are supposed to have more. My husband is , um, not sharing this feeling. right now...

4. Growing up I always thought the greatest job in the world would be to be a nun. I love to sit quietly. I love to read. I hate to make decisions. I love order and silence. Life in a secluded convent somewhere just seemed dandy to me. Yes, there was the small problem that I was not Catholic and never wanted to be Catholic. I just wanted to be the non- Catholic nun.

5. I never want to live somewhere that unknown neighbor kids might come to my house. We have never had a kid here that we didn't bring here. That would make me crazy. Of course, my kids have never been to someones house that we didn't take them to. Actually my kids have only been to someone elses house very few times. I like them here.

6. I am always hungry

7. I am planning to have surgery in 2008 that will fix the ravenous tiger in my belly.




Now I have to tag seven people. I don't personally know seven people to tag, so I am going to randomly tag commenter's to my blog...

Haley

Michelle
A Slice of Life

Mrs. Darling

Tiggerlane

Carrie Sue

Rennie

Let It Snow... Please!

None of you probably want to read the special weather statement the I cut and pasted from weather.com.

But look, down towards the bottom. SNOW SNOW SNOW!!

Maybe...


Special Weather Statement
STEWART-MONTGOMERY-ROBERTSON-SUMNER- MACON-CLAY-PICKETT-BENTON- HOUSTON- HUMPHREYS-DICKSON-CHEATHAM-DAVIDSON- WILSON-TROUSDALE- SMITH-JACKSON-PUTNAM- OVERTON-FENTRESS-PERRY-HICKMAN-LEWIS- WILLIAMSON-MAURY-MARSHALL-RUTHERFORD- CANNON-DEKALB-WHITE- CUMBERLAND- BEDFORD-COFFEE-WARREN-GRUNDY-VAN BUREN- WAYNE-LAWRENCE- GILES- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...DOVER...CLARKSVILLE... SPRINGFIELD... GALLATIN...LAFAYETTE... CELINA...BYRDSTOWN...CAMDEN...ERIN... WAVERLY...DICKSON...ASHLAND CITY... KINGSTON SPRINGS...NASHVILLE... LEBANON...MOUNT JULIET...HARTSVILLE... CARTHAGE...GAINESBORO... COOKEVILLE... LIVINGSTON...JAMESTOWN...ALLARDT... LINDEN... LOBELVILLE...CENTERVILLE... HOHENWALD...FRANKLIN...BRENTWOOD... COLUMBIA...LEWISBURG...MURFREESBORO... WOODBURY...SMITHVILLE... SPARTA... CROSSVILLE...FAIRFIELD GLADE... SHELBYVILLE...TULLAHOMA... MANCHESTER...MCMINNVILLE...TRACY CITY...ALTAMONT...COALMONT... SPENCER...WAYNESBORO...LAWRENCEBURG... PULASKI 958 AM CST SAT DEC 15 2007
...HEAVY RAIN TODAY WITH POSSIBLE SNOW LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING...
A COMPLEX LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE SOUTH THIS MORNING...WITH A BROAD AREA OF RAIN REACHING INTO THE WESTERN AREAS OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT MID MORNING. THE RAIN AREA WILL CONTINUE TO ADVANCE EASTWARD THROUGH THE MORNING AND INTO THE AFTERNOON. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE DURING THE AFTERNOON.
ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED OVER THE NORTHWEST...ROUGHLY WEST OF A LINE FROM SPRINGFIELD...TO DICKSON...TO LINDEN. ELSEWHERE IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE ABOUT AN INCH CAN BE EXPECTED...WITH A FEW LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS.
THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO TRACK THROUGH MIDDLE TENNESSEE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...AND THEN INTO EASTERN KENTUCKY BY MIDNIGHT. AS THIS SYSTEM PASSES THROUGH THE AREA...THE WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST...USHERING IN MUCH COLDER AIR. TEMPERATURES WILL BE FALLING QUICKLY OVERNIGHT...AND INTO THE UPPER 20S TO AROUND FREEZING IN MANY AREAS...BY SUNDAY MORNING. AS A RESULT OF THE MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES...THE RAIN WILL CHANGE TO SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE...AND CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING IN MOST AREAS...AND TAPERING OFF INTO THE AFTERNOON ON THE PLATEAU. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT COUNTIES ALONG THE KENTUCKY BORDER COULD GET ONE HALF TO AROUND ONE INCH OF SNOW ACCUMULATION...WITH AREAS ALONG AND ADJACENT TO INTERSTATE 40...GETTING FROM A DUSTING UP TO ONE HALF INCH. EASTERN AREAS OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND ALONG THE PLATEAU COULD GET UP TO AROUND ONE INCH OF SNOW ACCUMULATION.
THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO END ON THE PLATEAU BY EARLY SUNDAY EVENING... WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING INTO THE 20 TO 25 DEGREE RANGE ACROSS ALL OF MIDDLE TENNESSE SUNDAY NIGHT.
WIND CHILLS DURING THE DAY SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT WILL BE IN THE TEENS...SO BUNDLE UP.
More detailed local map tracking! Mark your exact location on weather.com radar maps - click here Don't miss severe weather alerts while away from your computer! Sign up to receive free email or text messages with your local weather alerts.

Oh to be 9 again

Today I took Ella to the Rain Forest Cafe. Actually, her class went, but she and I drove down together. Buses are gross.

She oohed. She aahed. She thought it was the greatest thing ever that the hippo moved. She was amazed at the size of Opryland Hotel. She couldn't wait to see the giant mall.

Several times today I took a deep breathe and allowed myself to be 9 with her. To move at her pace and really enjoy EVERYTHING we saw.

We left at 8:00 this morning and did not get home until 9:15 tonight. For those 13+ hours I was not rushed. I was not cynical. I was not frustrated.

It was great. We had a great time together. I received about 100 hugs from her today. I wish I could figure out a way to let every day feel like today.


Okay, on a side note that is not sweet and touching. I did something not at all in keeping with my country life. I went to a Starbucks. It was my very first time. No, calm down people, I didn't drink coffee. Ella and I split a hot chocolate. I needed something to wash down the Excedrin so I could continue relaxing and being a happy 9 year old with her.

I paid $3 stinkin' bucks for a hot chocolate. It was my first and last time to go to Starbucks!

Oh, and I have been tagged but I am too tired tonight. I will post that tomorrow...

Beta Convention

I have forgotten to tell you all about this fun thing that the girls and I did the week of Thanksgiving. We went to the Opryland Hotel for Beta Convention. Lucy and Rachel participated in the book scene competion. It had some other name, but I don't remember it. They did a scene from the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Ernest. They had to hold perfectly still for 10 minutes. It was miraculous! There friends B and K were also in the scene.

The whole competition kind of got my goat. I didn't lift a finger to help them. They built their backdrop and got the props and costumes. It was their competition. Most of the other schools setting up were all parents and power tools! Hundreds of dollars of building supplies and not a student in sight. The girls said that when the group on the one side of them got there to perform the kids had never even practiced. The parents told them where to stand and what to do.

Of course, we didn't win, but I think our kids learned the more than those others!

Harrison went also, but he doesn't like his picture taken. I can totally understand that!
The girls didn't end up getting much to eat before the competition. They kept stealing bites of the
muffins that Jack and Algy were "fighting "over.

Cookie Monster

On Sunday night, Molly made cookies to take to her class the next day. Monday was my assigned day to come and read a Christmas book to her classroom. Molly picked Angelina's Christmas by Catherine Holibird?.? I am not sure of her last name. And the book is in the car still. Anyway, this was a lot of fun but very time consuming.

She spent about 3 hours making 3 cookie sheets full. We painted the cookies with egg yolk mixed with food color before baking them You can look at the recipe HERE. William likes to help cook. He does not like to be in the picture.
Still painting. It was in the 70's on Sunday. We were all pretty hot there in the kitchen with the oven on. Molly had put on a blanket sleeper! She said she was comfortable. Ella makes a fabulous snowman

After baking William is applying some royal icing. Do you see that cool squeezy thing he is using? Pampered Chef sells them and they totally work great! Set of 3 is only $10.50! Buy some today. Really. Especially if you can't go anywhere because of the ice storm. Us? We have been spared. It is 78 and sunny. Don't hate me because my roads are safe!
oops. I forgot to rotate again. This snowman is *special* Adrian made it. He made it blonde. He said it was for Lucy. Do you believe the abuse my children get at the hands of their father? It is criminal. I have never teased her. Well, except for this one time.