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"Alice in Wonderland"

2012-01-28T14:30:00.000-06:00

Once again theatre arts invades our lives.
Paxton is very excited to be joining new troop of actors- The Players of Light Theatre Troop.

This is a troop located in Dickson, so that means a bit of travel time for us (as usual).
But it seems to be a fun and energetic group with lots of creativity.

Pax got a dual role. She will be Rose- one of the living flowers and the Mock Turtle. These parts have LINES! Projection and memorization will be new buzz words around here for a while.

Anybody have any ideas on how to costume these????

I'll post performance dates when they are confirmed and be sure to follow & like their FaceBook page.

I am OZ!

2011-11-13T15:20:00.000-06:00

So Paxton is outside playing, she comes to the door and incessantly rings the doorbell. I finally relent and go to answer. She is standing there with this long, crooked stick in her hand. She says, "Hello, I have come to visit you." Then she tells me she is playing Dorthy. So I ask, "Who am I, the Wicked Witch." ( I think I have experience at this part...) but she very statedly says, "No, you're the Wizard, because you know things."

Can you see my head growing?????

I must blog more....

2011-11-08T13:07:00.000-06:00

Wow, that was a while back..... I don't blog for lack of things going on. I don't blog,- cause there's too much & I run out of time.... I MUST do better.

Let me catch you up.

The bees have done well. We did a hive inspection a few weeks ago and the hive is strong. If I had chosen to rob the hive, I would have had approximately 15 pints of delicious, golden honey!! WOW. Credit all goes to the bees. We did take a bit of the rouge comb and had a chewy sample. I had not had comb to chew on in years!

I am now a GREAT Aunt. No, that's just not my opinion. I now have a beautiful great niece, Addison and a handsome great nephew Kian (that's cayenne like the pepper NOT Cane like rain.) Both in Colorado.

Did you mention Colorado?? Well we took a family journey there..... in August. Must insert photos here. It was a multipurpose trip, educational, site seeing & family visit. We covered it ALL!

Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo- eye to eye with the giraffes

There's one of those greats, along with all the others that I think are great!!
The other great one was still a 'bun in the oven' during the visit.

looking for gold at the Miner's museum

what caption do you put on this?

by the time we hit Colorado.... our attention span had wavered....

Let's see.... what else... Terry's had a birthday,

killed a turkey.(yum!)

We have held our 5th Houston County Fair

we saw the musical "Wicked"- WOW AwEsOmE show! We dressed up for it!

We and about 37 other of our teammates joined us at the ALS Walk at Centennial Park. (that's a whole another post to catch up on....)

Paxton has turned 7... (wow how'd that get here so fast?)

and along with all of that, we've lost some teeth, started another year of homeschooling, art classes, more dance, American Heritage Girls and now Taekwondo and a bowling league.

We will start our Christmas Season again this year by being in our Houston County Community Theatre's Christmas show "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever".

I think we are up to date.... I'll be more diligent in the posting....

Metaphor or Simile

2011-06-13T11:28:00.000-05:00

Busy as Bees

A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things by employing the words "like", "as", or "than".

Busy Bees. Now the hive is buzzing. It seems to really be prospering and the activity outside is growing. They find the pool a favorite hang out, but if you don't bother them, they will only investigate you and then move on.

Now these two are "busy as bees". Thanks to them, there is a chance we might have a few tomatoes this summer. Momma brought some started plants. She and Pax went right to work planting them and a few gourd seeds. Terry has jumped in and been helping with the watering!
Everything else in the garden is looking good. All the herbs are strong, heirloom pumpkins and watermelons are up and thriving. The peppers and squash are strong with a few blooms on them. Patiently waiting on the garlic and radishes. But NOTHING will be as delectable as those tomatoes!!

tooth progression...

2011-05-22T22:15:00.000-05:00

Pax has been a LONG time without several teeth. At Christmas she didn't have 2 front teeth and 2 bottom teeth were missing. It really changed her appreance when she lost those teeth, I'm her mom, I think she looks cute without the front teeth, but now the permanent teeth are coming in .... well, frankly.... they're HUGE!!

Her apperance is changing again from sweet toothless grin ..... to a lovely kid face.

She's quite proud to have lost 6 teeth by the age of 6 and have her molars coming in. In her eyes, well, it's a rite of passage. She's becoming a BIG kid.

So here she is in November minus one front tooth & a bottom tooth.

By Christmas she had lost booth top teeth and another bottom tooth.
But here she is making some progress. Both bottom teeth seems to be making their way.

But DON"T WORRY!!! You can still immensely enjoy ice cream even if you are a few teeth shy!

And now the top teeth are coming in and her smile is changing!

time to check the bees

2011-05-08T21:48:00.000-05:00

It is time to check the bees proper gear is a must.	I tired to be well covered. There's too much to think about without having bees crawling on you.

Paxton has already suffered one sting. We didn't take any chances. She was covered from head to toe too. She helped me carry out all the tools and was the photographer of the event.

Here is the hive painted and in its location. We checked the bees once since they were installed in the hive, to ensure the Queen had gotten out. This time I was checking to see if they had started building comb and well--- been busy as bees, should be.

Any YEAH! they have been. They were getting cells ready and capping others. From all that I have learned so far, they were doing exactly what they should be. They were very busy on three frames and a few had started working on the next frames out. The weather was very mild and they were calm when I checked them. This was the first time I had tried to deal with the bees without the aide of my mentors and friends the Latschs. I will count the check as a success since no one was stung! Paxton and I both saw drone and worker bees, but we could not spot our queen. Maybe next week's look, she will show herself.

Recital Sneak Peek!

2011-05-04T10:11:00.000-05:00

Here's last week's rehearsal. The girls are working hard for recital. It's right around the corner! May 28th

The costumes are going to be really cute! Short skirts and sparkles! Of course there will be pictures of that to come.
(Paxton is on the back row with a black top and pink skirt to the viewers right.)

here's the BUZZ...

2011-04-25T23:58:00.000-05:00

It took everyone's help, but we did it! We built a BOX!

We have now increased our livestock to 8,000 head.

Seriously, there are 8,000 bees that live in that little hive. Bees are just the COOLEST creatures ever.

Not so certain we will have much honey by fall, this year, but with a bit of luck and a strong hive, next year may be a bumper crop!

I placed the hive out in the yard, but away from the house, so I could easily care for the bees and watch their activity. I got the hive installed and have looked at it once to see if the queen was loose and the comb was started correctly. IT WAS!!

Next look will be next Friday.....can't wait to see what's happening then. Hopefully, I'll see some brood.

Shoulda built some windows in that box!

Turkey on the table...

2011-04-25T23:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Terry we have had fresh turkey twice this season. Not sure if he'll get a chance to go again, but it was yummy! Got one more serving put in the freezer for a later meal. Both were very nice birds. Paxton went a couple times with him, but they didn't get a bird on either of those trips.

Easter

2011-04-25T23:47:00.000-05:00

We had a great Easter.... ok, any holiday that is filled with delicious food, I didn't have to cook is great to me! We had a bounty of food at Terry's family and Paxton and her cousin Olivia were the only two left to hunt eggs after we ate. That's ok, just meant more booty for them to collect. They were surprised this year when a couple of the eggs had MONEY it them!

Our church family also had a fun hunt on Saturday. Several kids there and some fun crafts.

They made these cute washcloth bunnies and a funky cup bird.

Paxton working hard with Kelly who coordinated things and her friend Sarah.

Sarah and Paxton with their loaded buckets.

Yummy and pretty snacks topped the morning hunt off!

Composting: What's Your Composting Sign?: Organic Gardening

2011-04-11T21:42:00.000-05:00

Composting: What's Your Composting Sign?: Organic Gardening

Compost Zodiac

What kind of composter are you?

By Scott Meyer and Beth Huxta

Your garden's future is revealed not by looking at the stars, your palm, or tea leaves but by looking in your compost pile. We've seen countless bins, tumblers, and heaps, talked to the gardeners who filled them, and classified them all into this zodiac. Then we asked experts for hints about how to make the most of your composting style. Whether you are detail-oriented or devil-may-care, a master decomposer or a total newbie, we predict you will strike it rich—with black gold, the best soil builder for your flower and vegetable beds.

The Slacker

Profile: You dump and run, emptying the kitchen scrap bucket only when the stink or the fruit flies overwhelm you. You think you turned your pile once. You think.
Advice: Lucky for you, "compost happens," says Lewis Shell, compost instructor with the Maryland Home and Garden Information Center. You can toss items onto the pile whenever you have them, and you'll get finished compost in about a year. If one day you are struck with a small burst of motivation, get a 2- to 3-foot length of PVC pipe, punch a few holes into it (or easier yet, get perforated pipe), and stick it into your pile. It will bring air to the middle of the pile, which is what those overachievers are doing when they turn their piles.

What's Your Sign?

Monday's storms.

2011-04-06T22:24:00.000-05:00

This is what greeted us when we arrived home Monday afternoon. We must have been driving just in front of this storm. There was lots of damage done in Dickson, not long after we got home. This is a limb off of the Beech tree at the bottom of the driveway. As you can see the driveway also turned into a small creek. There was just enough room to get pulled into the drive. Luckily the house, barns and kennels all were fine. LOTS of limbs down in the yard.

There was quite a pile of logs, and huge pile of brush that will have to be hauled up the drive and burned. Guess I will add that to the long list of 'get r done' list.

We worked in the rain and make quick work of it and the drive was passable again, even if it is a bit bumpy at the bottom.

2011-03-28T11:38:00.000-05:00

We are all so excited Spring is here!! Our hens are excited Spring is here. We can tell they like the extra daylight as our egg production is in high grear. I will have to get out the larger egg basket if the bounty continues like yesterday's. One gold hen acts as if she may be broody, so i have put faux eggs under her in hopes she will stay on the nest and we can hatch some eggs the a'natural way!

Any reason is a good reason to get on the four-wheeler. Dad's purpose was to plant seed, Pax purpose- to drive really fast. Only one accomplished their purpose, see photo of chicken above... Mom let the chickens out... I think Dad's purpose was negated.

I have great help! Yesterday, despite the cold we got outside and tended to one of our beds. From this photo of Pax in tank top and flipflops, it's hard to tell, but it really was cold. I had on coveralls! This bed was reworked and will be dedicated to herbs.

We dug tons of Iris bulbs out of that bed. They are beautiful when they bloom, but we decided to use the space for more gardening.

She was sweet enough to allow the use of her wagon. She gaurds it pretty close. She doesn't want it messed up! We moved a few things around and tried to straighten up a bit.

Annie Jr.

2011-03-17T23:29:00.000-05:00

Can't believe the last post there was snow on the ground and now Spring is almost here. We have been busy, mostly running back and forth to Annie Jr. rehearsals, since about Valentines.

Pax was thrilled to be cast in the show. This is her first show at the Renaissance Center. She has had a ball. This particular show is part of the Y.E.S. series (Young Entertainers on Stage). There are 57 children in the cast, no adults. The cast age range from Kindergartners to Seniors. It has been a great experience from auditions (which, didn't go so well) all the way to opening night.

Six performances are scheduled and this will be the final weekend. It will be bitter sweet to end the show. We are ready for a break, but she will greatly miss seeing the many friends she has made.

Pax is a random orphan and is in one number
"Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile"

This is Pax with Annie (Juniper D.) and Kylan R.
another young lady from Erin. This was a
promo shot for the local paper.

Check out the Renaissance Center for more information about the show.

Three Ring Circus

2011-01-22T22:57:00.000-06:00

So today we headed to Nashville to see the "Greatest Show on Earth" the Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus... it truly is a great show. I haven't been to see a circus in probably 20 years. I took my nieces Jessica & Meagan long ago. It was a great show then and today they are still putting on a great show. I think there are fewer animals than "back then", but there was plenty of 'show' involved.

There were tigers ( no lions), elephants, ponies, llamas, donkeys, a steer & all the wonderful elephants!

Yes there was the VW that all the clowns piled out of.

and .... so much more, there were so many performers, just not room on the blog to post all the pictures.

Instead of cool cups with snowcones like there were 20 years ago, now you buy a bag of cotton candy in a wild and crazy hat!

Snow..

2011-01-15T08:48:00.000-06:00

Well more 'glorious' snow has arrived. This time about 2" fell and we have been at home most of the time. As usual our driveway presents our problem. Food supplies have been good. Cookies did run out after day three, but we have held on.

The first day, especially, it wasn't all that cold. The wind wasn't blowing and after a sleding workout, staying warm wasn't a problem. However, keeping gloves dry was.

I had feared our purchase of a sled might hold off the snow, but lucky us!

When there is concern it might melt. Stockpiling seems to be an alternate solution! These were some fun play days. Our hills at home provided some awesome sleding at top speeds.... just gotta watch for the all the trees....

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T13:58:00.000-06:00

Review of our Christmas in photos.

What a holiday season. Our tree looked great, thanks to Paxton. She did the decorating and I just covertly moved a few ornamnets above the 3 foot level.
We baked cookies for Santa and Mims came to help. We had an early Christmas with the Allen family, Christmas at home with Mims & Paps and Christmas at Granny's. Whew... glad we survived that.. now onward to the New Year!

my little Martha Stewart

2010-11-12T20:45:00.000-06:00

Paxton loves to create....

One day she did a video on how to ice cupcakes.....

Recently, she worked on making donut acorns. We were practicing this one.

We might take this to a few holiday events.

Kinda cute huh?

Then our wonderfully, creative, friend Jane Latsch help to teach us how to make these Christmas napkins. Once folded they look like Christmas trees.

And since we were finally back at the sewing machine.... (haven't sewn in ages... really sad) we made this apron too.

Birthday Number Six

2010-11-12T20:33:00.000-06:00

Well, it has happened! My baby turned SIX! and shortly after, she lost two more teeth. Loosing teeth really rate high on her scale of maturing! Number Six was a lot of fun. Of course our trip to the beach was the big event earlier, but we couldn't let a birthday go by with out cake and a few presents!

She requested a Farm Girl Cake. Ofcourse Mims complied. Cake complete with horse, pond, ducks, cows and more!

I finally found a PINK bathrobe in time for her birthday. It was a hit!

Any birthday is great when you are surrounded by family!

2010 Houston County Fair

2010-09-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

The Houston County Fair went over well this year. This year a Jr. Fair Board formed and were a tremendous help in all aspects of the event. Even so it was an exhausting three days. Lots of work goes on before and after the event.

Some of the movers and shakers of the Fair.

One of the first things they helped with was painting the creepy green bathroom. Now, it's a fresh clean white.

Manpower was another great resource from the Jr. Board.

(l to r) Matty, Gav, Dougie, Alexander & Chas

Hannah received a Blue Ribbon for her quilt. I was so proud! It was a quilt we had worked on together. She has a great eye for color.

I got lucky and placed second with my knitted hat, and yes there were more than two entries.

Mims & Paxton walked the 5K. I was so proud of both of them. Paxton was smiling as she came across the finish line & was cheered on by the crowd waiting at the finish. She also received a big hug from her friend Zach at the finish. They both finished second in their age bracket. The 5K was a new under taking for the Fair and was held under my chairmanship. I have never attended a run, much less organized one before. I had some great support help and we had a very successful race with 50 runners. I was very excited.

Now to clean up - put up and move on to our next adventure!

Charlotte's Web Review in Stewart Houston Times

2010-09-15T08:32:00.001-05:00

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109140316

Here's a link to our local paper. There is a nice article about the show & a few pictures. Paxton is the first gosling on the left..... the one NOT looking, so you have a picture of the TOP of her HEAD!! LOL
Love my KID!

Fair Information

2010-09-02T09:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, Margaret there really are Dolphins out there!

2010-08-21T07:54:00.000-05:00

We have made it to our vacation spot... Tybee Island, GA and......

Wow, there really are Dolphins out there! I know, I read it on the website of the tourist information, but i figured "yeah, yeah, sure, we'll never see one". But they are really out there! Sorry no live shots, it's kinda hard to snap a photo of a dolphin fin popping in and out of the water, but they are so close, like probably 20 yards!! We saw them first thing when we got to the beach and have seen them several times since. They are so graceful. Anyway....

We are having a great time! Paxton LOVES the beach & the sand. Can't say the rest of us are so fond. Sand, sand everywhere.... The beach here is very peaceful. There are few people here and mostly adults and young children so the beach isn't packed. There are tiny shells to pick up and we have even spotted a jellyfish washed up.

Isn't this sweet? and .. (no it wasn't posed)

We toured the Tybee Lighthouse. We all climbed the 178 steps to the top. Reminder... it's one of the tallest lighthouses....My calf's are screaming today. But it was an incredible view of the ocean, river, & you could see all the way over to Hilton Head, SC. That's approximately 6 miles across!

One more day.... not sure how we will spend it. Relaxing on the beach sounds good to me.

We're staying busy....

2010-08-13T11:45:00.001-05:00

So school has been going on for us for a couple of weeks now. I think we are off to a great start. Of course remember, those opinions expressed here are mainly MINE!! LOL Not sure all involved would agree. We have taken on a couple of subjects and extra activities; most of which are getting started this week. We are taking a sign language class together, and Paxton is taking ballet and jazz and this year she added an extra hour of tumbling. Soon the arts council classes will start up and my tap class will start and Paxton will either take another type of dance or the skits (acting) class again.

SLIP N SLIDE FUN

Believe it or not... we do have a few fun days. Paxton's friend Lyrin came over and of course the weather is just right for some Slip N Sliding.

CUZ CREEK DAY

Then we meet another day with our cousins for what has become an annual creek swimming day. We meet up when the Louisiana cousins come for their Tennessee visit. We found a great spot to have lunch under a tiki hut and then hauled the chairs to the creek bank and everyone got wet, ... well at least up to our knees!

I threw this one in... it's just my current favorite!

Our Life as Thespians .....

2010-07-20T19:33:00.000-05:00

Well it looks like our lives as thespians will continue... for a few more weeks anyway....
Paxton auditioned for Charlotte's Web and got 2 parts. She is a gosling and baby spider number one.
She was really excited... baby spider number one... HAS LINES!!! She already has them memorized!!
Her only disappointment is the baby spiders don't come on till the very end of the show.

Lots of our friends are in the show and we anticipate more weeks of fun together.

Show dates are September 10, 11 & 17, 18. You can get tickets by calling 931-289-ARTS (2787). We will even get to do a show for the elementary schools! What a treat for us and them too. It's a great way to get the arts into the school system.

2010-07-13T01:30:00.000-05:00

My Fair Lady

2010-07-13T00:56:00.001-05:00

My Fair Lady opened to rave reviews by those in attendance and from the local newspaper. The Leaf Chronicle & The Stewart Houston Times. We had crowds of over 100 at three of the five shows and set a Houston County Community Theatre attendance record. It was sad to see the show close. It was a great cast and crew to work with. Even though few of us are professionals, everyone took the job seriously, worked hard and strove for perfection. The hard work showed in the results. Thanks to everyone who came out in support of me to see the show. This one is in the books and the next one is already in the works. Tonight was auditions for Charlotte's Web. Paxton did a good job on her audition. She is coming a long way since her first one.

I was awarded the Chalis one night by my friend Bill.

The smiles and laughter went on through all the shows.

One of my favorite scenes. This really needs to be a video to appreciate Fred's performance as Doolittle!

My Birthday

2010-06-26T08:56:00.002-05:00

I have had a wonderful birthday!!

It felt like the entire world was celebrating hearing all the retro music from back in the day ...... played because it also was the anniversary of Michael Jackson's death...

Paxton & I had a great breakfast--- did nothing--- ran to town for a few errands--- then it was SHOW TIME!!

Last night was opening night for My Fair Lady. The cast sang Happy Birthday and gave me a some very cute, sweet & funny cards. Someone even slipped me some 'chocolates'! The show went very well. All the rehearsals and re-rehearsals and dress rehearsals and GRAND dress rehearsals were worth effort and the effort paid off. We had a very active audience that laughed (they got all the funny lines & play on words) and enjoyed the performance. It always changes the tenor of things when you have that feedback out in the audience.

After the show, the cast stayed for pizza, not because it was my birthday, but because we were all STARVING and there is NO where to get food in our sleepy town after 9:00 pm. They did have a cake for me and a special present-- certificate for a MASSAGE--- can't wait to use that!! It was fun to relax and enjoy everyone's fellowship and replay the show.

Looking forward to a great run of the show & more memories to be made.

Community Theatre

2010-06-19T07:01:00.001-05:00

We are going into the last week of rehearsals and so far things are going well. We do have four more rehearsals to work out any kinks. This is a fun cast and they have been working hard for MANY months. Most folks don't realize the numerous hours that are put into preparations for the show and not just the rehearsal time. There are many miles and hours spent acquiring props, costumes, set pieces and more. My Fair Lady is a musical so there have been lots of choreography and music rehearsals before we ever began show rehearsals. The talent level in our show is nothing to scoff at and perfection level is high. We all hope you will come support our hard work and see one of our performances. You'll love seeing the costumes and dance numbers and will leave humming a tune. You might even say.... so that's where that song is from!

Just to brag a bit more..... here a promo for the show, watch just a bit...

Family Vacation

2010-06-08T11:44:00.000-05:00

What do you do on vacation? Sit by the pool......

and swim in the pool with cousins....

and then you pan for gems!

There is also a lot of overeating and napping going on that I neglected to take pictures of... primarily because I was involved in both activities.

Dance Recital

2010-06-08T11:31:00.001-05:00

Miss Amy's World Premier 2010 Dance Recital was a huge success.

All the ballerinas were beautiful and danced well. I was very amazed at how much more the girls could remember this year in a routine compared to what they could remember last year. This year there were 16 in the class and how Miss Amy ever got them 'wrangled' each week is a feat on it's own. They worked hard and learned two routines for recital. One was a jazz dance to "Walk Like a Dinosaur" and a ballet about friends. Both were hits!!

Paxton is the fourth from the right.

Of course she had her own fan club there.

Mom was super proud!! It's worth every mile to drive and every minute waiting at lessons each week!

Every Dance Diva needs a special treat after an astounding performance!!

Violin Recital

2010-05-27T09:02:00.001-05:00

tuned up and ready

doesn't she look tiny on the stage!

The "year" is quickly winding down. May is always busy with those activities. We have been busy rehearsing for dance recital (2 dances this year!) and violin lessons finished up last week. The music classes all have a joint recital that is optional. Paxton wanted to perform and did a splendid job. She knew only the girls that take lessons in the time slot before her and chose to sit with them over sitting with Terry & I. Students sit in the audience and are called to the stage at their turn. She was about fifth to perform so it gave her an opportunity to see a few other children and get the idea to go on stage bow, perform & bow again. She looked so very confident on stage, but on the way home, she expressed, "Momma there was something wiggling in my tummy while I was on stage!" She played two short pieces, but it felt to her as if she were on stage for an hour.

update in photos

2010-05-24T19:42:00.000-05:00

Nothing like Mother Nature helping you with a science lesson. Not sure the snake agreed, but we put him loose in the garden, then we

picked our first crop of strawberries. They were pretty tasty, even if they were not plentiful.

And Summer Camp is open and the fish were biting..... no hesitation from us we loaded up the boat and two granddaddies and off we went.........

When you are finished with a hard day of fishin' you lay back and relax!

Dress Rehearsal

2010-05-19T09:08:00.000-05:00

Clean Up....

2010-05-07T12:14:00.000-05:00

The clean up has begun immediately here in our county. It is amazing how quickly folks are doing their best to get back going. The store (Wells Creek Market) was a loss. I stopped by to visit with the current owner and it was so sad to see the destruction. I hope they can get the building repaired quickly and back in business. We certainly miss having the convenience of that convenience store! We were working at JB's and had to go across town to get lunches and drinks.

Gas is a bit of a crisis here in town. We lost two gas stations here and I think there has been some difficulty getting gas out of Nashville and then finding accessible roads to here as well.

The Lord has really watched over us. We have been out of water since late Saturday night, but amazingly we are getting by. We have had enough water pooling that I have been able to water the poultry, Mister our horse is seemingly conserving his water as he still has close to a half barrel still remaining. If all things were normal and had not watered him since Saturday he would be dehydrated. My in laws have had water so we have been over there in the evenings to shower and she has even provided us with a delicious dinner!

JB's clean up has gone well. The Lord has provided there as well. Two guys that 'scrap' for a living came by and offered to haul off the stuff. There is no way we could have moved all the old mowers and tin that they have taken off. He will now need to get the tractor and a dozer out to move the large rocks back on the creek bank and level the yard back off.

I will have to go back and take few photos of the clean up.

Record rains cause flooding.

2010-05-02T18:55:00.005-05:00

We are having record rainfall here. The waters are overflowing everywhere. It was not looking good yesterday afternoon when we were out and overnight proved to be disastrous.

This boat is standing on end. It traveled about 1.5 miles to lodge against the bridge at the Welcome sign. Now how ya gonna get it back?

This the road I take to town. There are other roads that are totally washed out. I expect the highway to Dickson to wash out at as well. It was cracking this morning when we went out to church.

This is the diesel pump at our old store, Wells Creek Market.

Water was reported to be 5+ feet high inside the store.

This is where the business next door to the store USED to be.

The daycare on the other side didn't fare any better.

The Elementary School across the street also had high water.

This is where JB's (my father in law) mower business USED to be. The entire building washed out and landed in pieces several yards away.

We hope to help him recover tools tomorrow.

This is another view of the house. They rent the house to another couple now.

The water didn't get too far into the house.

Paxton has played in the rain and on the porch the last two days. She has started to grasp only slightly the damage it has caused. There are many in our community who are displaced and will need clean up help. So much of our county is "low" and many folks live on creeks and in low spaces.

Our Cow...

2010-04-30T12:01:00.001-05:00

OK, it's NOT really OURS.. but we do own a share.... we'll probably if you did the math, we own the tail, but nevertheless... we now have a source for FRESH, CLEAN (no added stuff) milk!! It's coming straight from the udder to us!

I can't wait for the next gallon and all that glorious cream!! FRESH BUTTER!! & Fresh Whipped Cream too!!

2010-04-12T10:41:00.000-05:00

Our first attempt at cinnamon rolls made with soft red wheat... they were yummy!! will do these again!

Dressed for Easter.

What you do when the TV is off! LOVE IT!

First turkey taken this spring. Two fine hunters here.

spring update

2010-04-10T02:37:00.000-05:00

Has it really been a month since I have sat down to write?? WOW! It's definitely not because of lack of activity to write about.... we have been on GO since early March.
We have had our BIG 48th Annual Irish Day celebration in our town. It was a huge success. I took a much diminished roll in the events this year. I spent most of the day helping in my Fair Board roll in a concession stand at the Demo Derby. We had a great turnout for that. We could not have asked for better weather for the event. Of course, we all felt we were due a good year.... we have had cold, rain and storms for the last several.

Paxton participated in the Kick Off Celebrations again this year. She had outgrown her 'leprechaun' dress from last year and Mrs Mary Chappell was kind enough to make us a new one. Mrs. Nina Finley had crocheted some Irish themed hats for the Friends of the Library and we found a perfect one for the occasion. Her doll was even decked out in her own celebratory attire!

Here she is with her friend Izzy at the Kick Off Breakfast.

Then we just rolled right into Easter. We went to three fun hunts. Mrs. Kay and Mrs. Cathy hosted a fantastically fun hunt for the Storytime Kids. Again, we were blessed with a wonderfully warm sunny day. We put the eggs over in the park and the kids had a lot of eggs and space to hunt them in. Paxton found the most and added a chocolate bunny to the basket.

We load up our baskets with candy then head back to the Library to have more delicious treats!

We have a fantastic youth group at church. The weather was not so great for this hunt, but the older youth came and hid eggs. We had to use the auditorium, but they were very creative in their efforts at hiding. Everyone had fun. The fellowship with the children was great. Paxton just relishes all the chances she get to be with other children. She was really meant to be born in a household with a dozen children. She would love the Duggar house!

We spent Easter at Pattye & JB's. The meal was of course better than ever and we got to visit with lots of the 'city' family that came to be with us. We are excited for our summer family trip this year. We are going to a new location and have lots of fun planned. Looking forward to some creek playing and late night card games!

It was also a sad day Easter. I found a home for two of our three horses. We were not riding them and it was an extra expense we needed to pass on. A man in Manchester and his wife came to get them after Easter dinner. Mister, who is 25+ will always have a home with us. He is officially Paxton's horse. She really enjoys riding him and the independent feeling she has on him. She has been currying him and keeping his feet clean now that the weather has improved. He'll get plenty of attention and not feel lonely.

We have started working in our raised beds and making plans for where and what to plant. Momma and Paxton got some Marigolds and those are planted in our flower bed. We found some voluntary Cilantro and Parsley in the bed when we were weeding it out. That was an exciting find! We'll add some Basil and Rosemary and lettuce in that bed and I will anxiously plant the tomatoes back in the large pots. Hopefully we add a few more vegetables and have enough for dinner each week. First we must tackle the winter weeds!

I think that gets us caught up from the last month. The summer will be busy winding up dance lessons, music lessons and starting vacation plans, swim lessons, camping and lots of rehearsals. I will be the stage manager for "My Fair Lady". It will open the end of June and play for three weekends..... there'll be more to come

catching up & organizing....

2010-03-01T20:12:00.002-06:00

seems like that's what I'm doing all the time yet, I'm still not finished nor can't seem to find anything!

I have gotten back on track with my cooking thanks to my friend Alicia and encouraging bloggers, especially Kelly @Faithful Prov and @crystalpaine aka Money Saving Mom. Reading these two bloggers got me on the move again and the house smells yummy! I was fairly successful at my attempt at bread making this time. You know it's always a surprise to see what the same ingredients, cooked in the same manner, will turn out to be! It wasn't pretty, but it is good. A delicious meat loaf is in the oven, (recipe from moneysavingmom.com) and waiting for supper, now.

In an effort to continue to improve our diets and health, I went to the Franklin Farmer's Market. I know it was a HAUL... but I was part of the way there anyway picking up consignment clothes. I found some great organic producers. They were all so nice, to explain things. The only drawback is no one is this way!! Don't they know folk in this area want to be healthy too?? I got some milk & cream from Hatcher Family Dairy. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise, there is a difference in fresh milk. It is delicious!! I am now on the search for someone reasonably close. It just isn't feasible to drive that far for a gallon of milk. I made fresh butter from the cream and it is so sweet and good on the toast and I put a bit in our corn last night and WOW was that good.

I also got a Shiitake Mushroom log while I was at the Farmers Market. Yeah, I didn't know they made these either?? But basically it's a live cut log, with holes bored in it & covered with beeswax. You put the log in the shade & wait. Gather the few mushrooms it produced and then soak the log in the pond for a day, wait and more mushrooms will grow. I figure $20 was cheap, if it produced only a few 'shrooms. We like them here, cooked especially. The fella was telling me about drying them too...

I also found a great planner "The Well Planned Day" to try to use to keep our school days on track and focused. It has other resources in it like meal planning as well. Funny how that keeps coming up?? So day one (today) I actually used the planner and planned a meal. Put a smiley face on my chart!

I have also moved my blog to Wordpress. That's no small feat & I'm still trying to figure out how to get some of the sidebar items on here. (a long with a few other tweaks) I'll keep my Blogspot up for a bit longer. So if you're a Wordpress user and have that figured out along with how to edit autosave feature, please let me in on it.

I also finally followed thru on my committment to build the Celtic Quilt Trail its own site. I have had a link for it on the Chamber's site for quite a while, but had told Debbie, the Quilt Trail founder, I would 'fix' her, her own site. So take a second and check that out. www.celticquilttrail.com This is a great tourism tool for our county and Debbie has done yeoman work on it.

I think that has me up to date??

Valentines Party

2010-02-14T00:50:00.002-06:00

Valentines is another FUN holiday and this one has been no different. But not unlike the rest of the holidays in recent years, it didn't get celebrated on the actual day. Ours was celebrated today on the 13th. Paxton had a party at church with the youth group. Our Youth Leaders do a great job and work hard at it. The older set of the group went bowling, while the younger set stayed at the church building and made a craft, watched UP and played games. I didn't get as many pictures as usual, I was too busy playing and eating too!!

In the middle of all the other things going on the older youth were in the building working on their service project. They made cupcakes and cards for the widows. Allison, Laurie and Hannah are working hard on their icing technique.

One of the games we played was to see who could stack the most conversation hearts in a timed race. The boys got creative and smart and made platforms and built stable towers.

This one is Emily's. Hers was pretty and stable and had a LOT of hearts in it, which was the goal. The boys were also upset, because she beat them at bowling. They claimed she cheated because she had the bumpers up. We just figured she was smarter for taking that option!

Wish I had taken a picture of the young ones making their craft. They made paper heart wreaths. I also introduced them to a cake walk. What fun that was! We actually made it a 'prize' walk. I had a basket of 'happy meal' toys and we used those for prizes instead of cakes.

In the evening, Paxton went with Mims and Paps to the Renaissance Center to see the Mandy Barnet Show. They had a wonderful evening. Paxton and Mims are big Mandy fans. Paxton got Mandy's autograph and gave her a special Valentine. Terry and I had an equally wonderful time here in the Big City. We went to see the Houston County Community Theatre's production of Some Enchanted Evening. It was a dinner and musical show. It is some of the best entertainment and it's here in our back yard!

Tea Party

2010-02-11T22:53:00.001-06:00

We just have absolutely the BEST Library & Staff of anywhere. Today they hosted a Valentine Tea Party for the storytime kids. It was complete with fancy decorations, fancy food, tea cups and tea served from tea pots.

Olivia & Paxton using Pinky Etiquette.

Preparations began last week with the making of the Valentine boxes. Mrs. Kaye had a variety of decorations and the mayhem and gluing began. The results were beautiful!

Then they were stuffed with colorful sentiments of fond friendship.

Everyone came dressed in their finest and waited patiently for the delicacy to be served.

Isn't this a great looking group!

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2010-02-06T22:52:00.000-06:00

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Snow Day

2010-01-30T13:13:00.004-06:00

We now have what I would consider a "good" snow. The grass & leaves are completely covered. You can walk in the snow and make deep tracks. The roads are pretty rough, even though they got them salted before the snow fell. We'll be here till at least Tuesday I figure. Glad it came on the weekend.

Paxton claimed it as the "Best day of my life." yesterday. We had enough snow to make a snowman and to sled and to make snow cream. Our snowman was the equivalent of a dwarf, but we both got tired of the process before he got too tall.

We don't have a sled. Do we really need one for no more snow than we get each year? It would just take up space in the barn and collect dirt daubers. But this is a pretty good snow..... so being the Southern Rednecks we are ..... we made do with what we had. A feed sack and a rope. You'd be surprised... these are not the feed sacks from your grandpa's day. It was a ball.... well except for the part where I had to do the pulling!

The snow cream was delicious!! I made sure it was white snow, clean untrodden & I hope it had snowed long enough to get all the "global warming" pollutants ou t of the sky. : ) Now that was a great treat. We may have to have some more today.

By the time we came back in the mittens were crusty with snow, the cheeks a rosy glow and the toes and fingers tingly!

90 Day Plan

2010-01-24T16:23:00.004-06:00

Well is it a failure or success?? I am behind again in my reading plan. Been too busy to be on Twitter and forgot to check in on the session last Monday....
BUT I have read some amount each night....
SO I am not counting it as a failure. I am much further ahead in a daily reading goal than I have ever been.
I got my new Bible and I love the layout and the NIV version. It has definitely made it much easier reading.

Pretzels

2010-01-09T18:54:00.003-06:00

Today we made pretzels. It's cold outside and with the snow on the ground, seems like all we want to do is GRAZE. What better to graze on than some BREAD!!

I found the recipe on another blog, Frugal Upstate, seemed easy enough and it was!! We wouldn't win any awards for 'Pretty'. They didn't pretzel out very well. The last batch we just ended up making sticks. (it didn't affect the taste!) We tried both the salty and the cinnamon versions. It was a hard call to say which was best. If we had just had some cheese to dip a few in too!!

90 Days update

2010-01-08T20:03:00.004-06:00

well... I am still doing my challenge to read the Bible in 90 Days, however I never thought that I'd be behind in the first week...

I knew realistically over the course of 90 days, I'd probably get behind at some time, just didn't think it'd be so soon. There is a great group on Twitter to follow and get support from. On Monday's there is TwitChat about the previous week's reading. I bought the Bible in 90 Days version. It is a nice, hardback, Bible with the reading marked on the pages. It makes it nice to follow. Supposedly the success rate increases when you are using this version. I hope this is true!

I hope my next post can say... "I'm ahead"

Tooth Fairy stopping at Harris house tonight!

2010-01-03T14:16:00.005-06:00

This morning was a BIG day in the Harris family. Pea lost her first tooth. This is such a landmark in growing up in her eyes. She had questioned the dentist at her last check up about when would this happen. He told her it was early yet and would probably be another year. (so momma thought too!)

I surely didn't know anything was loose and Pea only said this morning AFTER pulling it that she "told me yesterday" that her tooth hurt eating her Subway sandwich. Did she really tell me that???

Anyway... first thing this morning she stops in her tracks leaving her bedroom and says, "Wait Momma, I feel something." Next thing I know she's holding out her tooth to me!! I am sure my jaw dropped! Of course we had to wake Daddy & show him.

She was quite proud of herself and had lots of questions about how things would work now, how's she gonna eat, will it hurt, does she have to use her toothbrush, does she even have to brush, when's the new tooth coming, what's it gonna look like, will it bleed anymore, when's the tooth fairy coming, do we have to write her a letter??????

So at church today she shows everyone and you could even tell by her carriage, she felt older. She went home with her friend Lyrin as planned. She barely said goodbye in her excitement to go with Lyrin.

On the way home..... I cried! What a bummer day for me!

Ringing in the New Years

2010-01-01T21:39:00.003-06:00

Even though all the holidays we celebrate are one day events on the calendar, it seems as though it takes several days to celebrate them. So like Christmas and all the others, it took more than one day to celebrate the New Year.

Paxton and I spent New Year's Eve with Mims & Paps and then she & I took an impromptu trip to the movies. We left planning to just see Alvin & the Chipmunks, but then I remembered our Q for the Princess and the Frog, so we decided, since it was a holiday, we'd celebrate big and see TWO movies in one night (can't let a good Q go to waste!)!! What a night of indulgence it was!! We had TWO Big Buckets of popcorn and TWO Big Sprites, a LARGE Maggie Moo Waffle Cone and a LARGE Hot dog. I just knew one of us would get sick before the night was over. We just had a ball together. I love times spent like that. We both liked Alvin & the Chipmunks, it had funny scenes and good music. The Princess and the Frog I was a little disappointed in. I had been under the impression it was a 'different' princess tale, where hard work pays off.... but in the end, the gal got her dream because she married into money! But other than that it was a great Disney movie.

New Year's Day was spent with the Harris family. We got filled with great food and fellowship. Paxton got the opportunity to spend some more time with her cousins. We probably stayed longer than expected because instead of taking leftovers home for dinner..... we were still there at dinnertime and we just ate again there.

I hope each of you have a wonderful new year and achieve all your goals.

The Bible in 90 Days

2010-01-01T21:38:00.000-06:00

Bible in 90 Days

I am taking this challenge. Come join me! I figure even if I don't make it 90 days or if it takes me 100 days, it's a goal I haven't yet achieved. It will be a challenge to find time to make my brain stop to concentrate, but I will try. Pray that I can stop the multi-tasking long enough to make this a habit and daily routine.
Please join me and the group of other online readers.
More info and support at Mom's Toolbox

Preparations for Santa.

2009-12-24T22:41:00.000-06:00

Well today has been a great day at home mostly. Terry spent most of yesterday in the ER in Erin and in Dickson. After more than 10 hours, we don't know any more than we did when we left, but at least there is no more pain. Possible Gall Bladder troubles or cholesterol meds causing trouble with liver...but anyway....

Today has been spent together at home. We even did some schooling, much to Paxton's dislike. She wasn't buying the fact that she got off a couple extra days earlier in the week... all she knew was it is Christmas EVE... this is SPECIAL time and I should have the JOY in my HEART and not make her do school. She is quite the debator!.. Wonder what she'd say if I suggest school tomorrow right after presents! LOL

Terry had to work this evening, so Paxton and I attended a Christmas service with some friends of ours. It has become a tradition and we enjoy the opportunity to reflect on all the meanings of the holiday.

As soon as we got home though it was down to business... time to make THE cookies.

She is SUCH a HAM!

writing our letter to let Santa know there is hay in the barn for the reindeer.

Cookies are ready... just gotta go get the milk!

Christmas Celebrations

2009-12-24T22:17:00.000-06:00

Well the celebrations started last week and we have just continued from then on. Last Saturday we met in Goodletsville with Momma's family. It has been a tradition for some time that we all gather on the Saturday before Christmas. As with any family gather the food is delicious and the time too short. Aunt Jo always works HARD to make our celebrations fun and this year was no different.

She had the place decorated for us and games and presents for the children. We are still deciding who is the biggest MONKEY in the family.

Annabell and Pax are among the youngest and they just have a blast.

Frosty and Frosty Jr came again this year.

and Mr & Mrs Claus made their grand appearance.

Sunday we celebrated with Terry's family. It worked out best with everyone's schedule to go ahead and do the presents then. We will enjoy a Christmas Day lunch with them as well. Of course it was a fun evening with the kids opening hordes of gifts from Granny & Granddaddy.

Present opening is hard work!

Thankfully everyone still likes playing with dolls.

We ended the evening by going to church with the children and watching their Christmas play. They did a wonderful job.

not sure how they got the part, but Laken & Hannah were angels?