Tuesday Truth

My parents had two children. That resulted in EIGHT grandchildren. 

1. I had two boys and two girls: the oldest adopted.
2. My brother had two girls and then two boys: the youngest adopted. 

Here's the crew at Thanksgiving yesterday:

Elijah “Sidge” K. (12) 

Isaac K. (13)

Riddick H. (5)

Charleigh H. (12)

Hannah K. (8)

Baylee H. (10)

Abigail K. (10)

Maddox H. (4)

Impact

 

Thanksgiving -- Cooking thru Aliceson's Cookbook

My girls each made something for Thanksgiving -- and they wanted to cook from Ms. Aliceson's cookbook. The Bales have become some of our dear friends ... and she can COOK. Aliceson shared this to her Instagram page! Here you go:

And after her post, my niece Baylee jumped onboard!

We Bought a Farm: THIS is Farmhouse Decor

I laugh when I see all these Pinterest-style posts regarding "Farm House Decor." It's always white with pretty signs and sparkling surfaces. There's nothing on the counters. Like, not even a toaster! Maybe there is a fake bowl of fruit. And a vase of flowers. 

But seriously: is that reality?

A real farmhouse has a big red bucket sitting on the counter. (See it on the left of the picture above? That has our day's eggs in it.)

(What you can't see is a second bucket sitting on the ground around the corner that has the chicken scraps in it.)

And if you are really lucky, you'll even have an aquarium tank with mushrooms growing inside of it!

Don't push your luck, but you might also be able to have a big glass water container draped in a red towel. (You can spot that to the right of the tank.) 

That's mead.

It's a drink. 

(I think.)

I've glanced back to see just a smattering of the types of thing constantly littering my kitchen counters. 

Not a day goes by that you can't find eggs around our kitchen. Breakfast is laid daily here folks!

Doesn't everyone have what appears to be a jar of nails but is actually a plant on their counter?

So many greens! What's a girl to do?!

Incubating baby animals? Or rescuing ones from outside and trying to help them recover? You betcha. 

Pickles/Grapes/Beats/Peppers. You name it, we are canning it. 

We always have some sort of vegetable experiment going on somewhere. 

That's a mushroom folks. Found in our woods.

Duck Weed

Bales Farms Cookbook

Bales Rice Crispy Treats

Bale's Pimento Cheese

My friend Aliceson put out a cookbook, and my girls each made a dish for Thanksgiving from the book!

 

He ran the line

I never was a farm kid. Never really knew a farm kid.

When I became a teacher in Kentucky, I first met farm kids. They are a different breed of kid. They dress differently and look differently. Their bodies and muscles simply morphed by the feedbags they carry and machines they drive. 

Even Isaac, who I never, ever thought would accept the farm family lifestyle, has slid into farm chores and has even started looking the part. We credit his big cousin, Gabe, whom Isaac has been doing farm chores with for some extra money. 

Sidge has always loved nature and animals and his farm. And Sidge is quite mechanically minded. He likes woodworking and can figure out locks and farm problems with a farm-kid mind. 

Yesterday was a big day for Sidge. He RAN his first line. Here's a photo I took after he completed it:

It's hard to explain what line running is. This picture shows what it looks like in the background. Normally, the kids are simply the "hookers." They follow behind the adults (or Gabe) who know how to actually run the wire. Running the wire means following steps to put make sure the line moves back and forth across the paddock properly. 

I've been showing Sidge how to do it a little bit here and there. But yesterday, I was out there with five children. Because I was the only line runner, we weren't moving as fast as I would like. I had too many "hookers." So I gave Sidge the reel and said, "It's time. You be the line runner."

I took two kids as my "hookers" and he took two kids as his "hookers" and we were off!

To other people this may seem like nothing big. 

But it was a huge and monumental moment. This kid is Uh-mazing. He is SO smart. He is SO like his Dad. He is focused and determined and drive and his brain is a very busy place.

I love my Sidge!

Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser

This past Saturday, our ballet studio: Central Ballet, had a fundraiser for our big January production of Beauty and the Beast. We usually do it at Applebees but this year it was held at Fatz. So many things were put on hold after COVID so it feels great to get to do "normal" things again. Here are some pictures from our event (which Erin took, otherwise we wouldn't have any.) 

Research Paper

VIDEO 1

VIDEO 2

VIDEO 3

VIDEO 4

VIDEO 5

For more information on SUMMARIZING vs. QUOTING vs. PARAPHRASING, visit THIS LINK! It's a fantastic worksheet that you can print. 

Here is a sample of a WORKS CITED PAGE:

 

Housewarming for Uncle Ed and Aunt Jan

Tonight, my Uncle Ed and Aunt Janet (my mother's sister and her husband) had a little "blessing" and "housewarming" for their new house in Greeneville. We are so blessed with how many amazing family members have chosen to make their life near us here in East TN. Since we bought our farm, the following people have joined us:

• John's parents (on our farm!)
• My first cousin Eddie and his family (About 7 minutes away)
• Eddie's parents (the people this party was for!)
• My parents (2nd home in Greeneville)
• Shane and Linda (military family with this as a home-base house)
• Anni (and her little-soon-to-be-sweetie-pie-daughter)
• John's sister, Katie (bought property that borders our farm; will move here early next year!)
• Erin (Only temporary but wonderful!)

Tonight, after living in the area for a year, the house they were having built was completed, and Ed and Jan are officially here forever! They are still working as linguists through Wycliffe after having spent decades in Indonesia. 

Here are some pictures from the evening:

 

Night