Three wonderful years!

I've been writing this post in my head for the past week. It made me remember why I started this blog in the first place, it reminded me of all of the friends I've met along the way, I thought about the ups and downs we've shared, and how this little corner of my life has become one of my favorite places to be. I'm not a very good writer (believe me, I know this) so I choose to believe that you all come back here over and over because you love my family and you consider us "family friends". Well, if that is true (and even if it isn't!) we love you too. You are a very special group of people to put up with me and my crazy family! You've stood by me for three years now and I want to say THANK YOU!!

Can you believe how much my babies have grown in these three years?

So I bet you are wondering what I'm going to be giving away....well, that would be a SIGNED COPY of Anna Maria's new book! Handmade Beginnings is an awesome book, and I've already told you what a wonderful person she is (Anyone who tells Martha Stewart that she doesn't make her bed on national television has to rock! Enough said.) so leave a comment and I'll throw your name in the pot! Tell me what your favorite blog post was over these last three years and don't forget to leave me an email address. I will draw a name on Wednesday evening.

  I hope I get to bring you many more years of entertainment with all of the stories I collect as a hillbilly mama with three kids (and a sibling group on the way from Bulgaria), a crazy husband, and over forty animals, who lives on a little farm in Alabama. Thanks for reading my stories friends!

Saturday Afternoon

I do believe that this is the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon....

....hand embroidery, a good Jane Austin movie that I've seen at least a hundred times, and flavored coffee. It just couldn't get much better.

It's been so long since I have done shadow work embroidery that I almost forgot how much I love it. I plan to have a lot more of these days this summer. I need more days like this. What are you going to make more time for this summer? You know they say if you write it down that you are more likely to follow through. Well I've written mine down! This will be the summer of embroidery. Come on, what will it be? Write it down here and we will hold each other to it.....xo, Sam

P.S. The giveaway post will be up on Monday.

Finally! The market post!

I didn't mean for it to take me so long to post about market, but home just felt so good when I first got here and then life threw us a few curve balls....and well, now it's Thursday. Dawn and I had so much fun! It was all so overwhelming and wonderful at the same time. We stayed up late, got up early, ate food that we didn't cook and didn't have to clean up after! We walked to Starbucks EVERY morning and ate chocolate without sharing! We talked and giggled and dreamed and got inspired. We had a blast and I miss her already!

 I decided to tell you about one of my favorite moments of market first....Meeting Anna Maria! I always thought from reading her blog that she would be such a sweet and down-to-earth mama, and believe it or not, she was even better than I ever imagined! She is such an inspiration, really. She has really MADE IT doing what she loves to do and her family is still her main focus...and to me that's the best kind of success!

This is her beautiful assistant Allie! She rocks. We were instant buds, because that's how we red heads roll.  

Now for the Riley Blake booth....Oh my! I fell in love with this set of fabric! Farm Fresh? Are you kidding me? Whoever designed this must be my twin separated at birth or something. It is PERFECT in every way. Soon, very soon, I hope to be sewing up some dresses for my girls out of this stuff!

Then we hung out with Amy Butler and the only bad part about that was that she insisted that I be in this picture with her. I told her "Girl, I don't want to stand next to your skinny tail in a picture!" But really, who's going to argue with Amy Butler? She talked me into it and now I'm glad I did it. I mean if you have to look like a whale next to someone, it may as well be Amy freggin Butler, ya know?!

So here is the part where I fell apart. Molly called and said that she missed me really bad, it was the last hour of the last day of market for me (so it was already sort of over in my mind), Dawn had walked back to the room already and I stayed to get a couple more pictures to show you, and I was starting to feel really homesick walking around alone.....then I walked up to Jackie Clark's booth and said "Can I take a picture of you in your booth?" She did that look. Do you see it there? That sweet oh-hunny-are-you-okay look and she said "Are you Okay?" And that was it. That's all it took. The next thing I know my eyes are welled up with tears and all I could say was "I'm just a long way from home and I miss my babies. I know it's silly...but I just miss'em." I couldn't have been at a better place just then because she is just the sweetest person. She gave me a tissue, and I quickly pulled myself together, and from now on I will always think of her as a friend. She directed me to another booth that she thought could help me out with my patterns and she took a few fliers to hand out at her own booth. Now isn't that just the perfect ending to a wonderful market experience?

 There were lots of other wonderful and talented people there of course that I didn't think to get pictures of. I finally got to meet Tiff from Creative Smocking face to face! After working with her for almost  three years it was nice to finally get to give her a big hug! I also got to meet the Long Ladies from Marie Madeline Studio! I loved talking with them. I hope that one day when my girls are older that The Handmade Dress will be run just like that! It just seems heavenly to have mothers and daughters working together each using their talents for the same goal. They are just a beautiful family. 

Well that pretty much wraps up Quilt market! It was great fun but this little hillbilly is glad to be home. I'm tellin you, I must have stuck out like a sore thumb too! If I had a dollar for every time someone said "Where are YOU from?" it would have completely paid for my trip! You wouldn't believe how this southern accent draws attention! I have a little surprise for you too. This last week marked my THREE year anniversary here on this blog. Can you believe that? Three years. So I'm planning a sweet giveaway. Stay tuned.....

Prayer Request

There are no words to describe the day that I've had. The phone rang and woke me up this morning...it was my mama with bad news, a 56 year old father in Ben's extended family died of a heart attack. A couple of hours later we got word that a childhood friend had her full term baby last night and he died soon after...they don't know why. My heart just aches...these families are in so much pain and there is nothing I can do to help but pray, send a meal, say a few words that probably won't make them feel any better. My heart is so heavy tonight. Will you help me pray for these dear grieving families? Thank you friends.

To market, to market, to giggle all night!

That's what I feel like singing right now! Dawn and I have been on the phone about fifteen times a day for the last week just counting down the days (and starting today, the hours!) until we leave! We are really going to Quilt Market! And believe it or not, I'm almost ready to walk out the door and I don't leave until Thursday morning. Yep, my bags are packed, my stuff is all laid out, and my "right before I leave" list is made. I'M READY!!!

Now I just need to pray that I don't get lost. Ben is worried. LOL! And he probably has several good reasons too, bless his heart. I'm a bit of a free spirit like that. I never know my way, and I do tend to stop and look at the flowers (maybe a little to much), and I get lost, A LOT. Then there's the fact that I've only flown on a plane one other time in my whole life when I was 18. I flew home from Chicago once with a friend. I still remember vividly calling my Dad at 2am from a pay phone in down town Chicago saying "Daddy...I missed the train. I'm stuck in a creepy train station with two other girls. And a homeless guy. Don't tell Mom because I know she will freak, but I wanted you to know where I was just in case." Wanna know how I missed the train? We lost track of time, and then got lost and went to the wrong station. I told Dawn that she would have to keep up with me like a toddler and she said that she would bring her leash! LOL! I didn't tell her about the Chicago thing. I thought I would sneak that one in on her when it was too late to back out.

I wish I could take all of you with me!  But since I can't I plan to post on Facebook a good bit. I also plan to take lots of pictures. The whole time I'm there I will be collecting little stories to tell you when I get back! xo, Sam

Special Delivery

So we got a phone call from the post office on Monday -we know the man pretty well because, well, there aren't many people that go to our little country post office and we are in there a couple of times a week- he says "Mr. Caffee? Did you order some chickens?" Ben laughed and said "Yes I did." Apparently there was a noisy box waiting for pickup! LOL!

We ordered them a few weeks back and we were all curious about how in the world they were going to ship 25 assorted rare breed chicks to Alabama from Iowa! Since we were needing chickens and I wanted some Easter egg layers, we decided to give it a try. Can you believe that? They did it. They shipped 25 baby chicks across the country in two days.

The kids were so excited to open the box that they couldn't hardly stand it! We have went and bought chickens at local farms, we have drove across town and bought chickens, we have hatched our own eggs, and we have had a hen hatch her own eggs, but we NEVER thought that we would ever be getting chicks in the mail! USPS, you rock!

For the first few days they were in a kiddie pool here in my living room, and then they graduated to the brooder outside. I'm telling ya, you just never know what might happen here!

PS. Miss Olivia Paige and Miss Claire are in the shop! And everything will be 15% off until Tuesday!

The Mother's Day Winners are....

Grace:

"My favorite mama moment is also my most embarrassing moment when my 2 year old son decided to moon the church congregation on Easter Sunday. :-)"


Posie:

"I have to say the favourite mother moments are deeper & more appreciated as my 4 get older. I'm finding my eldest, 11, has her moments of moodiness but it's when we're out alone together or just at home, when she holds my hand & just says a completely unexpected "i love you" or asks me something meaningful & really wants my advice. I can assure you, life just gets better & better, love Posie "

Angie:
 
"It warms my heart to see my children make right choices. It makes me feel like I am doing my job well."


Amy:
 
"My favorite mom moment is my mother telling me my birth story in the middle of the night on a cross-country Greyhound trip. She is amazing!"


Alisa:

"I don't know if I can pin down only ONE favourite Mama moment but I remember the first time my oldest daughter was sitting in church with me and we were singing a song that she knew and she was belting it out. We were singing together in church! It was so beautiful."



Email me your address (if you want the printed versions) or just email me and say that you want PDF and I will get them to you as soon as they are finished!!

I hope to be back tomorrow with a cute story and ready for pre-orders (I better get back to work!!)

xo,
Samantha

Happy Mother's Day Giveaway!!

I've been sewing, sewing, sewing. It looks like Miss Olivia Paige and Miss Claire will be ready this week, and I want to give one of you a free copy of both patterns! Leave a comment telling me about your favorite mama moment (it can be about you or your mother) and don't forget to leave your email address. I will pick one winner for every 20 comments to make the chance of winning higher :) I'll announce a winner on Tuesday morning. Happy Mother's Day friends!! 

A greedy little goat and other warm weather pictures...

 I hope these pictures make you smile! They sure had me smiling!

This is our little Bo. He didn't realize until today that his horns are getting too big to put his head in the feed bucket! We laughed so hard at him, and we told him that's what he gets for being greedy. Little goats are so much fun!

It was so cute, he kept backing up thinking he could back out of it! Molly finally helped him get it off and he ran straight to his mama and nursed like he had given up solid food for good after that. It was so stinkin cute!

While Ben and the kids were down at the garden planting yesterday I walked down to take a few pictures. I'm always surprised at how fast things can change in the spring and summer from week to week. This is the old road that goes down to the garden but it looks so much different than it did a few weeks ago.

Everything seemed normal when I first made it to the garden.....Ben's truck was parked with the tools and plants sitting out, the radio was playing..

....but as I turned the corner I could see something...is that three little pigs back there??

I may as well call them that! I guess it's tradition now.

Ben heard Tim say "I wove this day! We can get as dirty as we want!" I spent fifteen minutes this morning cleaning mud out of his ears. My silly, silly boy.

If kids really grow bigger and stronger off of dirt, sunshine, and water, then mine should be just fine.

This had to be documented! Maddie has just learned in the last few weeks the joys of a good mud pie. Usually she sits by and just watches, but not this year! She's finally got the hang of it!

Summer at the Caffee Farm is off to a good start! We plan to hit the swimming hole one day this week for the first time this year. It's always cold but it's usually the best trip of the year! Happy warm weather everyone!

Betcha thought I was gone forever!

Well I'm back! And I proud to announce that after everyone's hard work at the yard sale we made over $1000!!!! Once again God has blessed us way beyond what we ever expected! Saturday night when we counted up our final tally we had exactly $1038.23! We will have our little Bulgarian babies home before you know it! The weather was perfect, we had tons of donations, lots of people came, and we had plenty of workers to handle it all, it was perfect!

The last couple of weeks have been so busy, wonderful, and exhausting that when I got home from the fabric shop yesterday I just collapsed. I slept like a baby for almost three hours, then slept good again last night, and this morning I feel like a new woman! The plan for today is to get my house cleaned up (it's worse than it's been in a long time after all of this running around) and then do some sewing. I'm making the girls new Miss Olivia Paige and Miss Claire outfits so that I can get some good pictures for the cover this week. I have had a blast for the last couple of weeks but I have to say, I am looking forward to sitting down in front of my sewing machine in a clean house. When my house is clean and I get to sew it just seems like all is right in the world. Ben and the kids are down at the garden working today, I think I may slip down there and take a few pictures. It feels good for life to be normal again but I know it's not going to last long! Dawn called this morning to remind me that we have two weeks and two days before we board planes headed to Quilt Market! Really? The last time I looked it was still two months away! Tonight I'm going to sit down and make a list of things to take and get done before then so that nothing else takes me by surprise. I miss you guys! I'm so behind on my blog reading and email (oh yeah, that's another thing I need to tackle today). What have you all been up to?

P.S. Stay tuned, I'm planning a giveaway soon!