Rice anyone?

I have been a total blog failure lately. I know! But I plan to turn it all around this week and get back in the habit. It really is a habit ya know. I also know exactly what de-rails me everytime. When I have things to blog about (like our trip) but I don't have time to do it I start feeling guilty for not writing it down. Then I start to avoid whatever it is that is making me feel guilty....then it snowballs into THIS! Today I decided to bite the bullet, blog about SOMETHING, and then when I have time this week I can write about the trip. We have a travel journal and loads of pictures so it won't be hard to remember, it's just going to take a fair amount of time. I really, really, really want these things written down (with pictures) for my kids. So, today lets talk about rice. Nkay? 

I have always loved the wild rice that you can get at restaurants. It has so much more flavor than just plain rice. Not too long ago I found that Rice A Roni made a wild rice mix. Perfect! It tasted awesome, but it took two boxes to feed my crew with no left overs. I live off of leftovers, so that wasn't cool with me. It just cost too much. I didn't like the whole "boxed dinner" idea either, that just can't be good for ya. So one day I googled "homemade wild rice" and came across this blog post. YES!

Perfection! I feel like my cooking just went from plain to gourmet! I used her recipe almost exactly (I did reduce the amount of garlic powder and add in some chicken bullion) and it tastes wonderful. I store it in a huge canister and fix as much as I want, and it tastes just as good left over. It takes about an hour to cook (simmer) so I usually make it up in a big batch and use it for a couple of meals during the week. So there, if you are a fan of restaurant wild rice, now you can cook it at home!

I'll be back tomorrow! I'm making it a habit again! xo, Sam

PS. The chicken is pan cooked and seasoned with lemon juice and rosemary. So good!

HUGE SALE!!!!

Black Friday sale!!!!! From Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday we will have a 40% off sale on everything in the shop!!!! Use the coupon code "blackfriday" from now till Monday night!! www.thehandmadedress.com

I pray you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving friends!!!

My own little crowd

Last Monday, at the doctors office, I was sitting there thinking....that Ben and I are so blessed. Most people know exactly who they are going to see when they get to Heaven, but not us, we get our own little welcome committee made up of children that we have never met! When we get to Heaven we will have a little crowd waiting for us! In my heart I feel like I will know them as soon as I see them, that their names will come to mind immediately when I see each precious face! Over the years I have learned to "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials" (James 1:2) I know that holding a perfect little MIRACLE named Claire helps, but it feels good to be in this place, finally. It feels good to not be angry. It feels good to know that the family that I have is EXACTLY the family that God meant for me to have....Yes, it hurts too, but mostly I'm thankful....we have so much to be thankful for!

I couldn't let one little soul go without mention, Mama loves you..... xo, Sam

Bad Purl - Help!

Last night I was preparing to start a new knitting project. I decided to actually find my gauge (which I have never done before, I know, bad girl) because I wanted to use my new worsted yarn instead of a sport weight that the pattern calls for. I started knitting my swatch in stockinette and suddenly my knitting looked textured to me. Hmmm...I looked at my other projects and they looked that way too. 

I tried troubleshooting online, but I couldn't find any help. You see how the bottom of my swatch and the gray fabric have a twisted looking stitch? The top part is what I did after I figured it out.

The back of my work had these deep gutters! Ugh! After watching several videos online I realized that I had been purling wrong! I learned to purl from a video when I first started knitting and it was wrong! I had been wrapping my yarn in the wrong direction this whole time! Of course I found that sometimes people knit this way (it's called a crossed stockinette stitch) to add texture to their work but I want to do it right. I got to work purling the right way and all of my problems are fixed, but I'm so fumbly again. :( So now I'm a bit frustrated. Do you have any suggestions for purling continental style? I'm so slow now and that bums me out because I had really found my groove. I am happy that I found the problem before I started this project though!

Help! What is your most efficient way to purl? xo, Sam 

Busted!

She should be doing school. She's in front of her computer like she is doing school, but if you look closely you can see that there is yarn attached to her....she's knitting! I guess it could be worse right? But still. New rule in the School of Caffee Children, no knitting until school is done. :) I've created a monster! xo,Sam

My Cup Runneth Over

Let me tell you a little story. It's about me, a stay-at-home, work-at-home, homeschooling, adopting, breastfeeding mama, who has been in a miserable funk for the last two weeks, and was blessed with a way out! I feel compelled to tell this story today because I feel like it may help other mamas. I really hope it does. :)

Within a week after we got home from our trip, I started feeling "off". Nothing big, just a little overwhelmed with the cluttered house, the kids being kids, homeshooling, that sort of thing. Immediately I thought "I need to figure this out fast! I don't have time for this!" Ben was working doubles to make up his time off and I thought that may be it. Not having him here always throws me off balance a little. Claire was a little fussy obviously coming down with a cold or something and that meant not so much sleep. Within a few days I started getting snappy with the kids, inwardly I was really struggling with a short fuse. I thought "I can't let this continue! I have got to figure this out! Nothing is wrong with me, life is great, our vacation was more than we ever dreamed it would be, I am surrounded by people who love me....What is this feeling?" So I went to work trying to fix the things that bothered me and I prayed for an answer. I started by adding in a few fun things into my clean, cook, school, drive kids here and there, wash clothes, cook, change diapers, help a friend with a project, cook, bath time, bedtime, try to sleep schedule... 

The girls and I each got a temporary colored streak in our hair just for fun... 

I spent two days de-cluttering the house and throwing stuff away. I started a new knitting project...

 I finished the knitting project....

 AND another....

Then I started another one...

 I curled my hair and even sent a picture to Ben at work to prove it!

I visited a knit shop that I had just discovered...

I broke a ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL that has been in my wallet since before Claire was born!! One day Ben gave it to me and said "Blow it on something that is just for you." For months I have saved it for a rainy day, and I finally spent some of it!

I did all of this, and nothing changed. By now you guys know that I'm not the lay-down-and-die type. I had a problem, I felt depressed and irritated and DONE, I had lost all of the patience that I usually have for my children, but I did not know what else I could do to "cheer" myself up!

Now let me tell you what I learned about love a very long time ago before I was even married. I once heard an illustration that made perfect since to me. Everyone has a love "cup". When you pour love into someone elses life you fill their cup up some, and lose some from your own cup, but that's fine because when someone loves on you, your cup gets filled some more. A good balance helps everyones cup stay full. We all feel loved in different ways, but the best way for me to give and feel loved is quality time with loved ones. Your way may be much different.

Back to my story, I was feeling pretty bad, and guilty, and depressed, when God revealed to me that this is just what had happened to me. I didn't realize it before because I was thrown off by the timing, I mean we just got home from a trip where everyone came home with a full cup! But little by little in that first week of being home I had poured a lot of love into others, and with Ben being away from home, having a sick babe, and my balance being off, I quickly found myself running low. The kids helped some, but as you know the balance with children and parents isn't quite even. None of the things I tried worked because it wasn't what I needed. No amount of crafting, fixing-up, or getting out would do.

God has blessed me with one amazing man! I told Ben what I needed and not only did he take me on a date out to eat and to the book store (my favorite date night) ......but he arranged with Jake (his brother and my sister's husband) for them to keep all of the big kids (that's 6 kids from 2-10 yrs old) so that my sister and I could have a whole night and day together doing whatever we wanted! We took the babies and stayed the night at her house. We ate food that we didn't cook, we watched a movie with no interruptions, we drank coffee, she crocheted and I knit, we talked until 2AM. When we got up the next morning we headed off to the knit shop and played with yarn. We had an amazing day! When we came back to my house, where the husbands and kids were, they were all happy to see us! AND Ben had even done the laundry!!! So today I sit here writing this post with a cup that has been filled to the brim by my loving husband and my precious sister! I feel loved, and that's all I really needed. :) God is so good!

I really felt like I should share this today. If you have been feeling this way, and maybe didn't get why, tell someone. You will probably be surprised at how happy they are to help! Then you will be able to give back when you have what you need. Love to all! xo, Sam

A Late Night "Block" Party

I have managed to do some knitting with my sick babe asleep in my lap, or playing for short periods of time at my feet. I finished a couple of projects yesterday and late last night I finally blocked some things with homemade lavender water. I wish the picture was scratch and sniff! I also wish that the vest didn't look crooked in this picture. Oh well. Pictures of a beautiful un-sick baby modeling these knits are coming soon

I'm taking my sweet babe to the doctor today, she just isn't back to her happy self since that hateful tummy bug. I pray that she feels better and we get to sleep tonight! xo, Sam

Mama said ther'd be days like this...

 So my plan for today was to go through the thousands of pictures from our trip, upload my favorites, and write about our first few days, but after being up most of the night with Claire and her tummy bug I'm going to simplify things a bit. Sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches! Bend but not break! Right? Today I don't have the time or brain cells required to write much, but I really wanted to remember this sweet little moment from our weekend. It will do me good to think on this moment today while I let all of the things on my "to do" list go undone. As I was knitting Saturday the kids came to the door and called "Mom, come outside we have a surprise for you!" When I went to the door I was met with this! They know how I love pretty pine cones and they had collected a whole wagon load of carefully picked pine cones for me! But here comes the best part, the part that every mom loves to hear, one of those moments that you can live off of for weeks, the kind of moment that gets you through days like this one....they said "This is for taking us to the dance and getting us costumes." Oh my...I melt. :) 

Right away I stacked those pine cones into pretty wood bowls and put them out! I used every last one of them, and today while I struggle to stay awake (and stay kind- I'm a little grumpy without at least 3 hours) I'm going to enjoy the view from my nest. I love these little munchkins!

I pray the tummy bug doesn't come to your house, and that he leaves mine soon. He has definitely worn out his welcome here! xo, Sam