The Handmade Dress

 Good morning friends, how are you all? I'm up before the kids, as usual, waiting on my running buddy to arrive, laying out plans for a smooth homeschool day, thinking about dinner prep as we have some family stopping by this evening.....and my mind keeps drifting to how beautiful our Thanksgiving break was. Molly came home to spend the night with us and she and I stayed up late watching movies. It was so good for my soul! We got to talk about all of our favorite books and friends (characters from our favorite books) and live in our own secret world again for a day. I also had Marcus home with us for the break. I guess you wouldn't know him here, but he is one of my sweet boys, I'll introduce him one day. We had a bonfire with everyone and we sang and played around a fire like old times....it was just that soul warming kind of good. The kind of calm that can only be appreciated fully after a few hard years. Anyhow, I'm grateful, and I just wanted to say that.  xo, Sam

I’m 42 now, and I have 7 of my 9 kids left at home, ages 7 to 18. Life has changed a lot in the last several years but more recently it looks a lot like it did when I left this place. My days are full, I homeschool, cook, sew and knit when I can, garden, and I still try to live as slowly as possible. I’ve given this, writing a blog again, a lot of thought over the last month and it feels overwhelming to do a big catch up post….so I’m planning a slow and steady reintroduction where I share moments from our days.  Today is Penny Pie’s 9th birthday! Can you believe that? She’s sitting next to me working on her schoolwork singing “He Know’s My Name!” With a few adult children grown and flown I can promise you that I’m cherishing every single minute.  Sam

 I'm feeling the pull to write again, so tonight I busted into this old account to see if I could still get in. I almost can't believe it worked! I have a lot to say but it's late and I have kids needing to be homeschooled tomorrow. If anyone is still here, hello old friend. <3 Sam