The Handmade Dress

Last night I was getting a little video of Claire babbling and I said "Hey" and she answered "Hey". The kids were taking baths when it happened but when I showed them the video they thought that it was the hillarious thing they had ever seen! They want to send it in to Funniest Home Videos. So cute!  It feels good to be posting something happy today! xo, Sam 

We have made some new discoveries around the farm this week! First we discovered that one of our chickens laid a giant egg. Here it is next to our normal eggs. As a homeschooling mama I saw this as a good and exciting "science project". We got out the measuring tape and compared the huge egg to our normal ones. Our big egg was about 1" bigger than the others in length and width. Then we researched (AKA googled) what this could mean, and found some pretty amazing things! Who knew that THIS could happen? Wild! THIS was a pretty fun read too if you like that sort of thing. We couldn't wait to see what was in our egg! And as you can see, it was a nice big double yolker. :) When all of the research was done Molly cooked it up and they ate it. They said that it tasted extra good. They may be a little prideful when it comes to their chicken's eggs. So cute. The next discovery was made by Maddie and I on our way up the driveway tod...

Christmas was wonderful! The kids were so happy, and surprised, to find their goats, and a dog that they didn't expect, in the pen on Christmas morning! Let me go back a little bit and tell you the story from the beginning....The kids each asked for a goat for Christmas a couple of months back. The plan was to get three fainting goats from a neighboring farm (the one that Zoe came from) on Christmas day. Then in the spring we were going to try to get  Zoe a husband.... Our plan changed about two weeks before Christmas when we found a group of five pygmy goats (two of them could be pregnant!) and a male Great Pyrenees for a good price on craigslist, but we didn't tell the kids! The family we bought the group from were having a tough time feeding them so we had to get them right away and keep them hidden for 10 days!!! Do you know how hard it is to hide five goats and a dog from these three kids that practically live outside?? It was pretty tricky. ...

You never know when you live out in the middle of 10 acres of woods just what kind of critters you may come across. The other day it was a big black racer snake, Tuesday night it was a cat food eating raccoon, and last night it was a game of cat and mouse on the porch....fun stuff let me tell you! You can't buy entertainment like this people! These situations always bring the funniest things out of my children's mouths too....and lucky for you (and me) I caught two of these encounters on video. Tuesday night Maddie came running from Tim's bedroom, where she had obviously been looking out of the widow, saying "Mommy, there is a weird cat eating the cat's food!". We all run in there to check (Mary was here too, Ben's baby sister) and instead of a cat we find a raccoon! Mary grabbed the camera and I recorded as we watched this funny little creature eat and listened to the hilarious things the kids had to say. Good stuff, let me tell you. So then last ni...

I admit it! LOL! I can't even tell you how many times I have told Timothy to stop climbing on the furniture since he was 8 months old. I've done everything, but still he gives in to temptation every now and then. So when I heard his call for help and Molly say that he was stuck behind the dresser, I did what any "tough love" mama would do... I grabbed the camera and made up my mind to make him sweat it for a while before I helped him out! LOL! As usual it didn't turn out as I planned, but it was so funny! He was stuck behind a big dresser that is bolted into the corner -by the way, we bolted it to the wall after he pulled it onto himself climbing in the drawers when he was 18 months old -so he had room to sit and move around since the dresser is caddy-cornered, but not enough room to be comfortable. He said he fell behind there while he was climbing on top of it! Did I mention I had already told him twice whithin an hour of this happening to stop climbing?? I ha...

Thank you all, once again, for pulling me through another sad day with your thoughts, prayers, and encouraging words. God is so good! Even when times are tough and it feels like everything is going wrong He always sends the sweetest moments to remind us of His presence! We had a wonderful day here at home today! We didn't get much done, but we had fun. My sister called at 10am and woke me up, yes, I just said that, TEN AM! How did that happen? I never set an alarm to get up because somebody (most of the time Madeline) always wakes me up by 8-8:30, but nobody woke me up this morning! When she called we were all still sound asleep. It felt so good! Like I had beat the system or something! LOL! After I had been up a while I remembered that it had been a while since I had made a video of the kids. So I got the camera out and started with Maddie and by the time it was over I had some very funny footage of each of them. And there it was. Just another day with my crazy kids and these lit...

Oh friends! Would you believe that we are still sick?! Just when I thought it was over Molly got the sore throat and cough and slept all day on the couch, then Madeline started in with ANOTHER stomach bug. Two kinds of sick at one time? Is that even allowed? Because it seems like there should be some kind of natural law against that! LOL! By-the-way, it is FIVE in the morning. Oh yeah, you read it right FIVE. For those of you that know me, you know that my red head doesn't see 5am but few times a year- and most of those times are when I have stayed up until 5am. Mama don't do mornings. This morning I was up with my poor little Madeline at 4:30 because she was sick and then I couldn't get back to sleep. So what do non-morning people do when up at crack thirty in the stinkin morning? They blog about something fun (while wishing the children were not sick and they were snuggled in bed sleeping like a newborn babe). This little scene you are about to watch played out a few we...

I saw, what looked like a snake, this morning slithering through Tim's room while he was cleaning it! I freaked out and screamed before I discovered that it was a big lizard. I hate creepy crawly things! I got myself together enough to think to grab the camera just before we tried to catch it. The video turned out to be a pretty funny and I knew Ben and the guys at the fire station would enjoy it, so here it is! Ben, this is what we have to go through while you are saving other peoples lives! We have to catch (or not catch and just live with) our own lizards! Oh.. and be warned that I said many Mama cuss words AKA things that I say from time to time but don't let my kids say, like "Oh my God!" and "Get that FREAKIN lizard". Sorry, when I get scared they just come out! I'm working on that. Oh, and Tim's bed was mine when I was little. I'm thinking about painting it to look like a fire truck. It's called a playhouse bed, my grandfather designed...

Timothy has a treasure box that he keeps his most prized possessions in. He keeps it hidden in the stair well that leads up to the attic - in boy world that's prime property! I love that he is always collecting little things to keep in his treasure box, but I am always surprised that it's not what most people would think a four year old's treasure would be. Not one "treasure" is something that you could buy at the store, it's bits and pieces of his favorite places. A turtle shell from the castle, "bear" teeth from the cow pasture by the church, a "gold" coin, a rock from Uncle Andrew (he's only 9 yrs old), a "gold" lapel pin, an "Indian rock that goes to a map", and a few other odds and ends. It's a wonderful insight into my little man. I see what really matters to him and the things he wants to remember, every little treasure has a story. So here is our little video of me and my boy talking about h...

(THIS IS A VIDEO CLICK ON THE PLAY SYMBOL TO WATCH) While the girls and I were inside cooking, a few weeks ago, the boys were outside cutting grass and cleaning up the yard. It has always been Tim's job (well..since he's been big enough) to blow the grass clippings off of the porch, but Ben had just bought a new blower and it was a little bigger than the one Tim has been using. IT WAS HISTERICAL! The new blower was so powerful that when Tim pulled the trigger it blew him in circles!!! LOL! I hope you like this one. What a sweet boy helping his Daddy with the yard work, no matter what the cost. LOL! Sorry it's a little blurry, it was so hot and humid my camera was fogging up.

OK, yes there is some sort of theme going on here with my crazy family, riding toys, and holidays! This might just be the best ever! My cousin Jon has some mad skills with a sewing machine, let me tell you. He decided to build a HUGE slip-n-slide for Memorial Day, and boy was it big! Let me explain it to you sewing folk. He took massive tarps, sewed them together and got a blower (think those blow up bouncers that people rent for birthdays) and hooked that baby up. Then he found the steepest hill on his property and layed it out. There was a pool at the bottom for us to land in. It was perfect. (THIS IS A VIDEO CLICK ON THE PLAY SYMBOL TO WATCH) I know if you have ever read my blog you have already guessed it, mama had to ride, and this time it was caught on video. Did I mention that on Mothers Day I almost broke my foot riding in a go cart with Ben? Well it happened. You would think that I'd be scared, but no. My big tail keeps climbing on these contraptions with the excitement ...

As promised here is your pattern download for the little applique strawberry. Just click on the picture and follow the directions to download. (this is a video, click on the play symbol to watch) Oh my sweet little boy! The other night we were eating sweet potatoes, and Timothy was telling "sissy" (Molly), "wook what I made, it's a sweet tataeta sawich". The first time I heard those sweet little words I ran to get the video camera. You can tell in the video he's being a little shy, but it's so sweet! I tried to get him to talk more by asking questions but he wasn't falling for it. LOL! I hope you enjoy our funny little video.

(This is a video, click the play symbol to watch) While I was on the phone this morning Molly was at her craft table sewing away. Every now and then she would come over and sit a piece of fabric on my chest and then walk away. I didn't ask any questions. Why you ask? I have learned to leave her alone. When she is being creative and has all these ideas, if I come along and tell her the "right way" to do something, all of a sudden she can only think within that box. The box that I put her in. So instead I have learned to leave her alone and let her create, knowing that I am nearby to answer any questions. I am so glad that I left her alone this morning, because I would have ruined this! This sweet moment that was perfect just the way it was! She made something amazing that didn't quite work out for her intended purpose; but then she realized she could still use it for something else, and boy was she proud! I will be having my surgery Friday morning. I am still hoping...

(This is a video, click the play symbol to watch) So here's where the story begins: Before Christmas Uncle Sonny had an accident at work and crushed his foot and broke his pelvis. Yeah, it was pretty bad. He had to walk on a walker or ride in a wheel chair for a few months, so his grown boys (whom you will see in this video) built him what is now called by his loving family "the gimp ramp". Uncle Sonny, being the ULTIMATE cut up, would rather us call him a gimp than feel sorry for him hobbling around; so needless to say Easter was a lot of fun! After lunch we noticed the kids playing on the ramp. Then the boys, AKA the children's fathers, went out to encourage the children to ride these old broke down go carts down the ramp. Boy was it fun! How would I know? Because "mama" rode down in one of my new skirts, and I flipped the go cart to avoid plowing a young child (who did get hit, but only suffered a scratched finger....... and maybe a lifelong complex about...

Two pigs on a couch. Rae (my sister) and her babies Lily and Iris have been staying with us for the weekend. The kids and I were doing the footie pajama slide yesterday morning and Rae said that I needed to video this for the blog. I guess I just don't think about all these silly things we do, they seem so everyday that I think people won't find them interesting; well after watching this video I have decided that it is pretty funny. So here is the footie pajama slide, filmed just this morning! (This is a video. To watch click the play symbol)

I tell Maddie all the time to go to bed and when I go check, she is in there. I have never questioned how she got in. Ben came in the living room last night after putting the girls to bed and said, "Have you ever seen Maddie get in her bed?". I thought about it, and said"No, not really." He said "Come in here and watch her." When I went in this is what I saw. (This is a video, just click on the play symbol) My little gymnast climbs into the window seal, mounts onto the side of the bed, and just flips over into the bed. How funny is that!!!