The Handmade Dress

REAL hillbillies live at the end of looooong gravel or dirt driveways. This morning I found some of our driveway in Claire's diaper, and even though we payed good money for that driveway, I threw it in the garbage instead of taking it back out there. I guess a true hillbilly would have taken it back out and recycled it to save the money, but hey, I'm saving my steps these days. We all got a good laugh out of it anyhow! :) xo, Sam PS I know you've all got a story! So what's the craziest thing you've ever found in a diaper? 

This is what we call hillbilly candy! All of the reds are gone before they make it to the house, and the greens get put in the kitchen window for later snacking. In our first years of gardening we couldn't figure out why, with all of those tiny-tomato plants (that's what the kids call them), we never seemed to have any in the house for omelets or salads?? We finally realized that they never actually made it through the door! So the last few years Ben has been planting enough tiny-tomatoes for us to snack and cook with. Smart man. :) They also like to snack on the green beans (raw) and cucumbers. We should name all of our hillbilly candy...green beans could be belly beans, the tiny-tomatoes could be....OK, so I'm no good at this! xo, Sam

My kids are CRAZY! When Molly came into the living room to show me this little stunt I almost wet my britches laughing! I laughed so hard I cried! I thought it may give you a good laugh too. :) xo, Sam PS If anyone has ever questioned the integrity of the Baby Bjorn carriers, rest easy! This is a 38 pounder right here! Hehehe!

Yep, we got us a little winter storm this weekend and we still haven't quite recovered. Schools, roads and businesses have been closed this week and we've just been as happy as pigs here at home. Alabama isn't really equipped to handle ice and/or snow (since this sort of thing only happens once every few years), we don't have snow plows or road crews so it completely shuts us down. I couldn't be happier! We mostly got ice in our area, it's sort of like a giant snow cone has been dumped out over our house. The kids have had a blast! Here are my girls looking like little snow angels. Boy am I glad that we hunted down those snow suits last year! The only thing the kids have had to make do with are gloves. They have used their work gloves and that seems to work well for the amount of time they stay out. You know southerners can't handle the cold for too long!  The first thing I thought when the weather man started predicting snow and ice was "...

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 N...

Hey guys! I have no idea where the last few days have gone! Our friends, Brandon and Katie, left on Tuesday morning and I pretty much spent the whole rest of the day (and the next) sleep walking because I was so tired from our big weekend! We had so much fun. We were all sore from laughing, tired from being up late and visiting everyone, and happy to be together...it was just a great weekend. Last night we started sorting through and pricing things for the yard sale this weekend and BOY do we have a lot of stuff! Don't forget if you live in our area that the yard sale will be this weekend, indoors, in McCalla, AL. If you want to stop by and need directions you can call me today at (205) 527-3560. We have such a long day ahead of us but I know it's going to be fun! You can't get a group this crazy together  and not have a blast- no matter what you're doing! I hope we have a good turn-out because so many people are working hard to make this a success. My Dad built...

We are checking in on them about three times a day, we have studied up, we have watched all of the videos, we have all of our supplies, we have the camera charged and ready, everyone knows what their job will be.....now we just need the goats to go into labor already!!!! We are so excited, we just can't wait! I mean seriously, baby goats are just about the cutest thing on the planet. How much longer are we gunna have to wait? I'll keep you posted....

I should start by saying that Fall in Alabama is prime lizard catching season. It's warm so the lizards are still out, but it's cool enough that they are pretty slow so that the kids can catch them, and that's good news to the Caffee children. You see the Caffee children will get up and get all of their school work done early (without complaints) just to get outside to catch lizards (and whatever else that they may come across). These crazy kids have caught up to 34 lizards in one day, they affectionately refer to that day (often) as "The day we caught THIRTY FOUR lizards". LOL! They head out early with a five gallon bucket and start their day. They each have their own job during lizard catching season too- I'm tellin ya, these kids are serious, you would think they were getting paid $5 a lizard by the way they act. LOL! Tim is the lizard finder, Molly said he is the best "finder"; Molly is the actual lizard catcher, because she is the fastest...

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...

For those of you who like our hillbilly stories, you are going to love this one! And in case you are a new reader let me set this one up a bit. My husband is the oldest of 12 children. Yes, twelve. I was pregnant with my mother-in-law three times, which means my children each have an aunt or uncle their age. So it's not unusual for me to have three or four extra children staying with us for a couple of days at a time because if one comes they all want to come, and you know me, the more the merrier. So here's the story..... I'm standing on the porch watching the kids play in the pool, after playing in the muddy pond, thinking about the mess this is going to make to get these six wet and muddy little munchkins into the house and cleaned off, when a genius idea came to me. "What if I could wash six kids and a load of clothes all at one time? I can just pour in some soap and let them play! And they will love it too because what kid doesn't like bubbles? Then I can ju...

Real snow! Do you know how long it has been since we have had for real snow? .....Me either, but I was a kid! Last year we got this little teaser .....and my Christmas wish was for snow! Please, everyone say a quick prayer for us....Pray that it snows ALL DAY! My kids want to play in the snow just once! They say we may get 3 inches, let's pray for 6! It will take some praying, it was 70 degrees just two days ago.Rae and Jake (my sis and hubby's brother and the parents of Lily and Iris) are here, they came over last night hoping to get snowed in -yes, we are a bunch of big kids, but we are talking about snow people! I'll check back in soon, hopefully with lots of pictures of the kids wearing Wal Mart sacks! Yeah, we trashy like that.

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...

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...

Yes my dear friends, that is a Radio Flyer wagon hooked to the back of "Timothy's" tractor. That's how we roll. LOL! This is how we ride to the chicken pen now. Cause who wants to walk to the chicken pen when you could ride in style? Boring! About now I bet some of you are wondering where mama sits. Did you even have to ask? Mama sits up front in Daddy's lap! Doesn't everyone do that? LOL! I will try to get a picture of that in about 6 months when my belly is huge. LOL! Now that will be a good picture! I'll try to be barefoot too. On another note. We are leaving town! Beach bound baby! (That's why I put in the picture of Maddie blowing a snot bubble in her car seat. This is the kind of gross stuff that only happens when you are stuck in the car on family vacation!) We will be gone for 7 days to the white sandy beaches of Gulf Shores, AL. The kids are so excited that they have wanted to pack the car for the last three days. We are going with my p...

Not a real rat, but there have been pictures on my camera and phone lately that I didn't take. At first I thought maybe I just didn't remember, but after a week or so and lots more pictures I figured out it wasn't me. I decided it would be more fun to figure it out through the pictures than to ask anyone about it, besides something really funny could come out of this! LOL! So for a while now I have had my suspicions about who it may be, it was between Molly and Tim, but I was leaning a little more towards Molly on this one. Then it happened, the moment I have been waiting for! I caught my rat! I got out of the shower (ahh ha! That's when it was happening!) to find a new clue, a video! Three videos in fact! The first two had not worked out that well, but the third one was so funny! It was Molly all along. Once again I'm glad I waited it out instead of opening my big mouth because this was QUALITY, let me tell ya! Now I have to explain a long running family joke for y...

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...

(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 ...

Someone told me once that I had "country girl toes". Well it never really made sense to me what that was until the other day. It just clicked. This is how it happened: I was cleaning up the living room just like I always do. First I picked up things that needed to go to the kids rooms and hucked (hucked- a redneck way of saying threw) them into the hallway. The hallway is their territory. Mama. don't. clean. the hallway... Then I cleared the junk off of the coffee table, and folded and put away the quilts. So far this is normal right. OK, maybe the 15 chickens chirping in the background is a little hickish (yes our new chicks are still camped out in the living room), but lets just look past that for now. Then I started picking up the things in the floor with my toes and passing them to my hands. I do this all the time, so the "click" hasn't happened yet. This is my system, I put dirty clothes on my shoulder and I keep the trash in my hands. If the objec...

This is how I was described in a recent post by my real life friend Kim . She is such a hoot! You should stop by her blog and read her hilarious account of our get-together at my house. She is crazy! Oh and let me warn you she writes in a British accent! She thinks she's Jane Austen. LOL!