The Handmade Dress

Inside my house it looks like an F-5 has hit, luckily I can't see it from here. The view from my hammock chair on the front porch is absolutely perfect. The music (Johnny Cash "Ring of Fire") and giggles are pretty sweet too! We have been blessed with some cooler weather and we are soaking it up! Even Breakfast and coffee happens outside. The School of Caffee Children starts after lunch when it gets warm enough for the bugs to start biting. This weather makes my inner gypsy want to pack up the airstream and hit the road for another big adventure! Soon, very soon. xo, Sam   Posted with Blogsy

My Sunday School boys have been needing a little something to do after our short lesson lately. We have tried card games, board games, and other things of the like but what they really wanted and ended up doing was physical activities. They wanted to race, or arm wrestle, or do something else that ended up just a bit too noisy! Well we also needed a room makeover in a bad way. We had a budget, but they could never decide just what they wanted...until I threw this idea out there! A climbing wall! First off, they thought that I was a rockstar! Second, they have all had training in climbing from their Wednesday night boys class, so they were super pumped about having a wall! At first we thought that we would paint it just one color, then we thought about maybe camo or fake rock....it sounded okay but really didn't spark any interest. Then I had an idea! When we were in Jersey I remember how we loved looking at all of the graffiti! I asked the boys what they thought and yeah! It...

And with very happy hearts, and a whole lot of prayer, PRAISE GOD, we were able to send our loves home with their parents and grandmother! It was a hard fight, and it looked impossible, but God showed off! And now that sAeet mama is holding her babies again. I'm writing the story, it's so emotional so it's coming out of me a little piece at a time. We miss them, but we sure are happy for them!! We were told by the social workers that we probably had one of the most heart wrenching first time foster care experiences that they have ever heard of. Yes, we all came out a little bruised (none more than their sweet parents though), but to see the look on their faces when they were told the verdict made it all worth it!!! So we told the social workers, put us back on the list. We are willing. xo, Sam  

  Molly played Ben's electric for the first time... Guess what she wants for Christmas now? Yup. My kids are getting too big! I couldn't find a cooling rack, the bread was coming out of the oven....You know, I don't think I need cooling racks anyhow! You know Molly is known for her creative baby wearing ( SEE HERE ), this kid is crazy! (And no worries, I snapped a quick picture and told her not to do this again.) My parents rented a water slide for the fourth! That's my mama standing by it. Ain't she cute? :) Every morning for FIVE days we got up, packed our bags, and headed to Mom's to play until dark! Because I'm an eight year old boy when it comes to water slides, this is how I looked after five days on that thing! My legs were black and blue too! I was sore all over from climbing the ladder, but oh my goodness It was fun!!! This little girl got kicked out of her cradle. She broke all of mommy's cradle rules in one nigh...

We've all had one of those days, sometimes a string of them, where anything that can go wrong will go wrong and you are left feeling like real life has just given you a nice stinging slap in the face. Most of the time I don't write about them, it's not what I want to remember, it's not what I want to focus on; but sometimes....well sometimes, when your face stops stinging, and you get your head back above water again, you realize....This one was just too funny to keep to myself! So, what you are about to read is a real life account my day yesterday. Buckle up. It started out rocky, our big dentist day. First off, I didn't get much sleep because I was having stupid dreams about mixing lip balm all night and missing the one key ingredient that I needed. In between those dreams I was realizing that my throat hurt. The babies were up earlier than normal which meant that I was running off of four hours of not-so-good sleep. The kids were agitated too for whatever...

We are making the most of summer here at the Caffee house! We are taking advantage of all of the good veggies coming in from our garden and our neighbor's garden (Thank you Mary and Eddie!). Breakfast and lunch pretty much look the same everyday with a slight variation in vegetables. We also have quite a popcorn addiction these days. Oh my do we have an addiction! I think I ate it in my sleep last night! Or at least dreamed up a new seasoning combination to try! Our favorite popcorn flavor at the moment is cooked in coconut oil, with dry dill, garlic flakes and salt. Yummmmy! What is your favorite popcorn topping? Please share!  We also made homemade lip balm today! We used a Burt's Bees copy cat recipe and it's really just like the original, I can't tell a difference.  We ended up with a good bit of lip balm (6 containers) for just pennies. I like that! It feels so good on! I want to try this lotion bar recipe next. While the babies took ...

I decided a few weeks ago to turn my china cabinet into a place to store our apothecary things. For years I've had this stuff spread throughout the house and never seemed to be able to find what I needed, and the problem was compounded when I started making my own medicines. Trouble was, my china cabinet had seen better days, so we decided to give the old girl a makeover. At some point it had been in a fire because it has always been smoke stained. I gave her a fresh coat of white paint, sanded and painted the rusty handles turquoise, and Ben steadied her with new braces and nails.  This sorta started a frenzy of projects that everyone got in on. My kids painted my plate holders and Molly put them back up. I got started on some new curtains for the French doors. Tim got out the sander and started distressing my door couch (I painted it but never distressed it). Maddie watched the babies.  Ahh! That felt nice! You see how good she tu...

This lady now sits like a little monkey to eat, I call her Mowgli, this child is a HOT MESS! I take a lot of morning pictures, the kids and babies are all just so cuddly then that it makes me want those memories forever, I bet I have thousands of them.....and I still want thousands more.  Summer breakfast just went into effect. I am a creature of habit, it's coffee, two eggs and turkey bacon all winter. In the summer I make what I call backyard breakfast I cram all of the veggies I can into my two eggs (they are hardly ever the same veggies, though tomatoes are always there).  I'm happy for the change, I've been waiting on these veggies!  While I worked one afternoon around nap time Penny just helped herself to the floor. Poor baby! You see how hard she has to work?! One morning with all five piled in....love.  I documented a "family Heirloom" before it gets passed along to cousins. My Aunt Rita made this for my sist...