Yeah.....we trashy like that. (Confessions of a Hillbilly # 987)

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 parents, my brother Simon, Rae and Jake (my sister and Ben's brother) with their twins Lily and Iris, Granny and Paw Paw, and my Aunt Kim her husband Jacob and their seven kids.

We're doing something new this year, we will be keeping a travel journal. I got the idea from HERE. We will be doing ours a little different since our children are younger, but it should be fun! We have already started our first entry with our "to do" list for before the trip. We are so excited about this! When we get back I will share some of our travel journal and lots of beach pictures. See you when we get back!

.

xoxox,

Samantha

.

PS. Sometime after I get back I will upload the video of us really catching the lizard! It was pretty funny!

You are not going to believe this!!!

My sister Rae is having another baby too!!! We went to the doctor together yesterday and we are due in the same week!! It's looking like we will be having babies around the middle of March. I am so excited I can't see straight (or think straight!). We have been dreaming about this since we were little girls! You should have seen the lady at the front desk "you have the same last name, because you married brothers? And now you are both expecting babies, and in the same week!?" It was so much fun! We were all giddy, excited, and laughing! God is so good! We have been so blessed.

.

Thank you all so much for your precious comments! You made it all seem real to me! Thanks for the prayers too! I wish I could hug every one of you!!!!

Expecting.............

..........my belly to grow, lots of exciting baby talk, baby sewing, a crib in my room, a billion belly kisses from my sweet children, and lots of prayers to get me through this. . Yes! It finally happened! Just when I had given up all hope and become completely content with three little sweeties. God gave me just what I wanted in his perfect timing, a baby. . We are thrilled! Thank you for all of your prayers! Keep them coming!

.

GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!

Hobo Stew (Foil Dinners) Recipe.

Here is my recipe for the best camping food known to man! It's one of those a little of this a little of that recipes so just take what you want and leave what you don't.

.

This is what you need:

.

ground beef (we use 1lb for a family of five)

bacon

potatoes

carrots

mushrooms

onion or bell pepper (I like both)

dales steak seasoning (Moores if you are too far north to get Dales)

.

First you tear off sheets of foil about 12" by 12" (I like to use a little more so that I can cram them full). Cut all the veggies up small enough that they will get done about the same time the meat does, I usually slice my potatoes like potato chips about 1/4" wide (in these pictures I had used a tater twister I got for Christmas and it worked great! It makes curly fries). Then you roll your ground beef into little balls (a little smaller than a golf ball) and wrap those balls in bacon. put the meat balls in the center of the foil, put about a cap full of Dales on, pile on the veggies, then another cap full of dales, add some salt and pepper and wrap those babies up. If you are cooking over a fire add another layer of foil.

.

They cook much faster over the fire. You just get a good bed of hot coals then lay them on the coals with a shovel and check one of them about every 5-10 minutes. I think ours were done within 15 minutes.

.

If you are cooking them in the oven, I like to put them on a pan with ridges all the way around. That will keep the juice from leaking into the oven. What I cook them on depends on how late I was starting supper. LOL! I have cooked them on 350 for a couple of hours, and on 500 for 20-30 minutes. You decide!

.

When they are done we like to add shredded chedar cheese to the top. YUMMY!

If you have any questions feel free to ask! I will add the info to the post so that everyone will benefit.

.

My friend Nell asked: If we can't get Dale's or Moore's, do they compare with any brand of steak sauce? I can't find anything like it, but I did find where you can get dales online! Try HERE.

.

Do you suppose this could be made ahead of time, and popped into the oven after work? My friend Kim has tried it layered in her crock pot during church and she said it worked well for her. You could also just make them up the night before, refrigerate them, and pop them in the oven when you get home.

I have a rat.

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 you to be able to enjoy this video completely. Most of you know that my husband Ben is the oldest of 12 kids, well there has always been this family joke about how long his parents would stretch out the use of a diaper. The kids would be walking around with this big diaper sagging down to their knees that flopped from side to side when they walked. His Dad would jokingly say " well it says 18 to 20 pounds on the box". LOL! Before long this type of saggy diaper became known as the "Caffee diaper". It's nothing for me to yell across the house "Molly, come change the Maddies Caffee diaper!" or to hear "Mom, Maddie has a Caffee diaper on".

In this video Molly had videoed Maddie's Caffee diaper in action, and in the other she tried to interview Maddie about the situation. I don't know how that little rat figured out how to video with my camera, but I sure am glad that she did! What do you call Caffee diapers??

Camping

Yep, we went on a camping trip Thursday and Friday with the group of girls and mamas from church. We had such a good time! For such a special trip the girls "needed" camping clothes (I'm sure you believe that). I made Maddie a "Miss Madeline" apron dress, and Molly a little shirt with pockets and shorts to match (I used the "Miss Madeline pattern for the shirt too). This isn't a great picture of the girls because they were not in the mood for a photo shoot while all their friends were playing! LOL!

We cooked foil dinners over the fire and I was surprised that so many of the girls had never had them before! We grew up eating them all the time! I will share the recipe for those of you who would like to give it a try in the next post. They can be cooked in the oven too but it's just more fun in the camp fire. After dinner we all went to the playground to play tag and be silly and I got this funny picture of a couple of girls swinging. Can you see the streak where they were swinging so high? I think it turned out pretty good considering it was dark outside. I was using the night setting on my camera. We stayed up until about 2 am giggling and talking, I love how much fun it is when people get that tired and silly. We were in my Mom and Dads camper and we were crammed in! I know that's kind of cheating, but hey.... we cooked on the fire gimme a break! LOL! And after the lizard situation (by the way, yes, he is still loose in my house) I'm not too keen on sleeping outdoors. We saw two poisonous water snakes while we were there too! You know what's so funny is that I'm not scared of snakes, we had them as pets when we were kids; but spiders and lizards have always freaked me out. Isn't that weird?

The next day we went on a scavenger hunt, it was HOT, and I had on flip flops (I left my shoes sitting by the door at home), and I had blisters, and it was an 8 mile walk; but we still had fun! It was part of a nationwide scavenger hunt called Letterboxing. I have never heard of this before but it is very interesting! You get clues off of the Internet, and follow the clues to find little boxes tucked away in the woods that contain notebooks. You sign the notebook and head off to the next clue (you can also get a stamp from each box if you bring a stamp pad). Then at the end you find a big box full of goodies from the people who have been there before. You may take one thing but you have to leave one thing. How cool is that?! If you want to find a hunt in your area go HERE to check it out. And here's my new camera case that I used for the first time while on the camping trip. I was making this camera case when my Dad called to tell me that Maddie had stopped breathing and the ambulance was on the way. Uhh! I hate to even think about it! So for about a week I didn't really want to take pictures of it and post about it, but now I'm fine with it. It was just raw at first. I made it with scraps of my favorite fabrics, and lined the inside with flannel. I really like it but I wish I had made the strap just a little longer so that I could wear it across my chest instead of just hanging around my neck. Oh well, maybe next time. Then I covered my wrist strap with matching fabric. Did I go too far? LOL! I have had several compliments on it so far, so I think it's a hit.

**I know you are all wondering when Miss Madeline will be ready, and I am happy to report that tester patterns will probably be sent out next week! I am still trying to work out some printing issues for the printed version, but the PDF should be ready in a couple of weeks! The final sizes on the pattern is 6 months -4t and 5-10. If I need any more testers after I look at who I already have I will announce it here on the blog. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for all of your interest in this pattern!! **

There is a big black lizard loose in my house!

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 it and made each of us one.

UPDATE: The lizard is still at large! It has now been spotted in Molly and Maddies room where Molly swears she will never sleep again! LOL! Ben, you may need to come home! Molly has decided that she will call and ask Nana if she can spend the night with her tonight. She is convinced that he is poisonous and he is going to get in bed with her and bite her. We may have to go on a lizard hunt after church tonight. LOL! I think Molly would be willing to put up some reward money!

A little boys treasure.

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 his treasure, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

What makes it heirloom?

I have had loads of email over the last year from people who want to know more about heirloom sewing. Most of the time people have all of the "sewing know how" they just aren't with it design wise. I have put together a little list of things that make garments "heirloom" which really just means a garment made well enough that you can pass it down for years to come.

• Heirloom clothing could have been worn 50 years ago, today, and 50 years from now and would be appropriate in every generation. Choose classic styles. The latest flare leg bloomers and halter tops are great for now, but probably won't be passed down for more than a couple of years before it goes out of style, keep that in mind when creating something that you would like to be passed down.

• Use good quality buttons, beauty pins, or ties; never zippers. I know this is obvious but some people just have never thought about it! Pearl buttons are a little more expensive but they add so much to a garment, I promise it's worth it! Prices on pearl buttons range from $.20-$2.00 each.

• Use good fabrics, not quilters cottons. I know it is more of an investment, but if you really want it to last for years you have to put the best in it. This is probably the most important one I should have put it at the top! Look at cotton or linen batiste, voile, organdy, dotted swiss (not the knock off swiss- the real thing), silk, any of these fabrics are perfect for little heirloom frocks.

• Heirloom garments are lined. No facings and stabilizer, fully lined. The yoke dress is probably the most popular, the bodices are almost always (usually the only exceptions are when there is lace inserts or lace at the neck) fully lined.

• There is usually a good sized hem in heirloom dresses (at least 3"). This serves the purpose of being passed down for different sized children.

• Hand embroidery, pin tucks, pleats, cotton lace, entredeux, crochet and piping are all timeless embellishments that stand the test of time. Most of these are surprisingly cheap!

• French seams are very durable, and are best for fine fabrics. On very thin fabrics other finishes show on the right side, a french seam usually blends well.

I know that I'll think of a few other things that I forgot to add but this will get you started! Heirloom sewing is not as scary as you think, I promise. If any of you seasoned heirloom sewers have anything to add PLEASE leave a comment, that way everyone will benefit from it. If there is something that is added that I feel like needs to be added to the post I will copy and paste it later. Feel free to ask questions too, I will answer those in the comment section. I hope you all find something informative about this post, I love to share my passion for heirloom sewing!

xoxox,

Samantha

*********************************************************************************

Jenn asked " What do you think a good first pattern would be? What is a good source for these patterns and supplies? Thank you for such an inspiring and beautiful post!

.

Jenn, I would say if you wanted to start in just one place you could get "French Hand Sewing By Machine" by Martha Pullen. I have this book and it is great! She teaches lots of heirloom techniques and a square yoke dress pattern is included. You could also get the magazines"Sew Beautiful" and "Creative Needle" they are full of heirloom sewing techniques and usually offer a free pattern in every issue.

For a good source for patterns and supplies head over to "Creative Smocking".

What do you do?

What do yo do when something comes along out of the middle of nowhere and rocks your world? I guess we did what any other family would do. We covered all of the doors and windows with sheets and pretended it was a cold Winter day. We thought cold thoughts, which I am sure helps to bring down a high fever. LOL! We built a pretend fire in the wood burning stove (candles, they give it just the right glow). We ate homemade chicken and rice soup. And we watched "The Waltons", or as my kids say "the Walt- Walts", and Cinderella ABOUT A BILLION TIMES! We just snuggled up and waited out the storm. We spoiled Maddie rotten while she was sick (by the way I'm still paying for that lol! But I still recommend it). And we thanked God for moments like this.....