a boundin....

This is one of my favorte videos! It has such a good lesson, told in such a fun way. I even showed this one to my boys in Sunday School....I just love it so I decided to share it with you. Enjoy!

first day of school, a new space, and some rambling

Well today we got back to our school schedule...Hallelujah! I enjoy Summer with my kids, I really do, but I start to miss the structure of our school days long about August every year. I miss the cool weather, the quiet mornings when everyone has their own little project going, the way they start out with such an excitement about learning....oh I just missed it, and I sure am glad we are back here. God really knew what he was doing when he gave us the changing seasons didn't He! Change is a good thing. Starting out this year I needed to change things up a bit since my little man is officially a kindergartner and will be doing "real" school every day. I wanted our schedule to be a little different since I now have my loft and I can kind of work along-side them, but there really wasn't enough desk space for everyone in the loft. I LOVE challenges like this! So my simple solution was to turn the space under the stairwell leading up to the loft into a little school nook for Molly (my big 2nd grader!), so that Tim could work at the cutting table next to me. Oh my goodness I love it! Before this was a catch-all cluttered mess with no purpose at all, and now it's like we have a new room. It's not big but it's perfect for what we were needing and Molly really feels grown having her own little "office". I added a little table and chair, and sewed a little curtain to hide the storage under the stairs.

Then I got out my vintage Dick and Jane classroom book that I have been hoarding for years and filled the walls with them. I have been waiting for the perfect place to use these for so long and I am just beyond happy with the result. I mean, what could possibly be better than seeing Dick and Jane everyday?? With just a few little re-purposed things from around the house and attic we had carved out a sweet little space that is not only functional but very motivating!

These little projects always get me thinking...I start looking for other little catch-all wasted spaces or corners that I could make into usable space. Last month I turned part of Molly and Maddie's walk-in-closet into a little playhouse for Maddie. It was piled up with stuff that needed to be given away or trashed, and their room was always messy with toys, so I put her little kitchenette in there with a few toy baskets and she was as happy as if I had given her a new room! Their room has been so clean since the switch too, and that makes mama very happy!

On the shelf I put an extra special "wock" collection that was given to us by one of my sweet readers, Sharon. She collected all of these different rocks and bits of nature from her home on the West Coast and then sent them to us to study after she saw our Rock Week post. This is one of their most treasured collections. She was so sweet, she even wrote little notes for each little group to tell them a little about it and where she found it. She even sent seagull feathers, lava rocks, and a jar container of West Coast sand and shells! Sharon if you are reading thanks again!!

And here is my big boy on his first day of kindergarten. It really doesn't even seem possible..but I guess you know that...It never is possible is it? Our first day went really well, we seemed to get a lot accomplished, which isn't always the case on "first days".

We started out with Bible and as of this year it is Molly's job to read the story every morning. I caught this little moment from the loft as I listened at all of the big words she's cranking out this year. I hope I remember this....first days, new spaces, and how little they look in this picture. While we're on the subject....Remember this? It's the homeschool planner I started last year. I have made a few changes, with the help of several other homeschooling mamas, and I hope to have it ready by the end of the week. It will be a free download with a donate button (donations will go towards our adoption). Print as many as you like, use them year after year, and spread the word! I can't wait to be homeschooling our other children and finding new places to put their little nooks!

sick sick sick

That's what we've been this last week. Did you miss me? Believe me, I missed you! You and anything else that resembled the land of the living! Tim has a ruptured ear drum and staph infection (that they think could be MRSA, I pray their wrong, we will get the test back soon), and we (the rest of us) have all been stuffy with sore and aching ears and throats. I started to post several times but shrank at the thought and went back to only the things needed to maintain survival...you know how it is...but today I'm feeling about 70% and that is much much better than 10% so I am very excited! The week wasn't all bad though, Tim and I did have one little adventure in the park after his doctors appointment on Tuesday. I woke up that morning with a sore throat but didn't start feeling really ill until that evening. I always try to make doctor or dentist days special for each child by going on a special lunch date with the child that had to go. Usually we go out to eat, but since we are saving money right now to get our other little munchkins home, I packed us a lunch and we headed to the park near the doctors office. When we first sat down we noticed that the ducks seemed very interested in us because they all started our way!

They didn't seem to be to shy about it either! They came so close!

I got lunch all set out, while Tim laughed at the ugly one that kept quacking at him, thinking this was going to be a pretty good lunch date after all! We had homemade flat bread grilled chicken wraps, some Olive Garden dressing for dipping, and granola bars.

The ducks were really getting to be beyond brave though, and I was starting to get a little uneasy when...

...this big fella came right up to Tim and snapped his wrap right out of his hand! Then he ran off with it and they all fought over it! So now Tim, who is no stranger to a good flogging by our own dear rooster, told me that it was time to go. LOL! He was so serious too, he had this protective sound in his voice even, it was so cute.

So I quickly throw our things in my bag and we head up the hill and those crazy ducks started following us to the car! They were mad too! They were all shaking their tails and quacking and squawking like maniacs! What is it with us and our wild animal tales lately?? I wish I had had my camera with me and I would have got a little video of these nutty ducks, but I only had my phone to take pictures with. Tim immediately asked for the phone and called Nana and Daddy when we got in the car to tell them about our "awesome" lunch in the park, so all in all it was a fun little adventure. Poor little guy, even when he is sick he is still so much fun!

You just never know do ya?

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 night I sent Molly to the car for something and as soon as she shut the door behind her she came running back in screaming "The cat is killing a mouse!" Now, a normal family would have probably stayed in and maybe peeked out the window, but you know we've never claimed to be normal, so we ran out to see what was happening. After we saw that the cat and mouse both seemed to be having a good time playing we grabbed the camera. You know, every time we are in a situation like this I find myself more cracked up by the kids than anything, and believe me they didn't disappoint. Where do they get this stuff? I mean really?! Where do they learn this? I mean I know I'm weird but I'm not that weird! LOL! This post should definitely be filed under the "confessions of a hillbilly" category. Maybe I should even start a new one called "Hillbilly Entertainment". Waduya think?

Meet the newest employee of The Handmade Dress....

Maddie is her name (Miss Madeline named her)...and she is the most well behaved little thing! She is polite, doesn't make messes, and she never complains about trying on clothes whenever I want her to...She is also very photogenic. I've only had her for a day and a half and I already love her! I've been wanting one just like her for awhile now but was too intimidated to make my own, I finally tackled it last night with Ben's help (well and Miss Madeline of course) and it was so stinkin easy. And cheap! There are lots of tutorials out there for making dress forms for women (that's what I used) but I couldn't find any on child's forms. So I'm thinking if there are enough people who want to do this I will do it again and take pictures. Interested?

Oh yeah...the skirt. Madeline picked out a surf style knit version of this skirt at Walmart the other day, but I wasn't really diggin it, it seemed too grown up and teenagery (Yes, I know that's not a word but you get it.) so I came home and made this more "little girl" version of my own. I also found a pattern that is similar HERE at Marie Madeline Studio if you want to make your own. It looks like the only difference in theirs and mine is the width of the ruffles.

I did talk Madeline into a little picture taking....but she was so grumpy, nothing like her body double Maddie. But I guess we will keep her anyhow, she is kinda cute when she's grumpy....and I like that she has a head and legs too.

The beach trip was everything I hoped it would be and MORE! We had the best time! I didn't get to post everyday because the internet connection was so insane at the beach house, it took hours to post the first time and I couldn't be bothered with frustrating things like that at the beach! In a way I was sort of glad that we couldn't really access the internet...It was like having a real break from everything, and I needed that. I have other news to tell but it's all so random that I just can't fit it in, so I decided to close with a list of "random facts from The Caffee Farm".

Here we go:

:: Maddie cut her leg shaving last night. Yeah, she's the three year old, I have got my hands full I tell you.

:: I've been a little bummed out and discouraged about something the last couple of days...it stinks. I get my feelings hurt too easily and I hate that about myself.

:: We have new chickens and we are hatching out more soon for meat. That scares me a little, but I'm hangin in there. It's part of life and I need to just get over it.

:: On the way home from the beach Ben "let" me drive while he took a nap. 45 minutes later I realized I had been driving the wrong way on the interstate when I started seeing beach signs again. Who does that? Seriously! I drove almost 70 miles before I realized it and added about an hour and a half to our trip. Ben laughed at me and I cried....It's funny now. I've been known to add as much as 3 hours to a trip by driving the wrong way, so this time wasn't *that* bad I guess.

:: We have our first meeting with our social worker in the morning!!! This will be our first official part of our homestudy. I get all tingly with fear and excitement every time I think about it! YAY!

I missed you guys!

Xoxo,

Samantha

Did I mention?

/ That this is one of my favorite views? And I will be enjoying this view until Sunday!

First game of the year, it was a good day! I definitely need to bring the trash talk a little more tomorrow. I’ll work on that. I’ll try to be back every day this week with little bits and pieces of our day. I’ve been tweeting some too, I need to be better about documenting family vacation. It’s so worth documenting, these people are crazy!