The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Winter Lodge Wedding

My nephew and his precious bride got married a few weeks ago and it was one of the sweetest and prettiest weddings I've had the pleasure of attending! Family weddings are just so much fun, and even sweeter when they're for people you've watched grow up. These two are perfect for each other and I believe my nephew was the happiest groom I've ever seen. They chose the Lodge at Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, Alabama for their wedding venue and it could not have been any dreamier! They had a lovely vision for the wedding and with their ideas plus my sister's event-planning skills, it came together so nicely. My sister, Allison, recruited her friend as director and decorator, and then ... Read more

The Importance of Family Identity in the Life of a Child

As part of my ongoing (yet slow) series on adoption, I'd like to share today some about the idea of FAMILY IDENTITY. And if your children aren’t adopted, this concept applies to your parenting as well! Most of this post is taken from a speech I've given at some events for our adoption agency, so for those of you who may have already heard me speak on this, my apologies. Often when people find out that our son is adopted, a common question my husband and I get asked is, "How long did your adoption take?", meaning the legal process. The paperwork. Well, to answer that question I suppose I would calculate the time from the first day we filed a petition to adopt our son to our day in court ... Read more

Fluff the Nest Friday: The Evening Report

Hello, again! I don't know that I've ever posted twice in one day but if you saw my morning post, then you know I promised a follow-up post this evening! If you didn't catch my morning post, we got new carpet this week which caused a huge upheaval all around the house and we set out to finish or at least make some big progress in putting things back in order after school today. So, here's how we did today, and I'm going to give the "after " pics first and then the "before" pics. We got the den back in order and even put out a few new purchases I made at TJ Maxx this week: a few fresh throw pillows, a basket, and a new blanket. Since the Christmas decorations are packed away, I've got ... Read more

Fluff the Nest Friday: It’s Gonna Take More Than a Fluff!

Happy Friday, friends!! It’s been a little while since I’ve posted on the blog, and it’s been even longer since I’ve posted a FTNF! If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that Friday is the day the kids and I finish up our school week and then get the house cleaned and fresh for the weekend….the day we “fluff the nest”. But today this house is going to require much more than a fluff because we got new carpet this week in each of the bedrooms! I’m soooo happy with the new carpet, however it’s created quite the upheaval since EVERYTHING had to come out of FOUR bedrooms, closets included. When we first started prepping the rooms for the carpet installers my fairytale plan was to do it ... Read more

Our Ornament Tradition

Having taken a little overnight getaway last week, I've been behind this year in getting my Christmas decorations packed up this year. But I'm almost done--woohoo! As always, I take a little walk down memory lane as I wrap and tuck away each item. This year I'd like to share our ornament tradition. Each year of our children's growing up years, starting with their birthyear, they get a new Christmas ornament for the tree-- something that represents their age, a special interest, or a trip we may have taken that year. After 22 years with our oldest, 18 years with our middle, and 11 years with our youngest, we have a very FULL tree! Plus, my husband and I will get a new ornament some ... Read more

Winter Overnight Getaway

We took a quick overnight getaway to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia for my husband's birthday. His New Year's Eve birthday has always been a fun family time for us spent at home, but since our married daughter would be gone this year, we decided to do something a little different for everyone to look forward to. We were gone for just about 24 hours, but it was just perfect! Callaway is only an hour and a half away from us, so we usually just make it a day trip, however, last year we stayed in one of their cabins for a weekend and this year we decided to try their Lodge. We loved it! My daughter said this place had serious Hallmark vibes! Wouldn't you agree? It was nice ... Read more

Christmas Memories 2022

Happy New Year!! I can't believe it's 2023! We had a wonderful December, and everyone in our house stayed well this year! Last year we had Covid, so we were home for most of December, which was pretty cozy and a different kind of blessing, but this year we were able to get out, keep all our plans, and enjoy fun activities. I have an embarrassing number of photos, so I'll try and keep my comments brief. We kicked off the beginning of December with our favorite peppermint milkshakes from Chick-Fil-A. Our first Christmas party of the season was with our field trip co-op, and you can read about that here. The next day we moms had a special field trip planned just for our teens ... Read more

Winter Wonderland Tea

I hope you're all having a lovely holiday! I'm working on a Christmas recap post but for today I'm just going to share some pics from a little tea lunch my daughter and I hosted. We have a yearly tradition of sharing a holiday teatime with my sister-in-law and niece and another friend and her daughter. The girls don't get to see each other much during the school year so it's a sweet time to catch up with everyone while munching and sipping on delicious holiday yummies! We actually had this Winter Wonderland-themed tea planned with this group for last January 2022 but illness among half our group cancelled those plans. Since my girl and I already had most of the supplies gathered, we ... Read more