The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Thanksgiving Week Recap

Hello, friends! Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving holiday! I did NOT do too great of a job remembering to take photos all week so what I have is so random. But here goes! The Saturday before Thanksgiving week, my daughter had her senior photos taken by a friend's daughter. My daughter wanted to have them taken in our woods and some at the barn down the road from our house. We were even able to borrow Midnight, the horse she used to lease, which made for some fun photos! They are still best buddies. Matty, the photographer, was so sweet and had such great ideas. Also that afternoon, our daughter and son-in-law came in from Texas! My son and I got his bedroom and bath ready ... Read more

Last of the Leaves

I love the autumn and Thanksgiving! I savor the season while it lasts. Our family went on a hike at a nearby trail yesterday and I made sure to soak up every last drop of fall because it seems that once Thanksgiving is over, fall is over too. We're supposed to get some heavy rains Friday which will most likely shed the trees of the last of their pretty leaves. It's okay because we treasured every minute of fall and its beauty, its color, its pumpkins, its bonfires, its hayrides, and its pumpkin spice! Still, I'm so happy we got one last long autumn walk! Leaves How silently they tumble down And come to rest upon the ground To lay a carpet, rich and rare, Beneath the ... Read more

Cranberry Apple Chutney

Happy week of Thanksgiving! My girl is home and I'm one happy mama! She and her hubby arrived Saturday afternoon and we have already had so much family fun. This week we plan to just enjoy being together, watch some movies, do a little hiking, maybe some shopping, and cook and bake for Thanksgiving. In order for the week to not be so hectic while they're here, I've done a few things ahead of time in the last few weeks and one of those things was making our annual cranberry apple chutney. Since I was already making this chutney to go on a cheese/cracker platter for my ladies' small group a couple of weeks ago, I went ahead and made enough for Thanksgiving week. This has been a favorite of ... Read more

Snapshot Saturday: Holidays, Gatherings, and Chilly Weather

What a fun week! A busy, but fun week! Sister Saturday Last Saturday our church hosted a Sister Saturday which comes around quarterly with a different theme. The theme this time was "Homemade Holiday". I took my mom and my mother-in-law, and we enjoyed four classes including homemade gifts, holiday games, holiday food, and table setting/flower arranging. I didn't think to take pictures until we got to the table setting/flower arranging class. If you enjoy flowers and beautiful tablescapes, you'd love this class! The lady you see in the photo above decorated all the tables you see here and gave a lesson on flower arranging along with handy tips for your tablescapes. She's so ... Read more

The Bye-Bye Sisters

I was blessed to have grown up with sisters--an older sister and a younger sister! And let me tell you, it was FUN. And as adults it's still fun! Annnd I now also have the added blessing of sisters-in-law. I know some of you don't have sisters and always wanted one, so let me tell you a story in hopes of encouraging you in that longing. Our family has been part of a group of families we call our life group--a Bible study group that we "do life" with. God put our group together almost twelve years ago, and even as our number has fluctuated with some families moving on and new families joining, our bond has remained strong. Our children have literally grown up together, several now young ... Read more

Snapshot Saturday: Soaking Up Autumn

Good morning and happy weekend! Boy, these weeks sure pass quickly, don't they? I'm soaking up as much of autumn as I can because it'll be gone before we know it. This week we've been doing a lot of work inside and outside in preparation for some upcoming gatherings and just the holidays in general. It's exciting how close we are to the holidays! We have our daughter's soccer team coming this weekend and our life group coming next week. It's so much fun entertaining outside during the fall evenings so we're trying to finish some areas for sitting and doing activities. While working last weekend I noticed this fungus on a tree. Isn't it interesting! My friend told me it's called ... Read more

Thanksgiving Scripture Journal

Happy Sunday! I don't normally post on Sundays, but I want to hop on quickly to share something I'm loving in this season of thankfulness. My friend Missy has been "stamping" for several years which means I've been blessed with many of her lovely handmade stationaries. We managed to meet for coffee last week and she brought me something new she'd made. Along with a sweet card and thoughtful note, she gave me a Thanksgiving scripture journal for the month of November! I'm already enjoying daily blessings from my time with this journal in the mornings. There is beauty on every page both in its fall artwork and in the meaningful scripture study. Each day offers a scripture for ... Read more

Snapshot Saturday: Some of Everything

Good Saturday morning! I'm a little late with this post but I want to save these snapshots from the week so I'm going to go through them speedily! We trick-or-treated with our neighbor friends on Halloween night and the kids had a blast! Halloween isn't our favorite, so we don't do a lot with it, but we love costumes and of course we love time with friends so it's fun to get together for an evening of dressing up and eating tons of candy. Some of my photos are little blurry here---sorry--but I want to show you how pretty some of the front porches were with their fall decorations. Afterwards our friends invited us back to their house for a delicious chili supper and ... Read more