The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

“Make Sure You Add Some Sprinkles in 2022!”

Happy New Year! It's 2022!! I have a festive little New Year's party to share with you today, compliments of my niece! At the young age of 7, my niece is already the party planning extraordinaire!! Her mama (my sister) has taught her so well! She reminds me so much of my girls when they were growing up, throwing parties for baby dolls and family pets. So precious. One day recently, my sister mentioned that my niece would probably enjoy a day at my house "baking and making". Of course I said yes immediately, and we later decided to throw a cousins' New Year's celebration! It was a small affair due to so many of the cousins already committed to other holiday obligations, but, as ... Read more

This Little Hand

I'm taking down Christmas decor today and, as with every year, I’ll be enjoying a little trip down memory lane as I pack away each of my children's keepsakes. I've always especially cherished their handprint art, knowing their little hands would never be that tiny again, and wondering where the Lord might lead them in life. The little Santa trivet below was made by my oldest when she was just 5 years old!And now?... And now that hand has a ring on it!! We are thrilled that God has led her to a wonderful man who proposed on Christmas Eve-Eve, and will soon hold her hand in marriage. I will post more in the coming days from our Christmas holiday but wanted to go ahead and share our ... Read more

Teach Them Tuesday: Thumbprint Angels and a Christmas Story

Yesterday I mentioned a Christmas party we had with our homeschool friends. My friend, Kelli, hosted the event and did an amazing job planning and orchestrating a rotation of activities to accommodate our large number of kiddos! She arranged areas around her home for four stations: story, craft, cookie decorating, and games. She took care of the story time and asked three more of us mamas to take the other stations. I was assigned the craft station, so I planned a craft that would go along with the book Kelli would be reading in her station. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, by Gloria Houston, is a heartwarming story about a little girl, Ruthie, and her parents living in the ... Read more

Let’s Get Christmasy!

I must admit that as soon as Thanksgiving is over, I start to feel a bit overwhelmed with all there is to do for Christmas. Anyone else? My social battery runs low with back-to-back events, and I get a little saddened by the commercialization of the season. Last week, after a couple of days of near panic, I voiced my concerns to my husband, pulled myself together, and made the prayerful decision to focus on two things: Embrace the season with its flurry of activity while pulling away each day for quiet advent reflection. I'll share on advent in another post, but today I'm sharing some of our activities from our first week of December. We got our tree and decked the halls! The cat is so ... Read more

Weekend Getaway

Back in October we took a quick fall getaway to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Throughout the years, we've taken many day trips to enjoy the gardens and trails. Due to its close proximity to us we've never needed to stay overnight; however, when trying to think of a place we could spend a pleasant, outdoor fall break that would be close enough to allow us to wait until our college-aged daughter got out of her last Friday afternoon class before leaving town, Callaway Gardens seemed like an ideal destination! We stayed in a cozy 2-bedroom cottage on Sparkleberry Lane. How cute is that name! We loved staying in this cottage! It offered plenty of space with a great ... Read more

Teach Them Tuesday: Thanksgiving at American Village

If you live in Alabama and have had the privilege of visiting American Village in Montevallo, you know what a fantastic educational experience it is. My kids and I have been four times and it has never failed to exceed our expectations. Our "First Friday" group--a homeschool co-op we do field trips with on the first Friday of each month--recently participated in American Village's Thanksgiving program for our November field trip. We enjoyed a day of inspiring American history and lovely fall weather! I have a few photos to share from this most recent trip, but be sure and check out my post from a previous visit for details about American Village and photos of its beautiful colonial buildings ... Read more

Fluff the Nest Friday: Tips and Tidbits for Thanksgiving Prep

Good Friday morning! Fall has flashed by in a blur and Thanksgiving is less than a week away! I'm not hosting Thanksgiving but I did host our small group's annual "Friendsgiving" this week. Beside the usual weekly cleaning routine, here are a few extra preparations I worked into the week leading up to our little feast! Even though I'd put out a few fall-ish items at my front door early in the season, it was time to freshen things up a bit. My summer ferns were still looking too good for me to move so I left those, swept the concrete, added a fresh door mat and a couple more pumpkins from my son's pumpkin patch (more on his pumpkin patch soon!). I took one of my winter wreaths and added ... Read more

Teach Them Tuesday: Lessons from the Campground

It has become a yearly tradition for our family to go on a weekend camping trip with two other families each fall. The weekend takes some planning and work, but the time put into it is so worth it. Besides the fun memories our kiddos make together, there is never a shortage of teachable moments on the campground! Upon arrival, the kids learn the first task to be accomplished is pitching the tents and setting up camp. They are all pretty eager to help. They learn the importance of having a good fire going long before dinner prep and definitely before nightfall! This year, they each learned how to use a flint rock to start a fire. They learn how to cook their supper over the ... Read more