The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

A Winter Baby Shower

Friends, I have some sweet news. My daughter and son-in-law are expecting their first baby--a BOY! We are all just as tickled as we can be! They were here during New Year's week and before they headed back home, we had a little gathering of the ladies from our family plus a couple of close college "sisters" to shower the new mommy and her little one. As you can see, our girl is radiating the joys of an expectant mother! Poor thing had a rough first trimester but is now feeling better and able to eat (and enjoy!) more foods. Every January I like to have out my blue dishes, fresh oranges, and pine branches. Prior to the shower date my daughter mentioned that my usual winter decor ... Read more

New Year’s Day 2025

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Our daughter and son-in-law were in town for New Year's week, so we invited the grandparents to join us for a New Year's Day lunch. This was our New Year's Day table— natural country winter vibes. And this was our New Year's Day group! We made sure our meal included the customary pork, collards, and black-eyed peas, not so much for superstition but for good 'ole tradition. My husband grilled the pork, my daughter cooked the collard greens, and I made cheese grits, peas, and cornbread. I’ve got to share this new-to-me recipe for black-eyed peas because it was so good. I usually make black-eyed peas in ... Read more

Girls’ Trip to Texas

Last week my daughter and I went to visit my married daughter in Texas and we had a lot of fun! Magnolia was beautiful, as always. I don't watch Chip and Joanna's show so I don't know much about them and therefor wouldn't really call myself a fan, but I do enjoy visiting Magnolia. We went for a couple of hours one morning to do a little walking around and grab some lunch from the food truck. The pizza is our favorite! The shops are a little expensive, so we didn't buy anything, but all of their products are beautiful! And they even had some Christmas items out which was exciting. Before leaving we got some refreshment from the coffee shop! Next, we went to ... Read more

Tidbits from September

I pray all of you have been safe from the destruction caused by the hurricane over the weekend. It has been so heartbreaking to see the news footage and hear the ongoing reports of more lives lost. It was a sad ending to September. September passed so quickly, I didn't even take many photos of daily life. I'll need to be more intentional in October. But here goes anyway. I did a lot of bread baking in September but still haven't gotten back into sourdough other than just keeping my starter alive. What you see pictured in these photos is yeast bread using my milled grain. It's my family's favorite. On Labor Day we stayed home, did a little work in the morning, and then ate a ... Read more

A Random Photo Post

Good morning! A couple of weeks ago (Aug. 5) I challenged myself to put out a blog post every day until the end of the month. After taking a long break through late winter and most of spring, I was ready to post again but couldn't get in my groove, so I thought this challenge would help me. I've never had a set posting schedule and hopefully after this month I will. I've truly enjoyed blogging every day this month, but wow my hat is off to those of you who consistently post several times a week and have done so for many years!! Ok, so for today! I have several longer posts in the works that aren't ready and we were out all afternoon yesterday and then late last night. So, I thought I'd ... Read more

Kids in the Kitchen, Part 2: Get Them Eating!

Maybe the title of this post should be "Get Them Trying" because I can't make any guarantees, ha! But I have something to share today that I found in my recipe binders while cleaning out. It was a fun little experiment I did with my girls when they were young and I was trying to find healthy(-ish) recipes they could enjoy. I made these cards that I called "New Recipe Survey" and placed them on the dinner table anytime I tried a new recipe. I found that my girls were more enthusiastic about trying a new food if they could leave a review. It was fun for them and gave them the opportunity to respectfully offer their input. Above is what a blank card looked like and below are some of ... Read more

Kids in the Kitchen, Part 1: Get Them Cooking!

As I was cleaning out my cookbooks and recipe binders this summer, I came across so many sweet memories of my children in the kitchen and I realized wow, my kids really liked being in the kitchen! From an early age they were all eager to "help" and were proud to get the jobs of washing fruit, peeling veggies, stirring pots, adding ingredients, and setting the table. Let me just gush a second and say my kids were super cute in the kitchen! I remember that my first daughter at age 2 loved nothing more than to scrub things with the vegetable scrubber while standing on a chair at the sink (Do kids still stand on chairs?). She was so happy doing her scrubbing and I was tickled to have a cute ... Read more

Movie Recommendation!

Good Monday morning! Just popping in for a quick movie recommendation. Our church had a theater reserved yesterday afternoon for The Forge and it was such a great movie! It's about a young man who is at a pivotal point in his life. Having just graduated from high school with no direction for his future, very little respect for others, and a father who left the family, he must decide if he'll go the way of the world or chose forgiveness and Godly manhood. Our family has enjoyed all of the Kendrick Brother movies, and we think this one is their best yet! And the very best part of all......the return of Miss Clara!!! (from War Room) If you have a chance to see this movie, you won't be ... Read more