Last week our family said a tearful goodbye to the sweetest dog ever. Our poor Lottie suffered from a brain disease, seizures, and multiple orthopedic disorders, and that’s just scratching the surface of her problems. Having loved this dog as much as we did, and having lost one of our bunnies over the summer, I was concerned about how the kids would hold up when her time came. However, I was the one who sobbed and sobbed when she passed. Yep, me. The mom. (We each cried. Mine was the ugly kind.) Despite the numerous pains and discomforts she experienced on a daily basis, our Lottie girl loved and protected our family fiercely. Joel and I never worried about the kids when Lottie was ... Read more
A Grandparents’ Day Tradition
Happy Grandparents’ Day to all the grandmamas and granddaddies out there! We have a tradition of inviting our grandparents over for a meal to honor them on Grandparents’ weekend, and so yesterday Joel’s parents and mine joined us for lunch at our house. Having our big extended family together is always wonderful, but for this meal we enjoy time with just the GRANDS! As we began setting the table yesterday morning, Country Girl and I had no idea what we’d end up with because the day before our special lunch, a certain very bad doggie, who shall remain nameless (ahem, Barney!), ate the zinnias we were planning to build our table around. So, I went rummaging through the cabinets and found ... Read more
And The Sun Rises Again
Good morning! Isn’t that sunrise breathtaking! I got to witness that particular sunrise in person earlier this week. Sunrises are one of my best motivators for rising early and hitting the ground running (or maybe just walking briskly!). I’ve been a little MIA here the last couple of weeks. I planned to get in a few posts last week, but a 3-day migraine derailed those plans. This week has been back-to-homeschool so I’m just getting around to hopping back on here and saying hello! During the summer months my kids all sleep later—a perk that comes with having older kids (hang in there young mamas!)—but I continued to rise with the hubs at our regular 5A, which not only allowed me my usual ... Read more
Barney
Our family has two dogs, two bunnies, and a leased horse (and would totally add a cat if one of my kids wasn’t allergic). Our newest pet—a puppy we gave Incredi-Boy for a very special milestone—joined the family this summer! If you have pets, you know all too well that pet care is one of the many works of our hands in any given day, and this new puppy has kept our hands quite busy! Meet Barney. I know, he looks pretty adorable, doesn’t he? Well, I have another name for him: The DESTROYER. If you can just look past the beautiful chocolate coat and those mesmerizing eyes, you’ll notice a plant hanging out of his mouth. That plant was just one of MANY he has dug up from my yard. I don’t know ... Read more
Fluff the Nest Friday: Blitz the House!
Around here, Friday is the day to "fluff the nest", which is just a much cuter way of saying "clean the house". Am I right? So my Friday posts are all about tidying up and getting the house fresh and in order for the weekend. Some weeks my nest-fluffing comes more easily than others. I need motivation each Friday. ***** My last two Fluff the Nest posts have been all about getting the kiddos on board with household chores. My first post started with the basics of picking up their own bedroom in “The ABC Pickup”. The following post moved on to daily tasks in “Chores for Children”. Today we’re going to talk about the big cleanups that need to happen that aren’t scheduled as part of the daily ... Read more
Colonial 4th of July Table
I’d like to wish everyone an early Happy Independence Day, and naturally I’m going to say it with a table setting! This is a table I quickly put together last 4th of July. We had some neighbor friends walking over for fireworks that evening, and since we were grilling hamburgers for ourselves, we asked them to come early and join us for dinner. The plan was to eat outside on the patio, but the heat and humidity were crazy high that day, so we decided to enjoy the meal inside and go out after sunset to watch the fireworks. With a change in plans, I started pulling anything from my cabinets that was red, white, or blue. Before I knew it, we had a very patriotic vibe going on in the dining ... Read more
Just Peachy! A Peach-Inspired Table and Dessert
My girls know me well, and always pick out such thoughtful gifts for me for special occasions. I’m one blessed mama! For Mother’s Day, they went shopping together at my favorite store—Home Goods! My oldest daughter bought me the wonderful rolling cooler bag you saw in my “Savvy Finds and Summer Faves” post. It gets used weekly, and has been a total game changer for lake and pool! Country Girl gave me this lovely tablecloth with an all-over peach pattern. It’s perfect for summer dining! Given my love for peaches, and for my daughter, I’m very excited about this tablecloth. I’m just loving it with my green dishes! It’s versatility lends itself to a fancy-schmancy Sunday lunch setting, or a ... Read more
Fluff the Nest Friday: Chores for Children
Around here, Friday is the day to "fluff the nest", which is just a much cuter way of saying "clean the house". Am I right? So my Friday posts are all about tidying up and getting the house fresh and in order for the weekend. Some weeks my nest-fluffing comes more easily than others. I need motivation each Friday. ***** Last Friday I shared about the ABC Pickup which was one of three handy tools I used to train my young children in Nest Fluffing 101! Today’s post is about chores. I started following the Chore Packs system from the Titus 2 ministry about eleven years ago when my girls were about 8 and 3, and continued using them on and off with the girls, and then later when my son came ... Read more