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
Charity Lemonade Stand
Last Saturday Incredi-Boy and his sweet little friend ran a lemonade stand in our front yard for a very worthy cause! Our small group families are raising funds to purchase athletic equipment for the children of Mtendere Village in Malawi, Africa. We've encouraged the kids in the group to think of extra jobs they could do, or little fundraisers of their own to help contribute. Incredi-Boy’s friend and her family are also in our small group, and they live a few doors down from us, so a neighborhood lemonade sale seemed to be an ideal project for them to collaborate on. Both of our families sponsor children at Mtendere, so this cause is near and dear to our hearts. In fact, the other mama ... Read more
Mom’s Summer Reading List
Good summer morning to you! This one’s for the book worms out there! In addition to catching up on the household chores and projects I can’t get to during the school year, I’m working on catching up on some reading. I have several books I either started during the school year and didn’t finish, or couldn’t even get to altogether. And there are also books I’ve read in years past and have put back on my list for a reread. At the end of this post I’ll tell you what I’ve done this summer to try and reach my reading goals, or at least come close. So stick around! Don’t feel like you've got to read this entire list, but feel free to only look at the topics of interest for you. So here goes! The ... Read more
Fluff the Nest Friday: The ABC Pickup
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. ***** A while back, I was chatting with some mom friends, and a younger mom asked about chores for her young children. How much is too much or too little to expect from children of various ages? I’ve actually had some posts in mind for this topic, and my friend’s inquiry got me to thinking I should dust those ideas off and go ahead and share them. I’m certainly no expert on the ... Read more
Coconut Cream Cake
Good Monday morning! Blessings to you all for this fresh new week! I don't usually post on Mondays anymore, but we had such an enjoyable Father’s Day weekend and I want to share a part of it with you! And of course it’s a recipe! Haha. On Saturday we celebrated an early Father’s Day with my husband’s dad and mom. We took them out for lunch at a great Thai restaurant and then back to our house for dessert and visiting. Since my husband loves coconut, and I knew my F-I-L does too, I made this Coconut Cream Cake from Southern Living. I like that the toasted coconut adds a little brown color to the top of the cake. It went well with a burlap table runner to make the table display a tad ... Read more