Happy Thanksgiving week! I've had several recipe posts in mind leading up to this week, but with our busy school schedule and a computer crash, I just haven't been able to make them happen. However, I'm excited to report this week that not only are we on our holiday break from school, but I'm also sporting a new computer. So, hold on to your seats because you're about to get several recipe posts in one! The table above is from last year's Thanksgiving gathering. We hosted my husband's side of the family and enjoyed so many blessings from the time together. This year, we'll be eating with my side of the family at my parents' home and are expecting a large crowd. My parents have always been ... Read more
Jack-O’-Lantern Cheeseburger Pie
Our family is big on traditions and celebrating holidays and special occasions in big ways. However, Halloween is just not one of our favorites. The neighborhood we live in goes a little overboard on the spooky, gruesome side of Halloween and our kids have never wanted to be out in it all on Halloween night. So, we've made our own tradition of staying in and watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown while eating Jack-O'-Lantern Cheeseburger Pie! This has gone on for years and my kids still love it and look forward to it. They are not budging. Jack-O'-Lantern Cheeseburger Pie is such a tasty treat! You could easily replace the cheeseburger mixture with a meaty pizza filling, a bbq ... Read more
Happy is the House
The following post is a piece I wrote for my previous blog several years ago. Our home continues to be blessed with the happiness others bring into it! Have a lovely fall day, friends! Above our family’s front door hangs a plaque that reads Happy is the house that shelters a friend--a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Although the plaque has hung in our home for over a decade now, I still smile every time I read it because Emerson’s words epitomize the blessings we receive when family and friends come to visit. Our family delights in welcoming people into our home and into our lives! You see, the joy begins with the anticipation of “company’s coming”— the planning, preparations, and excitement ... Read more
The Transitional Wreath
I love a wreath! I love front doors and porches and the welcome they offer. A pretty wreath and swept porch communicate to our guests that we’re anticipating their visit and we’re celebrating the current season! Being in between seasons can sometimes create the dilemma of not knowing what to display at our home’s entrance. Currently, we’re transitioning from summer to fall. Nobody is more ready for fall decorating than my girls and me! We delight in the rich oranges, browns, and plums of autumn. But with temperatures still in the high nineties (blahhh), I’m just not feeling pumpkins and mums yet. But I’m also so ready to move on from summer. Really really ready. My solution: TRANSITIONAL ... 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
Independence Day 2019: Country, Community, and Church
Hello! I hope you all had a spectacular Independence Day last week! Our family enjoyed a day that offered blessings of country, community, and church. We were home throughout the morning, working on various housekeeping chores and projects, but stopped at lunch for our traditional 4th of July hamburgers. During our lunch, we got into a discussion about a podcast on Focus on the Family about our founding fathers, and the privilege of living in an America that was founded on Christian principles—principles that allow us freedom of worship, among many other wonderful freedoms! That afternoon, we had the honor of attending the 100th birthday celebration of a family farm! This farm is owned ... 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
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