The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Happy Thanksgiving!

This fall, the kids and I have enjoyed lunch on the patio most days which almost always leads to shenanigans with the pets! One particular day, a couple of weeks ago, turned into a silly fall photo shoot with our fur babies, and we thought these photos would be a fun way to say "Happy Thanksgiving" today! Barney, our most exuberant pet, didn’t stick around too long. We were pleased to get him in at least one good photo. To our surprise, the cat and the bunny are pretty comfortable with each other, but, we’ve realized that the cat thinks the bunny is another cat, and the bunny thinks the cat is another bunny. And so now we call them "the sisters"! Happy Thanksgiving from our ... Read more

Scarecrow Treats and a Fall Bible Lesson

The following post is one I put together last year but did not get worked into my posting schedule before the fall season was over. I've just about missed it for this fall too! Today I have couple of fall goodies that my son and I have been working on for his friends and cousins. I started doing these when my girls were younger so it’s been a lot of fun to repeat with my son. Candy scarecrows are so cute to pass out to the kiddos for a fall treat! You just need a box of raisins for the torso, Smarties for the legs, Tootsie Rolls for the arms, a round candy for the head, and some raffia for the neck straw. Use hot glue to attach candy pieces together in the shape of a scarecrow. Of ... Read more

Entertaining Guests During a Pandemic

Without a doubt, Covid-19 has changed much of our social life as we've known it. For the first couple of months we were in almost total isolation. After taking measures those first couple of months to safeguard our family's physical health by staying away from people, my husband and I began seeing the need to balance that with safeguarding our family's emotional health in being around people. So as it's become more apparent that the virus isn't going to pass on by too quickly and that we're in this for longer than originally anticipated, I'm exploring ways of having friends and family to our home in safe and responsible ways. I thought I'd share a few ideas I've come up with for ... Read more

Fourth of July 2020

I hope you all had a great Independence Day! We enjoyed some "safe" entertaining over the weekend which gave me a fun reason to decorate a little. Nothing too fussy--just flags, flowers, and chalkboards! White crepe myrtles and flags tucked in blue and white vases were just enough! I added flags and patriotic ribbon to old wreaths. Pretty simple! This one is in the front hall by my front door. I snatched the blue bow from my lemon wreath. And this one sits on my mantle. The night before the 4th, we had some friends over for hot dogs and fireworks! Most of our time was going to be spent outside so we cleaned up the backyard and put out a few festive ... Read more

Fluff the Nest Friday: Front Porch Patriotism!

I'm feeling extra patriotic with my nest fluffing today! The hubs pressured washed all the concrete yesterday and then I put back the furniture, flowers, and FLAGS! With the disrespect so many have shown our country's flag in recent years, I felt the need to go a little *extra* on the stars and stripes this year! So, we are waving it proudly with a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our America! Now that the front porch is ready, I'm heading to the back porch to splash a little patriotism around back there! But first, I want to acknowledge some other special birthdays today! My sister, Katie, was born the baby of us five on July 3. We kids were SO excited over her arrival! While my ... Read more

Teach Them Tuesday: The 4th of July!

I’m starting a new series today called “Teach Them Tuesday”. As a homeschooling mom and Bible class teacher, I’ve always benefited from the recommendations other moms and teachers have offered on books, curricula, and other resources for teaching our children. This series is nothing more that: endorsements for anything I’ve used and found beneficial. I do not claim to be any kind of expert! These recommendations are just from the humble heart of a mom! With the 4th of July this week, I thought I'd share a couple of books that we've read in the past that have helped frame our minds for this historic occasion. Since July 4th falls during the summer break, children sometimes miss the ... Read more

Spring 2020: Counting Every Blessing

Spring 2020 was a doozy. These days just the mention of 2020 comes with sighs and eye-rolls. Covid-19 has brought hardships, stress, and loss to many. Our family has dealt with the heaviness as well in a number of ways, but the Lord has also showered blessing upon blessing on us. I love the song "Counting Every Blessing" by Rend Collective and have had that song in my head since The Rona hit. So today I'm counting every blessing of Spring 2020! And because there were so many, this is an incredibly long post, but mostly photos. Blessing 1: The Great Outdoors Not a single day passed during all of isolation where the sun did not rise! And with each sunrise came new mercies and ... Read more