The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hello and happy Valentine's Day! I have a few photos to share from our homeschool Valentine party with our field trip group. In addition to our monthly field trips, we also have holiday parties and one service project each year. February was my turn, with my friend Ahsley, to plan our gathering. We decided to combine our Valentine party with our service project for the year and put on a Valentine's brunch for a group of widows. Ashley works with a widow's ministry through her church which sees to the needs of widows throughout our city and proposed that we help the children host the leaders of the group (also widows themselves) who work tirelessly to minister to so many other women. We all ... Read more

Teach Them Tuesday: Bonding Through Books

Reading is a family favorite in our house! When I was growing up, I spent more of my time outside playing and climbing trees than I did inside reading, so I wasn't a strong reader but now I've spent my entire adulthood soaking up all the books I can get my hands on (since climbing trees is out for me now, ha!). And I wanted my kids to be strong readers, so I started reading to them as early as possible...the womb. I had a little basket of baby books in the nursery just waiting for baby, so while pregnant, I'd sit in the rocking chair and read those little books to my bump. Sounds silly, I know! Read-alouds have probably been our favorite part of homeschooling. In fact, my son says that's ... Read more

Snapshot Saturday

Hi, friends! We've been busy around here finishing one month and beginning another. Here are a few snapshots from our week. Birthday Trip! January ended with our son's 12th birthday and a special overnight trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in LaGrange, Georgia to enjoy their indoor water park and slides! More on this adventure next week but here's a sneak peek. We all got complimentary wolf ears at the lodge which my son just had to torment the poor cat with. But I must say, it was pretty hilarious how long Floyd left those ears on Our cats put up with a lot! ***** Blogiversary Also at the end of January was my blog's 4th anniversary! You can read my very first post ... Read more

A Field Trip to Dalwhinnie Fields

Our homeschool group takes a field trip together once a month and January's was one for the books! We went to Dalwhinnie Fields in Marion, Alabama for a day of Medieval living history and I think it's got to be the coolest. field. trip. ever!! The program began in the Feast Hall with a brief history of knighthood and knightly virtues. This was followed by a demonstration of a knight's armor, the purpose of each piece, and how it was worn. Fascinating! Each piece of armor was passed around for us to hold and let me tell you they were heavy! Next was a demonstration of hand-to-hand combat strategies and there was no shortage of volunteers from our boys! We then were taken ... Read more

Star Ornament Craft

My kids and I are part of a homeschool field trip co-op which meets once a month. The moms take turns planning the trips and activities and it's always so much fun! Each year my friend Kelli is brave enough to host a Christmas party for our big group in her home which includes some fun activities followed by a pizza lunch. The kids are divided into groups of 5-6 kids and rotate through 4 different activity stations: story, craft, cookie decorating, and games. I was in charge of crafts again this year and since making an ornament proved successful last year, I decided to do it again (plus, I know the mamas love a keepsake ornament from that year!). The challenge with this is finding a ... Read more

Snapshot Saturday: Holidays, Gatherings, and Chilly Weather

What a fun week! A busy, but fun week! Sister Saturday Last Saturday our church hosted a Sister Saturday which comes around quarterly with a different theme. The theme this time was "Homemade Holiday". I took my mom and my mother-in-law, and we enjoyed four classes including homemade gifts, holiday games, holiday food, and table setting/flower arranging. I didn't think to take pictures until we got to the table setting/flower arranging class. If you enjoy flowers and beautiful tablescapes, you'd love this class! The lady you see in the photo above decorated all the tables you see here and gave a lesson on flower arranging along with handy tips for your tablescapes. She's so ... Read more

Girls’ Club Autumn Teatime and Book Discussion

Cultivating female friendships is rewarding yet sometimes tricky. My friend, Kelli, and I have seen the difficulties that our teen girls can go through with making and keeping friends. We wanted to encourage and mentor our daughters in this area as they go about their high school activities with co-ops, sports, etc., and have been getting together every other Sunday for tea and sweets while discussing a book which covers the topic of friendship with meaningful and practical advice. Girls' Club: Cultivating Lasting Friendship in a Lonely World is authored by mother and daughters, Sally, Sarah, and Joy Clarkson and is certainly not written to one age group but to all girls and women who desire ... Read more

Snapshot Saturday: Days of Autumn

This has been a busy but beautiful autumn week! Morning Walks I've switched my morning walk from early in the morning to after breakfast so the kids and I (and dogs) can get some exercise together. The weather has been so nice. ***** Fall Camping Trip We camped last weekend as I shared in this post last week! Such fun fall memories. We always come back saying need to camp more throughout the fall. ***** Soccer Saturdays We love those fall mornings at the soccer field! Usually, our fall games are still warm, but we've had some chilly mornings on the field the last few weeks and we're loving it. ***** Two Year Olds are Funny! I've been ... Read more