Hello, my friends! I’ve been a little MIA lately with spring break, home projects, and spending some very precious time with our adopted grandmother who is in her last days on this earth. She is such a dear soul and I’d appreciate prayers on her behalf. Thank you!!  I wanted to jump in here for a minute today and just share a few of the many blessings God has brought the last couple of weeks. First of all, we enjoyed a delightful spring lunch at my mom’s house the week of spring break! Look at her beautiful spring table!! My friends are probably all chuckling to themselves right now, seeing how I come by my love for decorating a table honestly. Yep, it’s from my mom! But hers are much ... Read more

Welcome back to my “Tour of Italy” recipe week! I began yesterday with my Caprese Tomatoes appetizer and am continuing the tour today with a main dish of Bolognese Pasta. I had only eaten Bolognese a few times before but had always remembered how incredibly delicious it was each time I tried it. When my cooking club’s menu for this week was Italian, it got me to thinking about this pasta and wanting to finally try my hand at making it. I didn’t take it to cooking club since we already had enough main dishes coming, but as I was getting into the Italian cooking spirit, I decided to make it for my family. I researched several recipes for Bolognese that seemed pretty involved, but I was still ... Read more

If you know our family at all, you know that every Friday night at our house is PIZZA NIGHT. Whether it’s just us at home or company is joining us, pizza (or some variation of it) will be served. Period. End of story. Over the years, I’ve had a lot of fun exploring the many different styles and flavors of pizza. When my older girls were little, a favorite for them was Upside Down Pizza. I made this anytime we had a backwards day or we just felt a little silly. I don’t know why I had forgotten about this one since it was once a favorite of ours. But it came to mind last week, and, much to my family’s delight, I decided to bring it back!! I think we’d all forgotten how wonderful it is! It’s ... Read more

Good Monday morning! I missed posting last week! Let's just say, my hands were at work and there was little time left over. So, I just wanted to pop in this morning to say that I'm still here and will be back this week to finish up details about the last of the parties we hosted last month. I'll have some tablescape photos and recipes from Piano Girl's surprise party! On a bit of a housekeeping note, I had some friends tell me the other night that they had tried to subscribe to my blog with the "follow" button, but without success. If you've had the same experience, my apologies! Just shoot me an email at [email protected] and I will try to add you to the subscribe list ... Read more

Today I'm excited to share a few photos from Incredi-Boy's eighth birthday! These days, this kid is so hot for Hot Wheels that a race car theme was the natural choice for his party. After years of raising girls and being immersed in little girl world for so long, I think people who knew me wondered how I would embrace my new role as a boy-mom. Well, while I have absolutely loved doing the girl-mom thing (sooo many sweet memories), I have to say that, overall, I just really love being a mom, period. So, I am very much enjoying and embracing boy-mom life as well! Incredi-Boy and I had a lot of fun planning this party! Oh, and with Joel having been a HUGE Hot Wheels fan growing up, and a HUGE ... Read more

Last week the girls (and a few little brothers) from our small group got together for a little informal party on Valentine's Day. Our small group happens to be made up of other homeschooling families, so they are who we usually get together with for our "class" parties. It was an afternoon party so we didn’t need a lot of food. The day before, Country Girl and I spent some time in the kitchen making a few treats to serve. Let’s just go ahead and start with the most important. CHOCOLATE! These brownie pops are a recipe from the Pioneer Woman. They are easy to put together, requiring no baking, and are so decadent! Candy hearts, of course, are a must on Valentine’s Day. My girl cut ... Read more

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. ***** Good Friday morning, friends! Well, yesterday we hosted our GALentine's Day party which means we moved our Friday cleaning up a day so the house would be clean for company. This makes me pretty happy today because the bulk of the weekly cleaning is already done! It was so nice to sit and enjoy a clean and decorated house after the party, and I'm hoping to keep it that way ... Read more

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I'm so excited! Country Girl and I will be wrapping up our schooling early today to get in the kitchen and prepare for a *GALentine's* party we're hosting for the girls in our small group. I'm popping in this morning just to share a super quick idea for a fun hot chocolate corner we'll be putting together for the party! Once February gets here, we've been sipping hot coffee, tea, and cocoa for several months and are ready for some new flavors after all those fall spices and Christmas peppermints. So for Valentine's Day, I change it up a bit with strawberry syrup, candy hearts, white chocolate chips, red and pink sprinkles, marshmallows, and whipped cream ... Read more