The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Cook by the Book: Chuckwagon Beans

My daughter's 18th birthday was this week and for her birthday meal she requested BBQ pulled pork with baked beans and hashbrown casserole. This girl loves baked beans and has eaten them since she was a baby! I don't always use a recipe, but usually just throw together all the typical ingredients without measuring to make a sweet, sticky dish of beans. However, this week I wanted to try a less sweet but beefier recipe and decided to make Chuckwagon Beans from Dining with the Pioneers, Vol.1, a cookbook given to me for a wedding gift over 26 years ago! I was working at the sweetest baby and children's boutique through college and when I got married called The Name Dropper. There were ... 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: A Colorful Week

Saturday means another week of snapshots in the books and today I have a lot! To our surprise we witnessed a burst of autumn color all around us this week! Nothing as vivid as what those of you up north get, but enough to delight our eyes! The temperatures were higher than the chilly week before, so it was nice to have the changing leaves to still make it feel like fall. We're near the end of fall soccer and Liberty has enjoyed getting to go to the games for two reasons: pretzels from the concession stand and lots of attention! She gets petting and cuddles throughout the entire game. Saturday was very busy. We had our neighborhood yard sale, my son's soccer game, and a big ... Read more

We’re all Still Here!

Good Friday morning, friends! My blog coverage has been a little spotty lately, but we're all still here--kitties included, of course! Each week I have great plans to knock out sooo many posts! The ideas for content just swirl in my head but the time it takes to get it through my fingers on the keyboard for typing and editing just isn't there some weeks. I truly enjoy blogging! It's been a fun, creative outlet for me! BUT, my home and family come first and even though this blog is about my home and family, it would be hypocritical of me to put all my energy into posts while neglecting my family's needs. Oftentimes, I'll set aside a little pocket of time late in the afternoon before ... 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

Cook by the Book: Emerald Broccoli

Hello, I have a new cookbook recipe to share today! I think I mostly share main dishes or desserts on my blog and I'm not sure why---maybe I don't experiment enough with side dishes and that needs to change. So, here's a quick and easy side dish I tried this week. It's called Emerald Broccoli from The Daniel Plan Cookbook. Several years ago, my husband and I participated in the Daniel fast and so naturally I bought a cookbook for some meal inspiration--any excuse to buy a new cookbook, ha! And wow, it's full of delicious recipes! It's almost a shame to feature a side dish from this cookbook because this book offers some amazing main dishes! But this was a pretty tasty broccoli and it's ... Read more

Fall Camping 2022!

Hello, friends! Any campers out there? Our family has always loved camping and several years ago we started a tradition of a yearly fall camping trip with a couple of other families. This year we couldn't all get our schedules together for the same weekend, so we camped with just one family while the other family made arrangements with another group that they sometimes camp with (We missed you, Rivers!). This year was a little bittersweet as two of our girls are seniors in high school so we knew it might be their last fall camping trip together. Maybe not. Hopefully not! But we made the best of it just in case. I'm starting with the nighttime pictures first because they are some of my ... Read more

Snapshot Saturday

Hello, weekend friends! Wow, the weeks pass so quickly and before I know it, it's time for another Snapshot Saturday. We spent most of this week outside soaking up these early days of autumn! Saturday morning started at the soccer field. We are enjoying our son's fall soccer season, the fresh air, sunshine, and friends! And my husband would also add getting a hamburger from the concession stand at 9:00 in the morning, lol! I don't think we'd crave a hamburger for breakfast anytime other than soccer season, but that aroma coming from the ball field grill smells so good during the games. After the soccer game we attended a special charity walk for our local Down Syndrome group. We ... Read more