welcome

I love adding a bit of decor to match the seasons, even if not much.  I've had this Autumn wreath for years now but it was looking a bit dull. I bought a simple spray of leaves from the local  Dollar Tree to add some fresh color to liven it up. Birdy enjoyed attaching and arranging the new leaves. I also created a bow from ribbon I already had around the house. It was very simple and took about ten minutes max.  

Your front door is the first thing people see before they enter your home. Is yours welcoming and inviting?

I often wonder if what passer-bys hear when they pass our home. Is it something warm and lovely? I sure hope so. My home is not the best and it's certainly not the biggest but I strive for all who enter to feel comfortable, especially those who live here every day. Feeling truly welcome, is always lovely.

1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

toddler capture

 We were waiting in the car after my brother's birthday. The toddler here just climbed up, squeezed himself in and laid down on the dash. I can't believe how much we just LOVE and adore this kid. I am so blessed to be a mother of such amazing children.

 

my daughter

 This is my daughter, in front of her new curtains. (I think my middle son took this picture) I thrifted these lovely pieces of unique lace. They were in fabulous conditioned and were home-made I think because one had a different hem from the other. 

I thought they were the most lovely lace panels I'd ever laid my eyes on. They look like they could be vintage, because I've never seen anything like them before. I don't know for sure. 

She loved them. Her 'white' room is coming together nicely.

More than the curtains, is her. This picture made me look twice when I was uploading pix. Something about it...

I have a lovely daughter. I am so grateful to be her mom.

apple time

MMmmmmm! We finally took some apples from our lovely apple tree and did some baking. I used this recipe and made a delish Apple Crisp.

It really didn't need the recommended amount of sugar, it can be cut by half I think. It's super sweet. I also did not add the water, the apples produced enough of their own juice. I also added my all-time favorite ingredient: nutmeg!!!

I've never made a real apple crisp from scratch before. It was a hit for my family and received rave reviews.

Autumn is naturally the most lovely time to bake apples! Don't you agree?

enjoy your family

Babies Don't Keep

Mother, oh Mother,
come shake out your cloth,
empty the dustpan,
poison the moth,
hang out the washing
and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house
is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery,
blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little
Boy Blue (lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done
and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing
will wait till tomorrow,
for Children grow up,
as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs.
Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep......

~Author Unknown ~ 

I've always found this poem so lovely. It sums up nicely the attitude I've taken, most of my life, toward the debate between tasks of home vs. time with family and people we love.  I want to have a lovely home, and I seem to always be in the process of creating it, but more importantly, I want to enjoy my lovely family.

something beautiful

Something Beautiful

Watching the last of these days disappear
feeling the air get colder
seeing the world get darker.
Memories of lying on the grass
of the sun warming my closed eyes.

Now, the warmth is gone
the sunshine is gone
the world has turned into something new
something colder, something darker
something different,

something Beautiful.

by H. Sokolova 

Welcome to one of the loveliest seasons of the year. We've swept the porch, gathered the sunflower seeds and put a few small pumpkins out. Soon I will hang my fall banner and lights. What about you? What do you do to mirror the loveliness of fall inside your home?