Category: making a home

Gift Ideas! Toys our children have loved over the years.

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Here are five classic toys that have been well loved and well played with at our house. Maybe this will give you some gift ideas for your younger kiddos, during this portion of the holiday season also known as mom-wracking-her-brain-for-gift-ideas.

1) We’ve had Color & Shape Bingo for a long time. It’s requested over and over by my little ones. An adult can manage about four young children participating in this game. (As you probably know, this cannot be said of many games.) Great learning reinforcement of colors and shapes, and good for short attention spans.Bingo4 Continue reading “Gift Ideas! Toys our children have loved over the years.” →

Saying Goodbye to Windy Hill

Published on by Jennifer3 Comments

Moving is beyond exhausting, and when in that weakened frame of mind, you arrive at the moment of saying goodbye to your home of thirteen years, it can be pretty tough. And so, the heart-wrenching moment had come.

As we explored the familiar spaces for the last time, our voices echoed through the now empty rooms.

Our minds went back to when we, so young and naive, first bought the old place, and the farmhouse adventure began. Continue reading “Saying Goodbye to Windy Hill” →

Inspiration for the Everyday

Published on by Jennifer4 Comments

Several years ago, I began to compile a commonplace book. I called it “Inspiration for the Everyday.” In it, I have been writing down quotations, bits and pieces of various lengths from various sources; words that I have heard or read. If it seems that I might want to come back to those words at a future time, I try to write them down in my commonplace book.

I have found myself coming back to them many times over, and it occurred to me that maybe you’d be blessed and encouraged by some of these thoughts, from time to time, as well. Continue reading “Inspiration for the Everyday” →

A little explanation about where I’ve been

Published on by Jennifer3 Comments

As the title suggests, I haven’t been around much in the blogging world lately. A measly two posts this year so far, and both of them back in January. Close to six months of silence– yikes! IMG_6591 Several months ago, life became such that actual blogging was just not happening.

It turns out that my January 2nd post was more on-target than I imagined at the time. Sometimes God does things in our lives that we never expected or even dreamed of. Perhaps you know what it’s like to just be traveling down the road of life, and suddenly, sometimes out of nowhere, we find ourselves at a major bend in the road. Other times, we can see the bend way off in the distance, on the horizon, and we know change is coming. Either way, the major bend can be a lot to work through. Change can mean deep waters sometimes. It can even be heartbreaking, in a good way, or in a bad way. Continue reading “A little explanation about where I’ve been” →

Your Home and God’s Kingdom

Published on by Jennifer2 Comments

Be encouraged today, dear ones!edit5I know it’s easy to get discouraged. We hear bad news everywhere. Kids are departing from the faith. Hate and violence overwhelm our streets. Churches are shutting down. Families are splitting apart. Unrighteous lawmakers seem to prevail. Children are abused. Our world seems to be going crazy in many respects.

Fear and sadness grip our hearts as we hear of these things. But is this the whole story? Are there any battles being won for righteousness? Are there any advances being made for the kingdom of Christ in our world today?eeditOh, yes. Yes, there are! Continue reading “Your Home and God’s Kingdom” →

A Coat Rack for the Old Farmhouse

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Old farmhouses present unconventional problems. In certain places there are things like floors that aren’t level and lathe-and-plaster walls that crumble when you try to screw or nail things into them. Our front hallway has both of these problems. But, we needed a coat rack. The small coat closet didn’t provide enough room, not to mention that the younger ones couldn’t reach high enough to hang the coats in it.

A year or two ago, I had an idea. The unused space beside the front door would be the perfect spot for a coat rack. The floor beside the door is not level, so something would have to be hung on the walls, which, as I mentioned, are crumbly, and would never be sturdy enough for a coat rack with all the weight of the coats hanging on it. After considering my options, assisted by my trusty crew, we came up with this. Continue reading “A Coat Rack for the Old Farmhouse” →

My Favorite Christmas Tradition

Published on by Jennifer3 Comments

Simple traditions are the ones I love best. They stand the test of time. No matter how hectic the holiday season becomes, they still endure.

We started one of those simple traditions about five or six years ago. All you need are four candles and voices joined together in song. I’m so excited to share with you Continue reading “My Favorite Christmas Tradition” →

It’s OK to live a cluttered life (there are many things worse).

Published on by Jennifer10 Comments

I have just emerged from the basement, where I am making a valiant effort to de-clutter.  I almost drowned in a sea of game pieces, puzzle pieces, stuffed animals, dress-up clothes, wooden blocks, trains, dolls, legos, and everything in between. I have lived to tell the tale, but the clutter is not conquered. I would say I made a dent in it.

Minimalism. We see it talked about all over the place. And hey, I get it. Materialism has taken over America. Americans seem to live to get more things, and then need time to take care of those things, and then need time to get rid of things, Continue reading “It’s OK to live a cluttered life (there are many things worse).” →