~Building My Home~

Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. ~Proverbs 14:1

I drew this little picture in my journal to remind me how important it is to build my home with good things.♥

 I believe if we follow the verses below, we will be well on our way to having well-built homes.

♥ Proverbs 31:10-31
♥ I Corinthians 13
♥ Galatians 5:22-23
♥ Ephesians 4:29-32
♥ Philippians 2:1-4, 14
♥ Philippians 4:8
♥ I Thessalonians 5:16-18
♥ I Timothy 6:6-8
♥ Titus 2:3-5
♥ I Peter 3:1-7

God bless you, and thank you for stopping by today! :-)

Take care,
~Melanie

A Beautiful...

early birthday present from one of the sweet ladies in our church 

What a nice surprise! :-)

~♥~

Katie brought home the pumpkin and gourds from her field trip yesterday.

I just love decorating in the fall.♥

Now, I'm not fond of bugs, but I *do* think this winking one that Katie carved a couple weeks ago is cute.

He smiled at everyone who drove by. :-)

I hope you're all having a great weekend!

Take care,

~Melanie

Being Home

We had a very nice weekend just staying home. I love being home.

I watched  Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons while I cleaned the house. It's a good feeling to have things nice and clean, plus all the mopping and vacuuming is good exercise! (smile) 

What a treat to look out my kitchen window and see this beautiful tree in our front yard. Unfortunately we had some strong winds and heavy rain on Wednesday, so it lost a lot of its petals after I took this picture. When it was in full bloom, the kitchen had such a pretty pink glow from the light coming in the window.

We have had some very nice days this spring. We don't have a porch, so my husband bought this backyard swing for us. We really enjoy it in the evenings...very relaxing and peaceful. We're enjoying it now before the heat and humidity of summer get here.

This is our backyard in the springtime. Everything is so pretty and bright green this time of year. Lilly enjoys it too. :-)

Take care,
~Melanie

Christmas and a New Year

Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a nice Christmas. We've been on Christmas break since December 14th, and we'll go back to school this Wednesday. The time just seemed to fly by! Katie had a couple of her friends sleep over during the Christmas break...lots of fun!

We had a very nice time visiting with our families. My parents were sick the week before Christmas, so we had to change our travel plans a bit, but it all worked out. My brother and his family came to Mom and Dad's to visit with us the day before we left. One of my nephews had told my mom that he had a New Testament, but he wanted a 'whole Bible'. My parents got him a 'whole Bible' for Christmas, and he was so proud of it. He carried it around and was looking all through it...said it was his favorite gift.  Mom was explaining things to him about how to look things up...made my heart very happy. :-) 

My husband took this picture from Mom and Dad's front porch the day after Christmas. Isn't it pretty? We got enough snow to make things pretty, but not so much that it caused trouble on the road. We were very blessed that all of our travel days were snow free!

 Well, I thought I'd share some pictures of a few of my favorite gifts this year.♥

This is a little box given to me by a friend at church. I thought it was so pretty!

My mom and dad gave me this throw. It's so nice and warm.
I really like the pattern. ♥

Lee and Katie gave me this tart warmer. I've really been enjoying it!

~♥~
 

We watched a few Christmas movies. Sweet Lilly loves to be with us.

I like to turn off all the lights and just enjoy the glow from the tree and candles.♥

In thinking about the new year, I wanted to share a bit of Scripture my husband used in his sermon yesterday. 

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
~II Corinthians 5:17

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

~ Ephesians 4:22-24

I pray you all will have a wonderful 2013!

Take care,

~Melanie

Christmastime at our House

Hello, sweet friends! I hope you're all enjoying the beautiful Christmas season.

I just thought I'd show you a little bit of what's been going on around here this Christmas! :)

We got our tree about a week ago. There's a tree farm not too far from us, so after school we went out and found this sweet little tree.

As you can tell from this picture, we were close to running out of daylight!

Here's the tree all prettied up!♥

Our little manger scene...the reason we celebrate!!

The hutch...I didn't leave the candles burning. I just lit them for the picture. The flame is a little too close to her arm. :)

The weather was so nice earlier this week, so we strung some lights outside. I like the tree in the window. :)

Katie went to her teacher's house with a friend on Wednesday, and they made gingerbread houses. I thought Katie did a great job on hers.  I wonder how many calories are in there........smile...... 

I think everything is edible except for the snowman's arms, which are made from toothpicks.

Another angle...

 

Yes, this is a busy time of year, but I love it! I am very blessed... blessed to have loved ones to give gifts to,  blessed to have a home I can decorate, and blessed to have the health to enjoy it! There are many who aren't so fortunate. Thank you, Lord, for all your blessings.♥

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by. :)

Take care,

~Melanie

Some Thrifted Finds!

It's been a while since I've shown you any of my thrifted finds, and I've found some very nice things over the last six months! In our little town are two nice thrift stores with very reasonable prices. What a blessing!

 

This is our living room and dining room. In this picture you can see some of my latest finds! I got the three pillows on the couch, the burgundy throw, the beautiful quilted table runner, and the valance on the windows. I recently bought some paint to redo the front door a deep red. I think it will look nice, but if I don't like it, I can always change it!

 

A blue stoneware heart. This is heavy!

A Currier & Ives bowl that says "Maple Sugaring" on the back.

This is one of my favorite finds. I just love the little log cabin.♥

 

Wooden blocks with houses painted on them. 

Isn't that a great idea?

Such a sweet patriotic heart, and the 'tablecover'

underneath is a thrifted pillow sham.

This is a little shelf in our bathroom.

The wooden heart and the basket are thrift store finds. 

The bouquet was a Mother's Day gift this year.♥
And, the thrifted crochet runner on top is actually a window valance! It was the perfect width for this narrow shelf. I tucked the top of it behind the shelf, and since it's a little longer than the shelf, I just let it drape down each side. If I'm thrift shopping and see fabric I like, because it's so inexpensive, I'll usually go ahead and get it even if I don't have an idea of where I'll use it right at the moment.

I thought the soaps looked rather sweet in the basket. I recently read an article that said if you unwrap your soap and let it harden, it will last longer, not to mention it looks pretty and smells nice!

My parents came to visit us this past week. We live about five hours apart, so we don't see each other very often. We had a really nice time, even though the weather was so hot we couldn't get out and do too much.  Just getting to visit with them is what was most important.♥

I hope you all have a great week. Thanks for stopping by.

Take care,
~Melanie

A Hodgepodge Post

Hi, everyone!

We are out of school for the summer, and have had some very nice weather. I'm sure there are some who would disagree, but I would love for it to be in the 70's all summer! We've been enjoying our blueberry bushes, and I think the birds have been sneaking some too!

When our family moved here, we bought a doublewide that needed a LOT of fixing up! It was almost the only thing in our price range - we've put a lot of work into fixing and replacing things as we've been able to afford it.

Our home has popcorn ceilings throughout, which can be a huge pain to paint! The previous owners were smokers, so some of the ceilings were very dingy. We've painted some of them, but still have some more to do. Most of the advice I could find online about painting our type of ceiling has been to use a paint sprayer. My husband ordered a refurbished one from ebay, so we're waiting on it to arrive. I am really hoping it will work better than painting with a roller.

Katie has been enjoying her summer so far. Our next door neighbors have a daughter a year older than Katie, and they've been busy doing something almost every day.

 

I want to thank Amber for sending me this versatile blogger award! I'm supposed to tell you five random things about myself, so here goes!

1. I have one sibling, a brother four years younger than me.

2. I am a cat lover! I have two. One is so sweet and loveable, the other one is the reason a lot of people don't like cats!

3. I hate the sound of cracking knuckles!

4. I sing and play the piano, and have done so just about as long as I can remember. I may have told you this before, but I can remember when I was growing up, sometimes I would complain about practicing the piano. Most of the time, my mom's response was, "Well, you might grow up and marry a preacher, and need to know how to play the piano." And that's exactly what happened!

5. I love American history!

I'm going to pass this award along to my daughter,Katie.

Before I go, I wanted to tell you about a wonderful devotional I found on Amazon called A Gentle Spirit. I have had it for a while now, and I'm really enjoying it.

Take care,

~Melanie

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window... It is after 8pm, and it is still 60° outside! We had a lot of rain today...too warm for snow. :(

This is not usual January weather for Virginia!

I am thinking...it's been a long time since I did a daybook post.

I am thankful...that everything went well with my mom's recent cataract surgery. :)

From the kitchen...BBQ chicken strips and steamed squash.

Around the house...cleaning, getting some things together for Goodwill, gathering all our tax information.

A few plans for the rest of the week...work everyday, church on Thursday, groceries and errands on Saturday. I hope to get to the thrift store too! :)

One of my favorite things...an empty clothes hamper!

I am praying...for my husband to feel better soon. He's been sick a couple of days.

I am also praying for my cousin's wife. She's been in the hospital a month now with severe blood clots in her legs. The doctors also discovered a malignant tumor. She has started chemotherapy. She's only 36, and has 3 children at home. Thankfully, they have family around who can help care for her children while her husband is at work. A praise report...If you remember back in September, another one of my cousins was in a very bad car accident. He was severely injured, but was finally able to go back to work last week! Thank you for your prayers for him.

A Scripture to share...But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.  Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. ~Matthew 6:33-34 KJV

I know this is a very familiar Scripture, but it is so true.

A picture I'm sharing this week...

A very special Christmas present from my mom. She made this runner for me. Isn't it beautiful? I'm so blessed and thankful to have such a wonderful mom.♥

Please visit Peggy to read more daybooks.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your week. Don't forget about my giveaway that ends on Friday! :)

Take care,

~Melanie

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For today...Tuesday, September 20, 2011.

Outside my window...the weather has been so nice! It's finally starting to cool down a little bit. I am enjoying having the windows open. Fall is definitely on the way!♥

I am hearing...a car driving by and Katie watching TV.

I am thinking...about my cousin. He was in a very bad car accident recently. He broke an ankle and all of his ribs. He'll have to stay in the hospital 8-10 weeks. It's unsure right now when he'll be able to go back to work. Please keep him in your prayers.

I am thankful...things are getting back to normal around here after the flooding we had. The roads are gradually getting fixed. We're so thankful the Lord was with us and protected us. We have heard of several miraculous water rescues.

From the kitchen...pork chops, scalloped potatoes, and green beans.

Last night we had Ruth's Quick Taco Casserole. It was very good! I'm always happy to find a delicious new recipe! Thank you, Ruth, for sharing your recipe.

A few plans for the rest of the week...work everyday, church on Thursday, church on Sunday

I am going...to take Katie to youth group tonight, then come home and relax for a little while. That's the plan anyway! It has been a very busy day. One of our teachers couldn't come in today, so I had to fill in. I'll have to catch up on my work tomorrow.

One of my favorite things...pumpkin spice lattes. Yum!

A Scripture thought...Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. ~John 14:1-3

A picture to share...some of my fall decorations. I have always loved bears.♥ I found this picture years ago at Wal-Mart, in the dollar picture section. (Do they even have that anymore??) All I had to do was buy a frame for it. I love the saying on it. Since my birthday is in October, a friend of mine gave me the leaf dish for my birthday a couple years ago. I believe my mom gave me the Home Interior bear figurines, and I think I got the stuffed bear at Goodwill.

Please visit Peggy to read more daybooks.

Thanks for stopping by. I always enjoy hearing from you. :)

Take care,

Melanie

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For today...June 13, 2011

Outside my window...it is a beautiful day ~ sunny and in the 70's.

I am hearing...the fan in the window. I love it when it's nice enough outside to open the windows. :)

I am thinking...that I need to get ready to go to our teacher's meeting we're having this afternoon...just trying to get some plans in the works for next year.

I am thankful...we were safe this past weekend. We had two huge thunderstorms with strong winds and hail. Poor Oreo was caught out in them both times. He was such a wet mess when we got him back in. The rain was a blessing though. It was getting pretty dry around here.

I am reading...The Masterpiece by MaryAnn Minatra. This is the second book in The Alcott Legacy series. I'm really enjoying her books!

Around the house...mostly hanging clothes today since the weather is so nice. They're drying in no time! :)

From the kitchen...Our blueberry bushes are doing really well, so I'm planning to make a pie with them.

One of my favorite things...Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla Chamomile Tea. It is delicious.♥

A few plans for the rest of the week...library and groceries tomorrow, church on Thursday, Father's Day on Sunday. :)

Pondering these words...Everyone carries an atmosphere about him. It may be healthful and invigorating or it may be unwholesome and depressing. It may make a little spot of the world a sweeter, better, safer place to live in; or it may make it harder for those to live worthily and beautifully who dwell within its circle. ~J.R. Miller

Please visit Peggy to read more daybooks. Have a great week!

Thanks for stopping by.♥

Take care,

~Melanie

Washing & Waiting

We have been enjoying our first week of summer vacation...
just a little bit of laziness going on around here!


So, what did Katie and I do while we waited for the clothes to dry?
We went for a walk, and took some pictures to share with you.



Ivy from under our cherry tree.



One of our blueberry bushes.



Wild raspberries in the woods out back



Mimosa tree across the road



This is a close-up of it.
Isn't that pretty?



Wild daisies




Katie on the swing in the backyard



Katie and Lilly under the willow tree


We took these pictures earlier this week.
It is 95° here today, so we are inside!
I don't believe the air conditioner
has stopped all day.

Hope you're all having a great week,
and staying cool.

Thanks for stopping by.

Take care,
~Melanie

~More Signs of Spring~

I showed you our roses in my last post,
but we have some more flowers
blooming too!


~Rhododendron~


~Irises~


~Azalea~


~Peony~


~Wild Rose~

Isn't God's creation beautiful?

Thrifted Finds

While we were on vacation,
we went to a few thrift stores.
We really enjoy just looking around.
It's like a little treasure hunt...
you never know what you might find.

We found some
miscellaneous useful things like...

some shirts for Katie,
some cologne, a belt,
and a shirt for my husband,

and I was so happy to find
these cute decorative bargains!


~♥~
A wreath by the front door



~♥~
A sweet little basket
for kitchen utensils

~♥~
A heart napkin holder

At fifty cents each, I think I got a great deal! :)

~♥~
Some of my favorite things
have come from a thrift store.
I got this sweater from Goodwill
about eight years ago,
and I just love it!

What are some of your favorite thrifted finds??

Melanie