“Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a flying. . . .. . . . . . . . .”
This Mama’s hope. . . . . .
Warm rocking chair (every mama should have a place to rock)
hot tea, a friendly cat, blankets, magazines, baby-name book
a place to put my feet up
A favorite spot–the kitchen table, and my sweet girl
Something pretty, and bright
in a small Homer Laughlin china pitcher
A guilty pleasure (homemade apple crisp, low-fat pumpkin ice cream)
served on prized Homer Laughlin china
A quiet moment
Food for the soul
Something to roast today
(won’t it smell wonderful?)
A sleepy, slow, rainy day
(wearing a warm, bulky sweater is like wearing a hug)
The dark house and gentle sound of rain makes everyone move just a little slower, so nice!
“The happiness of life, the happiness of the family especially, is made up of minute fractions. The little, soon-forgotten charities of a kiss, a smile, a kind look, a gentle word, a heart-felt compliment,–these, and the thousand other little kindnesses of genial feelings, make a perpetual summer in the household where they prevail.”
“Mid pleasures and palaces tho’ we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.”
“I have a great respect for a father and mother who have brought up a large family and trained them so that they have come out on the Lord’s side. Sometimes mothers are discouraged and do not think they have so large a sphere to do good in as we have, but a mother who has brought up a large family to Christ need not consider her life a failure. I know one who has brought up ten sons, who are all Christians. Do you think her life has been a failure? Let us teach our children diligently, in season and out of season. . . .let us be encouraged in bringing our children to Christ.” D.L. Moody
(All quotes from the book linked at the end of this blog, one that I highly recommend, it is so encouraging to me:)
Good to be Home 
I’m so envious of your turning leaves, fall recipes, and fall flowers blooming. We’re still too hot to enjoy “fall” which only started on Monday. We see most of our leaves start to turn in October and they really drop (as does the temperatures) right before Thanksgiving. You make me anxious with anticipation of what’s to come!
Lovely…hope you have a good Friday.
Fall has not arrived in my part of the country, it was 88 yesterday, so I find your pictures and words so delightful and cozyGrace looks so sweet doing her school work at the tble, and Caleb is content just being with Mama…now would you dish me up a serving of apple crisp too
Ah…all I can do is sigh. Thank you.
Mmmmmm….I want to come over and nap at your house. 🙂 I love ultrasound pics. Your baby is adorable–whatever his name is! 🙂
Sounds like such a nice, cozy day there!
I can almost smell the roast pumpkin. That is one smart cat! My mom asked me this morning. “Do you always have candles lit for breakfast”. “Yes,” I said, “we do when the weather begins to turn”. Have a cozy darling day with your darling cozy ones. hugs from here.
Oh, you have captured fall at it’s best. Your rocking chair looks so inviting. To curl up there with a good book (and all the children napping) would be lovely. Pumpkin ice cream….YUM. A little ice cream shop around here makes that too, but only seasonal. I don’t think they have it yet.
Cute ultrasound picture:).
Beautifully heart warming post. Thank you for sharing all these wonderful pictures and adding the wonderful quotes. You have lifted my sprites and made my day. God bless
Kelly
Shanda,Thank you for the book recommendation. It sounds like a lovely book. I will put it on my book list. Have a lovely day!
Such a Sweet post. Congrats on the Announcement of your new baby boy!!! God is Good ALL the time!!! (((Hugs)))
Lovely feeling and many things to be thankful for. Praise God for your little darling growing within and all those darlings around you. Thank you for sharing the cosy, sweet part of home life today….also for the encouragement of those quotes.
We are having warm weather, as my sis said above. But the hot air hit the cooling ocean and we had fog last night and this morning. The cool white blanket was welcome and had such a cosy feel. It is burning off now though Soon the pumpkins will appear around here and David and I will get in the mood and decorate here. My hubby doesn’t quite understand but enjoys it anyway. I love being able to light candles as the days grow shorter. Jenny
That cozy chair on your porch is calling my name! I love the picture of your trees already turning colors. Beautiful. Have a lovely weekend. 🙂
What a wonderful post! Such beautiful pictures. Mmm, apple crisp & ice cream sounds so good!! Enjoy your weekend!
Hello Shanda! I hope you are feeling well! I love the ultrasound picture, is that a thumb in the mouth?? Enjoy your weekend and happy fall!! Marcia
Such a lovely, cozy post, Shanda! Our fall is in full swing. The snow is coming down the mountains. I’m hoping that it holds off for a bit, I’m not quite ready for it yet. I like to enjoy fall! I am so thankful for the sunshine today! It rained every day that my mom was here at my house. Happy Friday to you!
One of my favorite things about you and your site is that you are always recognizing what there is to be grateful for – and that there is SO MUCH! “Counting our blessings,” and not overlooking things like a place to prop feet, warm blankets, pretty dishes…how can we allow ourselves to stay disheartened with all of this? God is good – as you wrote recently, “ABUNDANTLY” so!
I see your leaves are changing colors there. Fall has such beautiful colors. I love the deep purples, oranges and yellows. I love a rainy dark inside day! That is what we are having here in Delaware today. I’m making apple pie filling and am so ready for that “set down, slow down time.”
Aaahhhhh! Such a wonderful post!I just put three apple pies into the oven. Can you smell them??If you were closer, I’d bring you some.:)Enjoy the weekend.Dawn xo
I can’t believe it… you take great pix and you even got a good ultra sound one too!! 🙂 It is a sweet one!!
The baby is so cute it feels like I was just putting Wes’s picture uphow fast it goes.
Any how I loved this post and all the pictures!
Roasting the pumkin is a great idea…… I just finished making 40 mini cupcakes and I frosted them all with home-made frosting orange of course!!! And because of the ladies pot luck tonight at church I have dinner done for the family and it is simmering on the stove. I miss you but I am also enjoying the cozy rainy day. The trees at your house are so pretty my maple is turning too bright orange and yellow. MISS YOU sissy
Pumpkin ice cream….yum…I love just about anything pumpkin. I made pumpkin butter recently..it smells so awesome slowly cooking in the crock-pot. You make me want to light a candle (one of those ones I got at the festival!). 🙂 I love the pictures…you are right about the colors being just so vibrant! *sigh*…I love fall!
Fall is in the air at your house. That apple crisp looks so yummy. I love the way you have arranged your table. Have a great weekend!
beautiful and a lovely reminder to enjoy all those small but meaningful blessings!
your new little blessing is so cute all snuggled up in his mama’s tummy 🙂 I loved this post so much I really want a rainy day… 🙂
Hello Purple Amethyst,You made your site so simple yet elegant. The music player and pictures are a nice touch. I see that you have a wide variety of observations here! I’m sending an important message to people about God’s plans for us that is in the Bible: “All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see…” (2Corinthians 4:4) (Message Bible)
Very nice thoughts and quotes and lovely photo’s. I got your letter today! I was so happy I squealed! Love you, Lish
Hi — I haven’t been visiting many sites lately — things have been rather busy here — just want to let you know how excited I am for you and your new little son!! Congratulations!! How great is our God!!
The trees aren’t turning here yet, but it is definitely cooling off at night ~ so refreshing ~
This post brought much peace to my soul. Thank you for sharing the words, and the pictures to bring the words to life. As we continue to recover from Hurricane Ike, I look forward to a few calm peaceful days at home, to enjoy the new season we have yet to welcome in properly.
I can absolutely relate to the cat on your chair, our Cali is always snuggling us where we sit! I can’t wait for a rainy day!
I LOVE your blog. Everytime I come here, I feel so refreshed…and a teensy bit *envious*…your life seems like a dream. I’m sure you have your moments with a husband, home, children and pregnancy, but you don’t seem phased at all…surely the peace of God is with you!
Many blessings….
Ohhh—I’ve never had Pumkin Ice cream, yum!
Don’t worry about not having a name yet. You might find inspiration in the most unusual of places. We did for our oldest. I exhausted the baby name book, all my fiction books, every other name I could think of or that was suggested. We just couldn’t find a first name. We knew the middle name would be Alan after my hubby’s uncle. We just needed a first name that went well with it and our last name. Finally I just sort of “gave up” and we watched a movie. The main character’s name was Seth. Hubby and I turned to each other and said “Seth?, yeah! Seth Alan.” So there you have it. We got our oldest son’s name from a movie (he’s 11yrs old now). All that to say, don’t stress, you will find the right name.BlessingsMelody