A Picnic, A Kitten, Some Craftiness, and A Birthday

Welcome to The Homemaking Party! Last week was fun and full---and full of fun! Ha! Wednesday morning, Brenna planned a picnic lunch out on our lawn.

That afternoon, friends delivered our new kitten, Mr. Bingley. {Our Yorkie is Mr. Darcy...Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy are best friends in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.) They're getting along surprisingly well!

On Friday, Selah and I went to the Bella Vista Arts & Crafts Festival---a yearly tradition we always look forward to. We get there early in the morning and ride in a hay wagon to the entrance. The annual hay wagon selfie is a must.

There were so many fun things to see at the festival. Selah picked out a gift for herself, Daddy, and Cainan and some peanut butter fudge to share with everyone.

Then Monday was my birthday! Jamie made me this gorgeous cake. I told him I wanted a 1950s cookbook cake decorated all pink and sorta gaudy like they did them back then. He didn't disappoint! Ha! I love it!

I'll share most of my gifts with you in my Pink Saturday post on Friday afternoon but I had to share this photo because I'm just so excited! Jamie bought me my favorite design of the new Pioneer Woman slow cookers and then my friend bought me all these pretty things that match it perfectly! I just love this design! ...and I love my birthday! Ha!

Hope everyone has a beautiful week!

Our First Day of School!

Good morning! Well, I did it! I finally started school for these guys! Hahaha! Whew!

Me and the nine sillies began lessons bright and early Monday morning. We're jumping in full Charlotte Mason (a method of homeschooling that is literature-based...also called Classical Education) and loving it!

This right here. This is the last picture I'll ever take of the nine of them on their first day of school. Lynzie graduates this spring! I told them to make funny faces...

We had a happy morning exploring outside. It was nice and cool but very sunny and pretty out.

Not sure what these two were doing... Maybe they still had a little Oregon tree-hugger in them after our summer out west.

Sweet Kynthia is SO excited about school this year. She's a Kindergartener!

A friend posted these leaf pictures on her Facebook a week or so ago and I thought they'd make for a great scavenger hunt. The kids had a blast looking for the different leaves, acorns, and nuts around the neighborhood.

Brenna was really the star of the hunt---she found many of the leaves that matched up perfectly with the ones on her sheet!

It's only Wednesday morning but I'm sort of feeling like our little gnome already! (I named him Eldon.) One hand to my brow, but still smiling!

Hope everyone is having a beautiful week!

Enjoying Some Lovely Fall Weather!

Welcome to the Homemaking Party! Can you believe, it's 35º cooler right now in NW Arkansas than it was 24 hours ago?!! Wow! We have a much-anticipated cold front passing through and are loving the 50º weather! I think it's supposed to head back into the 80s by Thursday so we're gonna just enjoy it while we can!

The kids have been loving our new yard. A few days ago, I went outside to find them playing a camping game. These boxes are tents and they'd even built a little fire! (Yes, they did ask me to light it...ha! No.)

Our front yard is very steep so they love to push each other down the hill. Weeee!

I'm so thankful everyday for these sweet kids and our peaceful home. What a blessing!