"Ah, lovely October..."

 "...as you usher in the season that awakens my soul, your awesome beauty compels my spirit to soar like a leaf caught in an autumn breeze and my heart to sing like a heavenly choir." 

~ Peggy Toney Horton

Warm hellos from chilly Western Pennsylvania! 

I thought I'd drop in quickly to say hello! I have some clothes to fold and floors to sweep before I head into the gym this evening but wanted to stop by my blog and share some photos from lately! :o) 

October has started out wonderfully for us in PA weather-wise. We enjoyed comfortable temperatures and lots of sunshine. The temps have now gone down and it's starting to feel more like fall! I love how autumn makes me feel....all cozy and cheerful. I don't know *what* it is...I just really enjoy this weather. I guess I like not being so hot that you feel grumpy and yet, not being so cold that you can't put on an extra layer and still sit outside in the rocking chair!

I've got fall candles burning. The boys finished their schoolwork and headed off to work a short time ago. So I've got the afternoon to finish my housework and then head into the Y to exercise and teach spin. Speaking of exercise...Chris, talented and handy man that he is, made us these racks for our weights in our basement gym...

If you go HERE you can see a pic of our gym if you missed it! Oh...I almost forgot to tell you about that top photo! That is an upside down cake I made to celebrate a birthday here at our house this past weekend. Madelyn's beau turns 20 this week but with his work schedule, we decided to celebrate it early! It is absolutely delicious (and yes, even I had a piece!). You can find the recipe HERE if you are interested! 

Anyone who has read my blog for a while knows I'm not a huge fan of Halloween. I just act like it doesn't exist. I'm not into gory decorations and costumes etc. It's just not my thing. Morgan (X's girlfriend) loves to carve pumpkins though. She and her dad grew some huge ones in their garden and brought them up for the kids to carve. (She also brought me smaller ones to decorate with!) So below are some pics from yesterday afternoon. First we had worship at church in the morning...followed by tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch. Then out to the porch we went. It was *cold* out there....but they carved on...

Me and Madelyn (can you even believe this girl of mine is 20!?)...

 

Me with our cocker spaniel, Mickey (yes...I was decked out in sweats ~ it was SO cold outside!)....

So, absent from these photos is my son, Xavier. He and Morgan had carved pumpkins at her house a week or two ago so he opted to work on his truck instead. So, we have Morgan on the right, in the background there. To the left in the black sweatshirt is Madelyn's beau, Caleb....then Madelyn and closest to us (in a TSHIRT no less!) is Jaxson! 

I tried to convince Jax to put a sweatshirt on but he claimed he was totally fine...meanwhile, I'm freezing sitting in my rocking chair and watching...

The porch with the small pumpkins Morgan gave me to decorate with...

And the finished pumpkins...aren't they huge!? And bonus: Cash in the background...haha! He's 14 yrs old! I think he may just live forever! 

I hope you each are doing well and enjoying October. I know things in the world are crazy right now...but we just keep living. We just keep doing our thing. We take each day as it comes...glorifying the Lord in all we do and keeping our eyes constantly on Him. Isn't it so nice to know our hope lies in the sovereign Creator? The omnipotent King that is in complete control....always faithful. 

Thank you for stopping by today. I have housework to finish so I best be scooting off this computer! I hope you will come by again soon! I'll try not to be so long between posting....but I can't make any promises! :o) 

Warmly,

Katy

"Summer afternoon -- Summer afternoon..."

 ....to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."

~ Henry James

Ok, so I must confess...summer isn't my favorite season (despite the quote I posted above) but I have come to the conclusion that I don't have a favorite season anymore. I used to say it was the lovely autumn that was my favorite....but now, I truly must admit that I love each season for the different blessings they bring (but also each has it's not-so-great things about them too)! 

Summer is a time of gardening, being outside, swimming, sun, and fun! But it's also a time of heat (sometimes unbearable) and for me ~ bug bites! Oh, how they love to get me! My husband barely gets a bite. We enjoy sitting on our Amish rocking chairs on our back porch some evenings...but I just can't stand getting so bit up! Chris lights a citronella candle....but it doesn't help. I am not super fond of the bug off sprays either....unless I *have* to wear them. 

I'll have to photograph our vegetable garden to share with you. We have lots of corn and green beans growing! Above I shared some of my perennials as well as an area we just finished planting and mulching in! It was a lot of work (and sweat) but I'm so happy with how it turned out!

I always have people tell me how much they enjoy seeing photos from inside my home. It's humble and simple....but warm and cozy. It's our "place" and I am so thankful the Lord blessed us with it! 

In the kitchen  (those floors used to be covered in carpet when we moved here 20 years ago...then underneath that was tile...and more tile underneath that...and then the whole wood floor was covered in tar paper!! It was awful! During lockdown from COVID last year, we worked hard to get all those tiles and tar paper off. It was back-breaking, knee pain! But it was worth it! Now it looks like a farmhouse floor which I love! It's not the most beautiful floor and maybe one day we will cover it....but for now, it works for us and has an old, rugged, farmhouse look to it and I love that!)....

And here's a picture of the dining room (dog toys on the floor and all!). Our hand-me-down chairs that we had for years and years finally bit the dust so we had to purchase some. We decided to get four solid wood chairs and a bench....

Although not a "pretty" picture....here's the gym Chris and I have put together over the past year. I still use our local Y most days....but it is so nice to have our own place to workout when we want. Chris uses it often! It's nice and cool in this room because it's the basement! Our newest addition to the gym is the battle ropes at the bottom of the picture! 

Stella-cat....in all her glory! She and Winnie-the-Cat enjoy sleeping through the day in our air-conditioned bedroom. They sure do have it rough, huh? 

The last photos I have to share are from our 4th of July. A local parade was held on Saturday the 3rd. My dad took one of his tow trucks through it. Jaxson (my youngest) and my sister and her children rode through on it. Xavier rode with the volunteer fire company he is part of and Madelyn just sat and watched the parade, I think (she was at the other end of the parade so I didn't see her). 

Here is Jaxson, Eloise and Audra throwing candy... (Dinah, my sister and Dusten were on the other side of the truck)...

On the actual 4th, we attended Sunday School and Church, had a light lunch and then Chris and I headed out on a bike ride on a local trail! We workout together in some way or another every Sunday afternoon! 

So that's just a wee update of life lately. Truly....tons has been going on....so much I can share. I will try to come back and share soon. This week is super busy but I wanted to pop on really quick and say hello! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and hopefully I will be back soon with more of what's been going on here! 

Warmly,

Katy

2020 Formal

I was in charge of our homeschool co-ops formal this year. Because of all the Covid lockdowns we had to post pone the date. Usually it is held in May or beginning of June. This year we had to have it in July. Three days prior to the formal, our governor decided to put in a new mandate (despite the fact that our county  of 45,000+ has had under 50 cases of Covid and no deaths) that you couldn't have gatherings indoors of more than 25 people. I was not going to cancel the formal because of this crazy mandate put in on a Thursday! Everything had been purchased, the hall...food...dresses and suits....so we went ahead with it. I'm so glad we did. It went beautifully and the children all seemed to have such a great time!

My mom and Jaxson were awesome help. My mom has an eye for these things. I jokingly tell people that some women buy shoes and purses....my mom buys event decorations (oh look! Tea lights! Oh look, strings of lights at 90% off, oh look, floral garlands!)...haha! It has blessed numerous people though as she has used these decorations for wedding receptions, mother/daughter teas, dances and more! So, because of this, she saved our co-op money. We didn't have to buy decorations!

Ironing all the linens is such a pain...but thankfully, numerous moms volunteered to come the evening before when we were starting to get everything decorated and they brought their irons and ironing boards! (When all was said and done, I had to bring home all the linens....treat them for stains and wash them etc. Oh, how lovely disposable things can be sometimes...haha! My mom always stands by the fact that these linens...although more work...are much classier than disposable table coverings...and of course, she is right!)

The night of the formal, my mom and I had all the food prepared and some of the other moms dropped off cookies, which was fantastic. My mom and Jaxson kept replenishing the punch, water and food on the table!

 Table decorations were simple but pretty...floating tea lights in water and tissue paper flowers (we had to make each one of those...thankfully, I had some people helping me with that too. We had to pull each sheet of tissue paper away from the middle and fluff it. It isn't difficult, but tedious. We had a lot of them to make too! But it got done! :)

For a dj, we had one of the students who attend our co-op, as he is getting started doing that. It's a way for him to make some extra money and he did a great job! :) Our photographer graduated last year from homeschooling and she was also an attendee from our co-op. She took the next four photos:

Xavier (almost 17):

Madelyn (19), Morgan (Xavier's sweetie) and X:

X and Morgan (We just love this girl. She compliments X so well...and just fits with our family! We pray she is the one the Lord has to be X's wife one day. That's their plan!)...

 All the kids had fun dancing. They all liked a lot of the line dancing...like the Macarena and the like! They even all loved doing the chicken dance! Hahahaha!

During slower songs it's always so sweet to see the boys (and every once in a while a bold girl asks a shy boy) ask a girl to dance. Not because of a crush or love interest...just as a gentleman...and as friends! Such a great group of kids!

These two aren't permitted much physical contact. X was so glad to be able to just put his arm around her and dance with her. We have some strict rules with our kids. They are never alone. Always chaperoned...even in a vehicle. Sometimes they think it's excessive...but one day, they will realize how much we love them and want to protect them. ;o)

As it got later...the lights around the hall looked so pretty!

The pictures of the food table looked so much prettier at night!

The pic below is quite blurry....but I wanted to get a pic of the sense of how lovely it all looked as night set in! It really was beautiful! Although you can't tell...standing back there is my love~ Chris (the short one) with our friend JJ. They were talking and laughing! I jokingly went up to them and told them they were horrible chaperones because they weren't even paying attention to the kids! haha! There were a few other parents there though and all was good. Plus...these kids, although not perfect, are good kids. They know Miss Katy will whoop 'em if they get into trouble! ;o)

And then, these two...just because. :o)

I had numerous kids come up to me during the formal...thanking me for everything, saying they are having a great time and how much they appreciate it! I had mothers tell me that too later. One mother even emailed me and was so grateful. She even sent my mama a thank you card! :o) Honestly...knowing that it all turned out so wonderfully makes it all worth it!!! Such great memories were made and that makes me smile big!

After cleaning up and getting home and things put away at home...I dropped into bed and was so exhausted. I didn't sleep till after midnight. For some people that is no big deal. I am an early to bed, early to rise gal and I was dead to the world once I fell asleep. We didn't even attend church the next day (although Madelyn still went). I was completely spent. Plus, our church starts at 9:30am...which typically is no big deal for me....but I just couldn't get moving that day!


Today has been sunshine filled and warm out. I have clothes on the line and have gotten a lot of housework done. I even vacuumed out my car! My workout was done this morning! I need to stop and get a few groceries then meet my family ~ as this is our week to go clean our church!

I hope you have a lovely weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by! It means so much! I forgot how much I enjoy blogging! I hope you enjoyed the pictures from the formal I shared!

Warmly,
Katy

Pictures of Home, Field Trips and Life Lately!

 Hello and happy last day of September to you! I don't know where the month went! Life has been busy with homeschooling, a field trip, the start of our homeschool co-op class days, working out and teaching classes at the Y and more! Chris and the boys have kept busy in the evenings and on Saturdays working at filling our wood shed for winter (I have helped stack as well. Madelyn works a lot, as well as does her schoolwork and babysitting....so she's quite the busy girl lately!).

Some field trip pics:

Madelyn was there too...but she wouldn't let me take her picture (typical of an 18 year old, eh?)...but here is one she took of us (and obviously used a filter on..haha ~ I look so young and fresh-faced!)...

The photos below are from in my dining room. The doily runner along my table was made by my grandpop's mother, Sheena. I never knew her but I love the runner and am glad to have it! We use our dining room table a lot so the runner gets folded up and moved often...but when the table isn't in use, I like to see it out and displayed! The candlestick holders are from that side of the family as well. I forget who they are from...although my grammie would know. Although her body has slowed down with age, her memory is amazing! She can tell stories and recall details of things that surprise me!!

Here are some photos from the living room. The flash on the camera makes the room seem quite bright....but this room in actuality is usually pretty dark...only getting sun as it sets in the evening through the west window. Although I do love a bright, sunny, cheerful room....I like this relaxed, soft, dimmed room too. It is a nice place of respite! The dog bed isn't exactly a lovely piece...but our dogs need a place of rest too, right? And this one serves them well!

This is the window that the sun comes in as it is setting in the later afternoon/evening time...

Chris and I tried square dancing the other night at a local community gathering. It was hot, I got dizzy twirling so many times and I couldn't figure out where to put my hands quite often. I got anxious and overwhelmed easily and gave up. I should have watched videos prior to going so I could learn some of it. Madelyn and Xavier go quite often and have a grand time! They know what they are doing. They make it look fun! :o) I didn't love having to twirl and hold hands with men other than my husband either...it just felt a little uncomfortable even though they were men I knew.

So, for me, that night was a disappointing fail. *But*...I had a fun time yesterday. Rarely do I miss our worship service at church. But yesterday I did since I was invited to go with some girl friends to a Pirates baseball game in Pittsburgh. That sounds silly and frivolous of a reason for me to miss church...but Chris and my children encouraged me to go since I don't really ever go out with girl friends and just enjoy time away. So four of us went....unfortunately I got terribly car sick on the almost 2 hr drive down (and also on the way back). I even sat in the front seat....but the road was wind-y and I wasn't used to my friend's driving. Thankfully, while we were actually at the game, I felt ok! We had awesome seats....just behind home plate! We could see everything so well! I don't like watching baseball on television...but in person, it was enjoyable! If I can go again, I definitely want Chris and I to go together! He would like it too....we would enjoy it together! :)

Speaking of Chris...we celebrated 19 years of marriage a week ago! I tried to get a few pics together...and Chris kept being goofy...so this is what I got:

I made a Chicken Pot Pie Casserole earlier this week...Here is a picture of it and the recipe below if you would like to try it!

I'm still trying to recuperate after being so car sick last night. I still just feel *off* a bit....but I teach spin tonight and need to get a good workout in...so I'm gonna have to just suck it up! ;) Maybe I need a bit of a nap and that will help? I don't know...we'll see!

And quickly...I wanted to share this photo...Jaxson saved up his money and bought a digital drawing tablet that hooks up to the computer. He drew these awesome housework/chore drawings and I made them into stickers! They are in my shop if you are interested! I think he did awesome with them!! :)

Thanks so much for coming by! I hope you have enjoyed your time here as I caught up a bit.
I hope your week is going well and that your moments honor our Lord each and every day. That is my own prayer daily....knowing that I always fall short....but thankful for His grace!

Warmly,
Katy