decorating a little neglected space

At the top of my stairs, there is a front window that looks out to the street outside my house. For the past seven years that we've been in this house, I've had boring ivory curtains in that window. They barely covered the window and I've never liked them. I finally bought some beautiful new curtains yesterday! And now, I really want to decorate this neglected little space. I've started a little bit. And this is what I have come up with. But, I know it needs a little more. I'd love your ideas! 

Here's a few things I've found on etsy that I am considering for the wall. 

I don't really know what to put where....

1. God Bless This Home - Antique Embroidery

2. Choose Joy Wood Sign

3. Pair of Framed Crewelwork

4. God Bless Our Home - Cross Stitch

5. Life is fragile, handle with prayer - vintage embroidery

6. Pair of Oval Framed Handmade Embroidery

7. Choose Joy - Typography Art

8. vintage green embroidered framed art

9. Give Thanks in all Things - HandPainted Wooden Sign

10. Pair of Mid Century Embroidered Wall Art

Which ones do you like best and think will look the best in that space?  

And where do you think I should put them? I'd LOVE your input!! :)

our thanksgiving

I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a lovely day. Clint's parents and his sister and her son drove up from south Georgia for a visit. It was so nice having them stay with us!

here's Benjamin, Leo, and Ruth having quiet time by the fire the day before Thanksgiving as we waited for everyone to come! 

when they arrived, the brought us a huge bounty from their fruit trees and garden. 

now, we've got lots and lots of fresh oranges, grapefruit, and tomatoes to enjoy!

Clint and his mama :)

 my thanksgiving table! i had fun decorating it 

(and those are branches with fresh kumquats from Robert and Diane's place)

 I made little placecards out of vintage sheet music :)

the kids' table!

My mother-in-law doing what she does best. she is an absolute pro in the kitchen. she made almost everything we ate for dinner. She is so so happy in the kitchen making delicious things for her family!

And the meal was absolutely delicious! 

We had turkey and gravy, ham, mashed potatoes, turnip greens, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, dressing, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie, chocolate pecan pie, and cherry crunch.  

I enjoyed setting the table with my wedding china and silverware for our special meal

candlelight

Robert brought us a truckload of firewood! So, after the meal, everyone unloaded the wood and put it in our woodpiles. It was good exercise for the kiddos! They had fun!

my beautiful Ruth!

Diane enjoyed playing hymns on my organ :)

here's a sweet little video of Joseph and Diane singing "Jesus Loves Me"

that evening, some of us took a walk - here's our gorgeous Thanksgiving sunset!

Robert Clinton I and Robert Clinton III cuddling by the fire :)

It was a wonderful day! 

Thanks for letting me share ours with you! :) 

Lora

weight loss update & a new favorite corner

Just a little update on my weight watchers/exercise progress! Today I reached a personal goal! I've lost 15 pounds!! Hooray! I am officially halfway to my total weight loss goal of 30 pounds. It's been 9 weeks since I started exercising regularly and doing Weight Watchers. It has been an amazing journey! To God be the glory!! 

and here's a new favorite corner in my home. 

vintage painting (paint by number)

vintage globe 

Clint's late grandmama's cabinet

a closer look at the painting. i love it. :)

it reminds me of the song As the Deer. 

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship Thee

You alone are my strength, my shield 
To You alone may my spirit yield 
You alone are my heart's desire 
And I long to worship Thee 

You're my friend and You are my brother
Even though You are a king
I love You more than any other
So much more than anything   

I want You more than gold or silver 
Only You can satisfy 
You alone are the real joy giver
And the apple of my eye 

Hope all of you are having a great day!!

Blessings!! 

Lora

lately...

As you can see, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous lately! I believe that fall has finally made its appearance! Hallelujah! Fall is my favorite season!

 Here's a little something I put together on my kitchen island the other day to welcome Fall. :)

 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a HARVEST if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9

I took advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend and went for a walk/jog outside. 

It was so nice! Did a quick two miles.

Definitely breaking in my fancy new running shoes! 

(Thanks to my brother Paul and my parents who so generously helped me buy them! I had to get new shoes because I wore holes in my old ones! haha)

I don't normally take dressing room photos, but I had to document this one! I went shopping at JCPenney the other day to try to find some new clothes for me to wear at my booth at Harvest Fest. I brought back this dress to the room in a size 12, hoping I would be able to fit into a size down from my normal 14 (the size i wore before i started working out, etc). It was way too big! I went back out in the store to find a size 10. They only had an 8. I brought it back anyway, knowing it would be too tight. It fit perfectly. I was crying in the dressing room! Total shock and total joy.

I cut my thumb pretty badly last Thursday night, so I wasn't able to make make any jewelry over the weekend. I used the time to go shopping for supplies instead. I went to one of my favorite little antique shops called The Knife Shop. The 90 year old owner, Bill, has lots and lots of great vintage and antique jewelry. I always find the best stuff in there!

Here are some of my newest treasures from The Knife Shop and from my sweet friend, Jenniffer. (She sent me a box filled with vintage jewelry that arrived just after I got home from the antique store.  What an amazing friend!) So now I have lots and lots of awesome goodies to create with and add to my stamped pieces and antique key necklaces! I cannot wait to sit down and create with these one of a kind pieces!!!! 

I sat down last night for the first time in four days to try to make some jewelry. I made this necklace using one of the vintage chains that I found at The Knife Shop. I also used an antique key and made a hammered pendant that I handstamped with "revival". It felt so good to create again!

"If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." II Chron 7:14 

And here's a pic of me yesterday. I got dressed up for church and I felt pretty in my new top (that I got for $4 at JCPenney!) and a gorgeous necklace that my friend Allison gave me. I am feeling so good in my new body! As of this morning, I've got 11.5 pounds! The diet and exercise is really paying off! And I feel GREAT. I am so so thankful to the Lord for all of His help in my efforts to get healthy. It's been amazing!!

I'll leave you with a photo of my new spruced up wreath on my front door. I wanted to decorate it a little bit for Fall. I used a bit of antiqued crocheted lace, an antique key, a handmade bird, a handmade brooch my friend Joy gave me. I love how it turned out! 

I am so thankful that we are entering Fall. It's such a wonderful time of year for me! Harvest Fest is in only a week and a half. I have so much to do to get ready, but I know that God will help me accomplish all that He wants me to do! And I am very expectant - I know He is going to do amazing things!!I would love your prayers for strength and stamina and grace as I prepare! And more importantly, that God would use me to bring hope and encouragement to His daughters!

sprucing up my nest for summer

Ever since we were given our amazing new sectional, I've been super inspired to keep my house clean and redecorate a little bit. It's been so much fun to spruce up my nest and get ready to enjoy the summer with my youngins and my hubby.  My sweet mother-in-law (I love you, Diane!) sent me a little love gift in the mail a few days ago so that I could go buy a new rug for my living room. And here's my beautiful new rug - isn't it pretty?! I love it.

Joseph likes it, too. :) It is super soft.

(that was Clint's only request - he didn't care what it looked like, only that it felt good on his feet.)

 I found it at Walmart. They had a great selection, and their prices were far and away the most reasonable. Mine is from the Better Homes and Gardens brand. I even got a free year's subscription to the magazine with the purchase of the rug!

I found these amazing vintage tupperware containers with the coolest rubber sealed tops at Goodwill the day before. They were about $4.00 for the set! They sat on my kitchen counter for a couple of days while I tried to figure out what to put inside them. I decided to put my cut squares of bubble wrap, business cards, and washi tape inside them. Now, I've got a cute little shipping station for my etsy packages! Love it!

On Sunday afternoon, Clint told us all to get in the van and that he was taking us on a suprise outing! Our first stop was an amazing estate sale! He sat in the car with the kids so I could go in and shop alone. I found so many treasures! One of my favorites - a HUGE lot of vintage sheet music books. And they were only a quarter a piece - for like really big books! So happy. Can't wait to wrap up all of my etsy orders in the pages. :)

After the estate sale, he took us to a Mexican restaurant that we'd never eaten at before. It was so so good! All seven of us LOVE Mexican food, so we were all really happy to be there enjoying our lunch together. I love this photo of Ruth's little smiling eyes at the bottom of the frame.

This is another favorite find from the estate sale - an awesome little vintage leather and gold coin purse of sorts that held old spools of thread. (and I later discovered upon further inspection (ie. one of the children dumped everything on the floor - haha), the coolest little magnifying glass!)

I had my coffee this morning in this pretty little mug that I found at the sale as well. 

"Sing a new song unto the Lord!"

So, the more I clean up my house, the more I want to clean up my house. 
Does that make sense?

My sweet sister in law sent me some money yesterday in the mail as a belated birthday gift. And today, I went to Target and bought some cute new organizational goodies to help me with my poor poor "desk". This is a "before" pic that I took today right after the kids went down for naps. It is pitiful, I know. Mountains and mountains of paperwork, kids school papers, drawings, books, diapers, and a bunch of junk. It's bad, folks. Just looking at it pile up more and more everyday gave me a headache. 

So, today, with resolve and determination, I set about to transform my desk!

It took a solid 3 hours.

(And I still have a little bit of sorting to do.)

But, overall it is now one of my newest happy places in my house!

ta da!!

I have an actual, functional control station now in my kitchen. 

A place where I can grab a favorite devotional book, pay a bill, or get a diaper and a pack of wipes  (which are inside that basket on the right - and hopefully, will be gone soon if I get my act together and start potty training Robby! :) )

* that pretty file folder holder on the left is one of my new goodies from Target

* the awesome vintage wooden musical note bookends are from that garage sale (Clint surprised me with those - he got them from that estate sale the day before we went together)

* the little vintage owl is a thrift store find from a few years ago

* and those pretty little floral prints are from my Ikea trip last month

While I was cleaning and organizing my desk, Clint was working in the yard and screened in porch. He pressured washed anything and everything that could be pressure washed. (In fact, he's still outside working. It's going on 7 hours now. What can I tell you? He loves to work in the yard - he gets that from his folks. :) Anyway, here's our beautifully clean and pretty and pressure washed screened in porch. Clint, unbeknownst to me, also took all of the quilts and blankets off of the glider this morning and washed them as well. So, they're fresh out of the dryer now and looking good on our beautiful antique glider (which my father-in-law lovingly restored and painted). 

All in all, we've had several really fulfilling and satisfying days working hard, getting our home ready for summer time. Days where we can just relax and enjoy our family of seven. 

I am truly thankful for all that God has given to us.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer, too!

And I hope you are taking time to rest with your family.
And simply just enjoy being together!