Happy Easter

 An Easter morning from years gone by...

These are my grandparents with my dad, aunt and uncle as children.

I especially like my aunt and grandmother's white Easter bonnets.

Although I'm sure we won't look as snazzy as this, I have my family's clothes hung and ready for tomorrow, as well as the tables set for Easter lunch.

I still have to set out the silverware. 

That requires me to dig out my heavy, wooden box of silver from the very bottom of my china hutch, which I've been putting off all day.

Instead of names on the place cards, I decided to write a Bible verse on each one that we will read together as a family before the prayer.

I carefully selected the verses and placed them in order around the table.

In keeping with the theme of the centerpiece, as each person takes their turn to read, it will tell the story of Jesus' birth, sacrifice, and resurrection. 

The kids' table is in the kitchen...

It's all about spring bunnies!

These plates, as well as the ones on the main table, are from Hobby Lobby. They're so pretty but paper thin. I hope that won't be a problem for my guests!

It certainly will make my life easier during clean-up!

I am fortunate that everyone is bringing a dish to pass tomorrow, so all I'll have to do is put the ham in before I leave for church.

I also bought a bakery cake and will make a large salad.

I hope you all have a beautiful Easter with family and friends.

🌸

~ Courtney 

Home Sweet Home from Washington D.C.

Our family just returned home from a spring trip to Washington DC.

🌷🌷🌷

I do enjoy touring new places, but I am unashamedly a homebody, so arranging for a trip feels bittersweet to me.

It's fun to think about waking up in a new city, yet I don't want to leave my home.

The daily rhythms I am accustomed to provide so much comfort for me.

The hum of the dryer, the smell of the coffee ...

The sound of the furnace clicking on, and my children playing their piano pieces ...

Home sweet home is my respite from the world and a good friend to me.

But I packed some springtime clothes and said goodbye.

Before we left I Googled, What people wear to tour Washington DC, and found this adorable young lady in a pink skirt with a trench style coat.

This is not my photo, and I don't know who this is, but she looks like she's living her best life, breathing in the fragrance of the cherry blossoms around her.

I hadn't thought about packing my trench coat, but she inspired me, as you can see...

The cherry blossoms, daffodils, and tulips were in full bloom!

What a joy it was to walk around such a historic and fun city!

I was worried about how my hip would do with so much walking, but with public transportation and trolley tours, we managed just fine.

While there, we celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary.

I was glad to have the kids along to help us celebrate, and also to provide them with a cultural experience.

Having lived in the countryside all their lives, it was educational for them to learn how to navigate a large city and comfortably use the Metro system.

Yes, comfortably is the key word, haha... They became so accustomed to it they'd goof off!

What a memorable week it was.

 I plan to add more photos in another post, but for tonight I am reestablishing my home rhythms that I've missed.

It feels wonderful to be settling back in -

listening to the hum of the dryer and the piano playing...

~ Ahhhh ~

Home sweet home.

💐

~ Courtney 

A Productive Saturday

 Micah took the kids to go visit a relative, and I decided to stay back to catch up on a few things at home.

I got all my errands in town done yesterday so I could enjoy an entire Saturday home alone with no where to go.

I put the day to good use!

I began with my typical Saturday chores, ticking them off my to-do list as I went...

Water houseplants  ✔

Dust and mop ✔

Clean bathrooms ✔

etc...

I felt inspired to do a few extra chores like wash all my pillowcases and bleach my kitchen sink.

Hip surgery has sure changed my perspective on things like housework.

I spent so many weeks in pain, unable to walk, bend, and work, that now I figure, hey! if I can do something comfortably, I will happily do it.

I thought about this as I pushed the vacuum over my living room carpet, grateful for a strong body again.

With my house clean and smelling fresh, I decided to tackle an Easter centerpiece next.

My vision was to highlight the birth, sacrifice, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This is what I came up with...

I may switch out the tulips for Easter lilies, if I can find some closer to Easter. But these tulips are lovely here. They are actually the most realistic fakes I've ever seen. We have a very nice home decor shop close by that sells good quality pieces. I splurged on these beautiful, faux tulips.

The Mary, Jospeh, and baby Jesus sculpture is from my Christmas Nativity. I dug it out of its box in the attic with this centerpiece in mind. But I purchased the wooden cross and risen Christ figurine.

As I stood in the decorative crosses aisle at the store, contemplating all my options, I noticed that most of them were artsy and cute. But the cross wasn't pretty! It was an, "Old rugged cross," as the hymn says.

I was happy to have found this one. 

I propped it up in a little base that Roman had made a few years ago for his iPad to sit in while it charged. It holds this tall, heavy cross quite nicely.

An old family hymnal, opened to Easter songs like, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," completes my little project, and I am happy to leave it like this. 

Simple but meaningful.

Another project I was determined to complete this weekend was reorganizing my clothes closet.

In preparation for my recovery last fall, I stocked my closet with sweatpants, joggers, and fleece pullovers.

It was the perfect wardrobe to recover from surgery and go to physical therapy in, but now that I'm doing so much better and getting out and about more, I can't find anything to wear!

I packed away about 80% of the comfy attire, and pulled from storage my blouses, jeans, and a few skirts.

If you ever need ideas and inspiration for your clothes closet, I would recommend the book, The Chic Closet by Fiona Ferris. This easy, fun read always gets me in the mood to up my style game.

I feel good about my productive Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I love all your "likes" and comments. They motivate me to keep writing!

💐

~ Courtney