Monday, September 3, 2018

Happy Homemaker Monday - September 3, 2018

Good morning, Dear Ladies! Happy Monday! And HAPPY LABOR DAY! 💗 


I trust that you all are having a lovely end-of-summer holiday weekend! Ours has been good here. I had to work Friday and Saturday, then, yesterday, we attended the annual Labor Day weekend family reunion on my dad's side of the family at Odessa, Missouri. It's always good to see the cousins on that side and even the cousin's cousins. I was as close to some of them as I was to some of my own when we were very small. Anyway...it's always fun to get away and visit the old home places. 

Brown-Murry Reunion 2018
Not all the cousins made it into the picture, but most of them did. It was great seeing the cousins, their children, and grandchildren. Some of them even had great-grandchildren now! Wow! Where have the years gone? It was sad that the older ones are all gone now. Gone, but not forgotten! That's for sure! Love and miss 'em all! 💗
Made a trip to the cemetery a few miles outside of town while we were there...the cemetery where my Grandma and Grandpa Graham are buried...my uncles, aunts, and cousins. The cemetery sits atop a HUGE hill and the view from there is so incredibly beautiful! It always does my heart good to stand atop that hill and gaze down over the fertile valley below. Absolutely breathtaking! 💗

The View From Greenton Cemetery
Odessa, Missouri
On the way back through town before going home, captured this picture of the old Odessa Ice Cream shop. It's not been in business for many years, but my dad used to take me there for ice cream often when I was little. Just seeing the old storefront makes my heart happy! 🍦

Home of Odessa Ice Cream
At least it was...back in the day! 😋
Okay...so...on with the new week at hand! Today I'm joining Sandra and the other lovely ladies for Happy Homemaker Monday over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and I'm inviting YOU to join me! Be sure and check them out! 💗

Today I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and
all of the wonderful ladies of 
Happy Homemaker Monday!
Right now I am...

... finishing up breakfast and enjoying a cup of tea while working on this post.

Am thinking...

... about many things...family...about how God puts us in the families that He does to carry out His grand design for our lives and how that, even at our absolute worsts, I am so thankful for the family members that God has given me...not only on both my mother's and my father's sides, but within our own family unit...John and I, the children that God has blessed us with, their spouses, and our grands. We are soooo incredibly blessed! I pray that each and every family member on all sides would wake up to that fact and that none of us would ever lose sight of it. We are all so fortunate! We really, REALLY are! Thank You, Lord, for the family that you have blessed me with! 💗

On the breakfast plate...

... ham, egg, and cheese on toast and Twining's Irish Breakfast tea

The weather...

Warm...80 degrees right now with a high of 87 expected. It's partly cloudy and afternoon thunderstorms are possible. According to the ten-day forecast the expected highs over the next week and half will fall in the low- to upper- 80's with good chances of rain every day. 

On my reading pile...

In addition to daily scripture reading, I am still reading The Name of Jesus by Kenneth E. Hagin and Discover Nature at Sundown by Elizabeth P. Lawlor.

On the menu this week...

Monday -sauteed zucchini with leftover sauce, meatballs, and bread 
Tuesday - Pantry Enchilada Chicken Skillet
Wednesday - Hillbilly Bean Soup and cornbread
Thursday - slow-cooker beef enchiladas, black beans, and rice
Friday - Corn chowder and cornbread
Saturday - tuna and noodles with frozen peas
Sunday - leftovers

On my 'to do' list...

Last week I mentioned deep-cleaning the hallway, which included tackling the shelves where my dad kept all his tools and things. It was hard, but I did it! I sent a big box of power tools and stuff to the garage and threw out a whole trash bag full of stuff. What was left I managed to organize and move to the lower, out-of-the-way shelves. Then, I moved all of my favorite books to the top three shelves where they are in plain view and easy to get to. It feels really good to finally have that done after living here for almost two full years!

Last week I also mentioned battling plumbing problems. On Wednesday our oldest son came by to look things over. Afterwards, he and I made a trip to Home Depot to get supplies and he spent the rest of the day replumbing the bathroom sink and shower...for which I am very thankful! The sink is what was causing the immediate issues that we were having, but the shower and tub have never been right since we've lived here. The shower had very low water pressure and had a slow drip inside the shower itself, and the middle knob that turns the shower to tub never did work. All of that is fixed properly now and I was able to enjoy my first real tub bath since living here Wednesday night. AND we have all new fixtures! Pretty ones! I'm so thankful! 💗

- Monday - Plan the week ahead, do a condensed version of my weekly "home blessing", do laundry, and just enjoy the day
- Tuesday - Get together with my BFFF in the afternoon and get together with those in the evening that have volunteered to help make paper beads for Prairie Jubilee
- Wednesday - Meet oldest dil for breakfast, work on blog (the drawing for the Homemaker's Friend 2019 Daily Planner ends today!!! to enter click HERE!!), and finish deep cleaning kitchen (still need to do under the cabinets and deep-clean the stove)
- Thursday - Take a friend to her hair appointment, check another thing or two off the summer bucket list

-Friday - Work
- Saturday - Work
- Sunday - Church, work in the afternoon


In the craft basket...


Am still working on paper beads and will be doing so throughout the month of September at every available opportunity. In fact, we're opening our home up to anyone locally who is willing to come help make beads every Tuesday evening in September. If you are local, read this, and are interested, get a hold of me! 😊

Am working on paper beads for a table about Native
American trade beads at Prairie Jubilee this year.
The beads will be put into kits that
children can turn into a necklace.
Looking forward to this week...

Getting together with family and friends and getting some more deep-cleaning done

Something interesting I watched...

An episode of River Monsters that featured man-eating catfish right here in south-central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks. I had no idea! I mean I knew that there were big cats in the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, but, really??? Very interesting! If anyone is interested, the name of the episode is America's Killers.

From the camera...


A year ago this month. Am sure missin' this girl here! Best day at work EVER!!! 💗

Scripture passage...

Almost every believer that we know is under intense spiritual attack right now. Be encouraged, fellow believers!



Well, Ladies, that's it for this week! I pray that each and every one of you have a blessed and beautiful week ahead! And I'll see you next week! 
Be sure to visit our 30 Days of Summer blog series. To find out more check out this post on Jean's site and this one on mine. Jean and I hope you'll join us in our summertime adventure! 🌞

9 comments:

  1. Your so right, family is such a blessing and one of God greatest gifts to us! I enjoyed your pictures! They were beautiful! The prairie jubilee sound like so much fun! I pray you have a blessed week! As always I enjoyed stopping by!

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  2. You were (sort of) close to me over the weekend! I think I've heard of a new (perhaps to me) ice cream place in Odessa that's supposed to be pretty good if you're out that way again and want actual ice cream to go with all those good memories. Might have to look up that episode as my husband likes to go cat fishing in that area. Yikes, don't want the fish catching him! LOL! Glad you got your plumbing issues fixed, always nice when family can help like that. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

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  3. Family reunions are always so much fun :) Looks like you enjoyed it and had a great time.

    Have a wonderful week :)

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  4. I love your bucket list! I really need to do that, thankfully I have a whole year to write it, haha! Hope you have a wonderful week, your pictures are great!

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  5. Thanks, Ladies! Appreciate all of you who have taken the time to stop in and visit! Seeing your comments make my day! Sounds like a great idea, Jean! We will have to check it out together sometime and make some new Odessa ice cream memories! Stacy, you better get busy! Would you believe that my husband and I are working on life-time bucket lists right now? How crazy is THAT??? :O LOL! We're having fun with it though! Have a great weekend, Ladies! Love you all! <3

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  6. You sure accomplish alot! Glad your water problems are over. Great pictures. have a great week

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  7. I need to make a trip to the cemetery to visit my grandparents' graves. It's been too long.

    I also need to start drinking tea! I have a bad habit of only drinking it when it's cold - when I could enjoy it all year round!

    Have a wonderful week!

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  8. Thanks, Lucy and Sherry! Yes, Sherry, tea is good year-round! I wouldn't know what to do without it! I'm a hot tea-aholic! :D Have a great rest of the week ladies! Appreciate you both! <3

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  9. LOVE your pictures. Your beads look like they're coming along well too. Hope you had a GREAT week.

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