Brenna Turned 11! The Homemaking Party

Hey friends! Welcome to The Homemaking Party! Last week we celebrated Brenna's 11th birthday. How can that be?

She and I had a fun day out shopping and visiting bookstores --- but somehow I only got pictures of the food. Haha! Here are four of our daughters on an early morning donut run. Daughter number 5 stayed snug at home in bed!!

 

While we were in Walmart, Brenna saw this and said:

"Mom! Look at this! They've got this Barbie cake and it's BANANA!!! And it's like a old fashioned Barbie!"

Hahaha! Well, it's not a Barbie, but it is a Dolly!

We wrapped up our day out with Mexican dinner with Daddy. Brenna is our youngest so each of these times together are so special. I'm thankful for happy Brenna and a happy day!

Thanks for stopping by The Homemaking Party! I'm excited to see what you've got to share! 

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Cranberry Orange Scones for The Homemaking Party

 

Lately I've been in this kind of a mood. Warm baked things, atmospheric classic reads, contemplating my existence... Late autumn into winter is my favorite time of year. I like to live life slowly; and this time of year, things tend to slow down with me.

I made these Cranberry Orange Scones a couple days ago for the kids' breakfast. It had been awhile since I'd baked them something. I like making scones for the same reason that I sometimes don't like making scones: they take time.

You can find the recipe for these on one of my older posts here: Cranberry Orange Scones.

Thanks for stopping by The Homemaking Party!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

She's Baaaaack!!!

Hello friends! Last night I had a dream in which someone said, "No one reads blogs anymore. Blogging is dead." I woke up and wondered, could this be true? It's been quite a few years since I've devoted attention to this once very thriving blog. Life has always happened... but life started happening super fast for me and I needed a break. I don't think blogging is "dead" --- but I do see a lot of my old friends' blogs have gone missing.

So let me reintroduce myself. I'm Sarah Coller, a 44 year old mom of 9 and now grandmother of 2 living in NW Arkansas. (When I started this blog, I was a 30 year old mother of 6 children under 10 years old living in Eastern Oregon!) This blog has seen most of the children above go from super little kid status to grown adult. 

Jamie and I have celebrated 14 anniversaries since I began this blog! So why did I quit? Honestly, it's because this blog just got too successful! In 2012, I started working with national brands doing sponsored posts and social media influencing. I did that for quite a few years --- and those were good years. But somewhere in there, this blog began to lose its personality. No longer did I put up pretty pink vintage things for Beverly's Pink Saturday or Vintage Thingie Thursday. I stopped visiting my friends who would link up for The Homemaking Party. I just got busy and a bit overwhelmed and lost the joy.

So I put it away for awhile. I spent a few years adjusting to older teens, graduating teens, moving out teens. I grieved the loss of my father in 2022 and rejoiced in the marriage of my oldest son, Michael. I'm now navigating the ropes of grandmotherhood with Emerson and soon-to-be born Daxton. I started a YouTube ministry. When that got stressful, I started a literature channel, too. Haha!

A lot has changed since I began blogging back in 2009. I'm realizing that many of my blogging friends' blogs are closed because they have passed on. This makes me sad that I missed that time with them --- it's kind of like coming back to your hometown after being gone for years. But I'm hoping to reunite with old friends and rekindle my joy for simple, fun, blogging about homemaking. Maybe I'll even restart the homemaking party?

I'd love to hear from my old friends so please feel free to check in in the comments and let me know what you've been up to lately! Enjoy this cozy season!

Sarah