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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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May 8, 2011

In Honor of Our Mother

Our Grandfather and Mother

I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine – she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights.  ~Terri Guillemets


Our Mother on her wedding day


[A] mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled.  ~Emily Dickinson

Vanessa and our Mom

A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, “where mother is.”  ~Keith L. Brooks

Vanessa, Heather and Mom

Mother is the heartbeat in the home; and without her, there seems to be no heart throb. ~Leroy Brownlow

Heather, Vanessa, Mom and Lauren



Mothers and daughters are closest, when daughters become mothers.  ~Author Unknown



It is as grandmothers that our mothers come into the fullness of their grace.  ~Christopher Morley


A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.  ~Washington Irving


There came a moment quite suddenly a mother realized that a child was no longer hers. … without bothering to ask or even give notice, her daughter had just grown up.-Alice Hoffman


With our Mommy!



We would be remiss if we didn’t recognize the women who loved and sacrificed so that our husbands could grow up into the wonderful men they have become. They are both amazing fathers and husbands and we owe these women a debt of gratitude for that!



Men are what their mothers made them. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We deeply appreciate our mothers-in-law and want to wish both…

Kathy (Vanessa’s mother-in-law)


Arlene (Heather’s Mother-in-law)
a very

Happy Mother’s Day!



What do girls do who haven’t any mothers to help them through their troubles? ~Louisa May Alcott

Mom, we love you deeply and feel blessed that you are not only our mother, you are our friend. We both hope that our own daughters will feel the same way about us as we do about you. We even hope they will call us on the phone as many times a day as we call you!


You are always ready and willing to “help us through our troubles”.
You are an incredible “Nonna” to our kids and a loving mother-in-law to our husbands.
You instilled in us a love for homemaking and traditions and Little House on the Prairie.
But the most important legacy you have given us is your love for the Lord.


Happy Mother’s Day Mom!
We love you,








 



8 Comments Filed Under: Good Thoughts, Holidays, Simply Sundays

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Comments

  1. Dianne says

    May 8, 2011 at 1:31 PM

    Good job girls…as a mom there are two things that give us great joy…one..to know that our children walk with the Lord..two..that are children get along…your mother must be very proud

    Reply
  2. Knitty says

    May 8, 2011 at 1:46 PM

    I am smiling as I sniffle. What a loving tribute.

    Reply
  3. NanaDiana says

    May 8, 2011 at 1:47 PM

    What a beautiful tribute to your Mom AND to your Mother-In-Laws! I am sure you both are blessings in all their lives! Happy Mother’s Day sweet girls! xxooDiana

    Reply
  4. Kristin says

    May 8, 2011 at 3:17 PM

    Lovely post!
    I am so with you on the friendship and phone calls part. I hated letting my “little” girl go off to college and the big city this past year, but… I love the million and one phone calls and a random text every once in awhile that just has a picture of my sweet smiling girl or, better yet. The ones that simply say… “I love You…”
    Be still my mothering heart.
    Happy Mother’s Day to you all!
    Love, Kristin

    Reply
  5. Buttercup Bliss says

    May 8, 2011 at 10:18 PM

    What a beautiful post! The quotes about mothers are terrific! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

    Happy Mother’s Day!

    Reply
  6. Christie says

    May 9, 2011 at 3:44 AM

    This is so beautiful! You girls have such a lovely family!! Count your blessings and hug your momma tight! I miss mine so much!! AND, Happy Mother’s Day to the two of you!! What an inspiration you are to the rest of us and encourage me in homemaking and traditions! I affectionately call Yvonne at Stone Gable my ‘blog mom’ but I learn so much from all my ‘mom’ friends, too!!! Blessings to you! Christie

    P.S. Vanessa, the cornice for your little girl ROCKS!! I am inspired!

    Reply
  7. Debbie says

    May 9, 2011 at 11:49 AM

    Happy Mother’s Day (late) to the whole lot of you.

    I think we can safely say that your mom did an awesome job of raising daughters.

    BTW, I have to copy down half of those quotes for later use on my blog. They are wonderful.

    And tell your mom that she was a beautiful bride. I’m sure she already knows that, but tell her anyway.

    Reply
  8. Val says

    May 9, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    What a beautiful tribute to your mom!!! <3

    Reply

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I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
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…It was just the beginning!
Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house that’s become the landing zone for ALL THE THINGS! 🙋🏻‍♀️🤪 I’ve never been more thankful for our rarely used dining room table as it’s become command central for school books and laptops and games.

Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

What do you need to bring to Him today? I’ll share mine in the comments and I’d love to hear from you too!
I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole lockdown thing began, I’ve come to appreciate this time of day even more.

It feels the most...normal. Daytime is strange and foreign right now. My husband has taken over our home office, I’m suddenly taking over the responsibility of managing my kids’ distance learning and let me just say that teaching 7th grade algebra to my daughter is hugely ironic since I struggled with math all the way through school. I’m trying to do my own work but it feels utterly futile with the constant interruptions which take precedence right now. In the daytime, I’m constantly reminded of how upside down life feels.

But, in the evening, I cook dinner like I’ve always done and we gather around the table like we’ve always done and we laugh and tell stories and then clean up and play games or go on a walk or watch a show. And that feels SO gloriously normal.

So now I love evenings even more than I ever did before and I’m so grateful for this little chunk of time where the rhythms we established years ago are helping to sustain us now when so much of life feels outside of our control.

What feels ‘normal’ to you right now? Whatever it is, keep doing it. 🌿
When I was in college I would frequently call home When I was in college I would frequently call home and pour my heart out to my mom, sharing with her all that was happening in my life in that completely unfiltered way that you can talk with the person who potty trained you. These phone calls usually took place at night and my mom would patiently listen as I vented frustrations about professors, roommates, boyfriends and the food in the cafeteria. And, inevitably, they would end with my mom saying, “Everything seems worse when you’re tired. Try not to overthink things or make any major decisions tonight, especially when you are feeling emotional.” Dear friends, may I pass along this advice to you today?

If you don’t absolutely HAVE to make a decision right now, I want to encourage you to wait until life gets back to normal. If you are finding yourself over-analyzing relationships and family dynamics, I want to encourage you to remember that everything seems more dramatic when looked at under a microscope. And, let’s face it, being homebound with our loved ones non-stop makes us all feel like lab rats in an experiment.

If you are tempted to quit a job, start a business, start homeschooling permanently, stop homeschooling permanently, move to a new city, buy a farm, quit pursuing your dream, join a commune or make any other major life decision just…wait. Because, if it is in fact the right decision, it will be made even clearer once our lives return to their ‘regularly scheduled programming’. Instead, in this strange season, let’s all just take a deep, collective breath and let it out slowly, releasing the anxiety that threatens to overtake us. Let’s help each other maintain some perspective and not slip into a posture of over-thinking every little thing in our lives. Let’s remember that the enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to use this time when things feel dark to manipulate us into thinking that aspects of our lives are worse than they actually are.

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If you’re able to find flour in the stores (for the love people please stop overbuying!) and you’re doing more baking at your house too you need to add this apricot bread to your list of new recipes to try!

Normally I’d point you to my blog for the directions but I’m going to do you a solid and leave the full recipe in the comments.

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