He's here!

Sooner than expected, we were able to welcome our newest son, Rafe David, into our arms! He was born at 9:09 AM on Sunday, March 6, weighing 7 lbs., 8 oz. and measuring 20 inches long. He was the earliest of my babies, born at 37 weeks and four days, but obviously none the worse for it with his healthy weight and size!

[Sweet Rafe at one day old]
Douglas took the following week off of work and I was able to have a nice lie-in with Rafe, resting from the birth, bonding, and nursing around the clock. I even had time to do some reading(!) -- I re-read Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson, which makes for very pleasant post-partum reading material.

[Three weeks old -- getting quite a bit chubbier!]
All of the older siblings are over the moon about having a baby brother to cuddle, especially Edmund. I'm constantly fielding the request: "Can I hold him?" And if one child gets a "yes," the other two will start clamoring, "I want to hold him, too!"

[All the children dressed up for Easter]
It's been a sweet three weeks of getting to know Rafe and adjusting to life with a newborn again. I've always wanted to have a spring baby, to watch our new little one growing right alongside the life that is growing and blooming outside! God is good!

[Daffodils for Rafe David]

Summer days

Long time, no post! We've had a busy and full summer and I just haven't made it a priority to sit down at the computer very much. To catch you up to speed on our summer...


Auntie Em came to live with us for nearly two months, much to the delight of everyone.


We took an unforeseen trip to New England -- and decided to drive there with all three kids! Our route took us through Canada, stopping at Niagara Falls, and took me to eight new states (having never been further northeast than Pennsylvania).


My favorite day out with the kids, while Douglas was occupied with a music workshop, was taking them to Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT. We love Raffi (at least his early albums, not so much the later ones) and his song "Baby Beluga." Edmund has been very interested in marine creatures this summer and the chance to see beluga whales up close was not to be missed!

Of sewing interest, I can now say I've visited Mood Fabrics in NYC and am the owner of some lovely Liberty of London cotton poplin as a result!


Back at home in the sewing room, I cut down this vintage full-size quilt to twin-size for Lavinia's bed. It was an old, worn quilt given to my mom by a friend of hers to use as a play mat for grandbabies. The binding was completely worn and there were some ragged holes around the edges, but I figured if I cut down the size a bit, it could still be usable. Since Lavinia has been in need of a quilt or comforter for her bed, my mom was glad to pass it on to us.


I found some matching lavender polka-dot cotton at Walmart and made my own binding, handstitching the back for strength. Yes, it took forever, but it looks nice and neat.


[First day of homeschool 2015!]
Most recently we've started up homeschool for the year. Edmund is in kindergarten now so everything feels a lot more official. I was kindly gifted some Sonlight curriculum from two friends, so we are using that for Bible, history, geography, read-aloud time, and science. I'm using Singapore Math workbooks for math, and making my own way with phonics/reading. For handwriting, I'm doing a bit of an experiment and we're using Cursive First -- we'll see how it goes! Edmund has really blossomed with his artwork this year and I love to see what he draws, too.


I had fun designing a coat-of-arms for our school in Adobe Illustrator. This binder is the key to my success this year, with everything planned out as much as possible! I'm thankful Sonlight does that for you, and it was easy to make up our own math schedule. For me to succeed as a homeschooling mom, I've realized I must have everything PLANNED OUT -- or else it won't get done!

If you're curious about our school name, Seekings School, it's a nod to my favorite children's books by John Masefield, The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights. (Seekings is the name of the house where Kay, the protagonist, lives.) But, of course, it has a delightful double meaning for seekers after knowledge and truth!

Birthday the 32nd

Another birthday has come and gone and I'm a year older. I love having my birthday in June -- I think it is the best month of the year to be born! It's always beautiful on my birthday!


Yesterday we took a day trip to celebrate my birthday, and I was so blessed to have so many of my beloved family along -- Douglas, the children, my sister-in-law, my parents, and grandmother all made it special! We ate lunch at a classy restaurant and then went to a nearby park with lots of attractions. A lookout tower to climb...






And a lake for paddling in. How fun are these swan boats? Reminds me of Make Way for Ducklings.


I attempted a selfie with Rosie while we were on the water. She was very dubious about wearing a lifejacket at first, but once we got going, she seemed to warm up to the idea of messing about in boats.


And there was a family of real swans!


I made myself a new sundress to wear on my birthday. It's been a long time since I've made a vintage-inspired dress to wear! This one was cobbled together from a vintage 80s pattern of my mom's and a basic sundress pattern of mine, and I drafted the 50s-inspired bodice details myself. The navy gingham came from Hobby Lobby. I have been pleasantly surprised by their fabric offerings lately! I think they are making an effort to cater to home apparel sewists (not just quilters and crafters), which I appreciate.




Then home for a lovely birthday dinner at my mom's. I always look forward to pink roses in June.


I feel very blessed indeed to have so much love showered on me on my birthday.

Happy Easter!

The kids helped me make hot cross buns on Good Friday. I halved the Pioneer Woman's recipe and that made a dozen for our little family. Edmund helped me frost them while the girls were taking their naps.


The next day, I found this curiously-consumed bun, which made me laugh. This is Lavinia's. What child doesn't want to eat the frosting? My funny little daughter!

Florida in February

We just got back from a family trip to Florida, our first in three years.


Lots of firsts for my girls. First airplane ride, first visit to the beach, first visit to their great-grandparents' condo.


We built some modest sand sculptures.


The weather wasn't very cooperative. We had one sunny day, and although the temperatures were always more pleasant than what we'd experience back home, it was still a bit cool. The natives were wearing winter coats.


Lots of greenery for winter-weary Northerners, however.






And these kids would not be kept from the ocean! Edmund and his cousin loved to jump waves.


My favorite memory was taking Edmund for an early-morning walk to hunt for shells and other beach treasures. The commonest seashells sparked big-time excitement. You can see we found a nice assortment! God's beauty is everywhere.

A rosy day in February

Yesterday our baby Rosamund turned one year old! At breakfast, she opened some handmade cards from her siblings and a gift from Mommy and Daddy.


She has been in danger of getting very attached to a very soft, but very ugly, orange plaid throw blanket that we have. We gave her her own soft pink baby blanket from Berkshire Blanket. See those fingers in the mouth? That's a sign of contentedness. I think the switcheroo will go unnoticed.


She also received the felt rose hairclip, which I battled to keep in place all day long, and some new chocolate brown leather shoes made by me. I'll post about those soon.


I asked my mom if we could have the birthday luncheon at her house, so she provided the beautiful table while I contributed the food. We had tomato bisque and a variety of small, savory sandwiches and crudités, with cake and tea for dessert.


Mom set the table with vintage dishes belonging to Rosamund's great-great-great-grandmother. I sure hope Rosamund loves roses as much as I do, because the rose theme is not slacking off anytime soon!


For her first birthday cake, I used our champagne blush wedding cake recipe, which I've not tasted since our wedding. I thought the recipe was lost, but when I mentioned it to my mom, she found it for me. Whew!


Happy day celebrating a precious little lady. We love you, Rosamund!

And a happy Christmas!

This year I set aside one day, the 23rd, for our family Christmas at home, and it was really one of the most fun Christmas celebrations that I can remember. Douglas and I have alternated spending Christmases with his family or mine every year since we were married, which has been wonderful. But as more children have been added unto us, I've craved a bit of time for our own family traditions, and togetherness with our own little family of five. Last year, after Christmas was over, I decided that this year I would just set aside a day to be our family Christmas, and I think it worked out nicely. We still had plenty of time to enjoy with my family and Douglas', but it was special to have time just to ourselves, too.


We woke up to a gentle snowfall, which was a simply lovely blessing on the day. We had a leisurely morning of opening stockings and gifts, and then a brunch of scrambled eggs and sausage patties. The kids enjoyed their toys and we cleaned up all the wrappings after eating, then put the youngest two children down for a nap while Edmund was permitted to continue playing with his new things. This was the first year he really wanted a specific toy. He had seen someone played with a radio-controlled helicopter while on a walk this summer, and he remembered that and kept talking about "an airplane that can go on its own." Well, thanks to my parents, his wish came true -- Mom found an inexpensive helicopter on Amazon. We were pretty sure it wouldn't last long in the hands of a five-year-old (it's recommended for ages 14+), and we were right -- but he had such fun playing with it while it lasted!


After naps, we went for a cold walk in the wild (or as close to it as we can get around here), then came home to a dinner of cheese fondue. I have not made that in such a long time, and I wasn't sure if the kids would like the more "grown-up" tasting cheese, but they did! I had planned on serving eggnog for the kids and mulled wine for me and Douglas, but I was so tired I ended up falling asleep at 7:30pm. Thankfully, Douglas put the little ones to bed, so we were all able to get some much-needed rest after a happy day of celebration.

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. - I John 1:5

Birthday boy

Before November becomes a distant memory, let me make mention of Edmund's 5th birthday! This year, his birthday fell on the day before Thanksgiving. We traveled cross-country to be with my brother and his family for the holiday, so it was special for Edmund to be in a new place and with a special playmate (his cousin) for the day. I had thought we might go out to a bounce house or gym in the Big City for a special treat, but the kids were having so much fun just playing at home, we scrapped that plan. Why add to the stress of bundling everyone out the door on the day before a big holiday when the birthday boy just wants to play at home?

Edmund requested the same cake from last year -- Hershey's "Especially Dark" Chocolate Cake topped with "Especially Dark" frosting and raspberries. I accidentally made the frosting a bit thin, so it's not sticking as well as it should in this picture. This year he wanted a "helicopter cake" so my mom found a little toy helicopter to put inside a landing pad of raspberries and candles. This cake is rich! But oh so yummy when served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to give a little extra sweetness to the dark chocolate.


[Edmund in his new special PJs from great-grandma]

And we're off!

[first day of school]
Just like that, we started our "official" homeschooling at the beginning of the month. I'm doing three subjects with Edmund right now -- Bible, reading/phonics, and math/numbers. For Bible, we read a chapter each day, work on memorizing one verse each week, and learn a new hymn or psalm each month (Lavinia does this with us and enjoys it, too). For reading, I am using "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" and reading various books aloud, as time permits (right now we are on "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, having already finished the first two books in the series earlier in the year). I haven't quite gotten my act together for math yet (planning to order a workbook at some point), but I've had him do some counting and sorting activities and practice writing numbers.

He thinks it is all simply wonderful.

A Day at the Museum

There's something for everyone at the museum.


A cozy, old-fashioned quilt on an iron bed...


I always notice a pretty teapot....


Lavinia loves the little playhouse. Here she is enjoying some "grapes" at table...


...and tucking the dolly into bed after reading her a story.




An apple tree for Edmund to climb, and outdoor swings and games to "give him energy," as he says.


Even Rosie enjoyed the outing.


Next time, we'll come back with a picnic.