Cecily's First Holy Communion

JMJ

My Sweet Cecily Rose received Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament on April 29th.  She wore my dress and veil from when I received, which made it all the more special.  Both my daughters, so far have been able to wear it.  :)  And the gloves were a gift from Uncle Ben and Aunt Jessi to Aine.  They have been well loved!

She was so happy and peaceful all day.  I wish the sun hadn't been quite so bright because she looks a little nervous in the picture, but there was none of that in reality.

Here's the whole family on the next Saturday after her class received at a special mass.  We are sl thankful to our priest, Fr. Beres for offering this special mass, just for these first communicants.  Joseph and Henry sang in the choir and it was wonderful.  Lucinda and Elizabeth followed Craig (http://www.spieringphotography.com/) when he went to take pictures from the loft during the mass.  I couldn't believe it when I saw them up there: the girls were constantly in motion, but there was no noise!  Praise the Lord for small miracles! 

One year later--what we are doing

JMJ

Seeing as I have not posted in over a year, I thought it was time to get something up here.  There are many happenings to share from the last year, but I will start with what is happening now.  Hopefully, I will do "catch-up posts" along the way to fill in the gaps.  (though I don't have a great tract record with posting here, do I?)

The kids and I have been working hard to get items ready to sell at the Redbud festival.

Here is what everyone is doing:

Joseph makes bird houses.  Craig cut down several poplar trees on our property to make room for our orchard.  We had Jack Donahue of TimberWorks out with his portable sawmill to mill them into dimensional lumber.  We used them to side our horse shelter (will post that beauty soon) and still had LOTS left over.  I had no idea that poplar was such a beautiful wood--and rot resistant, too!  Craig showed Joseph how to use the miter saw and he has been a birdhouse-making-fool for  a couple of months, now.  Craig told him if he made a dozen to go up around our property, he could then make them to sell.  Joseph not only made them for us, but he donated a set of three houses and a feeder to his school fundraiser auction.  Now, he is making them to sell at the Redbud festival on Saturday.

Aine and Cecily have been helping me make sourdough bread that we sell to a few people in our parish community.  We are making it for ourselves, so making extra and selling it has been fun.  It is really tasty, if I do say so myself, and is about as healthy as bread can get.  We are making multiple batches to sell at the festival--some made of white flour, some whole wheat flour, and some of home-ground hard white wheat flour.

Marshmallows: if you have never had a homemade marshmallow, you've never lived!  Okay, I am exaggerating, but I don't even LIKE store-bought marshmallows and I LOVE these.  They are made from water, gelatin, and honey.  That's it!  I am making several batches to sell at the festival.

Henry has been very intently (or maybe I should say "intensely" because everything Henry does is intense!) making wooden swords.  He's made at least a dozen with the intent of selling them this weekend.  Though, I don't know that he has been able to resist playing with them . . . if there are any left, he will sell them this weekend.  :)

I opened an Etsy shop and have been trying to make more clay figures, focusing on saints--especially St. Nicholas--and nativities.

The girls have also been making adorable little clay animals to sell along side mine.  I don't have any pictures of their work yet, but I will post some when I do.  I will have Spiering Photography get pictures of all the kids work to show you.  

I began drawing again.  Drawing is really where my heart lies!  My dear friend Mandy Hain of https://piccolebellezze.wordpress.com/fall-art-lessons/drawing-workshop-front-royal/ went on to become a professional artist and offers art classes for children.  She is an amazing teacher as well as being a talented artist!  She offered a portrait drawing class for adults and after that I was hooked on drawing again.  It is very hard to find the time, but when I do, I wish I could never stop.  So, I offer 8"x10" portraits at my Etsy store.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SicutCervus

So, if you would like to take a scenic drive, enjoy some live music and visit quaint Browntown this weekend, stop by and see us!  

A few pictures of the kids

JMJ

Not many words today.  Just pictures.  The kids have found lots of wildlife here on our new property.  We only managed to get pictures of the turtle and the newt.  There have been lizards, foxes, bears, butterflies, wild rabbits, raccoons, deer, hummingbirds and opossums.

Can you believe that these two big boys mow the lawn?  We are so proud!  

 Want an unripened grape?  Me neither!  But Charlie sure likes to pick them!

Lucinda and the gang

I know.  I know.  It's been too long since I've posted.  Yeah, it's been 8 months.  I know!  It's been a very full eight months!  I'll try to write about the move and the old house and the kids and spiritual growth and the garden I wasn't going to plant sometime soon, but for now, here are the kids having fun in the back yard.  

What a blessed life we lead!

FOR SALE: 220 Orchard St., Front Royal, VA

JMJ

 We finally have our house on the market!  I can hardly believe it is finally for sale, but so much has happened to get us here that I guess it shouldn't surprise me.



As usual, I've been terrible about posting to this blog!  My apologies to those of you who check up on us once in awhile on here because I haven't updated in ages.  We are just about to have baby #6, we moved in Aug., we spent the whole summer and most of the fall and a lot of money getting the house fixed-up.  Craig's been busy with Spiering Photography (which is a huge blessing!).  Joseph started going to REAL school, Aine and Henry are learning to read.  There has hardly been a moment to enjoy life; and yet . . .

We DO enjoy life.  We've enjoyed having more space at this house.  We've spent time with friends and family.  We've enjoyed feast days and birthdays--Cecily turned 4 a few weeks ago!!!!  The kids have gotten into playing cards, drawing pictures, and writing their own stories.  Life is full to brimming.



Now, without further ado, here is the official like to the listing of our house.

http://220orchardstreet.utour.me/



Please check it out and spread the word!  It is a wonderful family home very near Historical Main St., Front Royal.  It is near to the heart of the town and the Heart of Jesus--just a little over a block from St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.  It was faster for us to walk to mass, even in inclement weather, than to buckle everyone in and find parking.  What a blessing it was to walk to holy hours or daily Mass.

Blessed feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary!  She is a wonderful patron to have for our baby who will arrive very soon.

                               

Cecily's 1st day of school

JMJ

I guess this seems like Cecily's blog!  Ha, ha!  It just works out that these are the photos I have and this is the time I have to post them.  Cecily began Atrium with her three older siblings this Fall.  She was so very excited.  It is a very special time for her, getting to do her own works on her own schedule.  

God bless!

Kids growing . . .

JMJ

Working with one hand here, but I wanted to share these photos of the kids.