easter finery

Several months ago, Mom offered me a pair of ruffled yellow gingham pillowcases, and I was happy to say yes!  I had given them to her for Christmas probably 15 years ago, back when her bedroom was yellow and hunter green.  She had repainted since, was cleaning out, and I was having visions of making matching little girl night gowns, like the one I made for Gemma last year.  It's a darling little pattern!  So, I started them a few weeks ago, fully intending for them to be nightgowns . . . go ahead and laugh, but as I finished them up, John and I agreed that they could pass for dresses!

We aren't usually the type to get new dresses for Easter every year, mostly because we've been so blessed with hand-me-downs that I usually pick out something special and spring-like for each girl and that's that.  There's something quite sweet about matching, though.  It was when I settled on the Beatrix Potter buttons from my button jar that my mind was made up, I think.  

Back when Mom and I were fabric-shopping for our wedding, we bought a yard of lovely lace (or is it embroidered netting?) without any concrete plans for it.  It ended up saving the day on the morning of the wedding when my dress was too low-cut in front, so a piece of it is still in my wedding gown.  Then, I took out two more little cuts to fill in the necklines of the bridesmaid dresses Heidi and I wore for Derek and Liz's wedding.  I'm not sure what brought it to mind again, but I decided to put the remaining bits to some use.  First I cut strips from the plain netting end and stitched some simple puff rosettes for our girlies' shoes.  (We're slowly transitioning to minimal shoes for our children, and I decided that leather ballet slippers would be preferable to anything with a heel for this summer!)  Then, on Saturday night, I cut some more strips, this time including the embroidered edge, and zig-zagged them together on my machine until they were long enough to make into bows.  Somehow my finicky hot glue gun cooperated, the zig-zag seams hid just perfectly and they are just the sweetest bows I've ever made!  Gemma had already "made" a bow with her friends for Easter, though, so I wasn't about to deny her the pleasure of wearing her own handiwork.

This may be the best photo of the two of them together . . . Ruthie had a little Easter Basket to take home from her Sunday School class, and Gemma did not, so she was very very interested in sister's.

And what's an Easter photo without Thumper, our new pet, enjoying his Sunday carrot?  :)

So, nightgown dresses, haha!  One more thing!  Since the original tutorial is only written as a size 4, I had to draw up my own pattern pieces for size 2, and I'm more than happy to share them if there's interest.  Let me know!

Easter at Uncle's

A couple of weekends ago, we traveled down to spend the weekend with Derek and Liz.  We had a really great time spending Saturday at a local park, Sunday at their church and just hanging out at their apartment with them!  Predictably, we didn't even think to bring the camera, but caught several memories on the iphone.  And, predictably, most of them are of our girlies!  But, here you go!

We did get one photo of Liz, demonstrating how their pup, Angus, hates to be held.  Angus is just a cute, happy, miniature version of my parents deceased dog, Harvey.  And he has a great "mommy and daddy," too.  

Derek and Liz have a beautiful, big swingset behind their apartment, which is almost more like a playground! This time, Gemma loved the tire swing.  The first time we took her out was on Friday night as dusk was falling, which is why this photo is so dark.  She attempted to go back more than once by herself--she and Angus are both little runaways!  (Thankfully, they were both pretty easy to fetch back home!)

After putting the babies to bed, Derek and John went out to watch the Duke game while Liz and I stayed in and watched Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightly version).  It was fun to have some girl time.  

After getting up bright and early with the babies, Liz made us a yummy breakfast of eggs, pancakes and fruit and we got ready to head over to a local park for some hotdog roasting and a wee bit of hiking.  Gemma got to try her first smore!

But the highlight of the weekend was really Sunday.  I had been looking forward to visiting their church for a while, because they're attending the the PCA church where Pastor Hughes, my shepherd throughout college, "retired" to as the assistant pastor.

We felt right at home among our presbyterian brethren, and appreciated how welcoming they are of children into the services.  Our girls both did remarkably well, though John took Gemma to the nursery for parts of the sermons.  Everyone was so kind to us, and we really liked their head pastor, as well.  We celebrated communion with them, had a meal together in the afternoon, and came away just being quite encouraged through the preaching by the love of Christ for us.

It was Easter, but Derek had alerted us that this church ignores the holiday more than most do, so I left Gemma's hat at home this year.  It was exciting that she still fits into the little sweater made by Mrs. Kirby, though!  In fact, I think she fit it better this year than last.

When I prepared the girls' dresses before leaving home, I couldn't help but reflect on how kindly and abundantly God has provided for us.  Gemma was in a little Therese jumper and blouse and Ruthie's dress is by Ralph Lauren . . . and both were given to us.  In fact, they were both in hand-made sweaters given to us as well.  And the thing is, we could afford to go out to Target and buy them each a new spring dress . . . but we didn't have to.  Even the tights, shoes, and hair accessories were given to us!

"I'm three months old!"

Family self-portrait . . . not so great . . . Gemma's braids were on top of her head when we left that morning, but they didn't last long that way.  ;)

There's Ruthie's sweater in the background . . . truly precious!  And that was our weekend with Derek and Liz.  Oh, there was also some candy in a basket involved.  ;)  We are conscious of how blessed we are to have them stationed near us, and have to try to soak them up for as long as they are so close!

Happy Election Day!

We walked around the pond and over the hill to our polling place today . . . one of the benefits of neighborhood living.  :)

I like how many people are using Facebook to list one item they are thankful for each day for the month of November. . . . it has been helping me to be thinking about what I'm thankful for throughout each day.  And today I am very thankful for the privilege we have to vote.  

Whew, it was a busy weekend and Monday, though.  I think I could use the entire rest of the week to get our house cleaned and in order!  

Easter.

If we were in Britain, I almost wouldn't be late putting up an Easter post, since they celebrate "Easter Monday," and possibly even "Easter Tuesday" in some places . . . ?  It's hard to believe that it was five full years ago since my brother and I spent Easter in Northern Ireland.  Ah, sweet memories.  :)

Our church doesn't pay too much attention to the holiday--no cantatas or anything out of the ordinary, but we don't do special music, anyway.  When I was growing up, we learned that the day had pagan origins which the Catholic church basically Christianized.  But we aren't commanded to celebrate it in the Bible.  We do celebrate Christ's resurrection every Lord's Day, since it was His rising from the dead on the first day of the week which marked the changing of when the early church met together and observed the Sabbath.  Still, this Sunday our pastor took the opportunity to preach on Jesus' resurrection and we also sang some hymns about the resurrection.  And, of course, lots of little girls wore pretty new dresses.  :)

So, I have to confess that I bought Gemma a hat.  It was only a dollar at Target, and she loved it.  :)  (I think she loved her little berry/applesauce snack just as much!)  And doesn't she look darling in her special sweater?  Our friend Mrs. K made it.  

There must be something about becoming a mom that makes me want to pay more attention to conventional holidays.  We even had a little Easter basket which I put out on Saturday.  But we won't be telling Gemma stories about the Easter bunny or anything like that.  I don't believe in lying to my children . . .

It was a beautiful, beautiful day!  It's fun living in a climate where it's actually warm enough to wear spring dresses on Easter.  :)  We had a family from church over that afternoon and ate our ham dinner outside on the patio.  The kids loved the pond as much as Gemma does.  She loves looking for the ducks and geese which are usually about lately!

Well, Happy Easter Tuesday!

A Pinteresting St. Patrick's

Saturday was Saint Patrick's Day.  :)  And this year we actually were invited to a cookout/party!  When I heard that my sister was hosting  party of her own and making her own ice cream flavored with Bailey's, I knew what I wanted to bring.  That sounded amazing.

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

So, of course, I checked pinterest, and found this recipe and started it the night before.  I only used half the Bailey's, because I didn't realize it was going to be so expensive . . . I bought four mini bottles and it came to about $10!  I guess it's a once-a-year (or less!) treat.  Anywho.  That was plenty of Bailey's to give it a very strong flavor, so I wouldn't recommend using any more.

The recipe didn't make a huge amount, but since about half of the people at the party were pregnant ladies understandably a bit skittish of taking more than a taste, it worked out, haha!

Source: crushculdesac.tumblr.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

Anyway.  I also really liked this simple little tutorial for felt shamrocks.  In spite of having real shamrocks growing in pocket-handkerchief front yard, I stitched up a couple of them on our way to the party and made this little pin!  I love it.  The felt and the silk violets were left over from a little corsage project back in December, so it was quite free.  And I could have put a pin back on it which was also left over, but since I was making it in the car, I just affixed it to the shoulder of my top with a straight pin.  :)

So, my must-make-something urges were satisfied this past weekend thanks to pinterest. :) 

In Sunday School the next morning, we were surprised to hear Pastor Andy share with us a portrait of the life of Patrick of Ireland.  I was so excited that I took three pages of notes! He stuck to original documents for his sources--Patrick's Confession, which was likely modeled after Augustine's autobiographical work of the same name, and a Letter to Coroticus.  In other words, the lesson was heavy on fact and very light on the many myths surrounding him as a historical character.

The neat thing is that apparently Patrick was a very strong Christian with a mission-mindset unusual to his time.  He spent the better part of his adult life as a missionary to Ireland, which at the time (4th century) was the ends of the earth, and certainly outside the protection of Roman England in which he grew up.  He was the type of missionary who preached the gospel without really trying to change the culture of the people around him.

I shared some musings on celebrating Saint Patrick's Day a couple of years ago (here they are, if you're interested).  Since then, I have learned much about the man, Patrick.  And while we certainly feel no religious obligation to observe the day as a holiday and have no desire to be affiliated with the drunkenness so commonly associated with it, I think we have new reason and freedom to celebrate it as we wish.  :)

A Family Valentine's

 So, a couple of weeks ago was Valentine's Day.  :) There was much celebration on Cottage Lane.

Gemma had fun finger-painting on some white Valentine's I'd cut out of cardstock with pretty scissors.  (And, yes, it was homemade finger paint!  I used a recipe from my babysitter class days very similar to the cornstarch version here!)

She looked pretty cute in her smock, too . . . which was really an old t-shirt of mine from college.  10 points to anyone who remembers what organization it was from . . . 

Since Gemma was already having two babysitters that week, we decided to take her with us for our special dinner out.  She was so good and charmed many.  :)

(I think it helped that we brought along her favorite book!)

For John's Valentine this year, I made him a version of the card book popularly seen on Pinterest!

Source: papervinenz.blogspot.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

And he gave me this sunny yellow orchid!

 Gemma got a new hair bow which I made from some scraps of burgundy taffeta.

We tried to get a nice picture at the restaurant . . . 

. . . but it was hard!

So, fittingly--because we all love each other!--it was very much a family holiday this year, at least until the baby went to bed. :)  (Here and here are some memories from last year and here are some from the year before.)  :)

Gemma's Birthday, Part 2!

 

It's fair to say that Gemma liked her birthday cupcake!  

By the end of it all, she had blackberry juice all over her outfit.  I'm so glad that boiling water took it right out! 

 She also liked using her old-fashioned high chair for the first time, although the tray didn't last long.

She was a little more interested in the wrapping paper than the presents themselves . . . until she finally got them open.  She honestly did open about two of those presents all by herself, but we a more experienced little friend help with the others, for the sake of time.  We sent our friends home with felt bird ornaments from Michael's for their Christmas trees.  :)

Birthday Party #1!

Yesterday was Pearl Harbor Day, which meant that our little one was turning 1!  Though we plan to have a party with all the grandparents closer to Christmas, a week ago, we decided to throw together a little party on her actual birthday, and I'm so glad that we did. 

I started by taking some pictures of Gemma outside and designing an invitation to e-mail to her little friends. 

With some input, we planned a simple lunch menu of potato soup, almond-butter sandwiches cut into Christmas tree shapes, carrot sticks for the big people and fruit purees for the little people, hot cranberry cider (from Trader Joe's) . . .

 . . . And, of course, cupcakes! 

 I wanted to be a little healthy, so I made carrot cupcakes (from the Moosewood Cookbook) and topped each one with cream cheese frosting and a blackberry. 

If you squint, you can see the candle impaled through the blackberry in the cupcake on the right!

We also decorated a little bit.  :)

 

Grammy Reid found Gemma this perfect little bib second-hand somewhere!

The birthday girl herself was all ready in her tutu leggings, a top from Aunt Heidi, and pigtails.  :)

 Let the party begin!  More tomorrow!

Fall-ish Ramblings

It's autumn, and I'm so glad. We don't celebrate Halloween here; my reasoning can be reduced to 2 Corinthians 6:14 "What fellowship has light with darkness?"  I acknowledge that many Christians do not feel the need to offer up Halloween for the sake of Christ.  That's one of those things we all have to decide for ourselves, I suppose.  But we're content to buy discounted candy on the first of November and give Gemma other opportunities to play dress-up in the future.

We recently had the joy of visiting the Biltmore Estate with friends, and all the pictures in this post are from that day.  John took all except the one he is in, and got some neat shots if I do say so myself!  

The colors.  Ahhh.  We were privileged to get our first dose in New York where the colors peak earlier in the season, and now the trees on Cottage Lane are taking their turns at the melody in the beautiful symphony of autumn.  I love how, shortly after a rain when the sky is still grey, the yellows, greens and golds are especially vibrant against the dark, mossy trunks.  I have in my mind that very view layered upon a plum-colored house with evergreens in the background . . . Oh, I could almost inhale and respirate upon the beauty instead of on oxygen.

Then came my sister's birthday on the 7th, and now it is the 15th . . . where is the month going?  It was thrilling to be at Trader Joe's recently and to see all the autumn foods in stock.  There was even a man wandering the store and handing out chocolates!  I bought a bottle of cranberry spiced cider and remembered the joys of hosting our own Thanksgiving dinner last year.  The only reason we did not travel to be with family was that I was 39 weeks pregnant, but I loved hosting our own special meal . . . even though our friends brought half of it and the turkey wasn't done until 4 p.m. . . . how the memories rush back . . . We finished the evening by watching Harvey. 

This is the first November of our married life that I have not been pregnant.

Do you know that I once worked at a pumpkin farm?  It was the first autumn after I'd graduated from college, when I was taking evening grad school classes and waiting for the subbing calls to start coming.  They were days of layering on the rain clothes and carrying big clippers, and prying heavy, mud-laden boots off wool-socked feet in the farmers' house at lunch time.  Our boss's wife would make us hot dogs or grilled cheese and we would sit for that half-hour in their farmhouse dining room before returning to the fields or the pumpkin washing machine.  My coworkers called each other Hispanic names for fun, because we felt like migrant workers.  It was a brief season, but it was good.

Our pumpkin for the year is on my kitchen table.  It's another Cinderella pumpkin, and Mom and I bought it from a farm stand in New York.  I'm enjoying it a bit longer before cooking it, but I have bought canned pumpkin to make pumpkin muffins, crumble cake, and a pecan-eggnog-pumpkin pie in recent weeks.  I just couldn't wait.  :)

Now, with Thanksgiving upon us again, I want to actually write some "thankful" posts.  But we will start tomorrow, I think . . .