Tea kettle

I set my tea kettle on the stove without water in it and turned it on...foolishly.  It was a shiny stainless steel and now it is brownish, like the solder holding the various parts on it melted and splattered.  The knob on the top is cracked, too. 

We've had this kettle for 10-15 years, I can't remember exactly how long, but I'm sentimental and would like to keep it. 

Look who is almost ready to crawl!

And waving "hello"!

Olivia helped me gather violet blossoms to make jelly...

Painting...

We've had less sleep lately.  Well, during the night.  Paul got his 2nd tooth!  And just woke up from a nice 2 hour nap.  I was doing laundry and painting cards while he napped today.

My mom ordered this icon of St. Luke from a 14 year old friend of ours...yes, it's hand painted!  Didn't he do an amazing job?

 More cards for sale in my etsy shop! 

Here are a few more photos from the photo session with Katie.  I ♥ this one of our 3 kids!

6 months old

One of my favorite photos taken by my friend, Katie - http://www.katieschneiderphotography.com/

And another...hope little Paul keeps his blue eyes like his big sis Olivia and red hair like Hannah!

We all had sweet potatoes yesterday!  It was his 1st time having anything besides milk and a sip of water.

Me, Rob and Paul before the St. Patrick's day parade.  Olivia was dancing with the McGing Irish dancers and Hannah came with my sister.  I love the photos below of my mom reaching out to hug Hannah.

 We walked in the parade behind Olivia's group.

 My niece in the middle.

 And Olivia is on the left in this photo...

We just started Great Lent this week.  Trying to clean up around the house, and simplify things.  Hannah just bought this book Spark Joy by Marie Kondo.  Really good for the start of Lent, in my opinion.  Pascha is May 1st this year!

Hello fork and spoon

I've let Paul play with a little fork and spoon some...under our supervision.  When he turns 6 months, we'll try giving him some food.  Probably sweet potatoes, but maybe avocado or banana.  Since I've been solely breastfeeding, this will be Rob's turn to feed him.  Soon!

Paul likes Olivia's little felted figures.  She's made a dog and a fox and currently working on a bluebird.

I made pancakes and topped them with sour cream and sauerkraut (I made it by putting chopped purple cabbage and pink salt in a jar and mashing it down until it began to create juice and then let it sit at room temperature for about 5 days).  Yum!

Growing so fast

 My friend Katie, took professional photos on Saturday...I got a sneak peek at them yesterday afternoon when we went over to her house.  I am looking forward to sharing them!  Paul loves being kissed and poses so well when we take photos.

 After nursing...and below, napping with Daddy.

Trying to get Hannah's napkin. Success!  Everything goes into his mouth.  He got his first tooth Sunday evening, I could feel it...sharp little thing.  Now, we can actually see it.

Yesterday, a friend gave me this thorough timeline!  I'd admired hers and hadn't got one yet.  It's about 192 inches long, so I will need to figure out where to hang it up.

I got an essential oils starter kit from Young Living a couple weeks ago.  The diffuser is on the left, basically like a humidifier, it puts a fine mist of water with whatever essential oil into the air. 

My favorite combination is "Thieves" and "Citrus Bliss" (from DoTerra oils, which my sister sent me) right now.  Thieves is a Young Living blend of clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus radiata, lemon and rosemary oils.  It's named "thieves" because of the legend of four 15th-century French thieves who formulated a special aromatic combination that kept them healthy -  clove, rosemary, and other botanicals used while robbing the dead and dying. Interesting, huh?  I want to try the Thieves toothpaste.
A giveaway from Rocky Mountain Oils, that I thought you might enjoy (they're giving away iPad, RMO Single Essentials Kit and Aroma Spa Diffuser!)
Enter to win here: http://gvwy.io/zjdcf01
When you enter using that link, I'll get an entry into the giveaway, too. So, thanks!
 I joined Instagram this week...find me here:  https://www.instagram.com/xx.marfa.xx/

A peek of the seeds I planted 5 days ago.