Madeleine and John's wedding!

Our dear friend, Madeleine was married to a wonderful man this past weekend.  Erik and I were very involved in the wedding preparations, ceremony and reception.  Erik played his violin for the ceremony and I arranged all the flowers.  Super fun for us both!

our dining room table was a garden for most of Saturday!

The Frosted Fox

We have a new local favorite - the Frosted Fox!  It's an excellent bakery near us that just opened a few months ago.  We popped in for a date in mid-November, when Cassie Lou was still in her sleepy newborn days, and while Grandparents entertained the older girls.

I absolutely love how they decorate, so it's a feast for the eyes too!

autumn harvest

Our garden has been bountiful this season.  Harvest has continued late into the autumn and is just now ending.  We've had plenty of kale, arugula, tomatillos, hot peppers, broccoli and a few slow tomatoes.

Erik made a boatload of hot sauce!

We had our annual applesaucing over a few days in October.  

Apples from our farm up north of Philly - beautiful red cortlands!  

Both girls were sweet helpers - washing apples and helping turn the hand crank on the processor.  

I canned a few dozen quarts, froze some and we are enjoying a lot of it right now.

Erik's made two delicious 2 gallon batches of saurekraut in our new-to-us crock.  We are becoming addicted - so yummy!  Recently Eliza Wren and I had a hankering for a late afternoon snack, so we settled down on the kitchen floor to enjoy some together.  It hit the spot. :)

Kitchen Re-do

After our big floor project in the kitchen and dinning rooms this past autumn, we decided to tackle painting the kitchen a few weekends ago.  It was a big job, and during the process we both agreed we were crazy, but it was so worth the mess and insanity for 3 days to have such a beautiful and fresh result!

 before with the old red

 primer done

starting to get the blue on....exciting!

ah..."clear water" blue :)

Date!

As an early celebration of our 6th Anniversary this month, Erik and I went to the Flower Show in Philadelphia.  We spent a lovely Saturday morning there soaking in some much needed color and fun designs.

Afterwards, we popped over a few blocks to a highly recommended cafe, Strangelove's.  Great place - and we had a relaxing time talking without interruption of any kind (?!?!?) and eating tasty food.

Tomorrow (March 15th) is our actual anniversary day...so more photos to come!

NY trip

We made use of the long-weekend to make a trip to see our dear friends, Isaac and Emily and their new baby girl, Addie Belle. :)  What fun to cozy up together during this snow-filled winter over yummy food, lots of tea, stories and wonderful fellowship.  We visited with them and other friends last year over president's weekend too - perhaps this will become a new tradition! :)

meeting Addie Belle :)

fatherhood

lots of giggles!

caught the "just woke up from a nap" look

so excited to sled!

friends forever!

february birthday celebrations

Fun birthday celebrations filled the early part of this month.  We celebrated my 30th birthday as a family with home-day together midweek.  

A cozy day at home with my loves is a favorite of mine.

 Erik, Meredith and Eliza Wren popped out before lunch to pick up supplies...and then decorated the dining room for our lunch celebration.

They made an amazing allergen-free cake for me.  Such yummy chocolate+coconut goodness!

one candle for each decade :)

Later in the week we had a collaborative birthday dinner with friends to celebrate both Mama's recent birthdays - Jane and Joanna. :)
Erik and Duncan put together a spectacular feast!

This exquisite salted chocolate tart was the highlight!
....and now my new favorite dessert.

And, we celebrated with a sweet, wee friend who turned 3 years old last week. :)

the big sisters of our group enjoyed keeping each other giggling most of the afternoon