Meet the Family

Who exactly are we? Well, in a nutshell... Crazy. 7 kids in a 19th century farmhouse in Virginia, toddler twins, homeschooling, homesteading... This blog is a whole lot of everything and nothing all at the same time, and I'm so excited that you're here to share that with us!

Here's an introduction to the main cast of characters:

John Paul, born July 2009 (birth story Part I, Part II, and Part III - it's a doozy!).  Math whiz, cursive master, history buff, board game lover, top button-buttoner, and scooter fiend.

Current life goals: Cooking dinner for the whole family from scratch, winning at every board game possible, memorizing The Battle of Lepanto.

Cecilia, born January 2011. Voracious reader, creative artist, incredibly imaginative, nurturing but feisty.

Current life goals: Taking care of Edith, embroidering something beautiful enough to win a prize at the county fair, learning to do all the same things John Paul can do (particularly writing in cursive).

Oh, and did you know we have twins?  Their birth story is here.

 This is Elizabeth, the elder of the twins.  Born in November 2012, she's also the (very slightly) smaller of the two.  Her megawatt smile never fails to get a chuckle from us, and her dance moves are unsurpassed.  Seriously loves pink, but is willing to accessorize with other colors now.

 

Current life goals:  Learning to write, learning to sew, and riding a two-wheeler.

This is Mary Claire, the younger of the twins (by 11 minutes). Slightly larger than Elizabeth, slightly more whiney.  LOVES to read, particularly books that involve kids getting into mischief. Adores all plants, especially edible ones, and often reads through field guides and tells us what she learns.

Current life goals: Hugging Edith constantly, fighting with Peter constantly, reading everything she can get her hands on, making "concoctions" out of whatever edible plants she finds in the yard.

Peter (November 2014) is really, really four  yearsold. He loves being outside, REALLY loves playing with legos, and adores singing "Oh Susannah" at the top of his lungs.

Current life goals:  Learning to play the ukulele, identifying every tree he sees, collecting matchbox cars in every color, keeping his elaborate lego creations away from Edith.

Edith (November 2016) is quite the finicky toddler. She loves tackling her older siblings, hugging, and "reading" stack after stack of books.

Current life goals: Doing everything Peter does, having the cutest baby curls ever (check!), foraging in the yard, and eating whatever carbs she can find.

And our most recent addition, Lucy (February 2019). Made her entrance into this world in an impressively dramatic manner. Loves nursing, looking at fans, sucking on her fingers, and growing a lovely set of curly locks.

Current life goals: Rolling over, being held all day, kicking her legs as hard as she can, grabbing hair, and smiling and cooing at everyone she encounters.

And these are the parents!  Rosie (me) and Andrew (him) met in high school choir.  I thought I would never date him because he was a Baptist, and yet I found myself becoming more and more enamored of him during our long car rides home and hours of Instant Messaging (remember AIM?).  After a few months of dating, Andrew decided to convert to Catholicism and we realized that this relationship might work out in the long run!

6 years later (4 of which were long-distance), we were married!

Here we are on that fateful day in 2008

Now we're living in the DC area (an hour west of DC - want to hear the story of that time we bought a farm?) with our 7 kids.  Andrew's an attorney, and I'm a former music teacher, now staying home full-time with the kids as we try to navigate homeschooling and homesteading.

(If you're curious about our amazingly awkward love story, it's laid out in Part I, Part II, and Part III)

I started this blog so that my mom would stop bothering me for updates on the kids, but it has become a way to chronicle our craziness for myself as well.  And let's face it, it's fun to show the world how stinking cute these kids are!