My blog is named after our home and farm which we call “Zephyr Hill.” We are a homeschooling family with 5 children here on Earth and 1 little girl named Margaret who went to Heaven when she was 6 months old.
Jeremiah and I met in college where we majored in history. After graduation, he enlisted in the Army and we got married. Immediately we found out there was a baby on the way and just that quickly Jeremiah was sent to Iraq!
When I was expecting my second, he was deployed again, this time to Afghanistan. After 4 years in the service, Jeremiah and I decided it was time for something new. We moved to the Midwest to be near my family and he went to work for a family-owned manufacturing company. I keep the home fires burning and run my blog and professional naming service.
Joseph is my oldest (age 9) and is learning to be a little man, doing chores around the farm and helping his Mama out in whatever way he can. Joseph is capable and quick-minded. He has made his First Communion and is studying now to be an altar boy, and learning some Latin, too! He’s a Lego master builder in his spare time. 
Catherine is 8 and a wonderful helper around the house, changing the baby, sweeping the floors and wiping tables and counter tops. She’s also starting to have some fun with cooking. Last year Catherine made her First Communion and had her tonsils out. Two big milestones! Catherine’s gifts are her artistic ability and generous, compassionate nature.
Benjamin just turned 4 and is a lovable, gentle little boy that warms every heart he comes in contact with. He absolutely adores babies and is Susanna’s best friend. He loves “Lego guys” and Papo knights and Captain America. He wants to be a ninja, and an astronaut, and a knight, and a Jedi and the two things I hear most from Benjamin throughout the day are “Mama, watch this!” and “Mama, I’m hungry!”
Samuel just turned 2 and has a real stand-out personality. When he’s good, he’s very good, and when he’s bad he’s horrid, as the old nursery rhyme says. There’s nothing in between with this boy! He is curious, irresistibly cute and playful – yet is liable to go off at any moment like a firecracker. When we used to let him out of his playpen, my husband would call out loudly “RELEASE THE KRAKEN!” and you’ll know what that alludes to if you grew up in the 80′s. Samuel is a tornado in a tea cup and I say now to his future wife (or parish, if God calls him to religious life): look out!
Susanna is eight months old and seems a lot like Benjamin so far – very sweet and agreeable. She was my first nursing baby to sleep through the night just a few weeks after birth. You’ll see her a lot on my diapering blog posts as she’s a very willing little guinea pig and always smiles for the camera. Honestly, she smiles at anything and everything – Susanna is just a happy little girl and everybody’s “baby doll.”
And last of all, but certainly not least, I want to introduce Margaret, who went to Heaven in 2007. She was born with severe heart defects and other health problems that led to her early death, just shy of six months old. We miss her terribly but know that she’s in God’s house and that’s the best place to be!
Jeremiah and I celebrate our 10 year anniversary this June and we are thankful to God every day for His mercy and His blessings.
Thanks for visiting the blog. I do appreciate all my readers and hope you’ll always find my posts helpful and edifying.
