Brioche Donuts

I think I'll always be grateful to Debbie for introducing me to Satura Cakes.  She & Whit had ordered their wedding cake from Satura.  As the florist, it was my job to drop off flowers at the bakery for the topper.  

I walked into the bakery & was immediately drawn to the tiny pastries in the display cabinet.  

I had to try something.  We were a little in a hurry though.  I just asked for a few donuts.  

Brioche donuts, that is. 

The first time I had this donut, it totally blew my mind.  

It still is mind-blowing, after the 6th donut.  

If I am in Los Altos (like I was this weekend) I absolutely must have one.

They are apparently healthy, too.  Fried in EVOO.  

    

Gillian is here enjoying her Kouign-Amann.  It's like a morning bun from Starbucks.  Only it is caramelized & ten times better.  

If you are ever near to a Satura bakery.  Get thee there.  

Talking to Youngsters About Death & other Awful Stuff

What do you say to a young child about death?

For now, everyone feels pain & sadness because of sin.  

effects are everywhere.  

"All of creation groans and suffers."

 Bad things happen.  People get sick.  

Baby birds fall out of their nests.  Some people go hungry.

Sometimes, little babies die.

This place doesn't have dead people.  

This is where we come to remember the ones who have died.

The stone is a remembrance of your brother.  

Like the cross is a remembrance of Jesus.

Someday, when we are with Jesus, there will be no more reasons to cry, 

no more pain, no more sickness, no more hunger & no more death.

We want to use our real life to teach our kids about real life.

Gillian is starting to understand.
She understands memorials or remembrances.
And she understands a little about heartbreak
(when you are really, really sad)
& a little bit about pain
(it's like when you have really bad red blood, right?)
She asked us if her brother is now a really big man
who is standing with Jesus right now.  

Guy Flowers

Today I made this floral delivery for a High School graduate.  

It was requested to be masculine looking.  

This Pincushion Protea comes to my mind, as a guy flower.  

They are super sturdy.  

They almost look dangerous.

Kangaroo Paws look masculine, I think.  

Straight, clean lines &strong branches.

Bromeliads are quite masculine.  My husband bought one for a houseplant.  I did not care for it.  I didn't force it out of the house.  But, I was unwilling to give my husband any affirmation that it was good looking.  

So, it got taken to Scott's office.  There, the Bromeliad is well loved by men.  They call it el Tigre.

This isn't THE el Tigre.  Just a look a like I found on the web.

 

What do you think of as being a man flower?

Of No Great Importance

I was on my last roll of toilet paper for my household.  It was necessary for me to go to Target.
(Although, I did have napkins, cloth diapers & lettuce in the house still.
Any of those could have been a substitute, I suppose.)

Target has Dwell Studio tablecloths that are gorgeous, for $20.

That is my couch though, not my table.

This is what is on my table.  Oil cloth that can wiped off after each meal.  

(Or every other meal.  Depends on whether or not I care if it is clean.)

The pits are waiting for Gillian.  She is going to plant them.  

She ate this many "soft little peaches called apricots" in one day.  I think she likes them.  

I do, too.  I love apricot season.  I wanted to make cobbler.  But, I was trying to be good.  I left them alone.  Then by the next morning, they were all eaten anyway.  That's a good thing & a bad thing.

I do remember my mom warning me as a little girl, not to eat too many apricots, or I would make myself sick.

I think my husband will be proud of me when he gets home.  It's always a good day for him, when there is too much vegetable matter to fit into the countertop bucket & it is just all over the counter.  He loves to compost.

I am going to be cutting back.  On kid's clothes.  Shuffling clothes in & out of the house as they grow out of one size & into the next.  Kids grow too fast.  I'm having a hard time keeping up.  I just started the shuffle again this week.  But, I'm not finished.  This is what Moira's room looks like.  

I have decided to stop saving clothes that are all stainy & awful looking.  That's a bit of a no-brainer, I guess.  But, I'm going to do more.  Once the child outgrows the clothes & it is time to pack them into the garage, if I don't just love it, I am getting rid of it.  They seriously don't need all these clothes.

Speaking of clothes I love - this is one of my favorites that Gillian used to wear.  Now they fit Moira.
Look at those little jeans.  Ack!  I love 'em!

See her lips?  She is trying to imitate me whistling.  

Edit your Opinions

Should people write about important deep stuff on the Internet?
Should they all "strictly restrict their remarks to the weather"?
There is a lot of good writing out there; thoughtful stuff; impactful stuff.
There is also a lot of discouraging stuff; distasteful stuff; thoughtless stuff.

The written word is powerful. I want to try to use it for good. But, I'm not a talented writer. I am sure no one would publish my writings. So, I publish myself on Blogger. But, being self publishing, means I have no editor. The ease of typing a few thoughts & pushing publish means I may not even do self editing. There in lies my problem.

The words I write are my responsibility. I need to take care. I need to edit my own opinions. Just because this is my blog, doesn't mean I can write whatever I want. And, even if I take care with what I write, it doesn't mean that I am always right.

Here's a good standard
- Philippians 4:8
"Finally brethren, whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is of good repute,
 if there is any excellence
and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things."

-Ephesians 4:29
"...such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to the hearer [readers, too]."

I want to be careful to edit myself, in written & spoken word.
And, sometimes, even when I think I've properly edited, I still may be wrong.
I still may need to take back stuff I've said.


*********** I was just reading this passage, in 2 Timothy
& thought is was so appropriate for this discussion.**********
"But avoid foolish & ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.  And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth..."


That is not to say that a gentle, intelligent conversation or debate is wrong.
I think it takes discernment to know when & what to discuss, don't you?


What do you think are the positives to the whole blogosphere?  What are the negatives? 
How are you going to make it better?

Things I Want to Learn

I've been having a lot of deep thoughts lately.

Thoughts related to my life.  Thoughts related to other people's lives.  

Thoughts impacted by recent books read.
Thoughts impacted by recent blog posts read.

My pastor wrote this one about drawing lines in the sand.

This woman is an acquaintance from the old homeschool days.
She wrote about what devotion really is.
And she also said she thinks truth is not very popular.

This new online friend wrote about why she thinks its hard to have a good discussion about deep things.
She thinks we shouldn't get our panties in a bunch so easily.  I think she is right.

I want to learn to talk about important things, without being super sensitive.
I want to be able to affirm that God's Word is truth,
but admit that I don't always understand it rightly.
I want to be careful to read the Bible, to see what God commands of us,
but also what He does not command of us.
I want to show people more grace, without withholding truth.

I Was Part

I quit Facebook & they noticed!  I made the news, I guess.

Mo Got a Party

Now that we are home, in our house, near to family again, Moira got her One Year old birthday party.  

Your Last Chance

Don't forget that this book giveaway is ending tonight!
Parenting is Your Highest Calling & 8 other myths
If you didn't enter yet, go over there & do it!

******  We decided to make 2 people winners.
Scott just pulled the names out of my big pink bowl.
Tina & Karie are the winners!****************

This Week Five Years Ago...

...Our first child was born, with Anencephaly.  

If you've never heard of Anencephaly, you are not alone.  My spell check doesn't recognize the word. 

A little more than 5 years ago, I had never heard of it either.  

When the ultrasound technician said the word to me, I didn't know what it meant.

  

If you Google the word, the main thing you will get is cold medical terminology.  You may find out that some very educated people don't think that anencephalic babies have any life in them.  There is a lot you can read & lot you probably shouldn't read.  If you are searching for information about Anencephaly, I think the only place you need to go is Anencephaly.info

During the bittersweet months of being pregnant with our son, Gabriel, we learned a lot about life- even more about its preciousness.  He was so active & lively.  He was crazier in utero than his younger siblings.  Sometimes it was like he was break dancing.  Or practicing gymnastics.   

Anencephaly is always fatal.  That is a factual truth.  But, prior to the death, there was life.  Our baby was alive.  He even held on through the hardship of being born.  

We welcomed a child into this world, 5 years ago.

We even received a note of congratulations.

Gabriel Scott Adams was alive; even if for only a few minutes after birth.

If you are carrying a baby diagnosed with Anencephaly, I would love to talk with you.  Or maybe you gave birth & have already had to say good bye to your baby.  If you want to talk to someone, let me know.

Day Tripping It

While in Macdoel last week (we are home finally!), we had a couple surprise days off.  So, we took some day trips to see new things.

We went to Ashland Oregon one day.  The drive was incredibly beautiful.  And, for a portion of the time, incredibly frightening.  Highway 66 climbs up the side of the mountains, offering you extremely sheer cliffs to fall off of along the way.

We just stumbled across an excellent restaurant for lunch -

The Standing Stone Brewery.

We started with a pizza with house made Italian sausage, 

wild nettles & goat cheese.  SO yummy.

Then we had burgers.  They were also fabulous.  Scott's was Bison.

Then we had Coffee Mousse topped with fresh Blackberries.  

That was a new flavor combo for me.  I really liked it!

The starter bread & spreads were also super good.

Ashland is a really pretty mountain town.  

Gorgeous homes, beautiful scenery & a neat downtown.  

There is also a charming downtown park - Lithia Park.

It has a pretty creek walk & duck ponds.

And a fun playground, too.

The other day we went to Burney MacArthur State Park. 

 Burney Falls & Lake Britton were both amazing.

The "hike" to the falls is really short.  

Gillian exclaimed loudly how fun it is to hike 

when you bring your little animal with you & pretend that it is a baby.  (?)

Amazed by the falls.

This is Peyton's response to "Smile".

The girls!

Lake Britton was a minute down the little road.  It was beautiful!

We hadn't planned on a swim.  But, the weather was warm.  

So, I told the kids they could get their feet wet.

Well.  Sure.  A little more is fine.  

Is it okay if we go a little more?

Uh.....

I guess we'll just drive home with no clothes on...

This diaper had just been "fresh" a few minutes ago.  

When we took it off of her, it must have weighed about 20 pounds.

I Get Teary A Lot

Some things that make me cry

Billy Joel's Goodnight Saigon

And it was dark.
So dark at night
And we held onto each other
Like brother to brother
We promised our mothers we'd write
And we would all go down together ...



Reading profiles for "waiting children", little orphan babies with severe special needs.

Watching TLC's "Hoarders: Buried Alive" 
(It made me want to become a psychologist.  Ha!)

Reading Julia Child's introduction to "My Life in France".

Thinking of my firstborn, who was born & buried 5 years ago.

Trying to fathom how great my Heavenly Father's love is.

Meet Macdoel

A gas station town along Highway 97.

A speck of a town in Butte Valley.

North of Mount Shasta

(In a cloud cover on a stormy day)

South of Mount Ashland

(The snow capped peak)

East of Ball Mountain

Where cattle wander through Juniper trees. 

Where you realize that vibrating phones sound just like cattle mooing.

(The cowboy said that a lot of the cows most likely have pneumonia,

with all the bad weather we've been having. 

I guess he's checking them today.)

Where everywhere there are no Juniper trees, there are fields of Hay, Alfalfa & berry plants.

(This view is from our driveway.
Scott will be planting the field in the background soon.)

Where you can wake up in the month of May to 17 degree temps
& still be in California.

And then later in the day it might get to 60 degrees.

Where the "Cherry House" double wide trailer
 is one of the nicest houses around.

Where there are Bald & Golden Eagles everywhere.

But, I don't have a single photo of them.

(Sunday Scott drove us around & we saw about 12 Eagles in 5 minutes time.)

Where the static electricity (or elecserious, as Gillian says) is going to drive me insane. 
It's best to never wash your hair.  Then the heaviness of the grease keeps it from frizzing too much.
Also, never brush dry hair.  That brings disaster.

Where it is okay to use an Elk for a coat rack.

Or for hide & seek games.

Where the snow & bad weather keep prolonging our stay.

Mother's Day at Moore Park

I've seen this pretty park for years & wanted to picnic here.  It is on the south side of upper Klamath Lake.  It has spacious lawns & gorgeous trees.  And, a little playground, too.

After church, we stopped at the grocery store to get picnic food. 

We enjoyed lunch & play in the sun, right before more rain came through.

By the way - this little girl turned 1 year old this weekend. 

We celebrated by singing Happy Birthday to her over & over again.  She loved it.