Table for Eight

There's a mystery here on Hysteria Lane. A big one. Last night as we were coming home from the grocery store (with Jonah at the wheel), I noticed a box on our doorstep. An Amazon.com box, to be exact. Seeing how Dave is a major book fan (to the 10th power), I assumed the package was for him. So, I left it there. (I'm lazy when it's 12 degrees in April. Sad, but true.) But guess what? The package wasn't for him! (Poor Dave, he thought it was for him too. Book-lovers can't help but see that Amazon logo and get excited. Poor guy.) Anyway, my point. SOMEONE--some Mysterious SOMEONE --left ME (yes, ME!) a brand new copy of the book " The Bread Bible " with a note that said they enjoy reading my blog and hope I will be inspired by the book (that's a summary). Can you believe that? It's like a blog giveaway IN REVERSE! How fun is that? How lucky am I? (And, should I start blogging about jewelry next?  LOL!) Thank you, Mystery Som...

Well, we woke up to a dusting of SNOW on the lawn/car/home today. Joy to the world! I LOVE snow in April-soon-to-be-May. But rather than complain about it (because I can't control the weather, I can only CONTROL my reaction to it), I thought it would be better to do a little inventory check and focus on what's going well on Hysteria Lane. You know: Take a walk on the Brighter Side of the street. Count my blessings.Think of the things I like vs. the things that make me crabby. (BTW: I think being crabby is okay--as long as you are in water. Which, I'm not. So I better revise my attitude OR get in some water.) But enough rambling, onto my my list . . .   Favorite Things This Week: 1. Zip and Steam Bags. You can microwave your vegetables in these little guys. It's so much better than getting out a 10 quart pot and boiling water. I know that plastic and micro-waves are probably not greenhouse-friendly, BUT, I'm saving water. AND, the veggies are so good! (Not ove...

I read this: SHE'S AN ADOPTIVE MOM! http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20364464_20364639,00.html

If you know me, you know I love metaphors. I just think they are so cool. (BTW: One of my all-time favorite metaphors comes from City Slickers, "If hate were people, you'd be China." OMGoodness that's funny.) Anyhow, Dave gave me this metaphor yesterday and I about died. I can't believe I went through life without knowing this metaphor: "We're rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic here." It that just soooooooooooooooooooooooo powerful? It's my new favorite metaphor! It just speaks to me. LOUDLY. About all of the things we do to HANG onto life-situations, people, things, etc., without realizing that "Hay, this 'ship' is sinking, baby. It doesn't really matter where you move the deckchairs!" Isn't that an awesome metaphor? (Well, aside from the fact that it references the real-life life/death/hell of 1500+ passengers. That part bums me out.)

First off, Happy Birthday Kindra! We hope you have a great day! (Your bday acrostic is below the volcano photos). And now, the volcano! Camry and I just returned from Kaya's "Volcano Show Down" at school. It was like a scene out of the Brady Bunch, watching each kiddo step up to their volcano, hoping to see it erupt on cue. Kaya did a fabulous job. Dave helped her engineer it--with plaster and medical tape. They did a test run on Sunday and it was sooooooooo fun to watch. Love volcanoes. Good job, Kaya. You are one amazing earth scientist! Happy Birthday Kindra! K ind isn't even kind enough to describe you! I love your eclair cake! N othing you can't do. Sew curtains--check. Teach children--check. Change the chorister to the coolest calling ever--check! D awn still needs you across the street. R ole model for our daughters. A great tutu-maker.

Every now and then someone will ask us about our kids' adoptions--how we were able to adopt, what agency we used, what age we were when we adopted (just kidding, they actually ask what age the kids were--LOL!), what prompted us to adopt, how much it cost, etc. But the question we get asked more than any other is "Are their adoptions open?" To which I usually say, "Can you please keep your voice down, the kids still don't know they are adopted." Just kidding. You know me (or, maybe you don't--ha!), I can't really answer anything in one word. Ever. (Especially when it comes to talking about our kids and the miracle journey we each made to meet each other on Planet E.) But, in short, the answer to the open adoption question is "Yes, our adoptions are open." But "open adoption" means different things for different families. For some families, open adoption means a card and letter on birthdays. A phone call once a year. A me...

We hope you have a great day, Uncle Mike! If you were here, we'd make you 40+ kinds of bread! XOXOX PS: The bread-making obsession continues . . .  yesterday Cam helped me make the brioche dough. I think I may have fallen down my own rabbit hole. But in a good way. (Shelby, Janeil and Miriam . . . your loaves are coming. I have a few kinks to iron out.) PSS: On today's calendar: Baguettes. I made the poolish and everything. WOO HOO! PSx3: The bread above is a 1lb Brioche a Tete (with an accento mark). It's a little like Challah. You are supposed to serve it at tea parties and such--with marmalade or lemon curd.

Dropping off donations at the Christmas Box House (the temporary shelter/home for children in foster care) April 2010 THANK YOU friends and neighbors for donating gift cards, money, pillows, towels, jeans, jackets, toiletries, and games to the Christmas Box House. In all, our donations totaled over $800.00 ($450 in gift cards and cash donations--and then at least $350.00 in new clothing/supplies). We love you and appreciate you! It really means a lot to our family to have friends who literally GIVE all they have to support other people. And heaven knows, our family has been supported a lot this year. Oh! And just so you know, the CBH staff was sooooooooo excited and appreciative of the donations (I think they were stunned). They said thank you a thousand times over. (Oh, and I I think we were able to see a few of the kiddos that were going to be getting new towels and pillows that day! What a great feeling!) PS: Thank you, too, for giving us the opportunity to deliver the donations in ...

Jonah found a great food website for me today and I just had to share a few photos from it: http://epicute.com (Thanks, Jonah!) PS: Still baking bread. Loaf 27 and counting . . . brioche on for tomorrow. I'm totally doing this next Christmas. Gingy! For my 39th bday we had rainbow cupcakes--thanks to my culinary friends Mary and Whittney. This year I'm asking for rainbow pancakes. (Well, I'm also asking for Whitt to move back to Daybreak. I think it's the least she can do for her almost-middle-aged friend. Eeek!) Bento mini-cooper. Or is it Herbie? I'm not sure if this is cute or creepy, but it made me pause, so I guess that's good.

LuLu and Jr., April 2009. (First morning in our family.) A year ago today we became Jr. and LuLu's foster family. 365 days later, we are no longer a foster family; we are simply a family. Well, a family with 2 parents, 6 kiddos, 4 pets, lots and lots of schedules, dishes, laundry, homework, and chatter. I don't think I can really express--in one blogpost--what the last year has done for our family (or what it's been like). I know that we've experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. But I think that's what a typical year is like for every family. And as we sat around the counter this morning, all 8 of us, getting ready for the day and talking about "the one year mark," all I could think of was this: We are better versions of ourselves for opening our hearts/lives to Jr. and LuLu. And I pray, despite their genuine losses, that they are better versions of themselves for opening their hearts/lives to us. Each of you kiddos, J, C, K, Jr., P, an...

I was watching a clip on YouTube with Paula Deen the other day (Food TV person) and the interviewer asked her, "How do you eat like this all of the time? It's so bad for you. At a time when Americans are overweight, out of shape, and eating so much processed food . . . . I mean, you make things like Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding and Deep Fried Macc-n-Cheese. How do you justify eating like that?" To which Paula replied . . . "Well, the way I see it is everything in moderation. If I were hit by a bus on the way out of this interview, I sure wouldn't want my last meal to have been a salad. I don't want some green leaf flying out of my mouth. No, I want to make sure I've had some potato salad, a burger, cake, somewhere in there." And then she went on with her life and food philosophy. She said, there are some things in life you eat or do once a week. Some once a month. Others just once a year. And a few . . . once in a lifetime is enough (she refere...

It looks like spring may have sprung here in Utah and WOW does it feel GOOD! I'm going to take my mom's line and just say, "If we were bugs, today would be a good day to go out and fly around." So TRUE! Here's what we did this weekend. Nothing fancy, but it sure did feel good to just BE . . . and bake bread, make granola, bake bread, celebrate Jen's bday, bake bread, go to church, bake bread, ride bikes, bake bread, have dinner with friends, and . . . BAKE BREAD! Local peeps: please call me if you are up to trying the bread. I love making it so much. And it's literally 40 cents a loaf (materials). I'm dying to share it. It's so fun to make. (And at this rate, we're set to pop, hun. Name the movie. Anyone?)