lawn to table

our friend+neighbor jocelyn invited shepherd over to 'help' her mow her lawn.

before the cutting began, heron & i set to work gathering the dandelions 

to batter & fry for dinner.

sheppy got to try pushing the real mower, though he was ultimately more at ease with this one.

busy playing in the afternoon sun, it was near dusk before we got around to making dinner.

causa morada con hongos

celebratory date at andina after josh's tour + mailing out four hundred albums to donors.  

this was just the appetizer to the best aji de gallina in portland.  

(aji de gallina--a country chicken curry--isn't as pretty to photograph)

small voice classic

after nine months of waiting, the hard copies of josh's album love & war & the sea in between finally arrived on our doorstep!  since our design inspiration came from the penguin hardcover classics, & would be hardbound like an old book (implemented by designer chris tobias), manufacturing took a very. long. time.  but, now we have three thousand copies in our home, & step one was to send them out to donors.

thanks to the generosity of listeners, josh's album project was entirely funded, & we were able to get through the year+ of recording, producing, designing, & manufacturing without going into debt.  so it has been such a joy to give something back to the people who extended such support & generosity to us!  our friend amanda stamped & addressed all the envelopes, & josh & i spent thursday & friday mornings packaging them all up.  i'd spent the weeks previous getting all of the package design elements in place, since you know we really like pretty packaging around here ;)

collectors

spring is here, so every day the kids are out collecting flowers & bugs.

we've been wearing sandals & sundresses, having picnics, drinking lemongrass soda pop.

my favorite & my best

i love big breakfasts.  especially when i'm pregnant.  challah bread french toast + honey cream cheese + raspberry sauce is my go-to on weekends, best when shared with friends.

challah bread is such a perfect companion to this french toast batter that i thought i'd try making my own challah from scratch this weekend* (i usually buy it fresh from our local organic grocery store).  but.  seasoned artisan bread-baker i am not.  while the process of making it with the kids was incredibly enjoyable, i need quite a bit more practice with yeast breads before i choose it over our store-bought fav.

however, i will still share photos, as heron, shepherd, & i had such fun making it together on saturday morning, eating it fresh out of the oven with butter on a front lawn picnic with sara, & it did not make entirely inedible french toast the following morning (just a little denser than we're accustomed to)...

*inspired by my friend amanda vanderpool, who makes a fresh loaf of challah for every Sabbath

: fresh cream cheese :

fresh cream cheese

3/4 cup whipping cream

8 ounces cream cheese

2 tablespoons honey

one. whip it together

two. place in a colander lined with damp cheesecloth

three. enclose in cheesecloth

four. refrigerate for twenty-four hours

five. unfold cloth, turn cheese onto a serving plate

six. top with extra honey

seven. serve + enjoy

french toast batter

2 eggs

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon orange flower water (do not leave this out--it's what makes this recipe so special!)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup of milk

4 slices of bread

butter or oil for the skillet 

(more precise instructions for both recipes in deborah madison's vegetarian cooking for everyone)

: challah french toast + honey cream cheese + raspberry sauce :

morning picnic

homemade challah + butter, lemongrass soda

(a pleasure to have sara join us from seattle for the afternoon)

saturday treat.

brownie + mascarpone + orange zest

(inspired by andee)

an anniversary of death & birth

the Lord is gracious & merciful, & his timing is perfect.  the four-year anniversary of my dad's death is now the anniversary of my daughter's birth in jesus.  

all day long, april 19, heron had been asking me to tell her the parables of jesus, as we'd just listened to some songs where the concept of using parable stories (or song, rhyme, poetry), as jesus did, to communicate deeper truths about God's kingdom, was first introduced to her.  she was fascinated by this, & the parable-telling & parable-reading after we put shepherd to bed led to further conversations about sin that we'd been having for weeks.  she'd been telling me all day that she wanted to invite jesus into her heart that night.  & so she did!  after we prayed, we read & talked about ezekiel 36 : 26 & 27 which goes like this :

i will give you a new heart

and put a new spirit in you;

i will remove from you your heart of stone

and give you a heart of flesh.

and i will put my Spirit in you

and move you to follow my decrees

and be careful to keep my laws.

ever since, she has been telling everyone that she has a new heart now!  hallelujah!  congratulations, sweet little bird!

lego exhibit at omsi

sunday sleepy.

sweet little

hello baby!

baby gee number three is on the way!  

arriving october twenty sixth

twelve weeks old now 

little snacktime

turmeric, cabbage, beets, onions

belated egg-dyeing, wednesday after easter

laurelhurst park

tree climb at laurelhurst park

after heron's trapeze class

kid chef in the morning

dandelion delivery

sniffles & snuggles.

so.  we have been sick around here since returning from our visit to the farm.  thus, no promised pictures.  there has been no time or energy.  (whenever i've had a free, non-sick moment, i've actually been doing taxes!  no small task for dis-organized small business owners!)  heron, shepherd, & i have been taking our turns with fevers, coughing, exhaustion, & snot for over a week now.  thankfully, we have had the best nurse, mr. mom!  josh has been doing laundry, making meals, running to the grocery store, letting me sleep in, really getting us through this icky time.  so far he has remained healthy, & we pray he remains so, as he has several trips coming up this month.

i would say that it's been a dreadful week, but a part of me has really enjoyed this time with the kids.  we have had lots of indoor snuggling days, many movie times (one day we even watched happy feet 2 two times), and daytime slumber parties.  heron & shepherd have alternated sleeping with me (because whoever's sick gets to sleep with mama, even if mama's sick) for naps.  little shepherd, so compassionate even during a long morning fever nap, would roll over to me every time i coughed, & with a sweet sleepy little raspy voice, ask, "you okay, mama?"  ay!  what a sweetie!

we are just now on the mends, but my cough remains.  josh & i have been praying so much this past year that jesus would be our physician, & he has kept us amazingly healthy--even miraculously dissolved my migraine the moment we pray sometimes.  (this is the first any of us have gotten sick all year--we survived all winter!)  but i'd love your prayers for this ongoing, annual goose cough i get.  it is definitely my body's weak spot.