Donuts and Birthdays

I have this quote from a daily devotional hanging in my kitchen,

   The very fact of trial proves there is something in us that is very precious to our Lord,

else he would not spend so much time and pain on us. Christ would not test us if he did not see the precious ore of faith mingled in the rocky matrix of our nature; and it is to bring this out into purity and beauty that he forces us through the fiery ordeal.

Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Philippians 1:6

Am I allowing myself to be molded and shaped into the person God wants me to be? I have grown in some area's but every time one thing is brought into submission, another area in need of growth pops up. I am continually in need of God's grace and mercy. Learning about attachment disorder has taught me so much about myself and my relationship with God. I long for a close relationship with him but when he pulls me closer and requires me to hand over more of my self, I pull back because I am afraid he will ask me to do something that I feel is to hard. I need to just trust him. Children with attachment disorder need to learn to trust that we as their parents do have their best interest in mind but they are afraid to hand over that trust for fear we will hurt them. Trust is such a small word with huge ramifications and huge blessings.

Donuts rising

Joseph watching the donut making process

Covering the creme filled donuts in powdered sugar

The finished product, waiting to be divided out

 I got between 4-5 dozen! If you like homemade donuts, stop by and we can enjoy one along with our coffee!

We had a birthday to celebrate this week. I won't say how old he is, but he claims he felt slighted when he saw there were only ten candles on his cake. I wanted to make something special and the Oreo Cake looked like just the thing, except I didn't have a cake mix. The recipe called for a cake mix and some other ingredients, I was then  to pour it into two round cake pans, which I didn't have; so a 9x13 had to do. The idea was to place the filling in between the two round layers making it look like a giant oreo cookie. Thankfully my husband isn't bothered by small details such as the shape of the pan! The children dug through their treasures and wrapped some gifts for him. They took the items back again because they wanted to give daddy gifts but didn't want him to keep them.

A friend stopped by and brightened my day with this spring like basket. I feel so unworthy of all the things my friends do for me... they obviously know my love language and use that knowledge to encourage me on my journey of life.

Blessed!

I am enjoying a relaxing day, thanks to family and friends who go out of their way to bless us. Yesterday I took Braden back to TAP. He was home a day longer than usual and the visit was a success! Braden has one more home visit then he will be home to stay with short visits at TAP. Anyway, both grandma's babysat and both sent food along home. Dean and the children ate at his parents place because I got home later than planned due to traffic. My friend Melissa, brought our supper (which we will enjoy tonight) AND did my laundry and some cleaning! When I called Dean to tell him I left TAP and was on my way home he told me someone called and asked if he thinks I would mind if they did some work around my house. He told them to go for it. I was bursting to know who it was, all the while visually trying to think what each room looked like. I had purposely made sure the kitchen and family room looked presentable cause I knew Melissa planned to drop off some food. So much for trying to make a good impression! Honestly though, I felt so very blessed as I despise coming home to a messy house. To top it all off, Tristan brought another bag of goodies home from school. There were some yummy peanut butter bars included, which go perfect with a cup of coffee.
   Kiana and Joseph are at such an interesting age. They are curious about everything and tend to form opinions on matters they know nothing about. This morning Kiana and I were talking about how mom's take care of their children. She told me she won't have to worry about that cause she is going to be a cowgirl and not have children! On Sunday evening we enjoyed listening to the Hosanna Praise Singers. I was listening intently, when I heard a little whisper, "It must be about midnight!" When I told Joseph what time it was he replied, "Well then it must be at least after bedtime!"
   I read the book, The Invisible String, by: Patrice Karst, to Braden this week end. You can buy the book on Amazon and I highly recommend it if you have children with attachment difficulties. The book is about two children who were scared during a storm and their mom explained that there is an invisible string that goes from her heart to theirs, whenever she thinks of them it tugs on their heart. The string can go anywhere and since love is stronger than mad, it stays connected even when they are angry with one another. I was trying to think of a visual example to use to show my love for Braden. I whispered a quick prayer and God gave me this idea: I cut a heart out of pink paper and had Braden write down the things he enjoys doing with me, then I cut a smaller heart out of the center of the big heart and covered it with book tape. Now my heart is not complete without his heart. He was so happy!

Our hens have begun to lay eggs again. The children found this "baby egg" and wanted me to make it. When I cracked it open it didn't look very edible so the dogs got it instead. The egg is clean, it just has dark markings on it. :)

I have two friends who are UpperCase Living consultants. They are having a fund raiser for another friend of ours who is receiving chemo and radiation. 25% of the sales will be given to help pay for medical bills. Here is the link:  rosehuber.uppercaseliving.net The fundraiser will be in effect until the end of March 2014. Please consider brightening up your home and supporting the fundraiser.

Friday Morning

My blog has been hibernating the past few weeks. We have spent more time away from home than not and most places we went weren't blogging material. We are greatly anticipating spring around here. I received a seed catalog in the mail the other day. There is nothing like seeing pictures of flowers to give me spring fever. Here in the "Arctic Zone" as we call our side of the mountain, we still have several inches of snow on the ground. I do know that once those last few inches are gone, we will have one muddy mess. Our ground gets very slick and smeary when it begins to thaw.
  Braden is home for a visit. This is the text I sent to Miss Sharon this morning, "Braden is such a joy today. He is kind, cheerful and helpful!" I praised him for a job well done and he beamed at me and gave me a hug, all of his own accord! I am amazed at the miracle of healing that is taking place in Braden's heart.
 

Lego's are the activity of choice this morning. The have been happily playing for the past hour.

This verse has taken on new meaning in the past week:

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Thanks to each and everyone who has prayed for our family these past months! God has been faithful.