Category Archives: Stuff I Actually Think

Guini’s 3-tier Donut Cake

2 Mi Familia, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, 5 Songs I am Singing, Stuff I Actually Think

I love the little grandbebes.  The whole cake-making deal came from their sweet requests and imaginations.

Last year, Gavin had a donut volcano and this year, for her 7th birthday, Guini told me she wanted two things:  [1] donuts and [2] three great big tiers.

I really really really want that, she told me.

I figured there was a way to give her the tiers and the donuts.

I just took my everyday dishes out of the cupboard and stacked a bowl with a mini-casserole with a plate and then a coffee cup, another plate and another coffee cup and finally one last full-sized diner plate.

Since we were having breakfast with the fam and the donuts would be eaten quickly, I wasn’t really worried about the whole thing toppling, but just in case, I put some hot-glue dots on the rims of the coffee cups to “glue” it all together.  Because {little-known fact} when you put ceramic with hot glue into the freezer for  few minutes, the hot glue will pop right off, as if it was never there.

So voila!  An easy tiered donut holder that only took about 3 minutes to assemble.  It would probably work for cupcakes, too.

It took another 2 minutes to pile the donuts onto the plates and we were off to the races!

Guini loved it and that makes me happy.  We filled it with big, puffy yeast donuts and decorated cake donuts, too.  There were Crullers and Entenmann’s powdered sugar mini’s and the little chocolate-covered donuts, too.  We topped it with a Mexican pastry for color and to hold the candles.

Guinivere’s mommy and daddy fixed a lovely breakfast buffet for us all – to offset the dozens and dozens of donuts on hand.

It was a lovely way to start a Saturday morning, the whole familia there, except for Ryan, who had Guard this weekend.  All six of my adorable grandbebes celebrating 7 wonderful years of Guini-muggins.  We adore her!

Family is wonderful.

All in one Accord-ion

5 Songs I am Singing, Stuff I Actually Think

Accordion.

I dreamed of one for years.  As soon as my dad became a Church of God preacher and we started picking up the denominational mag, The Evangel at the back of the church, my dreams to own an accordion were ignited.  There were lots of accordion ads in The Evangel back then, when I was 5 or 7.

Notably we had 2 accordionists in our small congregation: Priscilla Sydness and Sharon Harris, both beautiful teen-age girls whom I admired.  Oh, I watched them with great fascination – the smooth in and out of the left side of the magical-music-machine, a certain innate top-to-bottom curve to it, all the while, the fancy finger work on the right.  If you stood close enough, there was even a sweet scent emitted as the air was expelled.

O how I wanted an accordion – an instrument I could take anywhere with me and make the music with which my very soul was burgeoning, oh how I would sing and play, I’d imagined.

When I was about 14, Sharon Harris, who had moved on to the piano, gave me her old accordion.  I did not have the natural affinity I would have thought and plus, I was kind of past the stage.  I would try off and on the learn, but didn’t like how long it took, so, nothing much ever happened.  And it was just less cool by then.  We still had an accordion player at church, Virginia P., but she was quite old-fashioned and well, old.  Not to be emulated, certainly.

I gave up my dreams and at some point gave the massive cased instrument to my mom.  But the accordion has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity more recently, if even just by the alternative sorts who like to shake music up.  But it turns out, my own son-in-law, Tristan, could have taught me to play.  And I find my fascination is reignited when I see one being played well.  They are massive and beautiful and mysterious and play so many notes at once, they cause the heart to sing!

Lucky-lucky Allison Krauss.

Stephanie did this CUTE photo shoot of the grandbebes once:

See the rest of the adorable (if I do say so) pics here:  http://www.maydae.com/music/lets-make-a-band/

Heaven Fest 2012::Here for You!

1 Christ is All, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, 5 Songs I am Singing, 9 TV & Movies/Books & Entertainment, Stuff I Actually Think

www.heavenfest.com

Heaven Fest was beautiful.  This song is our anthem!

Let our praise be Your welcome

Let our songs be a sign We are here for You,

we are here for You
Let Your breath come from heaven

Fill our hearts with Your life

We are here for You, we are here for You
To You our hearts are open

Nothing here is hidden

You are our one desire

You alone are holy Only You are worthy God,

let Your fire fall down
Let our shout be Your anthem

Your renown fill the skies

We are here for You, we are here for You
Let Your Word move in power

Let what’s dead come to life

We are here for You, we are here for You

We welcome You with praise

We welcome You with praise

Almighty God of love

Be welcomed in this place
Let every heart adore

Let every soul awake

Almighty God of love Be welcomed in this place
We welcome You with praise

We welcome You with praise

Almighty God of love

Be welcomed in this place

Sing it, anyway

5 Songs I am Singing, 9 TV & Movies/Books & Entertainment, Stuff I Actually Think

You can pour your soul out singing a song you believe in that tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang

Sing it anyway.

Yea, sing it anyway.

I sing.

I dream.

I love, anyway.

Ok, first, *sniffles.  This song always gets me.  Secondly, I wholly believe this: do it anyway.  Sort of an unshakable life value.  Doesn’t mean it’s easy.  Just means I will be true to myself.

Grandbebe qotd

2 Mi Familia, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, Stuff I Actually Think

5 of the 6 graced our lives for the night.

Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!!  Averi wins the quote-of-the-day for both last night and this morning.

Last night, Averi (4) and Gemma (5) were fixing my hair and each other’s hair – brushing and affixing clips and just little-girl-talk.  Gemma mentioned going to JC Penney’s to get her hair done for school.  Averi asked her, “So, you went to the cilantro?  So many people go to the cilantro to get their hair done, even me.”  Salon, cilantro, whichever.  :)

 

This morning I poured some grape juice for each of the kids into Dixie cups for fun.  Hunter cracked me up by walking in, looking at the breakfast spread and commenting, “Oh, communion.”  Hahaha.  But  Averi, sipping her juice expressed to me,

“Mmm.  This tastes just like campaign.  I love campaign.”

I don’t think she was referencing the presidential campaign.  So, I think she was referring to champagne and I want to know what her parents are plying her with for breakfast over at their house???!

 

Revelation-of-the-day:  Ohhhhhh – this is why we used to have to buy milk in such quantities!!

The morning after:  Gemma and Averi have picked up last night’s work again, whereupon they are both “in charge” of Heaven Fest and I can now retire.  They are busily writing contracts and drawing site plans and declaring Free time for everyone!  The main thing Averi wants me to understand is “We’re in charge and I am in charge.”

And that is the truth.

 

 

A little crazy

4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, Stuff I Actually Think, , , ,

Have I gone a little crazy with the sweet-potato vine?

Oh I have.  You know, I really think they are just so sublime.

They are green and they are bright and they are full and they cascade~

What a shame to eat the root when I think of all the leaves they’ve made.

I have them here, I have them there, I have planted every possible pot

With springy-green potatoes’ sweet

I love these vines.  I think they’re neat!

 

From purple petunias in pots on the patio to the wildflower borders edging the yard, I tucked sweet-potato vines into every possible space!

 

The pot on the left was once full of pansies and begonias, shaded by the tree.  They are still in there, now just shaded by the vines.

Yes, that’s right.  Not only have I planted cascading sweet potato vines, I have planted them everywhere.  I have the burgundy version, too, but I really love the bright spring-green version.  They sort of outshine the flowers.  And I love them so much they make me write silly things.  But they are taking over the whole potted world in my universe.

 

On the right you are getting a bonus peek of the sweet banana peppers, but above, cascading from a higher pot: you guessed it!  Sweet potato vines.

 

In the photo above on the right, behind the vines, is a 5-gallon Terra Cotta planter filled with snapdragons and spikes, stock and petunias, celosia and carnation.  But they are certainly being crowded by the vines.  This is a major wasp-mafia hide-out.  Boo.

 

The burgundy version is on the left.  It is doing very well, too.  On the right, you can see that despite the overabundance I already have, I still tucked in a young plant just recently.  This is how they start!

A bonus photo:

Miss Zinnia asked if she might say hello to my readers.

“Gladly, my pleasure,” I assured her.

Teasingly she chided, “Do you work for Chick-Fil-A now?”

“They do not own ‘my pleasure,'” I smiled back.

So hello from Hot-Pink Zinnia, making my summer sweeter.

 

Top of the World

2 Mi Familia, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, Stuff I Actually Think

“I’m at the top of the world looking down on creation and the only explanation I can see…”

Rhoades-Family-Reunion

From Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado, the Rhoades bunch has gathered in gorgeous Estes Park, Colorado.  Dad (Raymond) Rhoades is celebrating turning 90.

It isn’t actually the “top” of the world, at 7522 feet above sea level, but it is high and the view (you should have seen the sunset from here last night) is kind of tremendously breathtaking and coupled with the cool mountain air?  Yep.  Good times.