Right after our fourth son was born, my husband bought me this Christmas Cactus.  It bloomed beautifully the first year.  Then next fall, I had a few small flowers.  Then, the next two years, nothing happened.  I think it is because the house was bright for too many hours of the day.

Now, it has the most beautiful flowers on it I have ever seen on a Christmas Cactus!  This lovely flower is nearly three inches long.  It reminds me so much of a beta fish.

This morning I was cuddling my youngest, Gideon, when Daniel got up and sat by us.  Usually he does not want to be hugged first thing in the morning, so I was giving him his space. 

Gideon reached over and patted Daniel on the head, shoved the book we were looking at in his face, and them flopped my arm around his shoulder.  Daniel looked up at me and smiled, then said to Gideon, “Your a good friend.”

Gideon scowled, and replied, “Brovers!!”

Daniel said, “Friends too.”

“Brovers!  We brovers!”

“Yes, we are brothers, but we are also friends,” Daniel explained.  “We can be both.

I love seeing the newly fallen snow sitting on the tree in my front yard.  I love the way it clings and piles up on the smallest surfaces.  It doesn’t last long, though, as any little breeze is prone to knocking it down and if the sun comes out it will melt and drip.  The sleds and shovel, the empty bird house and ski poles are all indicators that winter finally fully upon us.

Hope you are enjoying the new year, and that you are finding a touch of beauty n your day.

Decided to start this year off right, with a pan of gooey, sticky cinnamon rolls.  It is a new year, and time for some new beginnings.  New traditions, more fun, and less rules.

I have really missed writing here, and want to resume.  However, I will be taking a new rout this year.  I am no longer focusing on pretty pictures or deep thoughts.  I am not going to kick myself for sharing the nitty gritty of everyday life.  My goal is to find beauty in the everyday things.  Today, it was the joy of my family as they consumed these rolls.  It was the butter and syrup bubbling all around them, as they cooked.  It was Daniel, joyfully dancing around with his first loaf of bread, proudly sharing it with everyone.  These are the beautiful things.   What are the beautiful things in your life?

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To make these rolls, I melted 3 tablespoons of butter in the pan, poured in some corn syrup and sprinkled on some pecans.  Then  rolled a batch of Hop Yeast Bread dough out into a 12″ x 18″ rectangle, buttered it, sprinkled on cinnamon and sugar, then rolled it up into an 18″ long log.  Sliced the rolls and placed them in the pan to rise.  They were baked for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  To serve, dump pan upside down onto a sheet of waxed paper and scrap all the gooey topping onto the rolls.  Eat while still warm.

I have never seen snow in this area so early, and it does send a message of urgency!  We began to clean up all of the fall progects, just in case this one doesn’t melt off, but a little after breakfast the sun broke throughthe clouds and things began to melt.  By today, it was all gone.

Looking for a yummy yet healthy lunch, I decided to see how well boiled flax seed oil worked in a bread recipe.  I used a simple muffin recipe, replacing the eggs and oil with boiled flax seed.  I spooned the bread over pie cherries and baked it all for 30 or so minutes.  It turned out wonderful! 

The kids are begging me to make it again, already.

I had hoped to leave these on the vine for another month or so, but the sudden snow, and the cold temperatures that followed forced an emergency picking time.  Only one of them is of eating size, but the boys gathered everything!  Don’t you just love their enthusiasm?  I sure do.