“It belittles us to think of our daily tasks as small things, and if we continue to do so, it will in time make us small.” Laura Ingalls Wilder
(homemade cinnamon rolls)
“Doing up cut fingers, kissing hurt places, and singing bedtime songs are small things by themselves; but they will inculcate a love for home and family that will last through life and help to keep America a land of homes.”
“Putting up the school lunch for the children or cooking a good meal for the family may seem very insignificant tasks as compared with giving a lecture, writing a book, or doing other things that have a larger audience; but I doubt very much if, in the ultimate reckoning, they will count for as much.”
(this morning)
“If when cooking you will think of yourselves as the chemist that you are, combining different ingredients into a food that will properly nourish human bodies, then the work takes on a dignity and an interest. And surely a family well nourished with healthful food so that the boys and girls grow up strong and beautiful, while their elders reach a hale old age, is no small thing.”
(peacock fiestaware, Grace’s roll and cup of milk)
“It belittles us to think of our daily tasks as small things, and if we continue to do so, it will in time make us small. It will narrow our horizon and make of our work just drudgery.”
“There are so many little things that are really very great, and when we learn to look beyond the insignificant appearing acts themselves to their far-reaching consequences, we will, ‘despise not the day of small things.’ We will feel an added dignity and poise from the fact that our everyday round of duties is as important as any other part of the work of the world.”
“And just as a little thread of gold, running through a fabric, brightens the whole garment, so women’s work at home, while only the doing of little things, is like the golden gleam of sunlight that runs through and brightens all the fabric of civilization.”
all quotes from Laura Ingalls Wilder, May 1923
(Jacob’s 13 year old blue blankie, and the rest of Grace’s milk, left behind at the table)
For your holiday baking, may I suggest a flour that I recently discovered? I’m really excited about it!
Whole wheat flour and wheat baked goods are so much healthier and filling, but I honestly don’t like the taste of them. Lately, I have noticed that the stores are selling “white whole wheat” bread and I’ve bought it for the family, and it tastes so much better than the dark brown wheat bread. Then, the last time I was at the store, I was buying flour and found this(from King Arthur brand)….”a lighter, milder 100% whole wheat flour.”
I’ve made blueberry muffins and pancakes using just this flour in the recipes and they tasted great, and were much more satisfying to eat.
Last night, I mixed together homemade cinnamon rolls using half regular white flour and half of this new flour. After I had the rolls all put together (but not baked yet), I put the pan in the fridge, and this morning I baked them. It was quite the treat to have fresh and delicious rolls for our breakfast.
“You children don’t know how blessed you are right now!” I said.
“We’re blessed because we have YOU for a mother!” said Grace.
That was all the reward I needed. And then I ate two warm cinnamon rolls and tried not to cry for joy. 
Here is an idea for your candles. Lately I have been fascinated and encouraged with the verses in the Bible that have to do with LIGHT….and that Jesus is the LIGHT OF THE WORLD. I usually have at least one candle lit during the day and it came to me that it would be a blessing to have a Bible verse propped up by it. So, for my devotional time this morning, I sat with my Bible and picked a couple of verses.
Can I just say, I love my Bible? I bought it at a library book sale for 2 dollars. It’s filled with a woman’s notes and underlining and they are all a blessing to me (I can’t wait to meet her someday, and I wonder HOW her Bible got at the library book sale!?!)…..I don’t even know her name, it’s not written in it.
I love the feel of it in my hands, the smell, the sound of the pages opening and turning.
Most of all, I love that the Words are from God, and are healthy and perfect and nourishing to my soul.
Writing the verses took just a couple of minutes….and at some point I would like to make a stack of thicker, pretty cards made with scrapbook paper, to use every day with my candlelight. Enough to change the verse every few days.
Aren’t you so very thankful that Jesus turned our darkness into LIGHT? And now we are lights, as well, shining for Him each day.
“Once I was blind, but now I can see! The light of the world is JESUS.”
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and GLORIFY your Father, which is in Heaven.”
Good to be Home 
What a beautiful reminder that I so desperately needed to “hear” today. Thank you Shanda for posting this and encouraging me…..
yummmmmmm the cinnamon rolls look awsome~love the bible verses next to the candels great idea! Have a wonderful day…love ya sissy
love the idea of using a candle and its light to remind us of the Lord’s light in our life…what a great reminder.and i’m sure that since you’re usually where the candles are it is a great reminder every now and again throughout the day to see them and be encouraged thank you for sharing them. those cinnamon rolls do look tasty. i woke up thinking that i’d like some of that yummy goodness, but since my landlady is watching her cholesterol intake we generally don’t have sweet like those around! hope you guys all have a fantastic day. be blessed.
Those cinnamon rolls look yummy. I was always intimidated to make them for breakfast…thinking I would have to get up at the crack of dawn. LOL Nice you refrigerated them and then baked in the morning. Great discovery with the flour. My kids all like whole wheat and whole grain pancakes and breads because we have always served it, but I don’t know about something like cinnamon rolls, they would be heavy with regular whole wheat, that flour seems like a great alternative! I also like that it isn’t bromated, I read that so many breads are. Love the scripture with the candle each day. Jesus uses just such imagery so often. Your home is like an embrace Shanda!
I love this post.
Those are some great ideas. About the rolls. do you use the same amount of yeast as usual or do you decrease it because it will be sitting overnight (or does it rise super slow in the fridge anyway?)??? Please let me know cause I’d like to try it overnight like that….it would be nice to just pop it in the oven when I wake up. Have a great day….I always enjoy your posts!
@momtonine – I used a recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook and the directions for making them ahead is right there in the recipe. You don’t change any ingredients if you want to refridgerate overnight. The cold temps mean the dough doesn’t rise as fast. In the morning, you take the rolls out of the fridge and let them sit for 30 minutes before going ahead and baking them as usual. Have fun!
@purpleamethyst76 – OK thanks:)
Love the idea of putting verses beside the candle. I need to seriously commit to absorb scripture. This coming year I want to memorize several verses per month to “keep with me”. I know that I need extra time to memorize as opposed to when I was a child, but I think I need to hide the Word. Homemade cinnamon buns and milk…what a great breakfast. Love the face on your little one. He’s enjoying it too:).
I have always loved the verses having to do with light. My son, Lukas’ name means bringer of light. My beloved grandmother and aunt were both named Lucy…. also meaning light.What a good thing to concentrate on this time of year. The Light of the World!ps–I saw your photo and mention of the little dolly. Glad you like it. If you have been by my place, you will understand why I haven’t been by before this. Was feeling poorly with the sickies.:PAll better now.:)
What a lovely breakfast. I love Seth all dotted with stains from good healthy eating What a sweet comment from Miss Grace~I love your fiesta ware!!~Cinnamon
I found this rather interesting as just this past week the word “light” became very precious to me as well. I love your idea of writing out these verses. What a beautiful thing for the kids to remember.
I would so love it if you shared that cinnamon roll recipe. We always crack open a few cans Christmas morning, but how wonderful it would be to serve them fresh!It looks like Seth is asking where his roll is!
I love all the quotes. I needed the encouragement today. I love your candle with Scripture idea. I have a friend that puts her special verses near the kitchen sink (where she spends a lot of time).Little Seth looks so cute…he really enjoys his food .Oh, did you make the doilie (not sure if I spelled that correctly) in the last picture? It is so pretty.
Great quotes, great thoughts, great cinnamon rolls!! I’m hungry!
You and your family inspire me. Your love for God is truly amazing. I love the idea with the candles and the bible verses…I recently started trying to figure out more ways to incorporate bible verses into my everday life and this seems like a terrific idea. I have one about true inner beauty written next to the mirror I look at everday, it really helps with my self-esteem.And your cinnamon rolls looked absolutely tasty…! Wish I could bake like that…hehe.God Bless<3arianna
@Thia7278 – It probably looks like he didn’t have one, but he did! He ate a whole one all by himself. I broke it up in little pieces for him.For the recipe, I just used one from a Betty Crocker cookbook. You can’t go wrong. You could always check allrecipes.com, too. I love that website.@jessnboyz – No, I didn’t make it, I wish! I buy those doiles from antique stores, they are usually around a dollar or so. I think they are beautiful. My great grandma used to make them, too, and I have quite a few that she made me after I got married.
I love these ways you show in your home how God is important and His word is too. . . Yummy cinnamon rolls! What a reward from Grace. Soak it in. Thanks for sharing it!
That breakfast looks just wonderful! What a precious thing to hear from Grace.
Also try using whole wheat pastry flour! I use that for pretty much everything, except if you make bread or rolls, the white wheat flour works better for that. I use whole wheat pastry flour for cookies and cakes and brownies and such…most of the time you can’t tell the difference!
Loved your Post!! The ideas and Grace’s comment are so sweet!
i still have the blankie that I slept with for 17 years…sitting with my stuffed animals in our spare bedroom…I will never get rid of that…
I’ve been following your blog since sometime early this spring because you inspire me to love being a homemaker. I love being a mommy. But to be very honest, sometimes old dreams die hard. And there are days …….. I love that your spirit is at rest. It’s what I wish I had more of. Of course there is chaos sometimes (and I love that you are honest about that); but I always sense you bringing things back to a state of rest because that is who you are. I think that is truly a mother’s role and it’s something I have a hard time doing sometimes. I want to go and do and sometimes the chaos at our house is not b/c of the boys but because I am simply trying to do to many things. Yesterday was such a fun, restful, domestic day here and I loved it.Thanks for sharing your life.
Shanda- a few years ago I did a study of Hannukah (as a homeschool project) and I was soooo excited about all the scriptures referring to Jesus being the light of the world in the Bible. It was really fascinating and neat to find out how the jews related to the coming messiah as the “light”. 🙂
I still sleep with my baby blanket, one crocheted by my maternal great grandmother! It is better than a pillow for my arms, and it keeps me soooo warm in cold weather (even Terry borrowed it one night and realized how nice it was)!I love your idea of putting “light” Scriptures next to your candles and plan on following your example!Thank you for sharing the wonderful treasures of those quotes by Laura Ingalls Wilder! “Keeping America a land of homes” and “brightening the fabric of all civilation…” now, if that doesn’t inspire a woman in her roles of mothering and homemaking, what will?!Oh and YES about the white whole wheat flour! Not all wheat is the hard red kind, and for those accustomed to white bread, the white wheat is more palatable. We have to talk bread on our next visit! My mom started making bread when I was little, even buying and grinding her own whole wheat! Now, my sisters (even the ones in college!) and I all have our own mills and do the same thing, and I even buy whole oats and flake them myself, for our oatmeal. The flavor of freshly ground/flaked grain is so very good, not to mention the smell of that baking bread! And, with a big family, it is so economical to buy the whole grain. My parents had this huge 18-wheeler come to our house once a year with brown rice, red and white wheat, whole oats, and other grains, and we stored all that in our basement. (We never had to worry about shelf life of bread or flour, or making trips to the store if we ran out…) Each day, it was a different kid’s chore to make the bread, so everyone learned how to do it. For a few years there, we made six loaves of bread, every school day, and we ate bread in some form at every single meal. A good and healthy way to fill up a bunch of kids! Mom always kept some in the freezer too, for days if the bread didn’t get made for some reason. It is permanently etched in my memory, the sight of those loaves rising on the counter, or hot and steaming right out of the oven. When the bread was fresh from the oven, there were always kids ready to slice and eat some with butter and honey drizzled on top.