The other day a sweet boy who lives here came to me and said,  “Mom, when I was walking to Logan’s house I passed a construction worker on the side of the road picking up garbage,” he paused to self-consciously clear his throat and continued, “I stopped and told him he was doing a great job.”

“The reason why I said that to him was because Cody told me it was the little things like that which make a big difference in a person’s life.”

“When I was almost to Logan’s house, he drove by me in his truck and honked his horn and waved.”

We looked at each other and I saw in his loving eyes it was something that meant a lot to him.   You might say, although he has never been anything like Grinch, “his heart grew three sizes that day”.  His story touched my heart as well, and I’ve thought about it over and over this week.

It’s so strangely beautiful that when doing something for another person you not only bless that person but you also bless yourself.

In fact, this huge concept is something I use in my mothering bag of tricks.  If I notice that the children (some or all) are not getting along with each other I ask them to do “something” (make a sandwich, pick a flower, give a mug of tea) for that particular sibling they aren’t getting along with.  Maybe even give a hug or write a note.  It does wonders in creating smiles, melting hearts, and breaking the tension in the air.

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Cherry Coffee Cake

We explored an old abandoned house last weekend and took away a few recipes cards which we found like garbage upon the messy floor…..this was one of the recipes.

It is simple and, without any extract, the cake itself tastes nice and buttery.  The cherry pie filling could be switched out for any fruit filling and you could add a touch of cinnamon to the topping, too.  I bought a can of raspberry filling to try next, with maybe a 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract added to the cake.  Blueberries would be a nice variation, too, with lemon extract.

It bakes up as a thin cake, so it’s more of a snack (to eat with a mug of hot coffee).  The kids ate it in their hands like a brownie and they all liked it very much.