Baking Bread

I made bread today.  I made a double recipe so that the kids would have some dough to make their own little creations.  As I watched them rolling their little dough balls, it reminded me of when I was little and my Mom would make bread every Saturday morning.  We were living out in the tribe in Colombia, at the lake.  Mom would bake the bread every Saturday morning and the house would smell so good!  Often, we'd make cinnamon rolls for Dad, too.  Anyway, Mom had the cutest little miniature baking pans and we would each get a bit of dough to make whatever we wanted.  I probably made cinnamon rolls every time, but I can't remember. One of my great sadnesses in having a yeast intolerance is that cinnamon rolls are now off-limits.  :(  It's so depressing.  I have discovered, however, that canned cinnamon rolls like the kind you get in the cold section at the grocery store do not have yeast, but instead use baking soda.  So I can get my cinnamon roll fix that way....or sometimes I make a biscuit-type dough and make cinnamon bread that way.  I think the smell of home-made bread and cinnamon rolls is like the ultimate comfort food!  After the kids were done forming their breads, I cleaned off the counter with a soapy sponge and let them "write" on the counter for a while.  Soap suds on the counter leaves a pretty good surface for playing around and they really enjoyed themselves (until they started fighting over the sponge, sigh).  But for the most part, they enjoyed making the bread and playing in the soap and I enjoyed watching them.  I was touched because I was enjoying them so much...sadly, it hasn't always been that way.  I have struggled in my role as a Mom and in the past two years have been under quite a bit of stress that has made it more difficult for me to enjoy my kids.  I am so thankful that God is working in my heart and allowing me to rest for these months so that I can get back on track!  Thank you, God!