Sweetness: siblings, cinnamon rolls & cookies

Some days Rhett and Alexee get along better than others. Yesterday was one of those great days where they played together all day long, and R was super sweet to his little sis. We stayed home all day, which is unusual. I did tons of laundry, ironed clothes (and C's new sheets), cleaned toilets--that sort of fun stuff--while they played in a heap of pillows, played chase and bundled up to play in the back yard. It makes me so happy to see them getting along. They probably don't even realize yet what a blessing it is to have a sibling. My sister and I used to fight a lot growing up (we're 5 1/2 years apart, so I think the age difference was a factor in that...well, that and I was just plain mean). But now that age gap is insignificant, and we're great friends--I'm so thankful to have a sister! I hope Rhett & Alexee (& Crosby, too) will always be close friends.
I peeked out to check on them and they had their little lawn chairs side-by-side with their feet propped up on the edge of the deck. Alexee likes to do everything he does. I might have posted about these hot rolls before--I can't remember. This is what we had for Saturday breakfast. It's a great mix that makes yummy cinnamon rolls (recipe on the side of the box). It was another occasion to use my new pastry mat, and once again, I was not disappointed. If you ever roll out crusts, cookie dough, etc., find a Pampered Chef rep and order one today!

After breakfast, Lane moved all the "junk" from C's room to the office. He assembled the extra bed in the nursery, moved the changing table from A's room and arranged the other furniture in the nursery. The office is scary (we're seriously considering just boarding up the door and never going in there again so we don't have to sort through everything), but the nursery is looking nice! I didn't take any pictures yet because I want to finish some things in there first, but I will soon. Dad is going to help me with a vintage-vehicle painting during our next trip to Flippin, we need to hang other pictures, find a duvet cover for the bed and colorful pillows for the bed and chair, etc. I feel SO much better just having this much done though. The room is clean and the crib is ready, so if he decides to arrive early he at least has a place to sleep (not that there's much of that the first few weeks!).

Mom e-mailed me this evening asking for a cookie recipe that I used to make. She had a new bottle of orange extract from a Christmas gift basket, and thought of these...a great use of orange extract, in my opinion! I haven't made them in a long time, but they're yummy. Here's what they're supposed to look like:

Chocolate-Dipped Orange Melts

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. orange extract, divided
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
sugar
1 pkg. (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 T vegetable shortening

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, cream butter and 1 cup sugar until fluffy. Add egg, 1/2 tsp. orange extract, and vanilla; beat until smooth. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Shape teaspoonsful of dough into balls and place 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten balls with bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake 5-7 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

In a small saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining 1/2 tsp. orange extract. Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Chill cookies to allow chocolate to harden. Place in single layers between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container. Store in a cool place.

Yield: about 6 dozen cookies