Happy Day

     I had noon recess duty at school and was delighted that we were all able to go without our coats. Pretty unusual for early March in northern Montana.

     I looked in one of my perennial beds and found that tulips are coming through the soil. What a delightful sign of early spring.

     We have had several days of nice weather and the accumulated snow is melting steadily. We usually have several warm windy days during the winter, known as chinooks. They melt the snow, so it is unusual for us to have snow that lasts for several months. This year was an exception, so everyone is extra ready to see the snow disappear.

     I kept my preschoolers in all morning. There is such an accumulation of mud that I knew it was best to give it more time to dry up. We made some very cute paper plate sharks today with very sharp looking teeth.

     Jonathan has his Cub Scout pinewood derby on Friday night. We will go to Great Falls on Saturday to celebrate my birthday at the Macaroni Grill. Maria will be coming back from Bozeman, where she went for spring break. She will be able to join us for lunch.

     On Sunday our church has its annual missions conference with three opportunities to hear the main speaker. There is a conservation meeting at the local Moose Lodge that has invited Jonathan's reading group to give presentations about bats. Fortunately it is after church and it won't take very long.

     I just finished an amazing book called Escape by Carolyn Jessop. She was the mother of 8 who escaped from a polygamist cult with her eight children. I could hardly put it down, so if you want to read a good book, I recommend it.

     Well, off to the treadmill. Have a blessed weekend.

                                                          Denise

03:30 - Thursday, March 4, 2010 - comments {2} - post comment

In Like a Lamb

     Praise God. Our first day of March is as gentle as a baby lamb. We have been having spring-like conditions for several days now, which has melted much of the snow and ice that has accumulated.

     It is amazing how the nicer weather perks one up. I have washed my car inside and out and am doing some spring cleaning in the house. I'm even beginning to pick at some of the "winter accumulation" outside.

     Jonathan has been out on his bike and has played in the yard in ways other than making snow forts.

     In our area spring is very volatile. We usually watch our lawn green up during the month of April and then the trees get their leaves in May. This little "teaser" gives encouragement to everyone that one day winter will be behind us!

07:36 - Monday, March 1, 2010 - comments {2} - post comment

3 day weekend

     Happy President's Day. The Federal Reserve is closed today, so David is home. Jon doesn't have school either. They are in the garage working on Jon's pinewood derby car for Cub Scouts.

     Speaking of Cub Scouts, Jonny is in the Wolves den this year. There are 5 boys in his group. Last Tuesday, David showed them how to shoot bows and arrows. There were 5 very excited and happy boys. Their parents were happy too. What parent isn't happy to expose their child to a good activity that can be done outdoors? Archery is one of those skills that anyone can do. It just takes practice to become more accurate.

     I had been having cabin fever and my dear husband took us to Great Falls on Saturday. Jonny spent some time with his Aunt June and David and I got to shop around a bit. I got some oil painting medium and a couple of sale brushes at Michaels.

      I got a couple pieces of fabric at Joann's. A friend of mine has a hand sewn picnic blanket. Nothing fancy, just two fabrics sewn together. I will make one for Maria's July birthday. I  She likes practical items, so here we go. I will look for a picnic basket and some plastic dinnerware and I think it will make a cute gift for a girl who lives in the mountains.

     What a refreshing time. Thank you, Lord and thank you, David.

     Our Valentine's Day was quiet. I have a mild case of bronchitis, so I stayed home from church. In the afternoon, Jonny had a friend over to play and David and I watched a couple movies on Hulu. It was a very nice way to spend the afternoon with my valentine. I got a scarf crocheted, so I will have something new to wear to school tomorrow.

     We are on the letter Ss, so this week's crafts will include a school bus and a sky mobile. On Thursday we are having shells and cheese for our snack, along with hot dog octopuses. I'm sure it will be a big hit.

     The bus will have round faces to glue over the windows to represent children. We're practicing drawing simple faces, so they get to add the faces, which they will love to do.

     Thursday's sky mobile involves a large cloud (posterboard covered with pellon). Three items will suspend from the cloud by fishline: a star, a moon and a sun. I think we will fingerpaint the sun yellow and orange. We will sponge paint the moon and the star could be marble painted yellow and white.

     We have paint shirts, newspapers and a sink nearby, so we don't worry about messes. The children have learned to be neat and tidy for the most part, so we do plenty of creative projects. The janitor has some cans of spot treatment for the carpet, which I use on a regular basis! I want the children to learn to do a variety of art and not be overly concerned about the mess involved.

     Well, I have a kitchen floor to scrub and dusting and vacuuming to tackle, so good-bye for now.

                                                          Denise

12:55 - Monday, February 15, 2010 - comments {1} - post comment

Sometimes a girl needs her mom...

    I got a call from Maria tonight before I went to the library for work. She was feeling discouraged and needed an encouraging word. Tomorrow she and her assistants will be cooking a Valentine's Day banquet for students and staff at Montana Wilderness School of the Bible, about 80 people.

     She was frustrated because she is making prime rib and although she has some good instructions, tomorrow will be her first time preparing it. She was also strugging with the fact that she had ordered small shrimp from her supplier and she ended up getting large shrimp. Since the shrimp are large, they won't make a very good appetizer because there won't be enough for everyone to have even one. I suggested that she have a second appetizer on hand for when the shrimp run out.

     It was apparent to me that she was very tired. I pointed that out and reminded her that the enemy of our souls can easily discourage us when we are fatigued. I suggested that she spend some time in prayer with her kitchen staff, asking the Lord to give them success in their endeavor.

     Temps. got up to 58 degrees today so there was lots of melting going on. Usually when it is that warm in the winter months, the wind is blowing. It was still today though.

     My preschoolers enjoyed their Valentine party very much. They absolutely loved the pinata. I told them I would make another one for Easter, which occurs in early April this year.

     Well, time for bed. Have a wonderful weekend.

                                                      Denise

10:59 - Thursday, February 11, 2010 - comments {0} - post comment

More Fog and Frost

     I've never seen so much fog and frost in one winter. It's beautiful, but can make some slippery conditions.

     Jonny is home today with a head cold and muscle aches. He has made a nest by the couch and coffee table. He has spent some time watching the Pink Panther on Hulu and now he's playing with his Hot Wheels cars.

     I'm still managing to get my Monday work done, just slower.

     We had a very enjoyable day at church yesterday. The drama and choir groups from Montana Wilderness School of the Bible came and did the church service. They had a great message. That is the school where Maria works. She stayed there to make lunch for the rest of the students. She has a Valentine banquet coming up in a few days so there are many extra things to do to prepare.

     She found out how to cook prime rib and will also serve potatoes, asparagus and turtle cheesecake. She goes to a coffee shop in Great Falls and gets some extra good coffee for their special dinners.

     Her colleague, Eli, is the drama director and a family friend. Jonny was able to eat lunch with Eli in the fellowship hall with the rest of the MWSB students after church. I thanked Eli for inviting him and told him that every young man needs several Christian heros.

     In the evening David and Jonny went to a Super Bowl party at our church. They asked me to go too, but I told them I would rather stay home and catch up on ironing. Since David wears a nice pair of pants and a shirt and tie to work every day, plus nice clothing on Sunday mornings, I have to keep up on the ironing or he will run out of clothing. But, I'm caught up again, so all is well.

     I will go out in a little while and get Jonny's homework, so he won't be behind tomorrow. I hope he'll feel well enough to go to school tomorrow since I have preschool.

     I have some white paper bags with the children's names spelled out on hearts glued on them. Tomorrow we will marble paint two heart for each bag. I have cut out two hearts from white posterboard for each child. We will tape the hearts in a box one at a time. I will put some red, purple and white paint next to the hearts and put three marbles in the box. As the child tilts the box, the marbles roll through the paint and make beautiful designs. The painted hearts will be stapled on the bags and then we'll be ready for our party.

     I have some papers prepared to look like the ocean and the children can make fish from a large heart and a small heart connected point to point.

     I have made and filled a pinata and then on Thursday the children can break it during our party. I covered a balloon with newspaper strips that have been dipped in a mixture of 2 parts liquid laundry starch and 1 part white flour. Just two layers of this paper - starch makes a sturdy pinata.

     Got to go. Jon needs help with the Hot Wheels track.

                                                     Denise

02:46 - Monday, February 8, 2010 - comments {0} - post comment

Frosty Friday

     We had frost yesterday and even more frost today. Quite uncommon for our arid region, but very pretty.

     Well, the week is tapering down. I just finished a session of oil painting in the basement. I'm grateful for a husband who cuts, sands, drills and oils my Montana Christmas ornaments. He doesn't mind the repetitive work. It would drive me crazy.

     We tried to make some plans for this weekend and the next, but they fell through. So that means that the Lord must have other plans for us.

     We had hoped that Maria wouldn't be too busy tomorrow so we could drive to Montana Wilderness School of the Bible for an afternoon visit. She is quite busy with plans and alternate plans, so we will try again later.

     I called my step-mother in Livingston to see if we could visit over the three day President's Day weekend. That won't work either. David is very disappointed. He had hoped we could take a day and drive to Billings and shop at their Cabela's store. So, we'll try it another time.

     I'm going to workout and pick up Jonny at school. I have a couple Valentine items to buy at the store. It's always a treat for him to get a ride rather than to ride the bus home.

     We don't have tv at our house, just VHS and DVDs. We have discovered hulu and tv land on  the internet. They have older tv shows that we can watch for free. I love old movies. Does anyone know of a place on-line I can watch old movies for free?

     Have a wonderful weekend.

                                                            Denise

02:56 - Friday, February 5, 2010 - comments {2} - post comment

Ah, Mondays at Home

     This is the first year in quite some time that I have had Mondays at home. I love it. It is a busy day for me because I'm cleaning and putting everything back in order from the previous week.

     I will be at preschool on Tuesday and Thursday this week. I will clean for Doris on Wednesday morning and have my knit/crochet ladies over on Wednesday afternoon. I wish I could invite blogging friends to join us.  I will work at the library on Thursday evening and will paint Montana ornaments on Friday afternoon (my favorite!)

     On Saturday we will likely be home. David will spend part of the day helping to put metal siding on the new storage shed at Conrad Christian School. That group of guys has a lot of fun.

      I will go to the church for a couple of hours in the morning for a welcome party for Kristen, our new associate pastor's wife. For a gift, I have lined a basket with tissue paper. I will fill it with a Montana ornament, some hand painted cards and envelopes and  a loaf of homemade pumpernickle bread. 

       On Sunday afternoon, after church, we will set up the archery equipment in the sanctuary and spend some time shooting as a family.

     That is my week in a nutshell, however, I suspect the Lord will have other plans and things will be different than I have listed. One of the first things I learned as a new Christian was the need to be flexible and open to the Lord's leading! Amen to that.

     Our new internet service is dsl from Three Rivers, a local company. I love it! I have found so many resources for preschool. My little class loves to sing. When we started in the fall, I had to laugh. When I attempted to lead them in song, they looked at me like I had two heads! Most don't attend church, so they weren't used to singing in a group.

     I found a new song that I can't wait to teach them. A,B,C,D,E,F,G...Jesus died for you and me....

     Thank you, Lord, for such a fun job and for resources to make it better.

     I need to spend some time in the Word. I will say good-bye for now. It's great to be back with you.

                                                                 Denise

09:59 - Monday, February 1, 2010 - comments {4} - post comment

Will be off-line for awhile

     Hello everyone. I wanted to let you know that we will be cancelling our Verizon internet service tomorrow.

     The salesman we spoke to yesterday assured us that the $60 a month, 5 gigabyte service would be totally adequate for our needs. He promised us that only about 1 percent of households in America tend to go over the limit in their monthly usage.

     David and I calculated that 5 gigabytes would last us a week if we were lucky. In other words, the salesman looked us in the eyes and lied to us.

     We are going to call a different Verizon store and disconnect tomorrow. We will be back on-line in time after we connect with a more reputable company.

     May the Lord bless you. I will look forward to conversing again at a later date.

                                                     Denise

06:48 - Sunday, January 24, 2010 - comments {2} - post comment

Buyer Beware

     Good morning from cold and snowy northcentral Montana. Yesterday was our monthly shopping day and inspite of blowing snow, David got the 4WD pickup out of the garage and we made the hour trip to Great Falls.

     Our first stop was the Verizon store. We had signed up for a $40 a month internet service, thinking it was unlimited access and were shocked when our bill contained $200 charges in overages. David had spoken with the salesman several times and we read the contract. Neither mentioned anything about a time limit on our service.

     The bill said that after 250 megabytes of internet use, we were charged for excess minutes. We asked the salesman what we could do with 250 mb and he told us we could open 10 e-mails A MONTH!

     We were angry, of course, but we had prayed about the situation and determined that we would conduct ourselves in a God honoring manner.

     The salesman had the charges reversed and we had no choice but to sign up for their $60 a month service, which gives us 5 gigabytes a month, meaning 5,000 megabytes.

     It was a frustrating situation, but we thank the Lord for helping us to get the overages dropped.

     Wal-mart was somewhat empty and we loved it. Usually it is a zoo since it is the only deep discounting store in Great Falls. We aren't fans of Wal-mart, but coming from out of town, it works best to shop in a place where we can find personal care items, office supplies, sewing notions, clothing and food all under one roof. David buys a jug of motor oil every month and I get a box of canning jar lids monthly as well to stock up.

     I'm sure David will need to take us to church in the pickup today since there are drifts everywhere. I suspect some people won't attend church because they won't be able to get out of their yards.

     One of David's customers lives past our house, in the country. He has heavy equipment for his business and he often plows our driveway on his way home. I like to bake bread to take to his family to say thanks. He was here yesterday while we were gone. Thanks Jamie! I'll make a loaf of bread this afternoon.

     Have a restful and peaceful Sunday.

                                                           Denise

08:29 - Sunday, January 24, 2010 - comments {0} - post comment

Busy Week - Friday is Welcome

     This is my second attempt at an entry today. I had one all typed and as I was proof reading it, Windows did an update and I lost everything. Hey, Windows, how rude!

     It is a beautiful, frosty day. We don't tend to get a lot of frost because our climate is arid. When we do get frost, we enjoy God's artwork.

     Jonathan's 9th birthday was on Tuesday. He was born 13 weeks early with pneumonia, so we thank God for our miracle. David and I took him and a friend to the indoor pool in Choteau on Saturday. Afterward we went out for individual pizzas.

     On Sunday I made a spaghetti lunch and David's sister and aunt came from Great Falls to join us.

     Jonathan got to take cupcakes to school on Tuesday, so he was excited about that.

     David and I were able to have a "date day" in Great Falls on Monday, since the Federal Reserve was closed and he didn't have to work. We were looking for another target for his archery ministry with no success. We enjoyed our day together very much.

     After we returned home, we went to the church to set up the archery equipment and did some shooting. We took my school administrator's son with us, so he could try Jonny's bow. Matthew is a very nice boy, who likes sedentary activities like Legos and reading. His parents were pleased that he is interested in archery, a more physical pursuit.

     My ladies group on Wednesdays is going well. It is a pleasure to get better acquainted with a variety of ladies.

     Cornelia is the mother of 8 and the grandmother of many. Linda, also a grandmother, lives with her daughter and grandchildren, and is a great deal of help to everyone. Christy and Kristen have adopted children. Di is a fellow preschool teacher, so she and I always like to "talk shop".

     I have discovered a Christian author whose books I am enjoying very much. Her name is Tamera Alexander and she has written a series called the Fountain Creek Chronicles. They are set in the Old West and are well worth the time it takes to read them.

     Another Christian author I enjoy very much is Tricia Goyer. She is a Montana native who writes very well- researched novels about the World War II era.

     Well, I had better spend a little time on the treadmill before Jonny gets home. We're off to Great Falls again tomorrow for the monthly shopping trek. We will also attend an agricultural trade show. Jonathan likes to be able to climb into huge farm machinery and pretend he's trying it out.

     Have a wonderful weekend.

                                                            Denise 

02:42 - Friday, January 22, 2010 - comments {2} - post comment