Knitting baskets and other stuff :-)

A few things Kyra and Maddy have been up to...

New knitting baskets.  My mom made them after her trip to Bozeman in December.  The girls picked out the fabric they wanted, Jay made the frames and Beebo (bless her heart) made the rest with no pattern.  I think it may have been a bit difficult, but they turned out to be so adorable!  They are quite handy...designed to just be picked up and taken with you. Perfect for a coffee shop knitting session.

We recently repainted Kyra's room.  She was tired of the bright green and wanted to make a few changes.  She decided to change her bedding as well and made decorative pillows to add to her bed. I think she did quite well!

Maddy took art classes this year from a local Bozeman artist, Loretta Domaszewski. http://www.lorettafineart.com/  Loretta is wonderful and Maddy learned so much about technique and color. Here are a couple of things from art class...

The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman has a really cool frog exhibit.  The class spent an afternoon there, drawing frogs. This watercolor was done by Maddy a couple of weeks later. We aren't sure why her tree frog is in the grass.  :-)

All in all, a great class.  Maddy learned a lot and had fun while doing it.  Perfect.

Maddy has a tiny house that she has created.  Every once in a while, I will find her in her room working on some teeny tiny thing to add to it.  Most things, she creates out of clay and then paints them.  It is just cute.

Maddy has always loved itty bitty things.  Perhaps it is because she has always been itty bitty :-)

This is a pic from the Frog exhibit at the museum.  Yes, all of the frogs are real and alive. I thought it was fun to see all of them.  Many are really colorful and interesting.

Under His watchful eye...

The twists and turns of life can be so strange.  It's rather stressful around here at the moment...lots happening, plans to nail down, life to keep living, decisions to make, bills to pay.  I could go on and on.  It's just life.  We aren't any different than anyone else. However, this morning I was reminded by my oh-so-patient Heavenly Father that His eyes are on our plans.  We gave them to Him and then we try to take them back and make them ours.  Why in the world would we want to do that????

Anyway, after a rather stressful evening and morning, I checked my email and this was all that was in my inbox.  Thank you, Father, for the reminder...

What to do..

We have been having some truly atrocious weather.  With the exception of a couple of days, it has been cold, rainy and insanely windy.  Along with prolonged nasty weather comes general grumpiness, boredom, and lots of sighs (generally made while looking out a window). Here are a few pictures of how we've spent a couple of those days...

This would be a typical Maddy moment--she is always creating.  Well, when she isn't reading. Or eating.

I made a big bowl of banana pudding.  It's my Aunt Jo's recipe and is truly to die for.  It makes a great breakfast with a cup of coffee...not that I would ever do that...

Jay's solution for beating the bad weather blues is to go into the garage and use power tools on various motorcycle parts.

Just thought I'd show you that we are all about safety.  It's important to wear shorts and dirt bike goggles when grinding metal.

Maddy and her best buddy, Camille, are staying out of the wind and playing a nice game of Sorry.

(I suppose we did do a few more things than this, but there seems to be a lack of photographic documentation.)  
 The consensus in the Pierson household is that waiting for Summer in Montana is even more agonizing than waiting for Christmas morning. That's pretty darn agonizing if it is Maddy doing the waiting for Christmas.  It truly kills her to see all of those unopened gifts.

I just want to go outside and be warm. That is all.

Psalm 46

     This morning I read about the flooding in Memphis then, with images in my head of people's homes being submerged and all of their earthly possessions being washed away, I climbed onto my bed with my Bible and my journal.
     With so many natural disasters happening, not to mention the man-made disasters of war, killing and oppression occurring even as we speak, with all of the proclamations about the end of the world and judgement day, well...let's just say it is easy to be discouraged, to give in to fear and uncertainty. As I was talking to God about fear and tragedy, a piece of paper fell out of my Bible that had Psalm 46 written on it so I decided to look it up.

Psalm 46

 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,

         A very present help in trouble.
 ² Therefore we will not fear,
         Even though the earth be removed, 
         And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
 ³ Though its waters roar and be troubled,
         Though the mountains shake with its swelling.  Selah  

      
  He is not just our help in times of trouble, but our very present help.  We live in a crazy, messed up world but I know I don't have to walk alone through the mess.  I am reminded today of God's promise to Abraham, "Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."  He is my refuge, my strength and my exceedingly great reward.  I will not fear.

A few things that I love

I thought I would share a few things that I really love.  Granted, I'm no Oprah...but here you go anyway. :-)

Tulsi Tea is from the holy basil plant.  Lots of health benefits.  I usually only drink one cup of coffee in the morning, so on days when it's cold outside and a warm drink seems called for, I usually drink a cup of tea.

Kevita drinks are a new discovery of mine.  I happened upon them at the Co-op a few weeks ago.  I love them!  Loaded with good for you stuff like probiotics, it's a no guilt treat. That's the best.

Green Smoothies! I drink one every morning after my workout.  Looooove!  They are the best way to start your day.

I love to make purchases from The Hunger Site.  Every purchase you make goes to help feed the hungry. Check it out!  http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1&link=ctg_ths_home_from_ths_home_leftnav_logo

While I don't typically wear much makeup, I do love the tinted moisturizer from 100%Pure.  Kyra and I use their products, including the mascara.  It's nice to know that you aren't putting chemical laden crap on your face every time you put on your makeup.

And last but not least...the Bible app from YouVersion.  Jay has it on his Blackberry and I have it on my Droid phone.  We both love it.  It has pretty much every version of the Bible on there, so it's great to use for comparisons or you can just choose the version you like and use that.  It's really easy to use, which is fortunate for me as I am technologically challenged.  Added bonus...it's free!

So there it is...a few things that I quite enjoy.

Up, Up and Away

Every month I do 2 big grocery shopping trips.  (Yes, we get paid bi-monthly.)  Yesterday was the day for one of those trips.  As I was hurrying through the aisles of Costco, I found myself appalled at the rising cost of  the basic food items that I usually buy.  For example, the coffee we like has gone from $14 to $19 in just over a month.  I also buy big bags of beans and basmati rice.  The beans are now $13 (up from $8) and the rice, which I decided to forgo, is now up to $23 per bag.  Just a little while ago, the rice was $11, which I thought was spendy since I first paid $9 for it.  Wow!  And that is only 3 examples.  

I've always been a thrifty shopper, mostly out of necessity.  Actually, it's becoming even more necessary now that I have 3 teenagers in the house.  Yikes!  Those kids can consume food.  I cook everyday and buy very little prepared foods, which I do for thrift and for health reasons. (Prepared food is typically nutritionally defunct.)  Because I do believe in good food, I spend more on organic, whole foods.  My philosophy is that it is cheaper than being sick. :) 

So...what are we all to do as prices continue to rise and tummies still need to be filled?  I have found myself making much simpler meals.  Still tasty and full of good, healthy foods, just simple.  I also make time to cook big pots of beans to freeze for future use in recipes or to make refried beans.  (Homemade refried beans are the best!)  Rarely do we have cereal in our pantry or chips other than tortilla chips. (Once again, the reasons for this are cutting cost and junk food.) 

As I was shopping yesterday and deciding what things we could live without, I couldn't help but wonder if there will come a day when prices escalate so out of control that we will go to Costco and only be able to buy the beans and rice.  After mentioning this to the girls, we had a discussion about how most of the world lives on things like rice and beans.  Kyra went so far as to suggest that we try doing the same for a month, then possibly we wouldn't feel so deprived when we can't buy the bag of Kettle Chips or the organic granola.  Smart girl, that Kyra.  Maybe we will do just that...have a month of living on the very minimum.  Something to think about.