How I spent my snowy afternoon.

Cold weather always brings out the baker in me. I guess I just like to have the oven on to warm up the house, and then when something is baking in the oven I feel like I'm multi-tasking. I used to be afraid to try baking yeast bread, but a couple of dear friends assured me I could do it, and now it's second nature. These are regular whole wheat, and I had to take the picture quick because we cut into one right after the shutter snapped. Fresh, warm bread with butter and honey--makes winter almost bearable.

The Artist is famous!

Here's an article about the City of Presidents project.

So you had a bad day...

This is one embarrassed pooch. She went exploring over at the neighbor's and discovered their skunk trap. Thank goodness it was a "live" trap. She had been gone most of the afternoon when we finally figured out where she must be. She was so happy to see her family. The silver lining is that she hasn't been over to the neighbor's since.

Grover has arrived!

After a long weather-related delay, Grover Cleveland has found his niche in Rapid City. Click on the title to see the RCJ story.

Our Saturday Adventure

My three youngers and I went to the Big City on Saturday for an indoor soccer tournament. Youngest son was in the tourney and had to check in at 11:00 a.m. The first game was at 12:30 and the second (and last) game was at 7:30 p.m. We had a lot of free time, so we did what most any Small Town visitor would do--we went shopping! Oh, the bookstores! And the Craft Store! And the Sporting Goods Store! And the tired feet!

Alas, our little team of U10 (under 10 years old) couldn't pull off a victory, but they played valiantly. It snowed lightly all day and was picking up quite a bit when we headed for home. Then my worst nightmare happened. The pickup quit running. A call home put my Knight In Shining Armor in action. He arranged for a tow truck to come from Small Town to Big City to get the pickup, and he borrowed Lovely Daughter's car to come get us. In the mean time we were to walk to the convenience store that was known to be somewhere close by because it was COLD and we needed to get to a warm place to wait. Have I mentioned I have a knack for getting lost? I naturally headed the wrong direction. After about a half-mile of walking and coming to the realization that there was no store of any kind around, a Good Samaritan stopped and offered us help. She was a very kind lady, driving her mother home, but went out of her way to take us to the convenience store and make sure we had a ride home. Thank you, kind lady!

After some hot chocolate and a nice visit with my children, my Knight showed up, as well as the tow truck guy. We got home by 11:00 p.m. and were very grateful for a warm house and warm beds. I knew God wanted us to learn something from this, and I was reminded how important my attitude is. When the pickup first quit I felt the panic rising and my hands started shaking and my teeth started chattering. Then it hit me. This could be a "disaster" or an "adventure", and it was up to me to decide. I chose adventure (tiny pat on the back here). I enjoyed my children. We had a great uninterrupted visit as well as some leg pulling and wise-cracking. But I do NOT plan to go to the Big City again any time soon! Ha!