Grasshopper Days

 Grasshopper Days

For Today, October 30, 2011

Outside my window...   this is my office window, and the dogwood outside.

This is the mystery tree next to the garage (not sure what it is.)  Pretty all by itself...

... and more dramatic with dark rain clouds behind it.

And we have plenty of rain clouds today.  And that gorgeous tree drops big, sloppy, wet leaves right outside my back door.  But the boys cleaned them up after church :D

I am thinking...  I just realized I forgot to do this post last week, and how are you all holding up without a weekly infusion of the utterly mundane details of our lives?!  (/sarcasm)

It's taken awhile to get back in the groove as well as dealing with the inevitable interruptions to said groove - like hunting season, sickness, or whatever.  Real life.

And I realize that with all the Homeschool Bennies and vacation posts, I'm feeling a bit disconnected - not posting about current things going on with us.

And that it's traditional to do these entries on Monday, but that's my busiest day of the week.  So, all three (five?!) of you faithful readers are probably spending today with your families, rather than reading blogs, but I might as well post it now while I have the time.  Then you can ignore it at your leisure ;D

I am thankful for... 
* my family - imperfect as we are, we're better together than we would be apart :D
* my church - faithfully preaching and teaching God's Word, and having a great time, too (50's theme potluck and game night last night!  Green-bean casserole!  Fried chicken!  Jello!  And... spam!)
* the internet - yep, technology, because it has brought me new friends.  On our trip, we met three families in person that we initially connected with online.  And all three of them I would love to have for neighbors, or in my church.

I am praying for...  wisdom for raising the boys, right priorities, and wisdom,  friends/missionaries soon to come home from Zambia, health, and more wisdom, workforKerry, and did I mention wisdom? ;D  James 1:5

I am wearing...  jeans, (nice) white t-shirt, Fair-Isle-type cardigan sweater from... Goodwill (woo-hoo!), and my blue Danskos.  I know, I know.  I'll buy a five buck sweater at Goodwill, and then expensive shoes.  Crazy.  But I've had them for years and they're still like new, and they keep my feet happy.  And I'm on my feet a lot, like most moms, so that matters.

I am going...  to get all the laundry folded and clean sheets back on the bed, and (tomorrow) to figure out where I need to send the boys brand new Air Force Blues uniforms to exchange them for a larger size.  But, Mom, we want to wear them and they fit!  Oh, yah, boys are hilarious.  They barely fit.  And the way those boys are growing?  I give it two months.  No deal.  We're trading up.

I am hoping...  Tate gets a deer.  Deer season closes tomorrow, so he's almost out of time.  And he knows that lots of people don't get one their first year out.  Or on any given year, for that matter.  And he's really being cool about it.  But I'm still hoping.

I am hearing...  boys - mine and neighbors - around the house.

I am remembering...  how it seemed like we waited so long to go on vacation (and it really wasn't that long) and then we were in a total time warp.  Weird.

From the learning rooms...  sentences, run-ons, and fragments; graphing, slopes, and intercepts, Jacques Cartier; standard and metric measurements; voyageurs and hivernants;  James Madison, Benedict Arnold, and Indian captives; and - of course - Martin Luther.

From the kitchen...  ooo, it's Reformation Day tomorrow, so if I was on the ball we'd have last year's menu - Papal Bull (meatballs) and Diet of Worms cake, but since I'll be gone at Messiah rehearsal, the boys will be having... leftovers.

Around the house...  love my fall decorations - pictures soon :D  (That's for my readers with matching chromosomes.)

Something I want to remember for later...  I saw this prompt on Felicity's blog and wish I'd thought of it when the boys were younger!  But now?
The way Gunnar makes "I love you" into a contest.  I love you more!  No, I love you more!  I loved you first!  etc.

On my mind...  Tate is going out hunting first thing tomorrow (Monday) morning, Gunnar has recovered from whatever was ailing him earlier in the week, Kerry has a little more work to do (more manna, thank the Lord), and Wyatt is persevering under a heavier (school) work load this year.  But he doesn't like it.  There are times I wish I could give him a whole year off of school.  But only if that meant he could work... really work.  At a real job, like for a contractor.  And (in my perfect world) a good Christian mentor-ish man.  Probably wouldn't fly.  But it's tempting.

Noticing that...  what??? Only one more day of October???  How did that happen???

Pondering these words... 

For it is by grace you have been saved, 
through faith—and this not from yourselves, 
it is the gift of God— not by works, 
so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9

One of my favorite things...  only one?  Hot chocolate.

A few plans for the rest of the week...  dinner at my parents' tonight, Messiah rehearsal tomorrow night, CAP Tuesday night,  a little birthday shopping, a PTO day Friday (yay :D ), and the usual round of school work, meals, laundry, and cleaning.   I'm always reluctant to say it sounds like a calm, ordinary week, for fear that something will explode... but I'll take my chances ;D

A picture I'm sharing...

A lot of changes in four years...

... or in this case, more like twenty.

(If you're confused, we were inspired by Gary Larson, and The Far Side.

We're cockroaches, going to a fancy ball.)