Monday, June 17, 2013

Grasshopper Days

 

Grasshopper Days

For today, Monday, June 17, 2013

Outside my window...  laundry on the line, and the sun shining on the dogwood.

Hearing...  the occasional robin and a very persistent squirrel.

Pondering...  the weekend.  We had our big family June-birthdays-and-Father's-Day get-together/BBQ on Saturday instead of Sunday this year, and I like it a lot better.  Especially since we usually have it at my cousin's house - a two-hour drive before the detour, and slightly longer now.  It felt so much more relaxed than when we'd either have to skip church or rush out after the sermon to jump on the freeway. With six birthdays and four dads to celebrate it's a bit like Christmas in June, y'know?  Lots of fun :D

I had in mind to make Sunday more special for Kerry - really emphasize Father's Day - but it didn't quite work out that way.  Instead, I ended up at Urgent Care with some sort of respiratory crud that was getting worse instead of better.  Ugh.  I had a breathing treatment - very weird.  I've never smoked in my life, and it was kind of like smoking a giant peace pipe of warm, steamy meds.  Really, really weird.  But effective enough to get me out of a chest x-ray and sent home with four - yes four - prescriptions.

So, you know, fun times.

Praying...  for Wyatt, at school, doing his math final this morning.  And for me, to feel better.  You know, breathing is kind of important.  Sleeping occasionally, too.

Thankful...  Kerry and the boys are managing things while I rest, and even brought me flowers and chocolates (saving for later, when I'll really enjoy them) for my birthday :D

Going...  really hoping not to leave the house today.  Yep.  I set my goals high.

Reading...  just finished Douglas Wilson's Future Men and highly recommend it to parents of boys.  Great perspective and encouragement.  He starts with something that should be obvious, but isn't necessarily - an arrow needs a target.  If we want to raise our boys to be godly men (masculine in the Biblical sense) we have to know what that is.  And our culture isn't helping us, tending to err either on the side of making boys effeminate, or embracing a false "macho" masculinity that glorifies any number of things that are not, shall we say, virtues.

But you should read it yourself.

Next on the summer reading pile, finishing Dan Phillips' God's Wisdom in Proverbs, which I started awhile ago and had to set aside to finish other things.

Learning...  more about my boys.

Looking forward to...  Wyatt being done with school, on Wednesday.

In the kitchen...  ummm, yah.  I should probably throw something in the crockpot while I have a bit of energy.

In the learning rooms...  hiatus :D

Actually, I have most of my planning done for next year, but should get in there and turn everything over - put last year's things away and look for next year's.  I need to double check all the equipment/materials for the science experiments and see what I need to get.  I think - I think! - we've finally reached the point where I'm not buying much of anything new, since everything gets handed down.  Sure, we'll need more specimens to dissect, and more red cabbage for indicator, and more paper and pencils, etc.  But the curriculum is pretty well in place.  Hallelujah.

Around the house...  birthday and Father's Day gifts on display.  Is this weird?  Do other people do this?  We leave our gifts out for a few days.  On the one hand it could look like boasting, but to us it's about being thankful.

The Mother Load...  must rest, must rest, must rest... and we have some thank-you's to write, some tidying to do, some bushes to plant (thanks to my brother I finally got two Victoria Wild Lilac I have wanted), and, well, I need to rest let the rest go for now.

Victoria Wild Lilac
Noticing that...  it's time to have a little talk with the boys about shower habits.  How long can it really take to wash your hair (less than an inch long) and body?  Pick up the pace.

Something to remember for later...  had fun watching my niece - Naomi - enjoy her first birthday cake.  And the bath, afterward :D

Something fun to share...  Gunnar is counting down the days until July 16, when he can finally join CAP.  Several of his birthday gifts were items for his "24-hour pack".  He's growing :D

A favorite quote for today...  Boys take a lot of faith.  Douglas Wilson

One of my favorite things...  seeing the tenderness come out in my boys (just wish it wasn't because I'm sick!)

A few plans for the rest of the week...  Wyatt finishing school will need to be celebrated, along with Gunnar's actual birthday; Wyatt is in a triathlon (relay) this weekend, and we'll be going to Naomi's very own first birthday party.  Gunnar is on pins and needles with anticipation of unveiling his gift!

A peek into my world...

What I hope my little lilacs will grow to be...


... and the birthday girl!




5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, need to re-read Future Men!

3 in CAP - I bet Gunnar is a bouncing mess counting down those days!

Praying you better and sorry I'm not there to bring you some fabulous soup, Thieves oil, and . . . um . . . 'special' hot tea (that starts with a few shots of whiskey and ends with some seriously good sleep)!

Ruby said...

Boys are great! I love mine and have always enjoyed reading your anecdotes of yours :-) Showers. Here's our solution to the extra long showers they were taking. We moved to a new place where the water pressure in the shower is dismal. Now, they are in and out in no time! (Only downside is that our showers are rather hasty as well). I am finding the teenage years of sons much more trying than their boistrous boyhoods. May we all survive!

melanie said...

Hope you are feeling much better soon! {and wishing like Q to be closer neighbors able to bring you some elderberry etc}

Hmmm, showers. Maybe a Med cruise courtesy of the USN would teach them the meaning of a ONE-minute shower? :o Gotta be a better way -- in our other house, we could flush the toilet and scald the slow poke out of the shower.

Is that lilac blue?? :D

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Melanie - Yes, the flowers on the Victoria Wild Lilac are BLUE :D And small - about the size of the end of your thumb. And unlike most lilacs, they're evergreen.

Ruby - oh BOY! The teen years sure bring different challenges. But we will prevail!

Q - your tea sounds very tempting, but not sure how it would combine with the other meds ;D

jennifer anderson said...

our presents stay on display a few days, but that is just because we are slow about putting things up!LOL

Sounds like a nice weekend, other then your illness.