Monday, September 30, 2013

Grasshopper Days

 

Grasshopper Days


For today, Monday September 30, 2013

Outside my window...  rainy and windy, brrrr!  The trees are bending in the wind and I realize how much drag the leaves create - more branches blown down now than there will be on windy days later when the trees are bare.

Hearing...  the wind (!) and the washer.

Pondering...  I caved.  *sigh*  I turned the furnace on.  I always try to wait for October, but darn it, the house was COLD!

Praying...  work for Kerry, and clients that pay promptly and fully.  (grrrr)  My mom's hand continues to heal well, but still a long process.  And I'm always praying for the boys... protection for Wyatt at school - that he would be a good student and that he would have good filters, KWIM?  And for the boys at home, that they would continue to be diligent and cheerful students.  And that they would all see orderliness God put in His world, and bring glory to Him.

Thankful...  for a cozy, warm house!  As I wait for the quilter to finish the quilt, I put the down comforter on our bed... aahhhhhhhhhhhh :D  And so thankful for four healthy babies born in our chapel family this year.

Wearing...  jeans, t-shirt and blue sweater (not the ones with bunny holes, Mom), thick warm socks :D

Creating...  working on some little projects...

Going...  to go for a walk in the wind with Gunnar.

Looking forward to...  eating the stew bubbling away in the crock-pot... it torments me ;D

In the kitchen...  two crock-pots full of stew, one for us and one for the family with the new baby :D  I'll make some bread this afternoon, to go with.  Yummmmm :D

In the learning rooms...  the younger boybarians loooooove to read.  Sonlight could include twice as many books and they would be happy as clams.  (Are clams happy?  Where did that ever come from???  Anyway...)  Wyatt had to work over the weekend to get caught up, so I'm hopeful that he'll stay on top of things this week.  At least he did get caught up.

I like every Monday to be a fresh start. :D

But what are we learning?  Tate is reading about the early colonists.  And what a contrast between Jamestown and Plymouth!  I'm sure Tate would've been in the Plymouth colony - such hard workers!  In fact, Kerry (the genealogy buff) is fairly certain some branch of his family is descended from William Bradford.  I don't know how sure you can be of that, but it's inspiring to Tate :D

Gunnar is reading about ancient Egypt, ancient China, and ancient Greece.  This week, that means lots of mythology.

Around the house...  looking forward to spreading more touches of fall around the house.  With the shorter days and colder weather I love for the house to feel warm and cozy.

The Mother Load...  making progress over the weekend...

  • prepare school for the week
  • process laundry
  • get Wyatt caught up - two tests!
  • do Sunday school homework
  • make chili beans for potluck
  • wash and change our sheets
  • finish birthday gifts
  • wrap birthday gifts
  • talk with Jan about women's Bible study
  • change boys' sheets - flannels?
  • boys - try on all clothes and hand down or eliminate
  •         - reorganize dressers for cold weather
  •         - clean bedroom (sweep under the beds!)
  •         - clean your bathroom
  • scrub and wax kitchen floor

Yes, you'll notice that kitchen floor is still undone.  Ugh.

A favorite quote for today...
O Thou Great Chief,
light a candle in my heart,
that I may see what is therein,
and sweep the rubbish from Thy dwelling place.
    - African school-girl

One of my favorite things...  holding a new baby :D

A Bible verse...  Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

A few plans for the rest of the week...  rehearsal tonight, CAP tomorrow (Gunnar gets promoted!), a youth group activity Saturday, and a family gathering on Sunday to celebrate three October birthdays :D

A peek into my world...


Gunnar and I see this plant in a neighbor's yard when we go for our walk.
He calls it a "Caterpillar Plant", and it kind of does look like
a bunch of caterpillars all crawling around,
doesn't it?


7 comments:

melanie said...

I was doing some research on _Of Plimouth Plantation_ today for Tim and found that LibriVox has an audio available for free :-)
ONly 11 hours or so...

Um, and the recipe for said stew?? Please?

What kitchen floor? ;D You accomplished a lot over the weekend!

Ruby said...

I am very impressed with the number of chores you have scrubbed off your list. I am also happy with my own lists at present as we are on September break from school.
I love you house all lit up (in the top!)
BTW Clams when closed have that perpetual huge smile look (at least in cartoons :-) so it is very apt!

Felicity said...

My kids love reading too, although they don't enjoy all the readers Sonlight give - not always to their tastes..(excuse us!) I, on the other hand, have enjoyed several of the books more than the kids did!

I wish we could get some of your rain ;-)

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Yah, Felicity, there are definitely some hits and misses! But I'd say they enjoy most of them.

Melanie, the stew... this is just a hamburger-based veggie soup with beef broth and a can of tomato sauce (or stewed tomatoes) for the liquid. Easy squeezy - I just throw in whatever veggies I have handy.

And Ruby, clams do look kind of happy ;D

Choate Family said...

Love reading about that cold weather! Enjoy Autumn for me :-)

Cathy M. said...

Howdy Grasshopper Mom,
I'm scanning my blog list, and all y'all young mothers make me so nostalgic for the days when I had little ones around the house.
I make that stew too. I slip a tablespoon of brown sugar in it when nobody is looking. I do the same with my chili, jambalaya, and... pretty much everything except turnip greens. (For those, I use a blop of black strap molasses.)

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Oh Cathy, that's funny! I often do to, but just didn't this time! I find with chili that it helps take the bite out of the spice just a bit!