Grasshopper Days and Grasshopper Christmas

Grasshopper Days

For today, Monday, December 29, 2014.

Outside my window...  cold and clear - gorgeous!  And snow up in the hills around the lake.

Hearing...  a very, very quiet house.  I think everyone is either reading or having some form of screen time.  Ahhh, Christmas break!

Pondering...  oh how I love Christmas!  And then, I love the week after Christmas, when there's... nothing.  Well, nothing much on the agenda ;D  Ran some errands today, and guess what?

... I had a chauffeur ;D  (Maybe I should've put that under "praying"!  He's doing fine.)

Praying...  the boys are praying for snow!  Praying for my cousin's family (dealing with loss), for Kerry to keep working diligently, for a smooth transition back into school (but not for another week :D), and for peace in our house.

Kerry spent a TON of time making this little model of the Mark Twain
for my brother's model of Disneyland.

Thankful...  Kerry HAS work (always a blessing!), Wyatt's hours (at UPS) are ramping down, and you know it's a good day when you find new bras that are comfortable AND affordable ;D

Christmas morning - interesting cloud effects.

Wearing...  *ahem* new undergarments ;D, jeans, t-shirt, sweater, warm socks... it's COLD outside!

Our house, Christmas morning.

Creating...  about to start a new baby quilt, and I have some things to show you, below...

One of my Nativities.

Going...  to my parents' for dinner tonight :D

Another Nativity.

Learning...  the world will keep spinning even if I don't make All The Christmas Cookies.

Nativity from Mexico.  Cute.  But the sheep look like slugs.

Looking forward to...  more daylight.  On December 21 we had an 8am sunrise and a 4:15pm sunset.  That's right.  Eight hours and fifteen minutes of daylight.  And if it's cloudy?  Which it is, most of the time.  Then even in daylight it's dark.  *sigh*  This is why I have bright colors and lots of candles and twinkly lights in my house!

Another Nativity - this one carved of Olive wood.  I love how joyful they look, even without faces.

In the kitchen...  eating at my folks' tonight, but we have lots of great left-overs filling the fridge.  (Ham!)  Also, the kitchen had a loss yesterday.  My big crock pot died an untimely death.  The "little" (3 quart) one I got for a wedding gift is still going strong, but it's hardly big enough to feed three teenage boys, so... the boys and I went out and replaced it today, with this:

Bow Down

In the learning rooms...  Tate, aka Mr. Diligent, is working on his Biology.  He wisely decided to stretch a tough chapter over three weeks instead of two, and we have extra time built into the schedule at the end of the school year to accommodate that.  But he wants to get "caught up".  I'm not forcing him to do school work on break ;D

My *NEW* Nativity!

Around the house...  this year I was kind of overwhelmed with all our Christmas stuff and decided (gasp!) NOT to put all our decorations out.  Don't worry, it was still VERY festive and Christmassy here :D  But my favorite things are my Nativities.  I think the very generous Rebecca read my mind.   She sent me this gorgeous Nativity that her company sells.  BEAUTIFUL!  (If you'd like to get one,  just click through to her blog and she links to her business.)  I absolutely love it!!!  She also gifted me this lovely wall art...

Joshua 24:15

 ...which fits our family and our decor perfectly :D

Boys doing dishes - a true Christmas (morning) gift :D

The Mother Load...  well, I had my office all tidied up, and then there came the post-Christmas-where-do-I-put-things event.  *sigh*  Thankful to be working through all the bounty :D

Kerry's Christmas gift - done from a drawing of a piece of artwork he loved in college.

Noticing that...  it's REALLY getting windy outside!  Temps near freezing AND blowing makes for a chilly day.

My sister seemed pleased with her lap quilt -
made with fabric she gave me.

Something to remember for later...  what with Wyatt's grueling work schedule, the boys did not get out and get me a Christmas gift.  Didn't bother me a bit, but they felt awful.  So Tate got up early and created a 'gift card' for me.  It's amazing.

Here's the living room:

 ... and here's his card, all cut from common construction paper...

 ... I love that he even included the little trees on the stair landing, and all the gifts under the tree... even the funny round one!  (Grandma Grasshopper's splatter screens).  So much detail!  The music on the piano, the picture above it, the star on the tree... it's precious.

Something fun to share...  the boys are big fans of a show called Firefly.  If you're not familiar with it (and not many are) this will make no sense to you, but they were THRILLED.

A favorite quote for today...  (for the boys...)

Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal.

Ha ha ha.  Mine is an evil laugh.

Aunty Tami also got a snowflake pillow :D

One of my favorite things...  when you pick just the right gift.

Naomi's Ladybug Umbrella

A Bible verse...  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.  3 John 4

Boys with cousins - Mikayla, Raelynn, and Naomi

A peek into my world...  from zero to nutty in two seconds...

Naomi likes her apron

The blanket from the (girl) cousins was PERFECT -
especially for snuggling with Grandpa Grasshopper

And then there were the special gifts from Aunty Tami... because we are always CLASSY.

On the left, "Hootie Patootie" and Chocolate Moose.