Grasshopper Days and Testosterzone Summer

Grasshopper Days

For today, Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Outside my window...  warm sunshine - hallelujah,

but there's a hint of fall in the air.

The mornings are cool and dewy,

and the days are noticeably shorter.

But instead of photos of today,

how about these from last month?

We were at my parents' beach with friends,

and the boys got to go tubing!

Two of mine, plus a friend.

Hearing...  the neighbor's motorcycle has squeaky brakes.

Pondering...  I think my brain has gotten rusty!

I'm trying to do some reading,

and realize that I need a Bible and pen and paper

right next to me

to get the value out of some of these books!

Praying...  for the boys :D

* Wyatt *

needs a direction, a goal.

Yes, the immediate goal is to finish his AA in December.

And then?

* Tate *

has registered for twenty credits fall quarter.

And has a job.

And is working on a promotion at CAP.

And is finishing up a CERT class.

(Community Emergency Response Team.)

* Gunnar *

is adjusting to a much fuller schedule as well.

He's also taking the CERT class,

taking three classes at the high school,

three at home,

and continuing to advance at CAP.

And we'll pick up the violin lessons again

when CERT finishes.

WHEW!

I'm everyone's manager.

Pray for me!

Thankful...  Kerry continues to have work :D

While Gunnar is still frustrated by the amount of work he has,

he's doing it more cheerfully.

Wearing...  blue jean shorts and a teal t-shirt.

Because I am all that and a bag of chips ;D

Creating... new plans, new goals, new rhythms,

for this new season of life.

Going...  to bed early tonight!

Reading...  just finished Wendell Berry's Jayber Crow,

(that's not the one I need a pen and paper for!)

and starting a Nancy Pearcey book.

Looking forward to...  moving the furniture around.

I know, it's a thrill a minute over here!

In the kitchen...  lasagna for dinner tonight.

From a box.

Because my three-day headache is (I hope?) finally abating.

In the learning rooms...  Gunnar,

working diligently on his Biology

review of the first chapter.

Test tomorrow!

He already had his first history test - 95% :D

Good job, Gunnar!

Around the house...  dust.

Wyatt and Tate are doing some digging under the house,

and somehow the dust works its way into the house.

*sigh*

Noticing that...  oh!

Gunnar just told me that the "substitute" for his Spanish class

is now the all-year-teacher.

All righty then.

Works for me,

because he really likes this teacher :D

Something to remember for later...  see the photo below,

CAP is doing good things for my boys :D

Gunnar just promoted to Master Sergeant,

and Tate gave the monthly Safety Briefing,

completely off-the-cuff

and did well :D

The Mother Load...

Oh.

Let's not go there right now.

Not until the headache is truly gone.

Something fun to share...  driving the boys to their Thursday night CERT class

means a chance to hang out with my friend Sara :D

(Her oldest two are also in the class.)

A favorite quote for today...  

If your goal is purity of heart,

be prepared to be thought very odd.

Elisabeth Elliot

One of my favorite things...

warm, breezy, sunny fall days with hardly any flies :D

A Bible verse...

Psalm 111:2

Great are the works of the Lord,

studied by all who delight in them.

Full of splendor and majesty is His work,

and His righteousness endures forever.

Now isn't that a great reason to homeschool?

We study the works of the Lord because we delight in them,

and in Him.

A few plans for the rest of the week...

gee, now that the week is half gone...

* keep Gunnar on track with his school work

* make sure Tate and Wyatt have everything they need to start school

(we bought Tate's books today)

* hang out with my friend Sara tomorrow evening

* check out Bible Study Fellowship tomorrow morning

* get full use out of the minions before they're busy with school work

(i.e. make them do chores)

A peek into my world...

somebody forgot to check their pockets

and sent some tissues through the laundry.

(It was me.)

Yellow Aster Butte

When Tate chose a cel phone to buy,

he wanted it to have a good camera.

He chose well :D

My iPhone takes great close ups,

but doesn't do well with distance.

These photos of Tate's look like they were taken with an SLR!

Nope.

Tate, Wyatt, and their cousin Ben took a day-hike up to Yellow Aster Butte.

And boy did they pick the right day!

While it's not a long hike,

(seven or eight miles round trip?)

the significant elevation gain

 - about 3000' - 

provides amazing views of the surrounding peaks,

both in Washington and Canada!

Amazing.

That's Mt. Baker,

by the way.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains -

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip -

He who watches over you

will not slumber;

indeed,

He who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you -

the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm -

He will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forever more.

Looking back down,

you can see the trail down to the right,

but they started waaaaay down in the valley.

Love those smiles up at the top!

Another Scatterday Brain Dump

All those things I thought I was going to get done this week?

Not so much.

1.  Of course, there was the whole situation with my dad.  He got to go home from the hospital on Tuesday and is much happier recovering at home, but he's still got a lot of recovering to do.  His leg is still too tender to bear any weight, so he's hobbling around on an assortment of crutches and walkers.  Yes, he's following up with his docs, and we all appreciate the prayers and concern.  He says he's found new meaning in James 3:2  "We all stumble in many ways."

But I can't blame it all on him ;D

2.  Welcome to the Grasshopper Home of Germs.  I started feeling rotten Tuesday night.  Tate already is fighting a cold.  And now Kerry is feeling sick.  We're just a bundle of good times!  

Making chicken soup for dinner.

Fortunately I did manage to get Tate registered for the class he needs at the Tech College, and Kerry took him to the career night there before he started feeling sick.  And hurray for the flexibility of homeschooling, because we sure needed it this week!

3.  Crazy, crazy weather.  Lots of wind.  And rain.  And did I mention wind?

Yet in spite of the temp being all over the place (even up to seventy in February) there's this:

Our local ski area - Mt. Baker - has received over 515 inches of snow this year.  So far.  And another storm is coming in tomorrow.  Batten down the hatches.

4.  My friend Breanna, who is living in Myanmar, posted this.  It's a guide to differentiating between Asian scripts.

5.   Since we're all laying low today...  I'm getting ready for taxes.  NOT my favorite job.

Which means I deserve this:

Hot chocolate with toasted marshmallows.  (And it still probably has less sugar than those fancy "coffee" beverages ;D)

6.  The boybarians are having an educational afternoon.   Any guesses what they're doing?

Bonus testoster-zone points if you guessed

They're making a foundry.  

Because you were thinking it, weren't you?

The goal is to make some objects by sand-casting.  But they're run into some problems, aka learning experiences.

First, the martini shaker they found at Goodwill and used as a crucible couldn't take the heat.

So off they went to the hardware store for some steel pipe.

Second, the steel pipe...

 ... couldn't take the heat.

Possibly because they borrowed my hair dryer to use as a bellows, and had it running on high the entire time.

According to Uncle Google, aluminum will melt at 1221F and steel melts at around 2500F, so they had their little oven about twice as hot as it needed to be.

And blew up my hair dryer, which is no great tragedy, as I use it, oh, maybe twice a year.

They did manage to melt some aluminum...

but most of it ran through the holes in their crucibles down into the charcoal.

What was it Edison supposedly said, while inventing the light bulb?

I haven't failed.  I've found 10,000 ways that won't work.

And nobody has burned themselves or the house down, so... success ;D

Now clean it all up, because it's supposed to blow like crazy again.

 7.  Remember...

*sigh*

How I feel about that?

In Which the Boys Go Snowshoeing

We get a lot of rain here.  I may have mentioned that a time or fifty.  The up-side of that is:

lots of rain + high elevation = *snow!*

Literally, any day of the year we can drive (and maybe hike a little) and find snow.  And since thus far (from the boys' point of view) we've had an utterly deplorable lack of snow down here in town, the thing to do is go to the snow.  So they did :D  Even the drive to get there is gorgeous.

I'm not sure they actually needed snow shoes, as that path looks pretty well packed down, but it's all about the adventure, right?  And didn't they have an awesome day for it?

Of course, boys being boys, the first thing to do is collect icicles...

... so you can threaten your brothers.

And make sure to get a photo of Dad :D

But don't leave him behind!

Be sure to get a photo of the sun sparkling on the snow crystals...

Look at the view to the north...

Apparently, inspiration struck when they saw this clump of snow hanging over the path...

A little sculpting with the ski pole, and...

Do you recognize it?  I had to ask...

... but then, I haven't seen Alien.

I'd much rather look at this happy scene ;D

Ah, Mt. Shuksan.  I once stood right on the pointy tip-top of that mountain.

And that was their day of snowshoeing.

Check out the difference (traffic) between arriving in the morning...

... and leaving in the afternoon.

Kerry thinks there must've been an accident or something further up the highway (toward the ski area) because traffic was all backed up and people were turning around and heading home.  So glad they got up on the mountain early!