In Which It Seems Like Christmas And My Mind Wanders

Remember last Thanksgiving?  When my brother made an announcement, that he and his bride were going to "further complicate the June birthday situation"?  Make no mistake, we're thrilled about the baby they're expecting, but he's right about June being complicated.  Yesterday we had fifteen people gathered (sixteen, if you count the baby) which represented five dads and six birthdays that we celebrated.  So - yah - it's a bit like Christmas in June!

My SIL, Allyson, is officially due today, though babies don't exactly have a reputation for respecting deadlines, y'know?  Everything seems to be going fine, and we're praying for a safe and uncomplicated (!) delivery.

Meanwhile, did I take a single photo yesterday?  No.  But Grandma Grasshopper did, so I may have some to share later.  These will have to do for now. 

Last Friday evening we BBQ'd up at Grandpa and Grandma Grasshopper's house, taking advantage of the last sunny day on the forecast.  And we celebrated the boys finishing their school year.  Of course, I wanted a photo of the three of them, together. 

You'd think at their ages this wouldn't be too difficult.

You would be wrong ;D

Thank you, Wyatt and Tate, for smiling.

Gunnar, could you please open your eyes and not hold your award right in front of your face?

Lovely, Tate, just lovely.

Hmmm, you look almost normal...

Yes, they all get candy.  Finishing the school year is SWEET :D

Just a bit of difference, yah?

Gunnar (above) is the same age as Wyatt (below) - nearly eleven.

Maybe we'll try for individual shots, instead...

Wyatt has just finished his "transition year" - between Grade 8 and High School.

Tate has finished Grade 7.

And Gunnar, Grade 4.

And I have survived five years of homeschooling - something I never thought I'd be doing.

Does that surprise you?  It's true...

About the time I hit college, the church I grew up in began to change.  Sure you had choices of how to live your life, but if you were really doing God's best, you'd do certain things.  If you went for higher education, you'd go to Bible school.  You'd marry.  You'd have lots of babies.  You'd be sure you were "Growing Kids God's Way".  And by all means, you would homeschool.  (And if you were female, you'd grow your hair long, wear a lot of skirts and dresses, sew/knit/crochet, and go to women's events themed after tea parties.)

If you knew me at all, you'd understand how I felt.  Like I was being choked to death.

So, being the calm rational person I am (!), I figured I'd never have anything to do with any of those things.  Well, except maybe marriage, but even that wasn't a given.

(Are you laughing yet?  Go ahead, I don't mind.)

God certainly has a sense of humor.  So here I am - a married, homeschooling, quilt-making, (occasional) bread-baking mom.  Yah.

What can I say?  He changed the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4).

And I still wear jeans, prefer a BBQ to cucumber sandwiches, and whack my hair off when I feel like it.  Because my righteousness isn't there.

And while homeschooling is great, it doesn't make my kids righteous either.  In fact, I'm pretty good at getting through the academics, but the whole character and spiritual development is a lot trickier to get at.  And what matters more?  Yah. 

So I appreciate the encouragement and praise, but good-golly-Miss-Molly, we are still a work in progress in the Grasshopper house!  (Now what did I start out talking about?)