Monday, January 6, 2014

Grasshopper Days


Grasshopper Days

For today, Monday, January 6, 2014

Outside my window...  still dark.  Wyatt just left to catch the bus, and it is cooooold.  Well below freezing.  I can't see the sky yet, but I'll bet it's clear.  For us, the coldest weather is clear weather.

Hearing...  Tate in the shower (the bathroom is next to my office), the furnace blowing, and Kerry puttering in the kitchen downstairs.

Pondering...  the sad family story of a woman I visited with yesterday.  There are no guarantees with raising kids... no formula that promises success.  No If I do A, B, and C, then D and E will surely follow.  I wonder where my boys will be in ten years?

Praying...  that they will be faithful.

Thankful...  for my wonderful family, my encouraging church family, sweet friends, a warm house, and these smiling faces.



Going...  to get back to our schoolwork, momentarily.  Oh, it's been a nice break!

Reading...  all the Appendices to the Lord of the Rings series, something I've never done before.  (Okay, I'm skimming.)  I was curious about some of the extra material in the new Hobbit movies and now I see where they got (some of) it.

Looking forward to...  starting new projects, this new year.

In the kitchen...  I cooked the boys breakfast.  Starting back to school after a long break needs some sort of special launch, doesn't it?  Only scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls (the kid that pop out of a tube, with a little tub of orange icing, so don't be too impressed!) but they enjoyed it :D

In the learning rooms...  I have no idea what we'll be doing.  I completely detached from school work over the Christmas holiday.  I think Gunnar and I will start reading about medieval England - King Arthur and all that.  Tate?  Still in the Civil War, most likely.  Math?  Science?  Hmmm... Tate is still studying weather patterns.  Gunnar will be doing some kind if experiment involving wire, a 6V battery, and a compass, and somebody needs some purple cabbage juice (indicator).  Yah, and exponents, and factoring polynomials, and apostrophes and auxiliary verbs.

Around the house...  evidence of much reading.  I love that everyone reads, but for-the-love-of-Mike could you please pick up your books?!  And I have much wintery, blue and silver, icy snowflake-y stuff out.  Interestingly, though, I've discovered something.  I like blue.  (We knew that.)  But blue candles?  For some reason, with the exception of some Partylite (ie expensive) blueberry votives, blue candles have the oddest scents.  I was given some for Christmas by someone who clearly was thinking of me and my likes - blue, check; candles, check.  But I think they have a little-old-lady smell.  Flowery powder maybe?  But I'm burning them anyway, because they're pretty :D

The Mother Load...  I have a feeling that the boys will be a lot more "hands-on" today, what with getting back in the groove and everything.  And there's so much to do!  One priority is to help the boys find some sort of Bible reading plan.  Tate has read straight through the Bible twice already, and there's sure nothing wrong with that (!) but I want them to have several options in hope that something 'clicks' with them.  And I'm shying away from ones that are highly scheduled because it's too easy to get behind and then just quit.  (Read through the Bible in a year, etc.)  Suggestions?  

Noticing that...  every time the phone rings, Gunnar jumps.  Really?  Why?  It's not like he gets a lot of calls, especially in the middle of the day.  (They're usually work-related calls for Kerry, and precious few of those.)

Something to remember for later...  when the boys remember (most of the time) they'll jump ahead to open/hold doors for me.  Very sweet :D

Something fun to share...  though we don't have cable and don't really follow professional sports, the boys always look forward to the super bowl, whoever is playing.  "Our" Seahawks are doing well this year, so maybe we'll have a personal interest, but I think they just like going to Grandpa and Grandma's for a party - Grandma's annual "Soup-er Bowl".  I'm bringing chili.

A favorite quote for today...  
All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage.  
Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them.
I do love Erma Bombeck!

One of my favorite things...  real mail.

A Bible verse...  
He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals
His thoughts to man,
He who turns
dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places
of the earth - 
the Lord God Almighty
is His name.

A few plans for the rest of the week...  besides church, school, and CAP (the constants in our lives) we have a light week (yay!) - an orthodontist appointment (Wyatt is sooo excited), dinner with friends one evening, and possibly a (CAP) radio class on Saturday.

A peek into my world...  I took this out my window a few days ago.  Something about it looks peaceful - probably the quietness of a snowy day - and hopeful.  I think it's the way the branches all curve up at the end, like hands ready to receive what comes.  We are praying, with much hope, for a job for Kerry.

9 comments:

sara said...

I've been thinking about real mail lately. My brother joined the marines and when I sat down to write him, long hand, on real paper, I felt like I had really accomplished something. I think I'd like to be a really good and faithful letter writer.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

So would I! I just sent a couple of paper cards to friends today. It's a start.

Anonymous said...

Yikes, de-lurking!

Has Tate seen this website?

http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=0.63,55.12,1497

I could watch it for hours! (and hi from a very windy Scotland)

And finally, on things weather: an elderly pal has just left the south coast of England on a ship heading round the world. Straight into seas the shipping forecast described as 'high, very high, to phenomenal'. I couldn't resist googling the sea state scale - phenomenal describes any sea with waves over 14m!! Gulp. Rather her than me.

And here endeth my weather facts.

Love your blog. :)

Anonymous said...

Argh - no wonder I don't comment - I always loose my post as I try to post!

OK - summary - 2 weather related comments for Tate:

This site is fab (and hi from a very windy Scotland) http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=0.63,55.12,1497

And 2ndly, my pal has just started a round the world trip by ship. She set off from Southampton (south coast of England) into waves described by our shipping forecast as 'high, very high, to phenomenal'. I had to google the sea states descriptions, and found phenomenal is used to describe sea conditions where the waves are over 14m! Gulp! rather her than me - she has been stuck in her cabin since Sunday evening.

Love your blog! Deborah

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Wow! That's beautiful! (I had to change a couple of commas to periods in the link to make it work.) Hope your friend does all right - sounds like bitter weather!

Anonymous said...

Hmm, OK, am probably messing up your lovely comments list! Thought I lost a post, then it was found (hey...)

Didn't mean to use that identity. I really really dislike google.

I'm Deborah, pleased to meet you Grasshopper Lady. :)

melanie said...

I like the new 'verse' in your header -- good encouragement while you wait for job news. :-)

Monica said...

I am so ready for winter to be over. Now that Christmas is gone, winter can go too! :)
Your "pondering" has been mine some days too. With our three, two that will be successful and one that is really giving us fits sometimes. You just never know what will happen even though you raise them all the same. Pray, that is what we do!
I love your family pictures with all your bright smiling faces! We always get one that isn't quite smiling. ;)
This is a link to a chronological reading guide. It does have dates but they could just check them off as the read them and not really refer to the dates. I am doing this one, daily as is our middle daughter and it is pretty good stuff! We get to have great conversations each evening over what we read today.
http://www.esv.org/assets/pdfs/rp.chronological.pdf

dlefler said...

I love, love, LOVE that family photo! It really turned out well! As for the weather.. it is thanks to our arctic cold snap that I am home and able to catch up on blogs. I love being at home. Love it! The kids, unfortunately, head back to school tomorrow as the weather warms.

The book issue is huge in our house.. books are EVERYWHERE. It is a problem I love to have (thank goodness my kids are readers), but I would appreciate it if the books would find their way back to the bookshelves!