Verily

And from David Regier...

Grasshopper Days

Grasshopper Days

For today, Wednesday, October 26, 2016

I don't get it.

I used to do this every Monday,

and now, with - theoretically - more time than ever

here it is Wednesday and I'm just thinking about posting.

Because, of course,

the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Or not.

Outside my window...

still loving the fall colors,

even when they're scattered down on my driveway :D

Hearing...

a happy sound,

my electric kettle boiling water for tea :D

Pondering...

deep thoughts, friends:

Praying...

* a friend out of work

* for Kerry to keep getting work

* for friends with cancer

* for all of us to stay healthy

* for Gunnar, who is nervous about playing his violin in the chapel talent show this Friday

(he'll do great :D)

Thankful...

* we are all healthy right now

* Kerry does have work

* the boys are doing well with their schoolwork

* I have a few quiet moments most mornings

* cooler weather makes cooking and baking more fun :D

Wearing...

old jeans and a green sweater.

My comfy-stay-at-home clothes.

Creating...

found fabric I like for an upcoming gift-quilt,

so now I need to come up with a plan :D

Tate is her current favorite

Going...

to take Gunnar to his violin lesson,

rescheduled from yesterday because he broke a string.

Because you really haven't been surprised until your adolescent boy tells you he needs a new G-string.

Reading...

studying Total Truth, which is going to be a long project,

and reading for fun (again)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

It was a windy day.

Looking forward to...

one of these days I'm 

finally going to get together with my friend Sara!

(Poke, poke.)

In the kitchen...

this is a day for home-made bread :D

In the learning rooms...

Wyatt has a long day at college -

starts at 9:30am and goes until 8pm.

Tate comes home for a late-ish lunch.

Gunnar gets done before 11,

and comes home for homeschool work.

And - today - a violin lesson :D

Around the house...

say yes to pumpkin spice candles.

Noticing that...

we are almost to the end of Daylight Saving Time.

Then come the days that end at about 4pm.

No kidding.

Something to remember for later...

all that STUFF can't love you back.

The Mother Load...

a whole lot of reminding the boys about things.

And cleaning.

The cleaning never ends.

Something fun to share...

our little maple tree.

I love it,

especially this time of year :D

A favorite quote for today...

God knows far better than we do

when we really need refreshment

and when we need to be pushed...

... when the pressure is off,

we have a tendency to forget

our need for God.

Our proneness to wander

is curbed by the

priceless grace of pressure.

Jon Bloom

One of my favorite things...

a hot shower and dry clothes,

after being out in the rain!

 A Bible verse...

Acts 11:23

and he exhorted them to remain

faithful to the Lord

with steadfast purpose.

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

talent night at the chapel on Friday :D

With much encouragement, Gunnar will play his violin.

Because even though he knows that the chapel folks are a friendly crowd,

he's just a little bit nervous.

And by "just a little" I mean A LOT.

His teacher has agreed to come and accompany him with her guitar.

Go, Gunnar, Go!

A peek into my world...

Between The Morning Rain and The Afternoon Rain...

Gunnar and I walked some of the nearby trails,

collecting fungi for his Biology lab.

We successfully located the three types we were looking for.

Mushrooms

Shelf fungi

And puff balls.

I know, it looks like an egg, but it's really a puff ball.

Gunnar spotted a patch of them yesterday, coming home from the neighbor's.

We're amazed at how many different ways fungi reproduce.

I'm going to miss homeschooling, when they're all done!

Grasshopper Days

Grasshopper Days

For today, Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Outside my window...

remember this view out my window?

I remember the afternoon sun filtering through all those gorgeous leaves.

Now it's this.

See?  There's one little red leaf,

hanging on for dear life.

Hearing...  a very quiet house.

What I SHOULD be hearing is Wyatt getting up...

at the crack of 10.

Grrrrr.

Pondering...  where did Monday go?

How is it already Tuesday?!

Thankful...  to get out for a walk this morning.

I miss having Gunnar to walk with,

but I was greeted by my "friends"...

Praying...

* work for Kerry!

* health for all of us

* self-discipline in school work and studying

* two friends with cancer

* vehicle issues ( = money issues)

* relationships

Wearing...

blue jeans, white t-shirt, navy sweater, periwinkle socks...

can you guess my favorite color?

Going...  to pick up Gunnar from school and take him to his violin lesson.

And later... a check up at the dentist.  Yipee...

So, you know, clearly we live a life to be envied ;D

Learning...  I am LOVING going to BSF.

We're studying the book of John this year.

I've been in church pretty much all my life,

and I'm learning new things!

(Not crazy, weird things!!! This isn't a cult with a new view on the Bible!)

Just noticing new things.

Love it.

Looking forward to...

hoping to get to hang out with a friend this evening.

Does that sound oh-so-middle-school?

"Hang out"?

Help me out here.

What are we supposed to say at our age?

Neither of us drink coffee, so that's out!

In the kitchen...

I get a lot more excited about cooking, this time of year,

but on Tuesday?  CAP night?

Don't know if anyone will even be home at dinner time!

And Tuesday is cheap pizza day...

In the learning rooms...

Gunnar is doing a really good job, getting used to working more independently.

And Wyatt and Tate?

I don't even know what they're working on most of the time.

Gunnar is dealing with the same frustration Wyatt and Tate faced

when they started back at the public high school...

the (far too many) students who JUST DON'T CARE.

Who literally do NOTHING in class.

Their butt has to be in the seat, but they're not even trying.

So frustrating.

One of Gunnar's teachers actually sent some of the students out of the class.

According to Gunnar, the teacher said something to the effect of,

"You do nothing.

You will fail the class.

So you might as well leave the room and

go somewhere you're not distracting other students."

Good for him.

I think he's awesome.

He'll probably get in trouble.

*sigh*

Around the house...

Yes.

We've turned the heat on.

Noticing that...

I post a lot of fall photos from my walks.

Are you tired of them?

Bored?

All starting to look the same?

If I could store up light and color,

the way we charge up our phones...

that's what I'm doing.

Soaking it all in before winter.

Because while snow is beautiful and bright,

most of our winter is heavy on

gray skies, brown dormant bushes and trees,

short daylight hours, and a lot of rain.

Gray.  Brown.  Dark.  Wet.

That's why all the fall photos :D

Uh-oh!

Something to remember for later...

all the beauty around us TODAY :D

The Mother Load...

* remind Tate to check on Polly, his rabbit

* remind Gunnar to search for whatever in his bedroom seems to beep at 1am

* make an appointment to renew our insurance

* do my BSF homework :D

Watch out for this one, hanging over the trail!

A favorite quote for today...

As we make an offering of our work,

we find the truth of a principle Jesus taught:

fulfillment is not a goal to achieve,

but always the byproduct of sacrifice.

Elisabeth Elliot

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

all the usual events,

plus a family birthday celebration this weekend.

As our family has grown,

we've started clumping birthdays.

Do you do this?

There are fifteen of us now.

That's more than one a month, and they're not spread out anyway.

So we'll get together and honor five birthday people :D

A peek into my world...

well.

Yes.

Waiting For The Storm

We kind of expect wind and rain this time of year.

Par for the course, y'know?

Had a couple storms already.

Power has been on and off.

But we're supposed to get The Big One later today.

The latest forecast says our location can expect winds up to 70mph,

so we're kind of expecting to lose power.

Don't worry about us.

It's not cold.

We'll still have water and

we'll be able to cook on our gas stove :D

And a warm dry house!

And I can sit inside,

while rain streams down the windows,

and watch all the pretty leaves blow away up to Canada.

Can you tell how all the branches are blowing out to the right?

I love watching the changes.

The dark, dark clouds down the lake...

... the sun breaking through dramatically...

... more dark clouds, racing overhead...

... and the "rain art" on my window.

Kind of looks like a seismograph or something.

It's the power lines :D

Hope you're all tucked in safe and warm,

and prepared for whatever weather comes!

FNAR

For no apparent reason...

except that I hear the weather is changing on us,

and we're about to get a few days of fall storms.

I don't mind, really.

I enjoy being cozy inside with candles burning,

and a hot cup of tea :D

But more than likely,

most of those gorgeous colorful leaves

will soon be stripped from the trees and blown to Canada,

so enjoy it while you can!

And if you need a little giggle in your day...

That will be all.

Grasshopper Days

Grasshopper Days

For today, Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Outside my window...

a glorious fall day,

clear, crisp, bright and sunny - woo-hoo!

Hearing...

Wyatt hasn't left for school yet (class in the afternoon),

and Gunnar has just gotten home.

I cruelly forced him to ride his bike this morning

because I am an evil task-master

who wants him to get some fresh and and sunshine while that's still possible.

Bwa-ha-ha...

Pondering...

things that make absolutely no sense to me.

My in-laws are moving and down-sizing.

They no longer have room for 

All The Things

and must urgently-right-now

deal with them.

IOW, pass the responsibility on to Kerry and his brother.

Mostly Kerry.

So our already-full garage has been over-filling...

Our recycling is overflowing,

and there are more boxes to go through.

Full of "treasures" like this broken mandolin.

No, it did not break in transit.

It was packed (and helpfully labeled!) broken.

Boxes of "miscellaneous papers and collectibles".

Because the instructions for an electric knife,

and unpaid bills are important to... whom???

This is what I'm pondering...

Why on earth was nobody able to make a decision to discard these things until now?

Why did large boxes of Great Grandma's old junk mail ever make their way to my house???

Since our garbage and recycling are filled to overflowing...

I took care of the problem

as well as some of my frustration with the fact

that we're dealing with any of this...

All that paper doesn't burn as easily as you might think,

but I had help.

I know,

it was grueling to part with treasures

such as this 1985 cheese and sausage catalog...

or these helpful instructions on modern communication...

or my FIL's notes on his landscaping projects...

But the kicker was an enormous box, filled with hundreds of photos,

already sorted and discarded by my in-laws,

and labeled...

with an extra label inside the box,

in case you weren't sure...

Yes, they're "really done" now.

It was a lovely day for a bonfire :D

(PS, yes, my dad is keeping an eye on it to make sure it gets completely out.)

Whew.

Praying...

two friends dealing with cancer,

another friend (97 years old!) in the hospital,

work for Kerry,

for missionary friends and family abroad,

and health for us all as there's a nasty virus going around.

Thankful...

so far, we're all well :D

The boys seem to be doing well in their schoolwork.

And I'm so thankful for the brightness of this beautiful day.

Wearing...

layers!

Blue, purple, black.

Oh dear, that sounds pretty 80's maybe,

but I'm not leaving the house today except to pick up pizza,

so who cares?

(Tuesday! Five buck pizza day!)

Going...

to fold a bunch of laundry.

Because I live a glorious life of glamour ;D

Looking forward to...

hmmm,

I love this season.

I love the crisp mornings,

the warm afternoons,

the flaming colors,

and the anticipation of the coming holidays -

Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I know it's early to even mention Christmas,

but since we're a few weeks into Messiah rehearsals

I'm already thinking about it!

In the kitchen...

not cooking much today,

but maybe soup tomorrow.

I haven't made bread in quite awhile

and I know the boys would LOVE some homemade bread :D

In the learning rooms...

still adjusting to just Gunnar.

Oh, he's important :o),

I mean I'm still kind of amazed that I'm down to ONE homeschooler,

and that only part-time.

The other two are managing their own educations.

Around the house...

candles and colorful leaves and pretty lights :D

Noticing that...

look what I saw on my walk this morning!

Yes, it's a house.  And not my house.

Look at the roof.

Frost.

Something to remember for later...

Tate is growing out of his dress shirts.

Too tight across the chest and shoulders.

And he's probably not the only one.

My young men are growing into fully-fledged men.

The Mother Load...

We got a LOT done over the weekend -

such a load off my mind!

Since Kerry was gone most of Saturday (picking up boxes of STUFF),

and we ended up not going to church on Sunday (too many people sick)

we had a little one-hour work party at home in the afternoon.

Got a lot of "winterizing" stuff done,

like storing the picnic table and lawn furniture,

composting now-dead summer flowers,

removing the screen door,

etc.

Today's list?

* BSF homework

* Fold laundry

* Sew boy's new "Emergency Services" patches on their uniforms

* Tidy office

*Calendar summit

* Order a few Christmas gifts that just went on sale (!)

* Organize the latest round of digital photos (i.e. delete most, save the best)

* Talk with Kerry / decide about car repair (ugh)
* Haircuts for boys

Something fun to share...

look what I saw while out walking with a friend this morning -

a barred owl!

Not a great pic,

but you can see him, right?

A favorite quote for today...

Don't believe your heart;

direct your heart to believe in God.

Don't follow your heart;

follow Jesus.

 - Jon Bloom, in

Don't Follow Your Heart; God's Ways Are Not Your Ways.

One of my favorite things...

changing seasons.

A Bible verse...

Because of the Lord's great love

we are not consumed,

for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

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

it could sound like a broken record,

but it's the routine of our lives -

school

CAP

violin lesson

work

Bible study

and

maybe a ladies'  craft night at church,

if there aren't too many people aren't sick!

A peek into my world...

This was a couple days ago: 

This is today: