The End of an Era

When we were homeschooling all three boys full time, that was

a lot of time with Mom.

As far as their education goes, it was basically

all mom, all the time.

And as awesome as I naturally am (HA!),

that was not a great long-term strategy with young men.

So I started looking for something - I wasn't even sure what.

Somewhere they'd be around other young men, with good role models.

The funny thing is, I'd heard of Civil Air Patrol before, but had gotten the (wrong) impression that it was something Air Force bases offered to Air Force kids. When I learned that it was open to civilians AND that we had a squadron right in our hometown, well... all the boys got interested. Gunnar was too young to join initially (have to be 12), so Wyatt and Tate had a head-start on him and he got to learn the ropes second hand.

When the boys played soccer one of the things I loved was that it was seasonal.  We'd have a really busy 8-10 weeks, and then it was done.  Not so with CAP.  Squadron meetings and activities go year-round.  With waaaay more opportunity than any one person can take advantage of, the boys had to pick and choose which activities to participate in.  Wyatt really loved the flying.  Besides the O-flights, he won a scholarship to Desert Eagle - a two week flight school, where he got to fly solo.  He and Tate both trained and participated in several SAR activities (including actual searches).  Tate and Gunnar both volunteered as "victims" for many CERT classes, and eventually took and passed CERT classes themselves.  And Gunnar competed for two (three?) years on the squadron's CyberPatriot team.

But with activities continuing in a perpetual cycle, there's no natural "endpoint" to CAP involvement, and we didn't want the boys to just fizzle out.  Gunnar's goal was to earn the Billy Mitchell Award.  This is A Big Deal in the CAP world.  I wish I could remember what percentage of cadets get this far, but it's relatively small.  And make no mistake, the cadets earn these promotions - they don't just get them for showing up week after week.  Though this award did not require a drill test, it did require a comprehensive leadership exam, a comprehensive aerospace exam, a PT test, completion of Basic Encampment, and a review board interview.

And here's Gunnar's big moment, at the annual squadron "Dining Out",

receiving his award from a high muckety-muck from "Wing".

And with that... I think we're done with CAP.

A great organization - lots of opportunities and generally a great bunch of people.

And now we're moving on.

Grasshopper Days

Grasshopper Days

For today, Monday, November 28, 2016

Outside my window...

baby, it's cold outside!

Hearing...

my friend, the furnace ;D

Pondering...

the lovely Thanksgiving we had.

As the kids get older the holidays are a bit more mellow and less frenetic.

There are some things I miss about the little years,

(getting clucky, anyone?)

there are things... I don't.

All the H-Y-P-E-R, for one.

Though with five very animated cousins enjoying each other's company,

it wasn't exactly a quiet day ;D

(Blame the kids, right?)

I was lazy relaxed and didn't even get out my real camera,

and barely snapped any pics with my phone.

Love these cousins.

With birds in their hair.

It's tradition to get an ornament at Thanksgiving.

Wearing them in your hair?

Well, suit yourself.

Tate can stick his to the side of his head ;D

And then there was the aftermath of Thanksgiving...

the turkey-nap.

When he realized I was photographing him...

he gave me The Foot.

Praying...

maybe I should stop praying for work for Kerry,

because at the moment he's swamped!

A good "problem" to have!

(Not so swamped he can't do the work, btw,

but happily busy.)

And this is a busy week at the Grasshopper house...

* all the boys are back to school,while 

* Kerry is preparing for the fabulous oom-pah-pah glory that is Tuba Christmas

(you won't want to miss it! Saturday at 11am, Ferry Terminal, if you're local),

* and I have two Messiah performances, Friday and Saturday.

* we continue to pray for our friend Gerald's recovery from his amputation

* and for a safe trip home (from hunting in Colorado) for my dad.

Thankful...

* good times as a family

* a restful break from school

* Tate's Naida processors are still under warranty

(expensive replacement parts are on the way!)

* my sweet neighbors joined us for Thanksgiving, and in this case,

their (age-related) hearing loss is probably a boon,

as they sat on the couch and let the happy-crazy swirl around them ;D

* also, we'll forgive my dad for missing Thanksgiving,

since this happened...

(if you don't eat meat, just scroll on by)

We look forward to his always-generous sharing of the bounty!

(That's an elk, if you weren't sure.)

Wearing...

many many layers.

Did I mention it's cold?

Creating...

the minions brought all the Christmas stuff in from the garage,

but we'll wait a little longer to get the tree.

Going...

to my last Messiah rehearsal tonight.

Love it.

Then I love when it's done.

Hallelujah.

Looking forward to...

the boys' CAP "Dining Out" is this week.

It's pretty awesome.

Lots of tradition.

They're quite particular about "the grog",

a non-alcoholic punch that is served from a toilet.

There are things I am at a loss to explain.

That is one of them.

Also, let the record show that I will be

dressing up for three days in one week.

This probably sets some kind of record I had no intention of achieving.

In the kitchen...

one more day of eating leftovers (yum!)

and then if there's enough left,

turkey pot pies.

Mmmmmmmmmm :D

In the learning rooms...

Gunnar is absorbed in the complex world of the cell in his unit on Cytology,

and reading about medieval times - the feudal system, princes, and popes.

Around the house...

I'm in the mood for Christmas,

but just a few more peaks at fall

with all its warm coziness :D

Noticing that...

27 days until Christmas!

Something to remember for later...

DO NOT USE THE WARMING DRAWER UNDER THE OVEN.

It's not gas.

It's electric.

The circuit was not intended to support that.

Ask me how I know.

*sigh*

Everything's fine.

The potatoes didn't have the crispy edges we all like.

Hardly a tragedy, but you know...

The Mother Load...

starts and ends with Christmas shopping :D

A favorite quote for today...

Now it is a strange thing,

but things that are good to have

and days that are good to spend

are soon told about,

and not much to listen to...

JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit

Something fun to share...

I get out some favorite photos,

looking forward to Christmas.

Maybe 2003?  Maybe 2004?

And my dad (on the right) and my uncle Mick, mid '40s I suppose!

They look so stoic.

Mick even looks a bit sad!

Why???

One of my favorite things...

this ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS elf Tate made in the first grade.

The ears... the fingers...

the teeny-tiny legs...

the whole elf package...

YES.

A Bible verse...

Since ancient times no one has heard,

no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides You,

who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.

Isaiah 64:4

It's the waiting, though...

that's the hard part.

A peek into my world...

snow on Wickersham :D

Grasshopper Days

Grasshopper Days

For today, April 11, 2016

Outside my window...  spring clouds.  How do they look different than winter clouds??? They just do.  We've had some gorgeous days over spring break, and now it looks like we're settling in for a few days of rain.  Oh well, that might make it easier to get our focus back on school work!

Hearing...  the dryer tumbling... too cool to line-dry today :o(

Pondering...  making a master schedule that has all the boys' school schedules, but how?  Maybe I need to use overlays of tracing paper or something!  (I know, deep thoughts, people!)

Praying...  for all of us to work diligently at our jobs/studies.  We're coming down the homestretch of this school year, and it's do tempting (at least for me!) to slack off.

Thankful...  Kerry has a ton of work right now - woo-hoo!  And we have found a new home for one of our bunnies.  I really didn't want to put him on craigslist, so I am delighted that friends from church would like a new pet :D  

Makes it a lot easier to let go of him.  And the boys are being really good sports about it.  We really think this bunny would like more attention than he's getting here, with the boys getting older and busier.

Wearing...  layers again, with the cooler weather.

Out for a walk with Gunnar... this house always seems surprised to see us ;D

Creating...  plans!  I'm going to cook a turkey today, and I'm hosting a baby shower tomorrow.  Those things are unrelated, but both need my attention-to-detail :D


Going...  to make lunch shortly, and then Gunnar and I will go with Tate over to the Tech College.  The way the city bus schedule and his class time doesn't line up, means that sending him via public transport would take about five hours.  For one class.  That just doesn't compute, so Gunnar and I are taking some schoolwork along and going to hang out in the library.  We can get some school work done while Tate is in class :D


Reading...  Don't Follow Your Heart: God's Ways Are Not Your Ways, by Jon Bloom.  Loving this book.  Today's reading dealt with God's providence in the hard parts of our lives.  He wrote,

The God who governs the visible and invisible worlds

knows what He is doing in your life.

Amen.


Looking forward to...  Gunnar's first recital on Saturday!


In the kitchen...  cooking a turkey for dinner, but not a full-on Turkey Dinner.  (Yes to potatoes and gravy, but no stuffing.  Maybe sweet potatoes if I have time!)


In the learning room...  Gunnar doing his language work.  Tate is probably working on Economics.  What with three classes at the high school, one at the college, and two at home, I've given him a lot of freedom to arrange his schedule however works for him.  Of course, he has to keep on track with his public school work, but he may be able to work ahead in his college class and finish it early.  The homeschool subjects can be postponed if he wants.


Around the house...  the minions weren't quite as available this spring break as they have been in the past!  Still, they helped with some chores - putting all the window screens and screen door back on, yardwork/mowing, and we did some cleaning and moved the living room furniture.  Do you do that?  I like to change things around every so often.  I get a fresh "new" room without spending a penny ;D

And the boys did a lot of this...

One of the games they boys play is called World of Warships.  And this was the April Fools theme... sea battles, staged in a GIANT bath tub!  (The toys would be the size of islands.  You can't even see the "enemy ships' in that view.)


The Mother Load...  diminished, but never gone!  My immediate concerns are today's cooking, and prepping for tomorrow's baby shower :D


Noticing that...  the boybarians are growing.  We set a new family record at Costco last week...

I know.  It's crazy.  And I still needed to go to the regular grocery store for a few more things.


Something fun to share...  friends from church hosted the youth group for a cookout and Capture the Flag over the weekend.  Fun time!  We have such a nice group of kids at the chapel :D


A favorite quote for today...  I was reading some Elisabeth Elliot, and she was writing about our attitude toward work.  She said...

The principal cause of boredom is the hatred of work...  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 by-product of sacrifice.

One of my favorite things...  speculoos cookie butter.  Mmmmm!


A devotional thought...  I love the juxtaposition of two verses from Exodus.  The Israelites sing to the Lord after their deliverance through the Red Sea.  Notice how these verses begin...

Exodus 15:9    The enemy boasted...                              
then,
Exodus 15:10  But you blew with your breath...

He's got this.


A few plans for the rest of the week...  working for a smooth transition back into our school routine!
All the usual... school/college/homeschool, CAP, violin lesson, work.
And the extra... baby shower, violin recital :D

Which reminds me... did I mention that Tate promoted at Civil Air Patrol?
Congratulations, Cadet First Lieutenant :D

A peek into my world...  a few quick phone pics from the youth group event :D

A few of the friendly kids :D

Our hosts - kneeling by the fire, and in the print shirt behind him :D

More smiling faces :D

Tate is cooking a sugar-cinnamon croissant

Yum!

Across the fire, see the light?
That's a "flag" for the game,
under a milk-crate footrest :D

It's Spring Break... Sort Of

Through all the years we've been homeschooling, we pretty much track with the public school's vacation schedule... when it suits us.  Now that we're using public school again, we're kind of locked in.  Except that the community college and the tech college don't line up.

I suppose it doesn't matter.  We're not going anywhere.  But I miss having all my minions here to help me with big spring break cleaning projects!  (And yes, I'd like some cheese with that whine ;D)

Wyatt's not around to help (still house-sitting), so Tate, Gunnar and I are doing what we can.  And Tate's class (at the tech school) starts today!  Kind of excited :D  Still, they've helped:

* move furniture

* vacuum and dust (always easier when you're moving things)

* cleaned the family room

* put all the window screens back on

* re-hung the screen door

* emptied all the garbages and recycling

* cleaned up their bedroom

* cleaned three bathrooms (yippee!)

* mowed the yard

And there's probably more.  There good kids :D  And my job?  My project of the week?  Organizing MY stuff...

I have a little work to do ;D

In other news, it was Big Big Night at Civil Air Patrol yesterday.  We had a wonderful, large group of new cadets complete their basic training and be welcomed into the squadron.

Taking the cadet oath

And Tate earned a promotion to Cadet First Lieutenant - woo-hoo!

It's a tradition to let parents help put on their new insignia.  The shoulder epaulettes are a lot easier to manage than the pins!

Well done, Tate!  Sorry we caught you blinking.

And, yes.  I got my hair cut.  From this:

 

To what you see above.  So just humor me and say "silver and gold" instead of "going gray" :D  What I mostly say is LOW MAINTENANCE.

Now I'm off to do my tidying, because...

When you do stuff,

stuff gets done.

Yah.  I'm a deep thinker.

And There Was Christmas, And All That That Implies...

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in The Hobbit that...

"Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to..."

And isn't that the truth?  I could tell you all about our Christmas (and I will, mostly because I want to remember it later myself), and it really won't sound like much, but it was all quite wonderful.

Of course, Wyatt and Tate were working a lot of hours at their grocery stores, because we all know how holidays and food are linked, do we not?  Gunnar volunteered (with some other CAP buddies) to help the Salvation Army with their annual gift distribution.  All the boys have helped with this on various years, and they really enjoy doing it.

They have quite the organizational system, with numbered gifts and boxes, and various sizes of food boxes for variously sized families.  Well done, Gunnar :D

Since my brother married (and has two sets of in-laws to manage) we see his family on alternate Christmases.  This year we had them Christmas Eve.  Or rather, my sister did - that is, she hosted.  Here's my brother and my mom...

... and Wyatt, my dad, my sister, Gunnar, and my SIL helping my niece.  Tate has to work until 6pm, so he and Kerry joined us a little later.

My sister really goes all out with decorating... very festive!

Her Christmas tree has all white lights, and mostly red and white decorations, unlike our anything-goes tree.

The boys were quite pleased to get the new, extended-version, Hobbit Trilogy of movies from my bro and SIL.

I think my dad was equally pleased with his array of hot cocoa mixes!

Tate... obviously glad to be off work!

And Naomi, in all her Princess glory.  Apparently she gave herself a haircut about a week before Christmas.  I think it's absolutely adorable short, if rather uneven.

Dave and his family had to head back to Seattle, and we were all ready to head home as well, to get ready for...

Christmas!

I know this pic (above) isn't fabulous of Wyatt or Gunnar, but I love how cozy the house looks with all the pretty lights and candles.  *Happy Sigh*  The boys opened their stockings before breakfast.

And in their stockings?  Warm socks for everyone!

Wyatt would be very distressed if I posted the series of pictures leading up to this one.  Suffice it to say, he was still waking up, but having a good time :D

Yes, Gunnar was happy with the chocolate "coal" in his stocking ;D

I think we've discovered a new Christmas breakfast favorite.  They may look stoic, but they were just waiting to dig in!

 I made a cinnamon-roll-french-toast casserole... and there were no leftovers.  Win!

Hmmm, hadn't had his coffee yet, I think, but he was enjoying his sausages :D

Ah, now he's fully awake!

And this was the view out the window, toward my parents' house.  The hill is forested, but the wide white swath is the Bonneville Power Lines (probably about a hundred yards across), just to give you some perspective.

This has become a tradition... the Outhouse Calendar.  Yes, photos of outhouses.  And with out-of-context quotes that take on new meaning along the photos, like Eleanor Roosevelt's "You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

Kerry always gets the boys a "fun" gift - i.e. a toy. Like an action figure...

... or a car...

... which sometimes turn out larger than he thought when he ordered them!

And of course, Kerry gets a great deal of chocolate and - his favorite - Candy-Cane Joe-Joe's.

He found this for me, in Mexico.

I've been slowly, over Christmases and birthdays, building the boys a basic toolbox.  This year - hammers, and allen and hex wrenches.

Then, on up to my parents' to get together with the extended family.  My boys and my cousin's girls get along great, if sometimes (okay, often) goofy!

This is absolutely classic of my dad... with a camera :D

What were they laughing at?  No idea.

Teasing back and forth with Gunnar about something or other.

Here's the five of them :D  Gunnar, Mikayla, Tate, Raelynn, and Wyatt.

The boys and Kerry gathered together to open their joint gift from my cousin's family...

... movie tickets, treats, and t-shirts - WIN!

I called her today to tell her we all went to see Star Wars this morning.  With the boys' work schedules, we were glad to find a NINE A.M. SHOWING, because that's what worked for everyone.  No spoilers.  We all liked it.  Undeniably, the boys are more "into it" than I am, but I enjoyed it too.  The previews nearly killed me, though.  What?  Are there only two movie plots in development anymore?  I think we saw about eight previews and they were all either
A.  Superheroes tricked into fighting each other (Superman/Batman or Captain America/Iron Man).
or
B.  DOOM DOOM DESPAIR APOCALYPSE THE WORLD IS ENDING AND WE MUST FIGHT

No thank you.

Back to Christmas...  It can be hard to get a good photo of Wyatt.  He tends to look so serious!  And he's really a fun guy!  (Not a mushroom.)  So here's another one of him laughing.

Oh, my mom cracks me up.  You'd think she'd never seen a frying pan before, though this is the exact set she asked for.  She looks so surprised, like we'd found the Ark of the Covenant.  Merry Christmas, Mom!

And this picture... well, this is apparently the ONLY photo I got of my cousin, who was sitting directly across the room from me.  I'm sorry, Ryan!  She's a nice looking person!

And somehow I didn't get a good one of my sister, but you saw her in the Christmas Eve photos.

Also, note my dad, opening a new pair of slippers.  I know some people get all formal and fancy for Christmas.  But there's my dad, wearing the "pants" my mom bought him - otherwise known as "pajamas".  Because we're all about comfort :D

And this is my cousin's husband, Mike.  Mike is fun to have around, because he's fun.  (Like that circular logic?)  Because he nearly always has that happy expression on his face, in spite of mostly likely being so exhausted he'd probably rather be in bed.  (He works for UPS - if I understand right, he's in charge of all the mechanics from Seattle to Canada - so this is a crazy-busy time of year for him.)

I don't believe in taking photos of people eating, but fret not, there was good food aplenty.  We practically ate ourselves into a food coma.  Merry Christmas.  But in defense, I give you this, which has been circulating the interwebs:

I would much rather err on the side of Nigella!

Happy New Year :D