We seem to have adopted some boys–three to be exact–who recently moved into the neighborhood. They’re nice boys, which makes it fun having them around.

Their dad is from Columbia, their mom is from Russia, and they moved from Australia. So when they’re over playing with our boys, I have begun to affectionately call our home, the International House of Boys. And then I get a hankering for pancakes.

Derek and Percy check out the fish they caught.

Derek and Peter were teaching the 8 and 9 year-olds how to play some good old American football.

First the teams strategize their plays. Our guys…

…vs. their guys.

They line up at the line of scrimmage.

And have at it.

As much as this smelly-sweaty-boy game warms my heart, what really brings a smile to my face is this:

Fulton, the 12 year-old, brings his homework over in the afternoons while the little brothers are fishing and playing football so that he and Jake can get their work done together.

Some things I have known about my dad since the day I was born, like the fact that he does not dance. Does not dance.

In honor of my parents’ wedding anniversary, I found a video which makes up for years of not dancing at weddings and other functions. I must say, he’s got some pretty good moves (not to mention superb 70’s fashion sense).

These tulips bloomed last year for the first time.

As beautiful as they were, there just seemed to be something missing.

They have bloomed again this year.

Even better than before.

Beautiful.

Throughout our marriage, Jim and I would often laugh at the thought of what a Johanik girl might be like. With four energetic little boys, we assumed a girl would be calm, you know, content to just sit on my lap for hours.

To aid this assumption, people have been asking for twelve years, you must be exhausted running after those boys! Comments like this led me to conclude that if boys are full of energy, then girls must be…not full of energy.

Until Ruthie came along.

Now I know better. She may have a high-pitched squeal and wear pink dresses, but she is every bit as energetic as any one of her brothers. At least so far. I’m sure there will be a day when she will sit with me for hours reading books and doing crafts together–maybe when she’s ten.

Here is what she does in the Bumbo seat. As soon as she starts her escape attempt, I like to ask her what she plans on doing once she does break free.

Truth be told, there are many reasons why I love my boys. But when I look out the window and see this, it just warms my heart. Whittling is such a boy thing.

There’s something about seeing him delight in something so simple–a knife and a stick.

Oh my.

Oh me oh my.

In what seems like the blink of an eye, Jacob Ryan has gone from this (never left home without Mr. Bear)

to this.

After rearranging furniture a few weeks ago, I found an old journal with some funny Jake-isms from when he was five years old. Here is what he looked like:

What better time than a twelfth birthday to share some of these embarrassing precious sayings? When he was nearly six, he confessed his sins to Jesus and asked Jesus to live in his heart. It was an exciting time! It was also a time when I realized that I needed to do a wee bit more teaching on who God is.

“When Jesus comes out of my heart I’m going to ask Him about the planets.”

Derek (age 3): “Jesus lives in my heart”
Jake: “No, Derek, there’s one Jesus (shows 1 finger), and He lives in my heart.”

“Jesus is making my heart bump around.”

Jake was busy fighting all the bad guys around the world and said there were too many and he couldn’t fight them alone.
Mom: “Ask God to help you.”
Jake: (after a long pause) “God can’t help me fight the bad guys. He gots no guns!”

You’ve come a long way, baby! Happy birthday, firstborn; I love you!

After church on Sunday, our family gathered back here for food and fellowship. Everyone brought food, which proved that “many hands make light work”.

As always, the kitchen was the hub of the house.

Auntie Chris and Ruthie. Couldn’t be cuter.

Hannah, Ellie, and Ruthie pose for a picture.

This is what it looked like when they weren’t posing:

Okay, back to posing:

This is actually a rare moment…Little Miss Serious is smiling for the camera.

Before the storms moved in, we were able to capture a shot of all the grandkids.

With grandparents.

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. (Deuteronomy 7:9)

From Luke 24: On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ “Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

We celebrate Easter because Jesus Christ conquered death. He died so that we might have life.

This has proven to be a week of firsts for some of us. Not only did Peter learn to ride a two-wheeler, Ruthie ate baby cereal for the first time.

After thinking about it for a minute…

…she decided that she really likes it. Really likes it.

And now her furry friend has another reason to stick close by.

The story starts with our hero, a six year-old boy who just learned how to ride a two-wheeler on Wednesday.

And his pesky loving three year-old brother, who happens to be a police officer in his spare time.

One morning Mr. Cop was taking the local public transportation to get to work. He is a good guy. He willingly sat at the back of the bus so that the young lady could have the front seat.

As he prepares to hop off the wagon, he eyes his target for the day.

Because the newly licensed biker was entirely focused on staying on the sidewalk and not falling over…

…he unfortunately did not see the speed trap, nor did he notice just how fast he was going. And Mr. Cop was in prime position with his radar gun in place.

Do you know how fast you were going, sir?