We went on a family trip to Ikea a few weeks ago. Fun and laughs were around every corner.

Pre-reader Ruthie was quite curious about the potty in the middle of the store.

Jokester Jeremy tried on the perfect hat.

We watched Star Wars over Christmas break. This scene made a significant impact on the boys:

It wasn’t long before they were reenacting it using Legos and ice.

I grabbed an apple to cut up for lunch the other day, and this is what I found.

Who knew apples could have belly buttons?

What I’m thinking about these days…

The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,

But the naive go on, and are punished for it. (Proverbs 22:3)

Walking toward evil results in punishment, either now or later. Oh, that God would give me the strength to hide myself from the evil. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it…

The boys and I were sitting in the family room, each child doing their own schoolwork. Meanwhile, Ruthie was busily spreading blankets and pillows on the floor in the middle of the room.

One of the boys asked what she was doing. She said she just finished bringing the baby to the doctor and dropping Jake off at Science Olympiad, and now she was making the bed.

She then proceeded to go around the room, assigning roles to everyone: she was the mommy, Peter was the daddy, Jake, Jeremy and I were the brothers. Derek, wondering where he fit into this Ruthie-role-play, asked who he was.

Ruth exclaimed, “You’re Jesus!”

No pressure, there, buddy.

Despite how it appears, Jeremy is not protesting dinner.  He’s just…being Jeremy. Star Wars style.

Peter continues to broaden his baking skills.

He has moved on to jelly rolls. This one was pumpkin with cream cheese frosting.

Wow, was it ever delicious. So delicious that I never got a picture of it sliced because the slices were devoured in the blink of an eye.

Today, Jeremy had a couple buddies over to play. Peter gave them a baking lesson, showed them how to bake a coffee cake, then sent them home with their own.

Here’s what I’m thinking about lately

Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,

But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox. (Proverbs 14:4)

Jim highlighted this verse a couple weeks ago, and it’s been ruminating in my head ever since. It brings comfort to me as I scan across our often cluttered house…school books piled on every horizontal surface, cake pans in the sink waiting to be washed, even dog bones scattered on the carpet.

If it was all spotless, that would be a sign that there were no oxen. And if there were no oxen, there would be no revenue.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big proponent of order and cleanliness, and aim to train the kids to have a strong work ethic as they grow up. But the goal is not cleanliness, the goal is ‘revenue.’ That’s revenue of the spiritual kind, not monetary kind.

School books are piled up because the boys are reading them, learning, growing. Dishes need to be washed because they are learning life skills like cooking. And well, the dog bones indicate they are learning to care for a pet…a wet-nosed, hairy pet.

I will gladly forgo worrying about keeping a ‘clean manger’ if it means gaining ‘much revenue.’

I did a double take when I glanced at the nativity music box on our mantle. Something didn’t look right.

It has become known as the mystery of the wise man. No one knows just how he lost his head, but due to some violent altercation, he came to an unfortunate end. As the music played Silent Night, I couldn’t help but sense the irony.

Thankfully, we have resourceful children, and the nativity scene has been restored. Sort of.

Alright, who let the purple guy in the stable?

See the smiles on the kids’ faces? Those are some kids who love their Grandma and Grandpa!

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. (Psalm 33:11)

We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell them to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. (Psalm 78:4)

Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. (Psalm 119:90)

I left for a couple hours on Saturday to meet a friend for breakfast, fully content to come home to children and house intact. But this was one of those mornings when my husband was hit with a shot of creativity and energy, and I instead came home to this:

But it didn’t end there.

You see, a couple days prior, we had moved Ruth into her own room and painted the walls pink. But alas, the pink walls were bare. So we went to Ikea and bought a big picture frame…and contemplated what to put in it.

This is where Jim’s creativity kicked in. He pulled out the tempera paints on Saturday morning and guided Ruthie in painting a field of flowers.

After the painting dried, he scanned it onto the computer, added a verse on the bottom, and ordered a huge 20 x 30 photo print at Costco. All done by Saturday afternoon.

Inexpensive, yet personalized wall art. It makes the pink room a happier place!

Peter incorporated two of his favorite pastimes in one day: baking and football.

He received a cake pop cookbook and mold pan for Christmas, and he was itching to try it out. We were all itching for him to try it out. In honor of Northwestern, he coated the pops with purple candy coating.

Aren’t they purty?

And tasty. Yum!