A friend of Jim’s recommended a new workout app called the Seven Minute Workout.

Jim shared it with the kids, and they are totally on board. I came downstairs yesterday morning and found them in the middle of their workout:

They’re all set for the big meal tomorrow!

Derek is continuing to follow in his father’s athletic footsteps by going out for the wrestling team at school.  He has never wrestled in his life, and due to WA’s small wrestling team, he found himself up against varsity wrestlers at his first meet last night.

He didn’t do as well as he’d hoped and came home whooped and sad.  This kid loves to win.  The team prayed at the end of the meet… coaching these guys involves so much more than teaching skills of the sport.

When Ruthie and I had an afternoon, just the two of us, I decided to surprise her with a trip to the puppy store.  She was beside herself with joy.

First she picked out a bulldog. In the cage, it was the barkiest dog in the store, but it also locked onto Ruth and watched her every move through the glass.  When she had it in her arms, all it wanted to do was snuggle.

When we arrived, I had told Ruth that she could pick out two dogs.  Otherwise, she would have asked to pull out every dog in the store.  So her second pick was this cutie.

It was not as much of a cuddler, but fun to play with nonetheless.

We talked quite a bit with the young female employee during our visit.  Upon leaving, Ruthie asked me, “Can the people who work here get out whatever dog they want whenever they want and pet it?”  I replied yes.  She declared with assurance that this is where she wants to work when she’s older.

After last weekend, we can officially say that football season is over for this year. We held Peter’s and Jeremy’s team parties at Wheaton Academy. The school was extremely generous to allow both teams and their families to eat and play at their facility!

We never counted how many people were there, but we definitely packed the house.

Jim is posed with some of the boys from Peter’s team. They were called the “rock club” because no matter how tired they were after every practice, they would run to and from a large rock before heading home.

Jeremy posed with his team one last time.

Jake and Derek manned the grill–more than 250 pieces of meat.

And at the end of the evening, Jake reached in to the cooler to grab a Coke with a very appropriate nickname.

A good ending to a good season.

While Ruthie learns math,

Peter is in home improvement class,

and Jeremy…P.E.

Homeschool.  We grow the mind while teaching life skills (like climbing trees).

Meatopia = utopia relating to meat

Jim had the crazy idea of having the Wheaton Academy offensive line over for all-you-can-eat smoked meat after their season ended.  He coined it “meatopia” in order to get everyone’s salivary glands going.  He began smoking Friday night, and the grill didn’t turn off until 24 hours later.

Here he is cutting up some brisket.

We served seven different kinds of meat.  According to Jim, it really wasn’t that much work.

The boys did a good job eating all they could.

They sat outside on the deck, in the kitchen, and filled the dining room table.

Peter made three pans of brownies and served brownie sundaes.  Some boys couldn’t wait for Peter to dish up, so they invaded the kitchen on their own.

Jim shared a few words about taking leadership on the team and what it looks like to be a servant leader.

Although I didn’t get any pictures of her, Ruthie seemed to be in her element among the big boys, who ranged from freshmen to seniors.  She treated them like her own brothers, wrestling, joking, and running after them.  It was a fun night, and hopefully a good opportunity for the boys to bond… not to mention eat their fill of meat!

What do you do when your son needs to dress in a shirt and tie and Dad (the only family member who knows how to tie a tie) is in Kansas City?

Print a how-to guide with diagrams from the internet!

And he’s good to go, looking dapper as ever.

The morning before Jeremy’s game last Saturday, we were sitting on the couch watching College Game Day when Jeremy turned to me and said, “I just feel like beating somebody up.”  I’m pretty sure he was visualizing the big game ahead and had the urge to hit.

There are numerous advantages to having so many males in the house.  I saw the eldest son laying on the couch and knew he’s always good for a hearty pounce, so I suggested to Jeremy that he jump on Jake.  Here is what ensued.

Our family loves being outside, we love fires in the fire pit, we love sweets, and most of all we love being together.  Every once in a while, we combine these loves into one activity:  roasting marshmallows and making them into s’mores.

In the past, I’ve spent all my time sitting on the stairs getting the graham crackers and chocolate prepared for the marshmallow roasters.  I was lucky to get a s’more to myself with this method.  Last night, I decided to plan ahead and prepare all the cracker-chocolate sets ahead of time.

After taking care of the dog and helping blow out Ruthie’s on-fire marshmallows and finding new sticks, I managed to eat two before the locusts devoured everything.  Ruthie found her spot front and center.

Historically, Molly has always been outside, cleaning up s’more remnants on the ground and cleaning off the ends of roasting sticks between marshmallows.  This time, however, she had one thing on her mind: eat the s’mores off the table.  She was completely driven, as though she hadn’t eaten for days.  So, sadly, she was BANNED.

Someone complained the whole time about his feet being freezing.  What would you say to this?

Naturally, because everything in this household is a competition, a contest arose among the boys to see who could roast the perfect marshmallow.  This one was unofficially declared the winner.

Jeremy cleaned off his stick in the fire when he had his fill of marshmallows.

A fun night with a great family!

Roasting Marshmallows from The Johaniks on Vimeo.

Jeremy and Ruthie were playing in the basement while I was in the kitchen making lunch.  Then I heard the familiar distant cry, which gradually became louder as Ruthie walked into the kitchen.  This is a somewhat frequent occurrence, so I calmly consoled her and asked her why she was crying.

She could hardly pull herself together to answer, but when she finally did, her response was not what I expected.  She sobbed, “Jeremy and I were playing football, and we lost.”  What?  No tattling on Jeremy?  Are you sure he didn’t push you or say something you didn’t like?  They were the only ones in the basement, and they were on the same team.  Which means that they were defeated by an imaginary competitor.

I tried not to chuckle.  Jeremy entered the kitchen and described the play that cost them the game.  Ruthie went the wrong direction for the pass, Jeremy got sacked, and they lost.  Even when you’re imagining your opponent, losing is never fun.

Thankfully, mac and cheese was on the menu, so the sting of losing was quickly removed.

Despite his atypical distance runner build, Jake remained committed to the Metea cross country team for four years.

And boy, have these years flown by!   Looking back…

I think one reason they call the sport cross country is because by the end of four years of high school running, one has run enough miles to span from east coast to west coast.

We have thoroughly enjoyed watching Jake develop as a competitor in this sport.  He has learned a thing or two about physical suffering, as he dealt with knee problems and foot pain throughout his time in cross country.  He had to learn when to rest and when to fight through pain.

So proud of him for finishing well!

It is no secret that this dog is loved.

My cousin Ronnie was inducted into the Wheaton Warrenville South hall of fame last month.  We are so proud of him!  We heard from others about what a hard worker and impact player on the field and the court he was in high school.

He was among five former student-athletes who were inducted that night, and amid the many stories of post-high school life accomplishments, Ronnie’s story shone brightest.  His was by far the most inspirational because his life does not highlight all the things he has done since graduation in 1995, but to what GOD has done.  Surely, God has shown Himself as faithful and caring in the midst of unexplainable suffering in Ronnie’s life.  Both Chris and Ronnie seized the opportunity to proclaim to the audience God’s goodness in their lives over the past 20 years.  Put your trust in this God, and you will overcome.

Much of our family was there to celebrate this accomplishment. Here we are, as my cousin termed us, the “Ron”tourage:

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)