Jim and I drove out to Rockford for a wrestling tournament called the Midnight Rumble. Our three youngest kiddos were hesitant to be left alone for such a long time, so Mom and Dad graciously made their way out to the suburbs to hang out with them until bedtime.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the tournament moved along efficiently all night and actually ended an hour before midnight.

Derek faced a tough opponent for the second time this season.

He fought hard (bloody nose and all) but unfortunately fell to the guy.

He is slated to wrestle him yet again next Saturday. Hoping that the third time’s a charm…

That was Derek’s only loss of the night. Here are a few pics from another match:

He came in third place for his weight class:

It’s been great to watch the team bond together as the season goes on. Good coaching and good friends!

Molly is eight years old today. We took her to Petsmart several days ago so she could pick out a toy, and since she wanted them all, we chose for her.

Meanwhile, Ruth made friends with the guinea pigs.

It led us to reminisce about our guinea pig, Snowball. Sweet Snowball…

Molly is much loved in this family.

I don’t know who was more excited about her birthday presents: Molly, or her human siblings.

I have not been very good about taking pictures lately. When I do think of it, the pictures are hastily snapped on my phone and don’t exactly make for good blog material. It is everyday life, I suppose.

So perhaps a more appropriate title to this post would be A Field Trip, Wrestling Tournament, and Face Time.

We joined some friends last week at the Museum of Science and Industry. They may or may not have learned anything amid the fun.

My mom even joined us for part of the day. Here she is in the simulated tornado booth with the girls.

Derek wrestled in his conference tournament on Saturday. We spent 6.5 hours in a sweaty gym with occasional breaths of fresh air outside in the sunny, 60 degree weather. In addition to outdoor breaks, the kids passed the time with concession stand runs

and Ruth’s favorite movie, Chicken Run, on the computer.

As soon as Derek arrived at the school, he began to feel chills and feverish. He wrestled right through it, though, and placed third.

Jake was busy himself with a big ski weekend at Copper Mountain. I was just a wee bit jealous. He sent a picture of their group

and had the thoughtfulness to call a couple times and facetime.

I was imagining myself on top of the mountain, talking with him face to face, ready to speed down the slope… as I meandered my way through the aisles of the grocery store.

Ruth found a beetle on Molly’s bone the other day. Not sure how she would react to it, I was ready to tell her to just flick it outside; but she surprised me.

She gingerly picked the beetle off the bone and let it crawl around on her hand.

We decided to name it Bailey (Beetle Bailey), and she talked to it throughout the day. She continued to care for the insect by preparing a home for it:   a grass-lined jar complete with a pink felt roof. Bailey spent the night in Ruth’s room. But alas, when Ruth checked on it first thing in the morning, she found that Bailey had died.

Ruth came downstairs with tears flowing down her face. She had become quite attached to the little six-legged creature in a short amount of time. She has learned firsthand about the short life of insects.

Derek awoke bright and early at 3:00 Saturday morning to meet the wrestling team at school for the 2+ hour bus ride to Kewanee High School. I left a few hours later to cheer on the team.

The tournament was an all-day affair, which made the drive worth it. It’s great to see the team improve with every competition; some of the guys had their first varsity wins of the season this day.

Derek ended the day with two wins and two losses. A glimpse of the day:

He ended up in fourth place for his weight class, awarded with a medal and a bloody nose.

After school on Thursday, Ruth had a hankering to hold puppies, so she, Jeremy and I hopped in the car and headed to the puppy store.

Because we had limited time, I announced we could take out exactly two puppies. This led Ruth to convey once again her dream of working at the puppy store so she can hold all the puppies.

The first little guy we picked was a Newfoundland. He was cute, but preferred hanging out under my legs to playing with the kids.

The bulldog, on the other hand, stole our hearts.

He was working the room with his big paws and scrunchy face.

He loved to cuddle,

and look into our faces, as if asking to come home with us.

It was hard to say no.

Over the past nearly two years, Peter has saved up his Corner Mouse earnings, as well as birthday and Christmas gift money, to buy an electric drum kit.

He continued to work over Christmas break as Jim found various jobs for him to do in order to earn the last remaining money.

For instance, he prepared breakfast for 100 youth wrestlers from the city who were participating in a camp…

and he re-grouted our bathroom.

He had help with that last job.

By the end of break, he had enough to buy the drum kit. He spends much time playing on it. Derek often joins him when he gets home from school.

Sometimes they make up songs “on the fly”

and sometimes they’re feeling bad to the bone.

Just when we were really getting used to having the big guy around again, it was time for him to fly off. These goodbyes are never easy.

It helped knowing we had a great two weeks with him, and that he was heading back ready to tackle the next semester.

(and just in case of a free weekend or two, he brought his skis back too)

All the kids had two weeks of vacation from school, which meant we were all together as a family.

A complete seven.

Christmas Day fell right in the middle of those two weeks. As usual, we had the Johanik family over on Christmas Eve. I must have been too busy preparing the meal, because I surely missed some Kodak moments. Judi and Dave gave the Corner Mouse bakers personalized aprons.

We woke up Christmas morning and lit the final candle on our advent wreath. I love Christmas morning.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

All the kids bought gifts for all their siblings. This added up to quite a few gifts. Thankfully, Ruth included last names so there would be no confusion over which Jake the present was for!

Derek wearing maroon-colored Five Below headphones from Ruth:

Jeremy went the extra mile and bought a gift for Molly too.

Before heading over to my mom and dad’s, Jake fire-shined Jim’s shoes for him. Keeping his dad looking spiffy.

Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandkids!

Ruth got a crimping iron and couldn’t wait to try it out.

The kids’ table:

We spent lots of time building Legos and playing games.

Jake and Sam bonded over snap circuits.

I’m thankful we had the ability to pause the regular routine and remember the precious Gift God has given us in Jesus Christ.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end (Isaiah 9:6-7)