If you looked up “September” in the thesaurus (Johanik version), you’d find “football”. Indeed, as I look over the pictures from the month, 90% are football pictures.

I’ll start with Jeremy. This was his third year playing on FCA Force. Their home field is at Wheaton Academy, which is a dream for us since he is able to walk to practices.

Jeremy has been an offensive lineman for the past couple years, but he filled in as running back for part of this season and got to carry the ball.

Super-fan Aiden came to a Friday night game.

Dave and Judi came to cheer him on as well.

On to the high school level. After taking a season off due to an IHSA policy last year prohibiting “external noisemakers”, I decided to risk being penalized and pulled out the cowbell of cowbells for this season. It has special meaning, as it has been handed down from one WA football mom to another for years. It rang all season with no penalties!

Peter played on the varsity team this year as a sophomore.

He proudly wore #52 in honor of his big brother, and also filled the Center position quite effectively. Just like his emotions, he was Steady Eddie.

Super-fan Aiden showed up to cheer at several games. We enjoyed his running commentary from the stands, always with a serious face.

Jim coached the JV team again this year. He is settling well into his role, and the boys love him.

And now the college level. Derek played Center for Wheaton College, and boy did the team have a remarkable season. It was exciting to see Derek in a Wheaton uniform.

Because of Jim’s coaching responsibilities, I often drove alone to Derek’s away games. He played Carthage in Wisconsin one Monday night.

Looking back on all the September games, I realized just how much rain fell during the month! During one game, it was a downpour during the entire second half. It sure did not deter all the fans. Dedicated family…

and girlfriend!

Ok, now for the 10% of September that was not football. Derek bonded quickly with the other freshmen linemen.

He also went on his first field training exercise for ROTC.

Thanks to Peter, the green army guy lived on during Homecoming week at WA.

Jake went on a field trip with his flight test class to the Reno Air Races. He was on cloud nine!

Ruth continued her Botany studies by planting seeds

and putting them in a special box she made to encourage them to germinate and grow.

She also loves holding babies and playing with toddlers every chance she gets. Here, she’s holding my cousin’s 1 year-old daughter.

I continue to find beautiful and unusual things during my runs on the prairie path. Here’s a colorful fungus I found growing from a tree.

One morning, the air was particularly damp and cool. It seemed to make a usually unseen world materialize. I could see sunbeams as they shone on the foggy air.

The sun also fell on water droplets that clung to intricate spider webs among the bushes and tall grasses.

I didn’t do much running that morning because the beauty was overwhelming. I marveled at the sight of these spider webs, knowing that they’re always there but unseen.

And God saw that it was good–Genesis 1