Back in September, we celebrated Happy Autumn. Today, we have happy winter.

Stopping to draw the leafless trees.

The anticipation built through November and December. Then the temperature dropped for a few days, and the skates came out. But, true to Chicago weather, it wasn’t long until the temperature warmed up for a couple days–just enough to melt the ice.

But we waited. The weathermen said it would freeze soon enough, so we drew pictures

and kept the skates out until the pond was solid once again.

Jake went out with the drill yesterday afternoon and declared the ice thick enough for open skate. Since there was no snow on the ice, it was particularly slick. Molly was hesitant.

But the kids had a blast.

Here they are finding their skating legs.

As Jake saw Ruthie struggling on her skates, he took her under his wing and taught her a thing or two about gliding.

She was so excited to show me what she learned and exclaimed, “Look what Jake showed me!”

Jim had compassion on the kids out in the single-digit temperatures and built a fire for them.

It was much appreciated.

Ruth found this scene at Jake’s invitational yesterday quite funny. Instead of Where’s Waldo, we called it Where’s Jake?

Here’s a new favorite app for Bible reading:

It’s free, has the Bible in a bazillion different languages, and the best part is that it reads out loud to you with different voices and sound effects in the background. It also includes the full length Jesus Film…in half a bazillion languages.

Here’s the website with more information.

While most residents of the midwest are thrilled over the unseasonably warm, mild winter we’ve experienced so far, the residents of this “waterfront” household have been wondering since late November when ice would form on the pond.

After much waiting, their desire has been fulfilled. Jake and his trusty (or should I say trusting) canine companion went out a couple days ago to measure the thickness.

He drilled until he hit water, then measured.

He declared it thick enough for people, just don’t drive your snowmobile on it yet. So out came the snow crew to carve out a rink.

Happy people!

Knowing that the next couple days will bring temperatures above freezing, they are getting as much ice time as possible, day and night.

Jeremy practiced lines, segments and rays in math class today.

He turned into a spiritual lesson by observing that “A line is like God because it has no beginning and no end; a ray is like us; and a segment is like Molly.”

And whoever said math doesn’t contain meaningful life lessons?

Due to my own logical, mathematical mind, our homeschool tends to be heavy on the math and grammar side of things, which means that the valuable right-brained activities are sadly neglected.

Fighting against my left-brained nature today, we did some art. We learned about primary colors.

The kids chose from a stack of idea cards and painted using only red, blue and yellow paint.

It’s fun to see the different personalities crop up in situations like this.

While Jeremy tediously (and minutely) traced his picture with a pencil before touching paint to his paper,

Ruth slopped on the colored fun, and if she made a mistake, she turned it into something else.

Peter was a nice balance between the two.

I’m especially looking forward to our next art activity on the color wheel: red plus yellow equals orange. We can turn just about anything into a math lesson!

We found a recipe for a new way to dish up bacon and eggs. Peter was excited to try it and began by cooking up the bacon.

Next we formed the bacon into muffin cups

then cracked an egg in each.

They baked for several minutes in the oven, and once we slapped on some cheese, and they turned out beautiful and tasty!

Happy girl.

Some of us squirted Cholula on top, which put them over the edge in flavor.

After a fun, relaxing break, we are back to the routine of school. We sweetened the deal, so to speak, by starting a new science chapter:

Not content to simply perform the egg white experiment, Peter and Jeremy recalled an Australian dessert I made a couple years ago as part of our study on world geography, and they decided to use those egg whites to make something pleasantly sweet: pavlova. When I left to pick up Derek from school, the egg white foam left from our experiment was sitting in a bowl. When I returned, Peter (with Jeremy and Ruthie) had transformed it into this.

It’s like a giant marshmallow with an outer crust. By itself, it’s nothing special, however when you add whipped cream and fresh fruit, it becomes a delicious sweet treat.

FCA was asked to provide breakfast for the Midlands wrestling tournament at Northwestern this week.  It became a fun family affair as we prepared breakfast for 100 kids the night before.

Peter made granola, one big batch at a time.

Meanwhile, the rest of us cut bagels and fruit, and assembled yogurt parfaits.

While Peter waited for the granola to cook, he passed the time by practicing drum rolls.

The next morning, Peter and Jim drove the food to NU and served it to the kids.

While Jake and Derek may be on Christmas break, they realize that this applies only to academics, not athletics. Nearly every day, Jake has been in the pool and Derek on the mat.

Derek competed in a tournament the morning after Christmas (wrestlers were allowed an extra two pounds to account for the holiday calories).

It was a JV tournament, so Derek did remarkably well. It makes a difference going up against kids of the same age.

He ended up taking 2nd in his weight class!

His fan club did a lot of waiting and cheered for their brother whenever he was up.

The fam.

After staring at worsening water stains on the ceiling near the kitchen, Jim lifted the upstairs toilet off the pipe, and what did he see?

A cracked base. He considered doing the repair job himself (he who often says he enjoys any home improvement job except plumbing), but realized the magnitude was too great and so called a plumber. When the plumber came, I couldn’t help but think It’s always darkest before the dawn, for now we had a hole in our ceiling.

With Christmas Eve a mere two days away, I was ready to live with a hole in the ceiling for the time being and just explain the craziness to our family. But Jim was not so willing to compromise. He can now add “drywall mud and tape” to his resume.

And wouldn’t you know it, just as things were beginning to look brighter, behold, the kitchen sink was leaking and had formed a puddle underneath. Ahh, more plumbing work for Jim. So he put the ceiling on hold in order to fix the kitchen sink.

And now? You’d never know there was a hole in the ceiling a week ago.

And the water from the kitchen sink (and toilet) is staying in the pipes, where it belongs.

Jim’s family came over Christmas Eve. It was a delightful time. Cousin Grace bonded with Molly.

Ruthie loves being like a big sister to Gracie.

Ruthie received a motor scooter for her doll, and thankfully Uncle Dave was near to teach bike safety.

Christmas morning, we lit the final candle of the advent wreath: the Christ candle. If there was no Jesus, there would be no reason to celebrate Christmas.

One of the kids asked why we exchange gifts at Christmas. We worship a generous God who loves to provide for His children! His greatest gift being His Son, Jesus Christ. All the kids decided to buy gifts for their siblings, so most of the gifts Christmas morning were from and to each other. (The younger ones are thankful for Dollar Tree)

Molly feeds off of the kids’ excitement and truly loves Christmas morning. She hopped with excitement over her new bed, then laid in it the rest of the morning.

Ruthie and Doll, matching beauties.

We then headed into Chicago to celebrate with my family. Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandkids.

We had a fun time opening gifts

and hanging out.

What does one do when one receives a solar-powered toy in the midst of a cloud-covered sun-drought?

Manufacture the sun.

The sunglasses were 100% their idea.

And everyone was excited about the activity, including the dog.

Sunglasses Molly from The Johaniks on Vimeo.

We are so happy to be back home to our kids! We thoroughly enjoyed the time away, but by the end of the week, we were ready to come home.

Here are some scenes from the mountains.

One of my favorite parts of skiing is the colorful view amid the crisp, mountain air.

There were times we felt like we were on top of the world. What a view!

Whistler Mountain is so gargantuan, that some runs were over four miles long, which took us cautious skiers a long time to descend.

We skied down part of the Olympic run, and what do you know, we tied for the gold.

The drive from Whistler back to Vancouver was along the “Sea to Sky Highway”. Can you see how it got its name?

If the skies had been clear, this would have been a breathtaking view: Pacific Ocean on one side, steep Canadian Rockies on the other.

While in Vancouver, Jim and I walked around a German Christmas market,

then we said goodbye to beautiful British Columbia.

Vancouver (and Whistler) love their waffles–they serve Belgian waffles for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. In honor of this, we enjoyed a waffle breakfast with the kids after returning home.

We thanked God every day for the opportunity He gave us to get away together. He brought us together 20 years ago, and continues to sustain us!

20th Anniversary Vacation – Whistler-Blackcomb 2015 from The Johaniks on Vimeo.

As long as I am reminiscing on the blog here, I thought I’d highlight some other scenes from 20 years ago.

We are so thankful for our families!

Grandma and Grandpa. I sure do miss my Grandma Barker.

Speaking of Grandma, there are not many wedding gifts in our kitchen that have lasted twenty years. One, however, has not only lasted but is used almost weekly.

The chopper. Grandma told me that it was the most useful appliance in her own (busy) kitchen, and she was confident it would be for me as well. She was right.

Today marks a very significant milestone: twenty years ago, our branch of the Johanik family was established.  Before God and family and friends, Jim and I committed to a lifetime of marriage.

Granted, we were young and immature back then, however, despite our own unfaithfulness, God has shown Himself to be the faithful One–every year, every day, every hour.  God Himself is the One who undergirds this marriage; He is the foundation, the structure, the shelter.

It is because of His love for Jim and me that we love each other.

Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth. (Hosea 6:3)