There’s just something about a soft, snuggly dog that brings a smile to the face.

The geese are back.

And the BB guns are loaded.

They have no idea what they’ve flown into.

We went to the Shedd Aquarium last month with a big homeschool group. Derek hung out with the big kids…doing silly things like wall sits

while the rest of the kids hung out with cousins.

We got to pet fish

an watch sharks swim by. How thick is that glass, anyway?

Jeremy imitated the puffer fish.

And Ruthie discovered her life calling: penguin caretaker. This woman sat on a stool petting the penguins one at a time while the rest waited their turn at her feet. It was all I could do to keep Ruthie from jumping in and joining her.

Yesterday we visited the Museum of Science and Industry. They have a new exhibit called Numbers in Nature, all about the patterns that we see in the world. A “highlight” of the exhibit was a mirror maze that was so confusing that some of us began to feel sick to our stomachs trying to find the end. Here’s the crew at the beginning of the maze:

If I had taken a picture of the same crew at the end of the maze, you would have seen relieved faces, and one teary-eyed Jeremy holding his forehead after running slap-bang into one of the mirrors.

Jeremy found an outlet for his crazy faces.

Ruthie visited the tornadoes.

Here the kids were waiting for lightning to strike.

Hanging out…

The boys had some fun in the farm exhibit, trying their hand at milking a cow.

You can make just about anything into a competition these days!

As one of the boys’ friends said, these field trips are for “a lot of fun with friends, with a little bit of education added.”

I don’t know many dogs who actively watch what’s playing on the television. Whether it’s college football or Monster’s Inc., Molly is tuned in.

These boys. They keep me on my toes. Thanks to some well-placed clear Thinking Putty, they got my heart rate going the other day when I saw this.

Peter is proving to be quite a renaissance young man. He goes from the football field

to the kitchen without missing a beat.

I signed him up for the free kids’ cooking classes at Williams Sonoma, and last Saturday he learned to make mashed potatoes. He put his new knowledge to practice by making a batch for the company we had over yesterday.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men (Colossians 3:23)

We had a triple birthday celebration at the end of last month. Ruth, my mom, and me…three generations all born in the same month. On the morning of Ruthie’s birthday, Peter made pink birthday pancakes. He even went a step further and carved a pink princess out of one of the pancakes.

We took the pumpkins that grew in our backyard and carved them to look like…us. Can you tell who’s who in this Johanik pumpkin family?

On Halloween day, we added to the packaging of the candy we distributed to trick-or-treaters.

We likened it to scattering seeds throughout the neighborhood ‘garden’.

Jeremy was at a birthday party, and Jake was busy finishing up school work while the rest of us put labels on all the candy.

Then we waited for the trick-or-treaters to come.

We also went trick-or-treating. Even the big boys. Don’t be fooled by Jake’s serious face in this photo. He (dressed as a runner) was more excited than everyone else to stockpile as much candy as he could.

Molly welcomed everyone back and was happy to help them sort their booty.

Derek has officially renamed trick-or-treating to “Trading Candy”. He observed that we buy candy and give it away to the neighbors, then we walk around  and collect candy from those same neighbors. We trade.

We ended the night (and the month) by going to Sonic for 50 cent corndogs and Chipotle for $3 burritos.

I think it’s pretty remarkable that we can know when solar eclipses will take place, not only to the day but to the hour.

So we had written on the calendar on October 23 at 4:00 that there would be a partial solar eclipse. While I was putting dinner on the table (it was a football night, hence the senior-dinner-hour), Jake was setting up the telescope with the sun filter attached. He set it up in hope that the cloud cover would dissipate before the sun set, for the clouds were completely covering the sun with no break in sight.

After about 30 minutes, Jake ran in and announced that he saw not only the moon partially eclipsing the sun, but also some massive sun spots. So we all fled the dinner table and lined up at the telescope to see this marvel in the heavens.

(Good job, iPhone camera!)

I commented to Peter and Jeremy how awesome it is that God would allow us to see two unique phenomena in space–a partial solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse–the very same school year we decided to study Astronomy.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Jeremy snapped a pic of this rainbow in the sky as we were driving to football practice that night!

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.

You’ve heard of the Ottoman Turks.

We have an Ottoman Dog.

In order to reinforce the Louisiana Purchase lesson we read about a few weeks ago, we make a Louisiana Purchase cake.

Derek, who is the expert cartographer in the family, carved the USA from the cake Peter baked.

Jeremy and Ruth mixed the colored frosting.

Each territory was frosted with a different color, then Peter piped the Mississippi River right down the middle.

The result:

Who knew the Louisiana Purchase tasted so good?

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

We set the alarm for just before 5:00 Wednesday morning so we could observe the lunar eclipse. All the boys were eager to see the earth’s shadow cast on the moon, and the little ones were excited to be up earlier than usual.

Even Molly was curious what all the hubbub was about.

It was cold, so every once in a while we came in to warm up by the fire.

Jake had the telescope out to show us Uranus, which was just to the left of the moon. He also set up the camera to take some photos of this phenomenon.

The result:

We all agreed it was worth sacrificing some sleep to watch this beautiful eclipse.

You’ve heard of sugar and spice. Here we present frills and frogs.

Anytime I bring Ruthie shopping with me (usually Costco), she must make two stops: 1. smell the flowers, and 2. admire the jewelry.

However, just when I think I have her figured out as a frilly girl, she proves me wrong by chasing and catching frogs.

Frog Catch

She keeps me guessing, this frilly, froggy girl.

Big D turned 14 last month!

We started the morning with birthday pancakes.

Later that evening, we went to Top Golf. Derek, Jake and Jim played a virtual game of golf

while I took the younger three kids and played a round of mini golf.

The following weekend, we celebrated with our family.

We call these two cousins the bookends of the Giere/Johanik clan, with Jake being the oldest and Nathan the (technically) youngest.

I love to see Derek growing into a young man–he is truly a delight to be around! May God continue to grow him in wisdom and stature. In my Bible, I have Derek’s name written next to this verse in Proverbs 10 because he is one of the most teachable kids I know:

He is on the path of life who heeds instruction

Here are snapshots of our athletic weekends in September. My prayer is that the lessons they are learning through sports will translate into life lessons as they trust and follow Jesus Christ into adulthood.

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9)

Starting with the firstborn: so far this season, every time he runs a 3-mile race, he accomplishes another personal record. He may not be the fastest on the team, but he is showing great perseverance by continually pushing himself to be faster and stronger.

(He is smirking because of his obnoxious mother yelling at the top of her lungs while snapping pictures of him)

Our family has learned that no matter how big the crowd is, we can always pick out Jake.

Warming up…showing off his flexibility.

While I was pointing my camera at the start line before the race began, I happened to turn around to check on Ruthie. Here’s what I saw.

Wherever we go, she is magnetically attracted to dogs, and this dog’s kind owner let Ruth hold its leash.

When football games are on Saturday, the rest of the day is spent at the field. We set up the tent,

get the grill started,

and chill in between games.

Each of the three football boys plays a different role on their respective teams, but they are all learning the importance of doing their job to the best of their ability for the sake of the team…no matter how small their role may seem at the time.

Derek is proving to be a leader on his team–particularly among the offensive linemen. He loves his team and he loves his job!

Here he is showing off his best side.

When he’s able, Derek likes to help out on the chain gang, keeping track of downs and yards, for his brothers’ games.

Peter has shuffled among several different positions on his team so far this season. He’s easy to spot because he always tends to be where the action is.  Hmmm, not much different than when he’s at home.

And this is why I cringe just a little bit when I find out that my fearless son is going to be carrying the ball.  And he loves this.

When he is finished tearing up the field during his game, he becomes the  water boy for Derek’s team.

This is a father who LOVES to coach. He was actually asked to coach two of the boys’ teams this season. He’s been busy.

Jeremy takes his position at middle linebacker very seriously. He does exactly what the coaches tell him to do.

He often looks like the little squirt on the field.

When he’s not going in for a tackle, he’s keeping his little sister company on the sidelines.

Ruthie enjoys when there are other players’ little sisters to play with.

And of course loves when friends come to watch a game with her.

While Jake’s cross country season is coming to an end soon, it’s hard to believe that there is still an entire month (at least) of football left. Be prepared for yet another photo dump at the end of October!

Here we go again. Fancy Nancy has inspired Ruthie once more: this time, she hosted a tea party. Knowing that her friend Bethy was coming over for the afternoon, Ruthie was so excited to host a real tea party (for someone other than her brothers).

And Peter was right along there with her, preparing the food and decorations.

Jeremy joined in full costume. More explanation on that in another blog.

He, like Paul in the Bible, was “all things to all people” and drank his tea with pinkies up. What a good brother.

Good fun, good food, and we all got to be fancy even if just for an afternoon.