It all started one night at dinner when Jim noticed that every other word out of the boys’ mouths was “like”. He spontaneously declared that every time someone used the word like, they would lose 5 minutes of weekend video game time (a.k.a. electronic time, since this includes any time on the computer or iPod, playing games like Cookie Doodle–thanks Uncle Brian!).

They are allotted 3 hours of electronic time on Saturday, and 3 hours on Sunday, which means that if they say the l-word 12 times, they have already lost an hour of electronic time. It didn’t take the older boys long to figure out the math. This was serious.

As soon as Jim made the announcement, Jake put his head in his hands and said with exasperation that “That is like the lamest rule ever!” When he realized he said the l-word, he immediately stood up from the table. Then Jim handed down the sentence: minus 5 minutes. Jake stormed into the kitchen to begin washing the dinner dishes. Then out of the blue, our discerning, compliant firstborn son began spewing the newly declared bad word, “Like, like, like, like, like….” He must have racked up negative 90 minutes in that short rampage of his. Meanwhile, the three younger boys were staring at Jim and me, watching for how we would respond. Honestly, we had such a hard time keeping it together, we just busted out laughing.

For the next few days, Peter was so afraid of using the word that he would half-cover his mouth in an innocent attempt to catch the word before it reached anyone’s ears.

Jeremy would say it half a dozen times in a sentence, someone would call him out on it, and he would get seriously angry. He ranted that he didn’t know what to say, why can’t he say that word, blah, blah.

Derek, disciplined Derek, has said it maybe three times in the last two weeks. And he corrected himself every time.

It has been two weeks since we established the rule, and this is frankly the most challenging thing we have done as a family–for the kids and the adults.

Jake now catches himself before saying the l-word and takes more time to consider what he is saying.

We have all become more creative in our vocabulary, and goodness knows we needed an injection of verbal creativity around here.

We’ve also developed a non-verbal warning to the person who used the l-word: subtly make an “L” with the thumb and forefinger. Needless to say, some of us are not as subtle as others, so Jeremy and Peter enjoy making a loud siren noise, “wee-ooo, wee-ooo, wee-ooo” as they wave the “L” sign up and down.

Sadly, as time has progressed, the biggest culprits in the family have been the adults. And the kids love that fact.

Because Ruth indicated almost nonstop her desire to play outside yesterday, we struck a perfect compromise: put on boots in the house. She walked laps around the house for 20 minutes straight. And she fell at exactly the same spot on every lap.

There is just something about rosy cheeks and noses with a pure white background that begs the camera to click away.

So at the risk of looking like a photo-freak, I snapped some more shots of the kids.

Thankfully, once the sun made an appearance and the wind died down, Bubbie was in all his snowy glory.

King of the hill.

Derek called to me from a pile of snow, and when I turned this is what I saw.

Even Molly joined the fun by bounding through the drifts and eating snow.

Knowing how cold it’s supposed to be the next couple days, I wanted to seize the moment and get a picture of all the kids together. This required stealing some of Ruthie’s freedom.

Yep. Sometimes you just have to settle for less than perfect because it’s an accurate picture of life. Once Jake put her down, she was back to happily walking up and down the driveway.

Look at all that snow!

The Preparation

Preparations were made the night before, as the boys made an assembly line from the patio to the deck and transported firewood.

The Anticipation

Yesterday the boys were giddy with the anticipation of the blizzard. Jake, being the weather buff that he is, was especially excited. In the morning, he thanked God for the opportunity to see His greatness in the storm. Then in the afternoon, the winds began to pick up. After every gust, he ran from wherever he was in the house, raced into the den, and waited for the wind speed to register on his weather station. Once it registered, he would yell out the mph so that we could share the thrill with him.

Later in the evening, our next door neighbor called to tell us that the gate on our fence was swinging open and it didn’t look like it would last the night. I immediately sent Jake out. He put on his science lab goggles, braved the wind, assessed the damage and fixed it as best as he could.

The Aftermath

Here is what our backyard looks like after the storm moved through.

That’s our four foot fence.

Jim and Derek then began the arduous task of clearing the driveway. Here is what the front of the house looks like.

I used to daydream when I was younger about how great it would be to have to shovel your way out the front door and make tunnels leading to where you needed to go (this was before I knew how much work it was to shovel a driveway). Well, the boys have begun digging their own network of tunnels throughout the yard.

I don’t have any pictures of Jeremy romping in the snow, unfortunately. About 5 minutes after he stepped outside, he got hit with a wind gust in the face. Then it was game over for him. I could show pictures of him sitting on the couch in front of the fire, drawing pictures of hockey guys…but that’s not very blizzard-y.

Ruthie on the other hand, couldn’t get enough of the outdoors.

When she couldn’t stay on her feet any longer, she sat on the driveway and watched the action. The wind blew constantly on her rosy cheeks, but she was not to be deterred; she was determined to remain outside.

I couldn’t bear to watch her poor face being pelted with snow and wind any longer, so I brought her inside. She did not agree.

She stood by the front door, tugged on her coat, and patted her legs while grunting. I translated this to mean Please, Mommy, will you put my coat on me and take me outside? Well, since she said please and all, I gave in. Coat back on.

Yes, Ruthie, we may go back outside.

It sure is hard to resist those chubby cheeks.

Her brothers were happy to see her. Jake asked if he could bring her into his cave.

And Derek asked if he could walk her around.

Now we’re off to start some school. Heh heh…there are some downsides to homeschooling, you know.

Here’s what we had for lunch today:

Most made it into Ruthie’s mouth, but I couldn’t resist the photo opportunity showing what did not make it.

We drove through the painted desert in Arizona last summer…allow me to introduce the painted baby.

And as always, the ever patient dog waiting for the okay to clean up the mess.

“I’m the boss of all of you!” exclaimed the 4 year-old to his siblings, donning the Boss Hat and holding up his sword.

Wishful thinking.

The nets are used daily for knee hockey in the basement, yes. But the boys have come up with some unconventional uses for them as well.

The learning pod. They occasionally begin their school day in here.

The art pod.

The zoo cage.

Who knew that hockey nets could provide so much enrichment in the lives of four boys?

Ruthie is settling into her little sister role quite well. She mixes it up with her brothers and has learned the power of a well-timed smile.

The other day Peter thought it would be fun to put her in a hamper and push her around.

She loved it.

Yes, she’s settling in just fine.

The most important ingredient in homemade bread: patience. The hardest part of making bread: patience. Really. And with patience comes great reward.

I found a recipe for amish white bread on allrecipes.com a couple years ago. This recipe had over 2,000 reviews with a 5 star rating–I knew it had to be a good one. I’ve made it many times since then and have tweaked a few things here and there along the way (I say this not to sound like an expert in the art of breadmaking, but to prove that this recipe is pretty flexible).

This recipe makes two loaves, so you’ll need to oil two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.

Ingredients:

Begin by dissolving the sugar in the warm water.

Pour the sugar water into a mixing bowl, then stir in yeast. Allow the yeast to proof until it resembles a creamy foam. This is the first test of patience. I find that if I just walk away for 15 minutes, I won’t jump the gun and ruin the whole thing. This is a good time to put the baby toys away, fold a load of laundry, or help a child with math homework.

Once it’s nice and foamy, add the salt

and oil

and mix it up. I have a stand mixer, so I use a dough hook throughout the process. This recipe is totally doable without a mixer, though. It would be a good way to strengthen your hand muscles.

Now it’s time to mix in the flour. Technically, you’re supposed to mix in one cup at a time. I did that once and quickly lost count of how many cups I had put in, so now I just dump all six cups in at once and mix.

Once the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, it’s time to let it rise. Remove the dough ball, oil the bowl, put the dough back in and cover with a clean towel.

This is an important thing to remember with yeast: it must remain warm in order to do its thing. Since I often make this bread to go with a soup dinner, I put the bowl near the crockpot while the soup is cooking. Otherwise, I turn the oven on “warm” and put the bowl on top of the stove.

Let it sit for at least an hour, until the dough has doubled in bulk.

Punch down the dough and knead for a few minutes.

Then divide in half, shape into loaves, and place in oiled loaf pans.

Allow to rise until dough has risen about 1 inch above the pans. This takes anywhere from 30-45 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, let cool, then slice and eat.

This is seriously easy to make. Plus, it’s a great way to fill your family with calories when the cupboards are nearly bare.

Sometimes the more you think about a situation, the more you realize God’s mighty hand of protection throughout it all.

The weather report for Jim’s flight from Minnesota to Naper Aero yesterday was clear, so he filed a flight plan and began his journey home. Unfortunately, the weather in the area yesterday was impossible to predict. When he crossed the Wisconsin/Illinois border, he noticed some precipitation and requested permission from flight control to decrease his altitude so as to get out of the clouds. He did, but not long after that, he noticed the cloud cover was descending as well, along with its freezing rain.

The plane began accumulating ice, which Jim knew would quickly lead to disaster, so he began planning a prompt landing, which he was hoping to accomplish at DeKalb airport. By the time he dialed in to the control tower at DeKalb, he could not see anything due to the thick accumulation of ice on his windshield. And unlike automobiles, Cessna 182s are not equipped with windshield wipers and wiper fluid. There is no way to get rid of ice on the windshield.  He was literally flying blindly and could not even see runway lights. So he declared an emergency with flight control, and they talked him in, landing at Aurora airport. It was precarious right up to the end, as the runway was a sheet of ice and caused the plane to skate side to side until it stopped.

Jim testified that throughout the harried flight, though it was the most stressful time in his life EVER, he felt God’s presence, granting him peace and clarity of mind. He never despaired or even feared. Praise God for His grace in protecting him!

During the drive home from the Aurora airport, Jim shared the story with the kids and me. The boys all reacted to the close call in their own way…Peter chose to draw a picture. If you look closely, you can see the icing on the plane’s wings and windshield.

Here are a couple actual pictures of the plane after landing.

I’ve shared with you a very brief summary. If you’re interested in hearing a more detailed version of his experience, Jim would be happy to oblige.

Because once Ruthie is stable on her feet, she’ll be ready. It’s like clockwork…as soon as we play this self-composed loop from Garage Band, she can’t help but dance. Though with all the arm swings, hand claps, stretches, leg lifts and head rolls, it’s hard to tell if she’s dancing or doing her morning calisthenics routine.

As I am studying 1 Peter 5, I’m struck by the relationship between humility and anxiety. The verse says: “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

The verse connects two seemingly unrelated thoughts, humility and anxiety. Consider the opposite of each: humility – pride and anxiety – peace. Now think mathematically with me for a moment. If peacefulness reveals humility before God, then anxiety reveals pride.

What am I anxious about today? Marriage? Money? Kids? Job? Health? By holding onto my anxiety, I am actually being prideful. I am either saying I can handle this myself, or I’m despairing, not knowing what to do next.

But when I cast my anxiety on God (i.e. pray), I am showing my humility before Him because I trust Him to actually take that anxiety and have control over the situation. And the word for cast means to throw off, as in taking your coat off and throwing it onto the couch. It’s gone, off your back.

May we humble ourselves before God and throw those heavy cumbersome anxieties on Him. He is more than able to handle it.

Early in the morning on a typical winter day, you will find a fire crackling in our fireplace while Jim and I read our Bibles. He’s in one room, and I’m in the other, but we both can at least hear the fire. Jim is the one who lights it each morning, and he’s out of town this week.

When the boys came bounding down the stairs at 7:01, Jake observed that 1. it was cold outside and 2. there was no fire in the fireplace. Being the boy of action that he is, he got one going, plopped down in front of the fireplace and read his Bible (the electronic iPod version…his dad would be proud). Not long after that, two more boys joined him.

This is Ruthie waiting in the doctor’s office.

She was waiting to hear results from the x-ray.

She had an x-ray taken of her right leg.

The doctor ordered the x-ray because Ruthie was not able to bear any weight on her right leg.

She couldn’t bear weight on her right leg because the night before, she had fallen off the bottom rung of the boys’ bunk bed ladder.

The official result of the x-ray: no break, just a nasty sprain.

An interesting bit of Johanik trivia: Ruth is the first child in the family to require an x-ray due to a potential broken bone.

…when there isn’t enough snow on the ground to sled and the pond that was once home to your ice rink melted then refroze with trenches and potholes all over it.

Pull out the popsicle sticks and glue gun, and tell the kids to have at it.

Everyone has a role. Peter is the architect, drawing out the plans

and explaining the plans to the others.

Derek is the glue-gun guy

and inspector.

Jake assembles.

Jeremy gives a running commentary of what’s going on, with a whole lot of imagination thrown in.

And when Ruthie isn’t busy dumping sticks, attempting destruction, and grabbing the glue gun (for the faint of heart: this gun was not plugged in)

she entertained with her wobbly walking and high-pitched squeals.

Whether you subscribe to the Birth Order philosophy or not, you have to admit that firstborn children tend to have similar character traits. They often are leaders, organized, a bit on the controlling side, go-getters.

Our firstborn shows these traits and one more: he’s a neat-nick; doesn’t like to be dirty. This fact was magnified the other day when all the boys were tasked with two things: pick up dog poop and move firewood onto the back porch.

I cringed as I watched the three younger boys holding bags and slinging doggy doo with their winter mittens and bare hands. I just imagined how dirty their mittens must be getting (I’m a firstborn too). I couldn’t help but chuckle when Jake joined them in the below-freezing temperatures with a pair of rubber gloves on his hands. He figured he might as well keep them on for task #2 because wood can be pretty dirty too.

Let’s give a big shout out to Peter, who–two months away from his 7th birthday–lost his first tooth!

His herald (Bubbie) came downstairs 5 minutes before Peter to announce the excitement.

The following event may or may not be related to this morning’s event.

As we are forever trying to find safe, quiet entertainment for the 2 and under crowd, Peter discovered the “Runway Slide”. The best part: it keeps Ruthie entertained without the need to clean up a trail of destruction!

Those that entered [the ark], male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him. (Genesis 7:16)

A couple of things struck me as I read this verse yesterday. One, God commanded Noah’s family and the animals to enter the ark, which was their vehicle of salvation. If they weren’t on the ark, they would die. Do you see the power of God’s word in this verse? Imagine if, in order to gather two of every animal onto the ark, He had to lasso the cows, herd the sheep, shove the donkeys, catch the birds, drag Noah in handcuffs. But rather, God commanded and they willingly entered. It’s a picture of salvation through Jesus Christ. God is not in the business of forcing people to believe in the One who saves, but He has spoken that in order to be saved from hell we must believe. We willingly enter this “ark of salvation”.

The other thing I noticed in the above verse is how the door of the ark was closed. God closed it! Noah didn’t need to hoist the door shut with ropes and then make sure it was sealed tightly enough to keep out the floodwater. Rather, God Himself closed the door, and Noah could be sure that he and his family were secure in the ark. No harm would come to them as long as they remained in it. When we believe in Jesus as our savior, we can be sure that God keeps us secure in that salvation until Jesus returns. When Jesus talks about those whom the Father has given to Him for salvation, He says that no one can snatch them out of His hand.

God commands, we follow. He shuts the door behind us, and we are secure.

There is such a feeling of newness and freshness about a new year. January first. First day of the first month. I know I’m not the only one to feel this…people have probably been making resolutions for the new year for centuries, if not millennia. But there is validity to living life intentionally, determining what you want to strive for and going after it. And a new year naturally causes one to assess one’s life. Where have I gone? Where am I going? “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  (Psalm 90:12)

I shared last year on the blog what goals I set for 2010. Most memorable was the goal of digging for gold in the Bible, rather than raking leaves. It was great to go through most of John with some neighbors, as well as 1 Peter with OneWay friends. God taught me much this year about His sovereignty, grace and wrath.

Stepping into 2011, these are some of the goals I’ve written out:

1. Prayer – continues to be challenging for me. I committed to daily logging my prayers on the computer this year. I had to get over the fear of someone reading my confessions and intimate prayers to God and realize that by writing out what I’m praying, my mind remains focused and disciplined. Two days into it, and I am really enjoying this method.

2. Bible – reading through the Bible this year, Genesis to Revelation. Also, will continue studying more deeply the passages God puts before me to teach.

3. Memorize – one verse every week.

4. Relationships – basically just be more intentional. I’d like to encourage at least one person every week (I know that sounds cheesy, but that’s what I wrote down. And if it’s recorded, then I’m more apt to do it.)

5. Character – self-control with food. Specifically, one sweet per day. This would be easy for many of you, for me it is not. I will say no more on this subject. And I continue to strive toward temperance of speech. Since naming this character trait as a weakness of mine, God has surely grown me in this area, but it still must remain on the front burner because when I get in a slump it’s one of the first disciplines to go (Jesus even said “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks”).