The ice rink?

Melted.

Ruthie received a sleigh ride.

Jeremy hopped on with her.

Ruthie stood still on the ice for ten minutes.

Derek came over to check in.

The kids had a sleigh-pull party on the ice.

Ruthie remained quite relaxed through it all.

There was so much snow on the pond, Jim borrowed a friend’s snowblower in order to remove snow from our newfound ice rink.

Jeremy guarded the goal.

The boys fought hard for the puck.

They gave it their all to go after the puck.

Snow piled up around the penalty box.

Peter celebrated a goal.

With 3 students in our homeschool with 3 different sets of curriculum, the bookshelves are nearly bursting at the seams. After looking online at seat back pouches (and their prices), I decided to try my hand at making them myself. Duck canvas happened to be on sale, which means I was able to make four pouches for a total of $12.

I’ve posted the instructions on the “Printable Projects” page. And because we seem to have pencils scattered all over the house, half of them missing their erasers due to a certain one year-old girl with lots of teeth, I am considering attaching a small pouch on the front of the large pouch to hold writing utensils.

After playing the game of Life as a family last night, Peter said, “Life is such a fun game; I love playing it.”

I looked at him seriously (sarcastically) and said, “Peter, life is no game.”

Then Jeremy piped up with his pithy wisdom, “And that’s why we need to savor it!”

Where this 4 year-old learned the word savor, I have no idea. But his use and timing of it was impeccable, to be sure.

Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma’s present to Jake, the Johanik household can now be counted among O’Hare, Midway, and DuPage Airports as an official weather station. Curious what the weather is like in the Cambridge Chase neighborhood? Click on the tab at the top of the blog titled Weather Station. There you’ll see the temperature, wind speed and direction, and a whole bunch of other stuff I don’t know about, but Jake does.

Now one is able to determine whether it’s a furry boot day or a flip flop day, just by looking at our blog. We are here to serve you.

After celebrating Christmas as an immediate family in the morning, we headed downtown to be with the Gieres. We ate lunch and then began opening presents. We have a tradition every year, where Grandpa plays Santa and passes out presents one at a time, only this year, Grandma played the Santa-in-training.

Jeremy received a Blackhawks shirt and hat. Sometimes the best presents are the ones you didn’t even think to ask for.

Ruthie became acquainted with her new dolly.

Speaking of Ruthie, she had a thing about sitting on every present, opened or not. She was especially fond of sitting on Sammy’s presents.

Grandma holds a special place in this girl’s heart.

Jeremy tried his hand at playing the trumpet.

You know you’re a mom of young kids when you get excited over a Shop-Vac. Hmm, now why didn’t I think to ask for that?

Mom and Dad rented the Club Room on the first floor of their building, where the kids had ample room to run around and play. It was nonstop activity!

The Smiths and the Gregos (minus Ronnie, who was sorely missed) joined us in the evening.

Hannah and Peter entertained everyone by singing Christmas carols.

Then, when all the sugar had been burned off, the kids settled down at the table to try their thumbs at electronic games.

From beginning to end, a great time with family!

Before the pitter-patter of little (and not so little) feet on Christmas morning, Molly stood laid guard in front of the stockings. After all, we wouldn’t want any intruders.

Jake was chosen to read the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke 2. I have no idea what Derek found so funny at the time, but I’m guessing there was some extracurricular activity going on in the room.

We asked Jeremy to guess what the big stick coming out of his stocking was. Naturally, he guessed it was a gun.

But he was wrong.

Then Ruthie got her hands on the hockey stick. GOOAAALLL!

Molly waited ever so patiently for Derek to help her open her stocking stuffer. We got a kick out of her as she inspected each of the hanging stockings earlier that morning, and when she came to hers stuffed with dog treats, she stopped dead in her tracks. She kept her nose up to the stocking in anticipation.

Ruthie also waited with anticipation to open her gift.

She received a stack of board books (a.k.a. books without pages so as not to be destroyed by slobbering, ripping hands). After she opened it, the boys took an impromptu break–even though there were more presents to be opened–and read for a while.

Meet Bubbie J, master drummer.

We got dressed up and put our party shoes on in preparation for a Christmas Eve celebration with the Johaniks.

Incidentally, Ruthie’s party shoes–approximately two sizes too big–offered extra balance as long as she stood still.

Molly had a canine guest this year when Noel and Nicole brought the newest member of their family, Wiley.

They weren’t exactly the fast friends we hoped they might be, but I’m confident their relationship will grow over time.

Jake received a flying saucer toy that launched up to the ceiling. The kids had fun watching it fly. Sometimes Ruthie was right there with them…

…and sometimes her timing was a little off.

Saying good-bye to everyone.

Jeremy sporting some new pajamas.

We appreciate the Johaniks’ generosity toward these kids.

As I sit looking out at the pitch black sky, awaiting the dawn, I am reminded of a group of shepherds who were tending their sheep out in the field over 2000 years ago. It was just another night, just another dark sky, until the Glory of the Lord lit it up. I can only imagine what that must have looked like, but it was surely both terrifying and exciting at the same time. The angels had appeared from heaven to announce the most important event in the history of the world.

God Himself had entered the world as a human. And He didn’t begin life as a strong man, but as a helpless baby. His human life began just like ours.

God humbled Himself so that we might be saved from hell. Amazing love.

He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

May this day not be about presents, or food, or even family…may it be all about Jesus Christ, celebrating what He has done. He is more precious than any other gift.

With 2011 fast approaching, I am thinking and praying about goals for the next year. While I have not yet solidified what those goals will be, one objective has bubbled to the surface for little Ruthie:

Portion Control.

Snack Time from James on Vimeo.

Now that the snow has fallen and the ice has formed, it is time to break out the skates and sticks for Hockey. And because we don’t do anything halfway around here, we now have a rink the length of our house shoveled on the pond in the backyard.

But it doesn’t stop there. We also have a chair parked on the edge of the ice, along with the fire pit, used for warming oneself after being out on the cold ice.

Situated on the rink are cones to mark the goals, along with spray painted lines. Who says winter in Chicago isn’t any fun?

It was Jeremy’s first go at skating, and he did a great job. He had a little help from Jim,

and then tried it on his own.

After wobbling around for a while, I showed those boys who’s boss on the ice. ahem.

The boys had their friend Stephen over yesterday for a serious hockey tournament. The competition was running high.

Peter manned the goal well.

Molly made her case, but was denied the chance to play.

As I write this, I am watching our Human Zambonis clearing the ice in preparation for another day of skating. It’s interesting how the priorities have suddenly changed. Now when a few inches of snow falls, the boys grab the shovels and head for the ice before even considering the driveway and sidewalks. First things first.

Yes, it’s true. At the tender age of one, Ruth already has letters after her name.

That’s M.D.  For Maximum Destruction.

She has earned this title well, as shown by the trail of mess that follows her wherever she goes. I’m trusting that she will not be renewing her license next year, but rather will find another line of work in which to excel.

Thanksgiving weekend (I’m a little behind in posting pictures here :)), we cranked the Christmas music and decorated our 2010 Christmas tree.

Peter is giving Ruthie an up-close look.

Jim trained Jake in the fine art of stringing lights on the tree, in hopes that Jake will take over the job next year. I want to know who would like to assume the job of taking down the Christmas tree at the end of the season. Anyone……..anyone?

When it came time to hang the ornaments, Derek took leadership.

He had some help on the low branches from Bubbie.

Later, I pulled out the stuffed-animal nativity set. This has become a favorite play item in our house, and this year Ruthie joined the fun. No kidding, within minutes of pulling it out of the Christmas decoration box, the kids gathered around to play.

I love this season.

Evidently Jake took some pictures over the holiday weekend.

Ping-pong was a main attraction.

Cousins Ellie and Sammy.

The front door.

Grandpa coming toward the camera to block the lens.

Derek ready for bed.

Molly on the beach, thinking this is the biggest water bowl I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Brothers at Tunnel Park.

The photographer and his dog.

We traveled up to Holland, MI to celebrate Thanksgiving again this year. Only rather than staying at the Black Squirrel house, we stayed at the Lilley Pad house. (As an aside, when we got home, the boys asked what we should name our house. We’re in the process of coming up with clever ideas.)

The house was perfectly suited to our needs:  Big forested back yard–with a treehouse.

A big kitchen area in which to eat:

and carve:

Wooden shoes in four different sizes:

Long hallways for walking practice.

Here is Ruthie babbling and clapping during a recent after-lunch recess.

Recess from James on Vimeo.

Football season is 4 parts fun, 1 part stress. And the stress always revolves around getting the boys in their pads and food in their bellies before 5:15. This forces some creative thinking during dinnertime. Meals need to be simple, quick to prepare, and easy to clean up (not to mention economical and  healthy).

Hence, the easy homemade pizza. Starting with the crust, there are many ways you could begin here…bagels, english muffins, prebaked dough, homemade dough if there’s time, or indian naan (thank you Costco for selling this most tasty, soft form of bread). I chose the naan this particular evening.

Next, the sauce. I mixed together the following: 1 4-oz. can tomato paste, 1 tsp. oregano, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, enough water to make a thick pizza sauce consistency.

After spreading the sauce on the naan, I topped it with cheese and sausage. I had purchased the Italian sausage in bulk some time ago, cooked it, crumbled it in the food processor, and froze it in 1 lb. portions. So for this night’s dinner, I just pulled a pound out of the freezer to thaw and put on the pizzas.

Finally, the pizzas baked at 425 for 15 minutes or so and came out delicious.

Somewhat defeating the purpose of “easy to clean up”…

…my sous-chef helper. She mistakenly thought pasta was on the menu and got a jump start on the preparations. Who knew you had to moisten the pasta pieces before cooking them in boiling water?

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand (Psalm 139)

After the kids and I read this verse the other day, we went out to collect just a handful of sand to see how many grains there are in a small sample.

Of course we couldn’t even begin to count them…imagine all the grains of sand in the earth!

This one’s for you, Sarah. We couldn’t wait until next summer to try on the adorable ballerina swim suit, so yesterday afternoon was spent crawling and pulling up on “the bar” to try out some ballet positions :)