Lego style.

Between Jeremy speed skating around the house (United States vs. America…try telling him otherwise) and the boys posing Lego guys as olympians, we are all about winter sports in this house right now.

There’s downhill skiing:

Snowboard cross:

Speed skating:

(don’t forget the official)

Bobsled…or is it bobsleigh? Did they change that recently? A certain three year old corrects me whenever I call it bobsled. I just can’t bring myself to call it bobsleigh; it makes me think of Santa Claus.

Derek made an impressive ski jump, but alas, it was taken apart before any pictures were taken.

We played a rousing game of Uno the other night. Not wanting to be left out, Ruthie was on Derek’s team in the beginning. Judging by the look on her face, she is not too pleased with Derek’s cards. Or perhaps she’s working on her poker face.

In addition to Ruthie wanting to be part of the action, the dog-who-thinks-she’s-a-human-child found her spot around the circle.

Really. Molly joins in whatever the boys are doing. She even brings her own toy to play with. She knows all too well that her brothers don’t like to share their toys with her.

In our house, game night wouldn’t be game night without some good old roughhousing. So as soon as the last card was played, the wrestling match commenced. Dog and all.

I’ve never understood this trait in boys.

Chances are, Ruthie won’t either.

Things can get pretty intense between the four of them,

but somehow they end up better friends than when the night started.

Our family has made a commitment to memorize a verse from the Bible every week. This is easier for some than it is for others, let me tell you. It’s amazing how much useless information takes up residence in an adult’s brain.

We begin memorizing a new verse on Sunday, practice it and quiz each other throughout the week, then recite the verse after dinner on Saturday. If everyone can say the verse, then our reward is ice cream sundaes with all the fixings.

Simple obedience.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

Yes, it’s true. Today, the family pet turned one year old.

We played one of Molly’s favorite games, “Get the Light”.

Somehow, Molly knew there was something special for her inside the package. She is so smart.

Or maybe she was drawn to the aroma of dog treats wafting out of the box.

She waited patiently while we sang Happy Birthday to her.

Then she dove in for the treats.

The rest of the time was spent gnawing on her new bone…

…while the rest of us ate carrot cake in her honor.

Some people have asked how Molly is with Ruthie. I think the following pictures depict their relationship well. Usually, when I lay Ruthie down on the floor, Molly comes over and lays next to her.

They are both rather curious about one another. The dog smells the baby incessantly (hmmm, I can relate as I spend my days with my nose buried in Ruthie’s hair), and the baby just stares at the hairy beast.

If you ever wanted a glimpse into dinner around the Johanik table, here you go.

Feel the love.

Jake has gladly taken on the roles of fetcher and teacher. When Ruthie awakens from her nap, he is the one to fetch her and bring her to Mom. These days, he is working with her on sitting up. Here he is teaching Ruthie how to play with her toy.

And Peter is enjoying some cuddle time on the couch.

If you want to hold a baby around here, you’ll need to stand in line.

Can’t you just see the love?

And if the boys aren’t holding Ruthie, they are taking pictures of her.

Our newest bathroom saga:

Talk about not appreciating what you have until it’s gone. But I suppose the toilet handle breaking off of the toilet is to be expected when you live in a house with four bam-bams.

Being homeschoolers, we like to turn everything into a “life lesson”. So the boys (3 year-old included) have learned plumbing 101. Now they know to pull the chain when they’re done using the bathroom.

We originally planned to take the kids skiing for the day. But after careful consideration of what that would look like with an infant and a 3 year-old in addition to the other kids, we decided to go with plan B.

B for Bowling. The boys were remarkably understanding when we broke the news to them the morning we were supposed to drive up to Wisconsin.

We teamed up: Jim Heidi, Bubbie vs. Jake, Derek, Peter. We thought perhaps it might be close, but Jim and I didn’t think we would beat the kids by too much.

Everyone tried their best.

We learned that Jake has…um…his own style of throwing. But, hey, whatever works for ya.

We weren’t sure who Ruthie was rooting for, but each team tried to persuade her over to their side.

Jim and I started to worry when the other team would cheer after every bowl.

I can hardly write it…the other guys won.

And their team was carried by the 5 year-old.

Guess where Jim and I will be going on date nights for a while?

The two young ‘uns have been bonding this week.

Jeremy just loves being as close as possible to Ruthie.

Who can blame him?

…in a galaxy far, far away…

there lived an evil Darth Vader.

Fast forward to the present, and look what we found:

Darth Vader’s Lego remains cast in a mold!

Ah, the lessons to be learned in Science class.

Pink has invaded the house, and it seems to be getting along quite nicely with the other toys.

We kept with tradition this year and rang in the new year with the Goldings at their house. The kids gathered around the table for dinner. Despite the frowns on the youngest children’s faces, they had a blast. Really.

Ruthie enjoyed some good ‘ol female bonding.

While the adults took on one another in Wii (photos not included to protect the modest), the kiddos decorated gingerbread houses.

We got a chuckle out of the fact that the two oldest children had total control over the frosting and how the candies were placed on the houses.

After being told where to put which candy, the little guys began complaining that they were bored.

But all was forgiven in the end when they all noshed on sugar-laden gingerbread together.

When it was time to go home, we were all excited about the fact that we just celebrated the coming of a new year.

We began our Christmas celebration with the Johaniks on Christmas Eve.

After waking up Christmas morning, the boys opened up gifts from their stockings.

Molly served as “quality control” for the candy.

When the boys were finished with their stockings, it was Molly’s turn.

She was so excited over her new toys, she didn’t even wait for the packaging to come off.

Then it was off to the Gieres’ for brunch. There was a constant buzz of activity at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

Ruthie seemed to enjoy the loving attention she received from her cousins!

Ellie’s doll, Hannah’s doll.

Hannah’s doll wearing Ellie’s doll’s earmuffs.

Grandpa and his girls.

…Looking Back

Seeing that I made my goals for 2009 public one year ago, I thought it would be fitting to share how those goals were accomplished and/or not accomplished. It is good to regularly examine our lives before God; the Bible says in Lamentations: “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.”

Because of God’s grace, I finished reading through the Bible last year. Honestly, this was a somewhat easy goal because it was so measurable. I knew when I fell behind, and knew what to do to catch up. For a task-oriented list maker, a goal like this is good.

Then there were the more subjective, though no less important, goals. I copied verses into two notebooks–one dedicated to humility, the other to temperance of speech. I do plan on using these as references for many years. It’s one thing to know what God says about these character traits, it’s another to live them out. I did find that God used experiences to grow these traits in me. Conformity and refinement are rarely pleasant, and so frankly last year was painful in many ways.

…Looking Forward

Bible goal for 2010 is slower-paced. Study one book at a time–as though digging for gold, rather than raking leaves. I’m starting with the gospel of John and am looking forward to having a couple neighbors join me.

Lots of treasures in Proverbs; I’m going to memorize some of them this year.

Finally…and probably most importantly…prayer. When I think about my relationship with Jim, communication is key. We talk about everything–from the earth shattering to the mundane. And the more we talk, the closer I feel to him. It is a rough picture of how my relationship with Jesus is to be. For crying out loud, He knows me infinitely better than my husband, and He STILL loves me! So although this is not a measurable goal, I intend to learn more about prayer by praying.

What does a dad with boys do when he has some spare time on his hands? In our house, he builds weapons. Specifically, a spudzooka (a.k.a. potato launcher).

After a quick trip to Lowe’s for supplies and back home for the assembly of PVC tubing, they were ready to launch.

Molly was either nervous that she may be the target for target practice; or excited with anticipation that she would have the opportunity to clean up potato scraps. (Disclaimer: no pets or other wildlife were injured during this activity)

After arming the spudzooka with plenty of aerosol hair spray, Derek was ready to fire.

See the potato?

As the snow cascaded down to the ground the other day, it did not take the boys long to schlep on their snow gear and romp around outside.

Molly (who believes she is one of the kids) romped around with them.

Have sled, need hill.

Minor casualty

Knowing that her brothers were playing outside, Ruthie considered joining them…

…but wisely opted to stay in her warm house.

Finally, the white candle in the center represents Jesus Christ, the pure, sinless One who was sacrificed for us.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.  (1 Peter 1:18-20)

Over the past four weeks, the boys have taken turns lighting the candles, and today was Bubbie’s turn.

The fourth candle represents the one thing the world misunderstands most: LOVE.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Jesus died for the worst of sinners because of Love. He died so that we might live forever with Him.

This quote from John Piper explains well what real love is.

The love of God is not God’s making much of us, but God’s saving us from self-centeredness so that we can enjoy making much of him forever. And our love to others is not our making much of them, but helping them to find satisfaction in making much of God. True love aims at satisfying people in the glory of God. Any love that terminates on man is eventually destructive. It does not lead people to the only lasting joy, namely, God. Love must be God-centered, or it is not true love; it leaves people without their final hope of joy.

Friends of ours from Florida, the VanHuis family, wrote a story announcing Ruthie’s birth and mailed it to us. The story is told in a most creative way.

Here’s Peter is holding it up:

And here it is up close for your reading enjoyment: