We lit the third candle (a week late…oops) which represents JOY. There are a lot of things that bring happiness, but real, lasting joy comes from trusting Jesus Christ. The joy that He gives doesn’t fade when circumstances fail. The angels knew this when they announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:8-11)

The Joy candle is pink. If you are curious why that is–like I was–read this explanation of the tradition of Lent and Advent.

Speaking of pink, Ruth wore her pink in honor of the joy we celebrated today.

After studying the history behind the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Jake and Derek tried their hands at painting while laying on their backs. Keeping in line with the original Sistine Chapel theme, which consists of numerous scenes from the Bible, the boys chose to paint the story of Noah’s Ark.

As hour

after hour went by,

they began appreciating the toil that the task took on Michelangelo way back in the 1500s.

Thankfully, Ruth was on hand to offer some constructive criticism.

And now the completed masterpiece adorns the Johanik Basement ceiling.

Perhaps preparation for something like this one day…

When the weather is uncooperative, sometimes the boys opt for recess in the garage.

Here’s what Ruth and I saw when we opened the garage door the other day…

The newest rage now is pushing Ruth around the house in the bouncie seat, pretending she’s riding a boat, airplane, race car, or other vehicle. She loves it. She loves it so much, in fact, that she falls asleep every time.

It is quickly becoming an elective course for Peter during school when I need to work with Jake and Derek.

The second advent candle represents Preparation–to get ready.

John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus 2000 years ago:

As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’ ” (Luke 3:4-6)

Similarly, it is good to prepare ourselves now for the day when Jesus returns to the earth. “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:13)

Cheap, flavorful, and simple to make. Plus, it’s a big hit with the kids. It’s the perfect dinner recipe, so I thought I’d share it here through play-by-play photos. And if the sight of raw chicken makes you sick, you’ll want to just scroll down to the bottom.

Before any preparation takes place, be sure needy babies are in good, capable hands.

The star of the recipe is a whole chicken (or two if you’re cooking for a house full of growing boys). We buy ours at Costco for $.89 a pound.

The seasonings and spices: onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, thyme, coarse kosher salt, and pepper (you can always take out what you don’t like and add what you do like; this is a very forgiving recipe)

Combine all the seasonings and rub onto the chicken. Be sure and put some under the skin too–this way, if you’re not a fan of chicken skin, you still get the flavor.

Once the chicken is well seasoned, put it into a gallon-size bag and stick it in the fridge overnight to let the salt and spices do their work.

Around noon the following day, gather an onion or two,

cut it into quarters,

and put it inside the chicken. If the whole onion doesn’t fit, place the extra pieces next to the chicken in the crockpot.

Place the stuffed chicken into a crockpot, and cook on low for about five hours. (new crockpot on low setting)

(14 year-old, wimpy crockpot on high setting)

After five hours, pull the chicken out, cut it up and serve with your favorite comfort food–like peas and mashed potatoes. Yummy.

Roast Sticky Chicken

One of the science experiments Jake was tasked with the other day required the use of plaster. So off to Hobby Lobby we went. Upon returning home, we read the warning label on the container and nearly changed our minds about doing the experiment. It’s not exactly your run-of-the-mill warning label:

“Failure to follow these instructions can cause sever burns that may require surgical removal of affected tissue or amputation of limb”?? Yikes!

So the boys began the experiment with trepidation.

And once they discovered that the warning label may have been…how shall I put it…a little over the top, they spent the rest of the day pouring plaster just for fun into containers from around the house.

Poor Molly (who obviously did not read the plaster warning label) wanted to join the fun.

In no particular order, here are some things we were thankful for this past weekend…

Thankful for smiles from little sisters

Thankful that I remembered to pack a jammy shirt for Peter (never mind that I forgot the pants)

Thankful for Legos…oh are we thankful for Legos

Thankful for cuddles from a certain sweet-smelling baby

Thankful for the sacrifice of family members to house a certain not-so-sweet-smelling dog

Thankful for Kodak moments that we actually captured on camera

Thankful for delicious food, the hands that prepared it, and the family to share it with

Thankful for cousins that love each other…

…and teach one another valuable life lessons, such as how to do a push-up

Thankful for phones with cool apps

Thankful for a grandpa (and great-grandpa) who has godly influence in the lives of his great grandchildren

Thankful for family members who aren’t afraid to be goofy

Thankful for gorgeous sunrises that take your breath away

Most of all, thankful that if every one of these things were taken away, we have a God who loves us more than we can imagine and promises to never leave us. He is the Giver of all good things, and way more precious and worthy of thanks than the gifts He gives.

Tonight we lit the candle of HOPE.

The definition of hope is: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

What do you expect or desire to happen? I’ve shared in the past about this subject and the importance of placing your hope in the right thing.

The Bible talks a lot about hope. In the book of Lamentations, it says:

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

In other words, it is good to hope for salvation. God has promised salvation to those who trust in Jesus, and God is the only One we can trust to keep His promises. It says in Hebrews, “we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure”. I love that image…an anchor that does not budge, no matter how big the waves get. If we hope in the salvation of Jesus, we are secure in Him, no matter what life throws at us.

There is a verse in Romans that explains where this unshakable hope comes from: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”. It comes from God Himself! Do you want the kind of hope that fills you with joy and peace? Ask God.

During this first week of advent season, consider how the birth of Jesus Christ brought–and still brings–hope to the world.

…these guys

just can’t resist

a little cuddle time

with their baby sister.

Don’t even think about messing with this little girl–she is well protected.

And by the looks of it,

I don’t think Ruthie minds all of the attention she’s getting.

Nearly every day this fall, there has been a football game in the yard. The teams change regularly…Michigan vs. Northwestern, Air Force vs. OSU…but the players remain the same: Derek vs. Peter. One day, Jeremy felt confident that he could hold his own with the big boys.

So he asked Daddy to get him suited up. And Daddy happily obliged.

The lesson Jeremy learned is that the helmet and pads may protect your body, but they do nothing to cushion the blows to the ego.

Ruth has been doing a lot of studying. Not the kind of study that requires books, of course.

She’s been studying her brothers.

She looks intensely at them as they coo at and dote on her.

It’s hard work learning how to use those five senses.

I’m already observing how her face lights up when a brother gets close to her and talks to her.

No doubt she will be learning fashion sense from Bubbie. Some influences are impossible to control.

Looking for a fun family activity? This website has a Bingo game for free that you can download onto your computer. You print out the cards, and the computer calls out the numbers.

This has been a great game for our family. Even Bubbie gets into the act.

And to sweeten the deal, so to speak, the winner receives a sugar-filled prize. This encourages some healthy competition. Because competitiveness is hard to find in this house full of boys. *ahem*

Here is Peter with his hard-earned brownie:

Where is Ruth during all this fun? Here she is from my perspective, participating in her own little way with the rest of us:

Ruthie met her middle-namesake, my Aunt Chris, over the weekend. They really hit it off…

and they were happy to include Grandma in the conversation.

In addition to being held by big (and not so big) brothers…

…Ruth is getting lots of kisses from Daddy,

and an occasional kiss from Molly, though it is generally discouraged because as my mom always said, “you never know where that dog’s mouth has been”. Although in Molly’s case, I do know where that dog’s mouth has been, which is precisely why she typically is not allowed to kiss the baby. This picture really bothers me. Excuse me while I go wash Ruth’s hands. Again.

And just a couple close-up shots of the little peanut.

What with football games, swim meets, birthdays, and a new baby, October was packed with events. It seemed appropriate that we cap off the month by dressing up and going trick-or-treating.

In what has become an annual tradition, Judi and Dave took the boys around the neighborhood with the goal of accumulating as much free candy as possible in a 2-hour period.

This year, Judi got into the dressing-up part of the day and donned a stunning, homemade pumpkin costume made by yours truly.

It appears in this picture that Peter is just a little anxious to get started.

Upon returning, the boys dumped their candy on the floor (after putting Molly in her cage) and began their sorting and trading. It turned into a regular math lesson: 1 Kit Kat = 2 gumballs + 1 sucker.

Meanwhile, as the candy sorting was going on downstairs, there was another kind of sorting going on upstairs. Sarah came by earlier in the day to drop off baby girl clothes for Ruth. After unloading the boxes of clothes, it looked like a pink explosion in our bedroom! Then Mom got to work sorting onesies, sleepers, dresses…and tights. We mustn’t leave out the tights, an essential part of a baby girl’s wardrobe (so I’m told).

As expected, this newest addition to the Johanik clan is loved like crazy. And at only a week old, she is already responding.

Jake holds her every chance he gets.

And Derek seems to bring out the stories in her.

And when Peter isn’t holding Ruthie…

…he is following her around like the paparazzi.

By far, he has taken the most pictures of Ruth than the rest of us.

Posted by Jim

Announcing the birth of Ruth Christine Johanik, 8lbs. 4oz., 20.5in. long, born October 27, 2009 at 1:36pm.

A girl, yes a G-I-R-L, in the Johanik family. In a blink of an eye pink has entered into our home – Praise God!

For eight months of Heidi’s pregnancy I was (in my admittedly simple mind) convinced we were having another boy.  After having four boys who could blame me for thinking that x chromosomes were not part of my biological make up. In month nine, it dawned on Heidi and I that there there could be a chance this little one might be wearing a “pink homey cap” as Grandpa Steve puts it.

I think this realization was God-sent.  Heidi is a boy mom, out of practice and necessity.  I am in the midst of coaching Derek’s football team and I am surrounded by smelly, goofy, muddy 8 and 9 year-old boys. Our house has spackle and drywall repair on almost every wall.  Our girl dog is often the object of countless tackles having an active role in many ad hoc wrestling matches and football games in the family room. The boys’ room smells more like a locker room than a bedroom.  Our life up to this point has been all BOY. We needed time to prepare ourselves mentally for the chance that a girl could enter our life.

Then came Ruth. The moment she came out, I had to check, double check and then check once more that she was a girl.  Then it hit me.  I found myself to be quite emotional – more than I expected to be – upon her arrival. Heidi and I never prayed for a girl or a boy specifically, but the immediate realization that I was now the father of a beautiful, precious daughter was quite a bit to consume at that moment.

The fact that Ruth would be dramatically different than her brothers also hit me. The day before Ruth’s birth I read Psalm 144.  In verse 12 is says:

“Our sons will be like plants that quickly grow to full size. Our daughters will be like corner pillars, carved like those in a palace.”

I love the imagery the Bible gives in women being “pillars”.  Pillars are immeasurably important in that they hold up structures that protect. Corner pillars are more important in that they form a part of the foundation of the structure. Corner pillars of a palace show just how valuable God deems the structure.  Ruth’s strength will not be determined by her brawn or how quickly she grows up to be physically strong, rather it will be the strength of her character and her relationship to God. If the statistics pan out and it is within God’s will, Ruth will likely be a supporting and loving wife, a nurturing mother and a matriarchal grandmother.  I thank God that Ruth has several women surrounding her that will serve as model pillars in each life stage.

This leads me to finish this post as to why Heidi and I chose the name Ruth Christine. As for Ruth it is simple – there are few women in the Bible who show more character and integrity given their circumstances than Ruth.  Read the book of Ruth for yourself and see if you disagree.

As for Christine, this explanation is a bit more involved.

When God chooses to allow tough circumstances to arise in a person’s life, it is then that a person’s true character is on full display for others to see.  For Heidi and I, this could not be more true than in the life of Heidi’s aunt, Christine Grego.  For those who do not know Chris, here is a woman who has endured a level of suffering that few people experience. In a short amount of time, she has had to endure the death of a spouse, the continual care and nurturing of a disabled son (not to mention experiencing his disablement several years ago), and her dealings with a countless number of treatments to remove cancer from her own body.  If you met Chris today, her countenance would never reveal such suffering. Chris has risen above her circumstances through a sheer and utter dependence on God in a way that makes you desire such a dependence and a peace in your own life.

That is the character we desire our Ruth to have. We love her name.

Here are just a few more pictures of Ruth’s big day:

We kept telling Heidi she was a machine. She did great – the labor was 3 hours. Mind you, Heidi didn’t look this chipper 60 minutes later.

Like a true Johanik, Ruthie’s factory was fully functioning – she was going through diapers at an alarming rate.  At times she didn’t even wait for the next diaper to make it on her.  Heidi blamed this on my genes of course.

Dr. Embry has delivered all the Johanik kids.  It’s hard to imagine a better obstetrician.

The family of seven.

It should be noted that Peter was the lone hold-out for a sister.  His brothers all wanted a boy while Peter steadfastly claimed the baby was going to be a girl.  He then backed up his claim by saying that he prayed all the time that the baby would be a girl.

When Grandpa Giere notified Peter that he had a baby sister – he had a deadpan expression.  Peter reminded grandpa that “I knew it was a girl because I was asking God for a girl.”

Faith from the mouths of babes….

As a parent, one must always be ready for the teachable moments. They can arise at the most unexpected times, and usually do.

Take this morning, for instance. As Jeremy sat on the potty, he began talking to me about nails.

J: Do people put nails in their legs (he is poking his leg as he talks) and then do they die? (with huge emphasis on the word die accompanied by a scrunched up face)

Mom: (silent, perplexed look, trying to figure out where this is coming from)

J: (sensing the lack of understanding) Did the nails go into Jesus’ legs and then did He die?

M: The soldiers nailed Jesus’ hands and feet to the cross and then He died. Then God made Him alive again, and now Jesus lives in heaven.

J: Does He see me?

M: He sure does, and when you obey Mom and Dad, He is pleased (a shameless plea for obedience)

J: Does He see downstairs?

M: Yes, He sees downstairs…He sees the whole world all the time!

J: Is He going to play with my toys? (Jeremy goes on to answer his own question) No, because He doesn’t want to make a mess and then clean it up.

Deuteronomy 6: “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.” (…even when your children are sitting on the potty :))

The boys look forward to this ride every year.

We paid the registration fee last December.

No one knew I’d be 8 months pregnant on September 27, but we were committed. We finished 25 miles at the Apple Cider Century in MI and had a great time.

I must confess that I coveted every recumbent bicycle that rode by…reclining riders comfortably pedaling twice as fast as I was. And it was not easy accepting the fact that there was no chance of keeping up with other bikers, let alone passing them. If I heard one more “on your left”, I was going to slug someone.

Due to my super-slow pace, Jake and Derek were given permission to ride at their own pace up ahead, and we all met up at the rest stop halfway through the ride.

Jeremy got all choked up with emotion upon finishing the ride…

…but he pulled himself together for the picture.

The kids did a great job and are already talking about stepping up to do the 50 mile route next year!