There were a few FCA camps going on concurrently in and around the city of Chicago a few weeks ago. We were able to get the kids involved–along with some of their friends–by making gospel bracelets for the campers.

We had a loom band party around the kitchen table. The boys organized the bands into bowls by color.

Then the kids got to work.

Derek kept things exciting by timing them for 10 minute intervals while they worked toward a team goal.

Those young fingers flew, and after just a couple hours, they had made over 150 bracelets!

A couple days later we drove to Austin and handed out the bracelets after the campers heard the gospel message. They were received with delight by campers of all ages.

We are praying that the bracelets would remind the kids of the good news of Jesus, and that like seeds falling onto fertile soil, would grow up to bear much fruit.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:8-9)

Later, we drove to the beach where the FCA wrestling camp was hosting dinner, and we dished up burgers and hot dogs for the campers and coaches.

Here’s a key to the colors of the gospel bracelet:

Each color represents an important Bible truth about Salvation
BLACK – Sin Romans 3:23 | All have sinned
RED – Blood I John 1:7 | Jesus’ blood covers all sin
WHITE – Pure Psalm 51:7 | Jesus washes away confessed sin
YELLOW – Heaven John 14:2 | Believe on Jesus and receive Eternal Life
GREEN – Grow 2 Peter 3:18 | Grow in the knowledge of the Lord

One of Peter’s favorite apps on the iPod is AllRecipes. He likes to peruse it for inspiration in the kitchen. The other day, he was inspired to make a refreshing watermelon drink.

And being waaay more into the presentation of food than his uber-practical mother, he poured the drink into an empty watermelon rind and invited everyone to sip.

When the weather is hot and the air conditioning is on, where can this plush dog be found?

That’s right.  Sprawled across the vent, hogging the cold air.  Whatever happened to dog days of summer?

Ruthie’s summer project has been to conquer the monkey bars, and boy is she laser-focused on this one project. Whenever she sees a park, she heads straight for the monkey bars and attempts them over and over and over again. Forget the slides, skip the swings, refrain from the merry-go-round.

It’s been all monkey bars, all the time. And she finally conquered them! I captured a small slice of her summer work on video. You get a glimpse into her fortitude.

Well, I’ve saved up all the baseball snapshots for one post. Baseball is what had our family out nearly every weeknight and Saturday for the past three months. As busy as the season was, the three boys grew as athletes and teammates on their respective teams.

Portraits from the beginning of the season:

Buddies.

Derek was a power hitter on his team and ended with a great batting average.

**Johanik lip squeeze alert**

He enjoyed catching again this year.

His team started out quite rocky but improved as the summer progressed, and ended up in 2nd place at the end of their double-elimination tournament.

Peter started his season on the Brewers but was traded to the Rockies before the first practice. He got to play with friends AND wear purple. He had some chances at pitcher and learned that though he has a rocket arm, he can better use it at other positions.

**Johanik lip squeeze alert**

His first love is catching.

And like his brother, was also a power hitter on the team.

**Johanik lip squeeze alert**

Grandpa helped him fine-tune his catching stance and technique.

The team after completing a super season…

Jeremiah is the one kid in the family (so far) to say that his favorite sport is baseball. He played his heart out this season and was quite fun to watch. His favorite position on the field was pitcher.

Exhale.

Visualize.

Fire.

**Johanik lip squeeze alert**

When he was catcher, his coaches were thankful for big brothers to lend a hand with the equipment.

All set.

He proved to be rather dependable at bat.

**Johanik lip squeeze alert**

He had great coaches this year who truly helped him to grow as a player.

Now let’s not forget about the fans and their time investment and encouragement throughout the season. Particularly the canine kind.

Here is baseball from Molly’s perspective. It’s called Mom radar.

Ruthie enjoyed having Molly to take care of and play with at the games.

We did a one-hour sanding blitz Saturday morning. This crown moulding is turning out to be one of those projects that doesn’t seem to end.

Thanks to Jim and Peter, we fueled up with high-octane homemade donuts, filled with either jelly or chocolate.

We had a great time at the FCA Power Camps last week. Like last year, we bussed kids to Wheaton College from Chicago, and the logistics played out as smooth as butter. We were joined by kids from the suburbs as well, which made for a good, diverse group of kids.

Here are Jim and my Dad posing with the crew from Circle Urban Ministries in the Austin neighborhood. Precious kids.

They heard the gospel of Jesus preached, as well as some character-building lessons. Our kids had a great time with their friends.

Jim loosened up and had some fun as well. There was a drum group welcoming kids as they stepped off the buses. One of the drummers handed his drumsticks over to Jim. Jim held his own with the talented group.

And here’s a father-daughter picture from the day.

Yes, Jim was the Chick-Fil-A cow for an hour, and let’s just say he fulfilled the role well.

As always, our prayer for these kids is that no matter what their economic background or skin color, that God would draw them to Jesus Christ and that they would believe in Him.

The eldest child in the family is getting a taste of what a 9 to 5 job is like this summer. Thankfully, the work is enjoyable to him. Every day, rain or shine, he packs his lunch, hops on his bike and commutes to Fermilab.

His task for the summer is to…ready for it…build a radio telescope. It couldn’t be more up his alley! Every day for the first two weeks, he came home grinning ear to ear, anxious to tell us what he had done that day. Here he is on his first day:

Looking at this picture led me to think back to nearly 11 years ago to his first day of first grade.

God has surely put a passion in this young man’s heart for science. When he was not much older than first grade, he told me that he saw himself in the science world like a log on fire in the midst of unlit logs, scientists who do not believe in Jesus. He was excited to enter the science realm with the gospel and see the fire grow. I do pray that God will use him to do just that.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24)

It was nice to have a reprieve from the full summer schedule of sports and work over the holiday weekend.

The kids finally had a chance to show Grandma and Grandpa some of the things they worked on in school this year, including calculus

and writing. Peter read a sweet essay on Molly. Perhaps I will ask him for permission to copy it onto the blog.

We capped off the evening with sparklers and fireworks.

We took advantage of the treeless, abandoned yard next door and shot off our fireworks from there.

Jake had some fun experimenting with the camera settings.

The next day, we packed up a picnic lunch, along with bows and arrows, and headed to Blackwell after church. The weather was beautiful, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together as a family.

Jake and Jim shot the bow.

Here, Peter and Jeremy are tracking down a butterfly to take its picture.

Best buddies…with coordinating colors!

Jake finished the weekend by catching a big-daddy large mouth bass in our pond.

Today was the inaugural 4th of July Fishing Derby. After breakfast, the competitors prepared their fishing rods and cast them into the pond.

Within seconds of casting the line, the first fish was caught…

by this guy.

It was a sign of things to come. With much long-suffering–and some tears–the others waited…

and waited…

oh so patiently for a fish to grab the scrumptious hot dog on the end of the line.

No matter where they stood, the fish just didn’t seem interested.

Meanwhile, as the others waited, Derek continued reeling in more

and more

and more

and more fish, until time was up and he had caught a whopping 24 fish!

The final count: Derek 24 fish, Jim and Peter 4 fish each, and the others zilch. The reward for the winner was any treat, any size from Oberweis. Well done, 2015 Fishing Derby winner!

We enjoyed a fun Father’s Day at Mom and Dad’s last month. It was a great way to celebrate the awesome dads in our life!

Baseball in the park

Box lunches from Subway

Dog cuddling in the dog park

Swimming in the pool

And drying off on the rooftop

It seems that our mailbox is not only a vessel for holding mail being sent and received, but also an ideal piece of real estate for nesting tree swallows.

Despite my efforts to deter them, they were unswerving in their decision to nest in our mailbox.  A couple times I tried blocking the opening in the back of the mailbox by placing a big rock inside.  Both times I found the big rock fallen on the ground the next day.  Unswerving and strong.

While the swallows prepared their nest, they stood guard.

Never far away, always with an eye on the nest.

Once the eggs hatched, they became especially protective, swooping down like hawks toward anyone who dared go near their home.  Never mind that their home happened to be a mailbox.

Poor Molly was often the target of the birds’ air attacks.  She innocently would go out to the front to do her business, and the swallows would swoop down toward her making warning sounds.  One time they were so aggressive in their swooping that one actually hit her in the head!  She was a good sport about it, though.

I’m happy to report that all the swallow chicks have left the nest and are likely discussing among themselves who has dibs on the prime real estate for next year.

The youngest child in the family is perhaps the fiercest competitor. Whenever we play a game–any game–she MUST win.  If she happens to lose, she wants to start over so she can win.  Sometimes there are tears mixed in, but there is always the determination to win the next one.

We’ve played the game Sorry for hours on end until she is up in the series. (Can you say best of 11?!)

Our summer of Proverbs has proven to be life-changing for every member of our family. In the morning we gather around the breakfast table, and each family member shares and discusses a Proverb that is meaningful to them.

On the twelfth of the month, everyone read from Proverbs 12, and someone discovered a verse that Molly would love…if she had understanding, that is.  In fact, we decided it would be her life verse.

Proverbs 12:10
Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast.

Her life is regarded.

Lessons to be learned:

1. Be careful what compass you follow
2. Sometimes things aren’t what they seem
3. Keep children with magnets in hand away from compass

A couple weeks ago, Ruthie was quite excited to be able to play with Bethy and her sisters. Not only that, but they also dressed up for a tea party.

Peter made the treats and served.

And Jeremy was the table host.

Meanwhile, Isaac was more interested in Derek’s lawn mowing and offered to lend him a hand.

I returned home with Derek from his batting practice last night and found the rest of the kids out back with fishing poles in hand.

And the fish were biting!

Jake let Molly introduce herself to the cold-blooded aquatic creature.

Then he had Ruthie throw it back into the pond.

Derek joined the fun as soon as he got home, and had immediate success.

Next Peter.

Jeremy baited his hook

and caught his first fish of the season.

Then returned it to its habitat.

Jake told me what Molly had done before I got home. He had the bowl of bait (hot dog and bagel) resting atop the fence post, and Molly wouldn’t take her eyes off of it. Finally, she thrust her weight into the fence, knocked the bait bowl off and helped herself to the goodies. After that, the bait bowl remained on the other side of the fence.

She still kept her eyes on it.

A great bonding activity for the kids.

We enjoyed running in a 5K as a family in Wheaton a couple weeks ago.

With Ruthie in the jogging stroller, everyone finished strong. Including Jeremy, who ran the entire 3.1 miles.

Thanks, Mom!

Before breakfast.

Before the morning walk.

Before chewing toys.

She makes the wake-up call rounds. The eldest is the most challenging to awaken, but Molly has the highest success rate.

March 2010, standing in front of the sun model at Adler Planetarium

Returning five years later, June 2015