When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

We set the alarm for just before 5:00 Wednesday morning so we could observe the lunar eclipse. All the boys were eager to see the earth’s shadow cast on the moon, and the little ones were excited to be up earlier than usual.

Even Molly was curious what all the hubbub was about.

It was cold, so every once in a while we came in to warm up by the fire.

Jake had the telescope out to show us Uranus, which was just to the left of the moon. He also set up the camera to take some photos of this phenomenon.

The result:

We all agreed it was worth sacrificing some sleep to watch this beautiful eclipse.

You’ve heard of sugar and spice. Here we present frills and frogs.

Anytime I bring Ruthie shopping with me (usually Costco), she must make two stops: 1. smell the flowers, and 2. admire the jewelry.

However, just when I think I have her figured out as a frilly girl, she proves me wrong by chasing and catching frogs.

Frog Catch

She keeps me guessing, this frilly, froggy girl.

Big D turned 14 last month!

We started the morning with birthday pancakes.

Later that evening, we went to Top Golf. Derek, Jake and Jim played a virtual game of golf

while I took the younger three kids and played a round of mini golf.

The following weekend, we celebrated with our family.

We call these two cousins the bookends of the Giere/Johanik clan, with Jake being the oldest and Nathan the (technically) youngest.

I love to see Derek growing into a young man–he is truly a delight to be around! May God continue to grow him in wisdom and stature. In my Bible, I have Derek’s name written next to this verse in Proverbs 10 because he is one of the most teachable kids I know:

He is on the path of life who heeds instruction

Here are snapshots of our athletic weekends in September. My prayer is that the lessons they are learning through sports will translate into life lessons as they trust and follow Jesus Christ into adulthood.

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9)

Starting with the firstborn: so far this season, every time he runs a 3-mile race, he accomplishes another personal record. He may not be the fastest on the team, but he is showing great perseverance by continually pushing himself to be faster and stronger.

(He is smirking because of his obnoxious mother yelling at the top of her lungs while snapping pictures of him)

Our family has learned that no matter how big the crowd is, we can always pick out Jake.

Warming up…showing off his flexibility.

While I was pointing my camera at the start line before the race began, I happened to turn around to check on Ruthie. Here’s what I saw.

Wherever we go, she is magnetically attracted to dogs, and this dog’s kind owner let Ruth hold its leash.

When football games are on Saturday, the rest of the day is spent at the field. We set up the tent,

get the grill started,

and chill in between games.

Each of the three football boys plays a different role on their respective teams, but they are all learning the importance of doing their job to the best of their ability for the sake of the team…no matter how small their role may seem at the time.

Derek is proving to be a leader on his team–particularly among the offensive linemen. He loves his team and he loves his job!

Here he is showing off his best side.

When he’s able, Derek likes to help out on the chain gang, keeping track of downs and yards, for his brothers’ games.

Peter has shuffled among several different positions on his team so far this season. He’s easy to spot because he always tends to be where the action is.  Hmmm, not much different than when he’s at home.

And this is why I cringe just a little bit when I find out that my fearless son is going to be carrying the ball.  And he loves this.

When he is finished tearing up the field during his game, he becomes the  water boy for Derek’s team.

This is a father who LOVES to coach. He was actually asked to coach two of the boys’ teams this season. He’s been busy.

Jeremy takes his position at middle linebacker very seriously. He does exactly what the coaches tell him to do.

He often looks like the little squirt on the field.

When he’s not going in for a tackle, he’s keeping his little sister company on the sidelines.

Ruthie enjoys when there are other players’ little sisters to play with.

And of course loves when friends come to watch a game with her.

While Jake’s cross country season is coming to an end soon, it’s hard to believe that there is still an entire month (at least) of football left. Be prepared for yet another photo dump at the end of October!

Here we go again. Fancy Nancy has inspired Ruthie once more: this time, she hosted a tea party. Knowing that her friend Bethy was coming over for the afternoon, Ruthie was so excited to host a real tea party (for someone other than her brothers).

And Peter was right along there with her, preparing the food and decorations.

Jeremy joined in full costume. More explanation on that in another blog.

He, like Paul in the Bible, was “all things to all people” and drank his tea with pinkies up. What a good brother.

Good fun, good food, and we all got to be fancy even if just for an afternoon.

The days of eating breakfast on the deck are numbered. But we will adapt to the cool as long as we can!

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons. (Daniel 2)

We took advantage of the fleeting mild late-summer days and went on a field trip to Peck Farm in Geneva. On our way, we swung by and picked up some cousins for added fun!

Probably the coolest thing about Peck Farm is the Butterfly House. Ruthie has been reading Fancy Nancy, and here is the advice Nancy gives about attracting butterflies:

Taking Nancy’s advice, she found the most colorful clothes she could find. Then cousin Ellie bequeathed some butterfly wings to her that morning. We decided to forego the perfume, with the bees at a swarming high these days.

Shortly after entering the Butterfly House, butterflies were landing on one kid

after another

after another

after another

after another

until every kid had a butterfly encounter except Ruthie. She was sad.

We were ready to call it a day at the Butterfly House when, as we were walking toward the door, a butterfly landed on top of Ruthie’s head.

It was an educational experience, as we saw many chrysalises ready to emerge.

We also learned to identify many of the butterflies.

We found a caterpillar

and many hummingbirds.

And did a lot of playing.

The kids discovered that birch tree bark makes great paper.

Best buds!!

This picture was taken nearly five years ago.

The then-toddler-baby duo are now big kids sitting at the school table learning handwriting together.

And he still makes her laugh with his antics.

These pumpkins came straight from our backyard! Planted as seeds back in the spring, we wondered if the showy, fast-growing vine would ever produce fruit. But then slowly, baby bumps began to grow from flowers and develop into beautiful, orange pumpkins.

Jake, our resident horticulturist, was eager to harvest them this afternoon, so out he went with a knife to cut the pumpkins from the vine…it reminded me of cutting the umbilical cord from a newborn baby.

He washed those pumpkins off.

And now they’re happily displayed on the deck.

Heard this morning: “Every time I do school I’m going to wear my brains.”

Translating Ruthie => English: brains = braids

We’ll be reminding her of this for years to come.

Peter and Jeremy are learning Astronomy this school year, much to the delight of a certain teenager in the house.

Jake was anxious to show them Saturn and Mars before the planets set for the season.

At the first sight of a clear sky, he brought out the telescope and focused on Saturn. It brought oohs and ahs from the younger ones. I enjoyed listening to him instruct them on what they were looking at.

Jeremy would say that his favorite school subject is Astronomy, so he especially enjoyed this field trip to the end of the driveway.

We headed to Chicago to watch Jake’s friend Sammy play soccer for his new school, Chicago Hope Academy. All the kids were anxiously waiting to go into the stands to cheer Sammy on.

It was a great game–high scoring for soccer, at 5-2. The field is just south of the Eisenhower expressway, which is ironic because we’ve passed the big “HOPE” sign countless times on our way in and out of the city and never knew anything about it!

Stevie was much loved, both at the game

and at the house.

Jake and Sammy posed for a shot after the game.

Meanwhile, Silas told Ruth all about the new neighborhood.

It was a great night!

This is Fancy Nancy. We checked out some of her books from the library this week.

This is Fancy Ruthie.  She came downstairs this morning quite excited after putting every bow she owns into her hair.

Here is Fancy Ruthie fishing in the backyard.

See all the pretty bows in her hair?

A catch!

Here we go–the flurry of competition and sweat as the boys begin participation in their fall sports.

Jake kicked off the weekend with a 3-mile race.

It was so humid that it was like taking a sip of water with every breath. He ran well, despite the heat and humidity and was smiling at the end.

Then the footballers played their first games of the season. Ruthie gets an award for Biggest Fan.

Peter tackled. A lot.

Jeremy did his share of tackling as well. Unfortunately, he was stung by a bee just before his game began.

Derek blocked and carved paths for his ball-carrying teammates,

and rejoiced with his teammates at the end of a great game.

One of my homeschooling goals this year is to go on more field trips with the kids. We just wanna have  fun! So today, we embarked on our first field trip of the school year and visited the Billy Graham Museum at Wheaton College.

While the museum primarily highlights what God has done through Billy Graham, we were there to learn a little bit more about Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield after studying them in history this week.

While the boys jotted notes on each man,

Ruthie waited patiently.

Jeremy preached it from the pulpit

and then proceeded to climb the walls.

The favorite part for all of us was the “heaven” room, where the Hallelujah Chorus plays continually in a room that makes you feel like you’re floating in the clouds.

A final group shot.

Grades represented in the Johanik household:
11th
8th
5th
3rd
Preschool
K9-garten

Time is flying.

Where do I begin to tell of this experience? I will let the few pictures I have here tell about the Baseball Bootcamp that FCA ran in Niles, MI.

Boys from both Niles and from inner city Chicago neighborhoods joined together for a weekend to learn baseball skills and hear about Jesus. It was also a family affair for the Johaniks, as three of the boys participated in the camp, Jake hauled tables and water coolers, I helped with administrative things, and Ruthie took care of this super cute yellow lab puppy named Daisy. (Ruth and Daisy were inseparable all weekend.)

Peter was happy to have his friend Anthony join us as well.

Jim and Derek rented a 15-passenger van as a backup plan in case there were any transportation issues once everyone was in MI. As it turned out, God had already been preparing Jim for the unexpected, and they would end up needing that van much sooner than they anticipated. They pulled up to the pickup spot in Chicago with breakfast for the expected 25-30 boys from the Near West Little League. Instead of 30 boys, though, there were 50 boys, all excited to spend the weekend in Niles, MI. The 15-passenger van was filled, along with a bus and another van, donated by nearby Chicago Hope Academy.

Now the question arose: How will we feed and house all these boys for 2 1/2 days? All the preparations had been done. The sleeping arrangements for the boys were already in place. But God knew ahead of time how many boys would come, and He knew all their needs.  “In Your goodness, O God, You provided for the needy.” (Psalm 68:10)

We observed an all-in, on-board mindset in the Janowskis, who didn’t blink an eye at the almost doubled number of expected house guests. The community of Niles gathered to provide bus transportation to and from the baseball field; provide showers at the local YMCA and middle school; provide an outstanding fish fry meal Friday night; and provide ongoing helping hands to cook, serve and clean up every meal.

A snapshot of the first dinner at the Janowskis:

In this next picture, the man on the left is Jimmy Brawley. He headed up all the baseball coaching for three days. He loves kids and loves baseball. He is standing with his parents. They are the fish fry folks. They donated hundreds of bluegill (caught themselves), onion rings, salads and desserts.

Grandpa Brawley walked around the tables with a tray full of homemade onion rings, and asked, “Did you get enough to eat? If not, you know who’s fault that is, don’t ya?”

We sensed a softening of the boys’ attitudes when they saw the grand dinner setup and experienced being served and loved so much.

Meanwhile, as everyone ate, the big Janowski/Johanik boys were quietly setting up fireworks down by the river. After the sun went down that night, they put on a massive fireworks show for the boys.

All throughout the days, the boys heard testimonies from various coaches about how Jesus has changed their lives. How He has given them hope, peace, purpose.  But some of the most powerful times were in the Janowskis’ pavilion down by the St. Joseph River.

After hearing about God’s Son, Jesus, dying on the cross for them; and a call to confess and turn away from their sin, every boy there prayed to receive Him as their Savior.

Other highlights of the weekend: good ol’ Chick-fil-a donated lunch on Saturday.

We got a team picture of the 50 Chicago boys and 43 Niles boys.

Derek got to know some of the Near West Little League-ers.

It’s hard not to be moved with compassion when you hear their stories.

We went ATVing, because you can’t visit the Janowskis and not ride an ATV.

Saturday night, the boys played relays, had more time in the pavilion, and roasted marshmallows to make s’mores.

Jake was able to have some lengthy conversations with a couple of the adults from Chicago. James is one of the coaches for the little league. He and Jake bonded talking about biking.

Ruth was sad to have to say goodbye to her new friend.  She asked more than once if we could bring Daisy home.

We look back on this experience last weekend with great joy, praying that the seeds which were sown would take root and grow up and bear much fruit among the 50 boys who were there.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10)

I find myself thinking about a few of the boys who stood out to me and pray for them by name. God prepared this weekend in advance, and I am confident that what He began in these young men He will be faithful to complete.

My little princess appears to be more accident-prone than her brothers. It was a mere 3.5 years ago that Ruth had her first x-ray taken of a leg.

Three weeks ago, she was jumping on the trampoline with her brothers and landed funny on her left leg. It was pretty scary for a moment, not knowing exactly what had happened or what part of her was hurt. After a full day of icing it and wrapping it, she could bear no weight on the leg, so off to the doctor we went for x-rays.

Thankfully, the result of the recent x-ray was the same as the first: no broken bones; however it took her over two weeks to be able to walk without a limp.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a an even longer time before she opts to go back on the trampoline.

We were *this close* to forgoing our free Great America tickets this summer. What with camps and mission trips and more camps, it just didn’t look like there was room for a day at GA on the calendar. But sometimes the last-minute plans work the best.

Derek, Peter, Jeremy and I ended up going with my brother Brian, and Hannah and Sam two days before the free tickets expired. And we had a blast!

We rode some of the old favorites, like the American Eagle and Demon.

Six year-old Sam was a natural on those; it was so much fun to watch his response after getting off the rides.

I just about flung up breakfast on the Fiddler’s Fling. What is it about spinning rides and age? I just can’t stomach those like I used to.

We cooled off on the log ride.

And teamed up to fight against the ships on Buccaneer Battle.

The grand finale was all of us going on the Giant Drop.