We had one of the worst storms in recent memory blow through last night. I was out with the kids, acting as taxi driver for the evening, and during a three hour span we endured a deluge of rain and hail, and dodged lightning bolts as we ran from various buildings to the car.

We assumed the worst was over when the rain subsided, so as we drove into our neighborhood we breathed a sigh of relief. That is, until we continued on and saw a lake of water at the intersection. I quickly backed up and attempted another route, only to find that water was just as high on the other side. We were 100 yards from our house and unable to pull into the driveway! So close yet so far! Other cars had already stalled attempting to pass through the water. I made a quick decision to just go for it…we all really wanted to get home.

I began praying out loud. I could tell the water was high, as the car was sluggish, but thought I could see higher ground ahead. Instead, as we drove forward, the water became even deeper, and I began to lose steering power while the warning light came on in the car. Uh-oh.

I gunned it, knowing we were too far into the water to back up now. We made it out with a wake behind us and pulled into our driveway a little shaky, but safe.

We could see that tree limbs and leaves had fallen en masse during the storm, and that likely was the cause of the flooding, as the drains were coated with layers of leaves. Derek offered to walk around the neighborhood and clear drains. Jake joined him.

Derek said the water was up to his knees, and he even had to pull up his shorts at times to keep them from getting wet. Once they raked the leaves off the drains, there was such a current of water rushing down that they could feel the water receding on their legs. It was a matter of minutes before the roads went from 2-3 feet of standing water to merely wet.

We all gave many thanks to God for bringing us home safely, as well as for keeping our house safe and dry. By the end of it all, Peter said he was going to have a good story to tell his kids when he’s older.

Jake finished his track season strong, achieving yet another PR for the mile. He worked hard, running both long distances and tough workouts every week. Good job, buddy!

“…let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus…” (Hebrews 12)

Jeremy has a new favorite treat: the Going Green Smoothie. He asks for this vitamin-packed drink for breakfast every day.

Here’s how you make it.

1/2 cup water
1 cup green grapes
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
1/2 medium banana, peeled
2 cups fresh spinach, lightly packed
1/2 cup ice cubes

Blend it up and drink it down!

We had a lovely Easter Sunday a few weeks ago. We began the day worshiping at Moody Church with my parents, then headed to their condo for a delicious brunch. Seriously delicious. Sadly, I’ve become either lazy or forgetful when it comes to taking pictures these days, so you are left to picture the scenes in your imagination, and I am left to my memory (which isn’t very promising).

We did manage to get a family picture on the rooftop, though. These kids are getting so big, and I’m feeling bittersweet emotions looking at this picture.

After brunch, Ruthie asked to visit the dog park down the street from my parents’ building. Dogs of all sizes and temperaments run free in this gated area covered in artificial turf…a vet-in-training’s dream! Ruthie provided much entertainment, not only for us but for many of the dog owners in the park. Some were taking pictures of her interacting with the dogs (all of course while wearing a pretty dress–a very pretty dress).

She was like the pied piper of Dogland. The canines followed her everywhere.

The yellow lab in the pictures is not Molly; I thought it was cute that a Molly look-alike especially took to Ruth.

It was a great day in the city!

This so sums up Ruthie’s personality: wearing a ‘pretty dress’ six out of seven days a week…and able to wield a battle axe as she mixes it up with her brothers.

I love this girl.

We decided the kitchen needed a face lift. The oak was beginning to yellow from sun damage. Here’s how we spent our week last week:

1. Took off the doors and pulled out the drawers

This was done in a hurried, unorganized manner so here is how our family room looked for the week:

It was a week of telling the kids to grab a fork for dinner…from the family room floor. If we ever do this again, I am aiming for better organization. Even the dog was stressed all week.

2. Sanded the doors, drawers and cabinet frame

The first day of sanding outside was warm. The boys wore shorts and t-shirts.

The second day was thirty degree weather. The boys wore sweatshirts and winter caps.

Even Ruthie joined the sanding fun.

3. Primed the doors, drawers and cabinet frame

4. Applied two coats of Espresso Bean paint on the frame

Just the name of the paint makes me happy inside. Can’t you just smell it? The espresso, that is, not the paint.

5. Reattached cabinet hardware and painted doors and drawers

6. Hung cabinets and put in drawers

7. Applied two coats of polyurethane

This is a necessary step in a house full of bam-bams.

8. Attached knobs and handles to the doors and drawers

A new kitchen!

(from Derek)

We filmed a movie trailer and put it on iMovie and would like to show it to you.

Jake just finished another season of Science Olympiad, competing on the homeschool team, Learning Vine. They are a team of nine, competing against all the area mega-high schools, like Naperville North, Nequa, IMSA, and Libertyville. It’s akin to David going up against Goliath!

The Learning Vine team had t-shirts made with this quote on the back: “There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data” This is very very funny if you are a scientist. It’s a little annoying if you are a grammar buff.

How do they compete? The only equipment necessary, for the most part, are pencils and brains. They enter a classroom with this equipment and take a written test.

A couple weeks ago, they participated in the regional competition at IMSA, where the competition is intense because kids have been studying and researching their topics for months.

Jake and his friend Sam placed second in Astronomy (right behind Metea Valley…ouch). They were very excited.

Speaking of Metea Valley, there was a bit of an awkward moment when Jake walked in to take his compound machine test, and the administrator was his Physics teacher from Metea. Umm…hi, Mr. B. It was all good though, Mr. B wasn’t surprised to see Jake. Probably most awkward for Jake’s mother.

Jake came away with a couple more medals, and overall, the team rocked. Not only did they win the Spirit Award for team with the best attitude (politeness to test administrators, etc.), out of 24 high schools, Learning Vine came in 9th, just two places away from making it to the state competition!

After printing out all the teams’ stats, bringing the info to bed and studying the details last night, Jake is still filling out his bracket the next day.

I’m beginning to wonder if I should have copied his bracket instead of the “expert’s” bracket online!

March Madness is upon us, and every member of our family is filling out a bracket.

No member of our family has watched a lick of basketball–NCAA or otherwise.

So how does one go about picking teams when one has absolutely no background knowledge? We found that there is more than one way to skin that cat.

I went online and copied an expert’s bracket.

Jake spent a couple hours scouring records and stats in order to determine winners.

Jim and the other boys used gut instinct and whatever trivial knowledge they’ve managed to pick up.

And then there was Ruthie’s method. Jim juxtaposed the mascots of every matchup, and Ruthie pointed to the one she preferred.

Who did she pick to go all the way? The cute cheerleader bears from UCLA, naturally!

Peter is now in the double digits!

He went all out this year and made his own Snickers birthday cake

and cake pops.

I am greatly enjoying seeing Peter’s personality develop.

In what has become somewhat prophetic, upon each child’s birth, Jim and I bestowed him or her with a greek letter as a code name so we could talk about them without them knowing. (You may be wondering why I’m posting this confidential information on the blog…the gig was up years ago when they grew up, got smart and caught on to all the Alpha/Beta talk)

Being the third child, Peter’s code name is Gamma, which is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. Here’s what Wikipedia says about Gamma Rays:

They are of extremely high frequency and therefore high energy. They are biologically hazardous.

The high energy part is obvious. Peter is fast and intense, and when he gets into something, whether baking or football or friendships, he is all in.

The biologically hazardous description is also evident, especially when Peter is emptying the dishwasher. Just take a look sometime at our dishes. Not a one of them is without a chip. We affectionately call him Bam-Bam.

He is greatly loved in this family.

Don’t you guys just love your brother? Be serious now.

Just when we thought spring was right around the corner…

This was the scene pulling out of the driveway on the morning of March 12.

It’s how Ruthie says Craisins. So she asks for Praisins in her oatmeal, Praisins for a snack, Praisins in her granola. And it’s so entertaining and cute, I haven’t corrected her. They’re only this young once, right?

She is a chow hound. And a human being wannabe.

He ate breakfast, went to morning track practice, and came back for second breakfast. I couldn’t help but snap a picture of the spread.

This is normal calorie consumption for our active 6’5″ boy, folks.

It didn’t matter that the thermometer read a bone-chilling 8 degrees.

These are determined kids.

Who have been going stir crazy in the house.

Climbing the walls.

Fresh air and flips at the expense of frostbitten toes?

After enough below freezing days, they have counted the cost and determined it’s worth it.

Thanks to Groupon, we found a great deal on Four Lakes lift tickets. Given the unpredictable nature of weather in the Chicago area, we seized the snowy day on President’s Day last Monday. Judging by the crowds of people, we weren’t the only ones with that idea. It was near anarchy at times on the tow ropes, but we were still excited to be able to ski one more time this season.

Inspired by the Olympic snowboard cross, Derek rented a snowboard for the day. He spent much of the time on his kiester, but after watching him work at it until he mastered it (always with a smile on his face), I decided that D stands for Derek and determined!

The other boys spent their time on the terrain park, again inspired by the Olympics, racing down and jumping the jumps. I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to try flips next season.

Ruthie hit a milestone this day as well. Not only did she look cute as a button on the bunny hill, but she ended the day skiing down the incline by herself.

When we first arrived, she was clinging onto my pole for dear life as we descended the hill. I decided to chuck the pole and try holding hands instead. Well, this led to letting go for short spurts and before I knew it, she was skiing with no help.

She became so confident that when we got off the tow rope, she exclaimed, “Alright, Mom, this is my hill!” And lest I cramp her style in any way, we would get going down the hill and she would yell out, “I’ll meet you at the bottom!”

Here she drew a picture of Mommy and Ruth skiing with cool goggles. That would be the steep incline of the bunny hill next to us.

The day began with Ruthie bringing up two paint colors with which to create a pretty picture.

She of course had on a pretty dress for the occasion. (Tempera is washable)

Once her brothers caught on to what she was doing, all I saw was a blur of activity up and down the basement stairs as they made trips down to retrieve more and more and more paint colors.

Jeremy was the mixer.

He had more fun mixing paints to create new colors than actually painting the pictures. He named one color ‘hot chocolate’. That one was my favorite.

He then gave Peter some pointers on color mixing.

Peter’s paintings were inspired by the Olympics.

While Ruthie’s paintings were inspired by…little people without torsos.

Most weekday mornings, Peter sets his alarm early so he can get up and make breakfast for the family.

This particular morning, he–the executive chef–made waffles.

With the help of his sous-chef:

And the (hairy) station chef, who also takes care of sub-counter cleanup:

We spent the day as a family at the Chicago Auto Show. It was a first for the kids, who all had fun sitting in new cars.

We sat in practical cars…

…and admired the not-so-practical cars from a distance.

At one point I wondered how many random pictures I ended up in that day, as everyone (including me) and their uncle had their phones out snapping photos.

Jim got to sit in a Jeep Wrangler.

While Jeremy held down the fort in the back.

Some booths had activities for the kids–the paper airplanes were right up the boys’ alley.

Ruthie continued to show similarities to her grandma when she ran up to the Nissan Z and hopped in the drivers seat.

The highlight of her day was meeting Dora. After meeting her, Ruthie commented on how big Dora is. Then she mused on how big Dora’s parents must be.

I must say, though, that the highlight of the day for all of us was watching Jeremy hop into his favorite car, the Kia Soul. Ever since the Kia hamster commercial, he has loved this car.