After a wrestling tournament in Oak Park last weekend, we visited a chicken and waffle restaurant for the first time. It was a combination we had never tried before, and we like it. We liked it so much that we made it the next day.

Who knew fried chicken with waffles and butter and syrup would taste so good together?

Another treat from the kitchen lately: Peter and his specialty coffee drinks.

Some of the more popular requests are caramel macchiato, almond joy mocha, and peppermint mocha. My favorite is just a plain cappuccino in the afternoon.

I was recently reminded–yet again–of how present experiences can unknowingly foreshadow and eventually play a part in future consequences.

Jake drove with some friends to the top of Pike’s Peak and shared this picture with us:

It was not his first time there. His first time was back in 2005 when we toured Colorado Springs, including the Air Force Academy, on a whim. We drove up that fourteener in the Volvo, which (by no small matter of fact) is still chugging along today!

We had enjoyed the adventure so much we drove up the mountain once more in 2006. This time Jeremy was around to enjoy the mountaintop experience.

Another picture Jake sent led me not only to admire the beauty of the mountain reservoir,

but also reminisce about our first time seeing it.

The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

For English class, Ruth was tasked with writing an autobiographical poem. She was to include adjectives about her personality and her appearance, as well as nouns naming things she enjoys.

Ruth
Active, Funny
Playful, Girly, Awesome, Blonde hair
Nature, Food, Friends, Dogs, Math
Happy

Yep. It’s a little window into her soul, I’d say. This morning she showed her “funny” side when she wrote what she is thankful for:

That’s Derek’s hamper, full of clothes. His roommates call it Mt. DJ because the mound perpetually towers in their room. Perhaps this is Ruth’s indirect way of telling Derek it’s time to do some laundry.

Ruth and I had some time to kill while the boys played at their friends’ house. What better activity for a couple of dog lovers than to visit the puppy store?

Ruth first picked out a shiba inu. It was cute, but way too hyper. It even made Ruth a little hesitant to get near, which is saying a lot.

Next we chose the german shepherd. Its floppy ears and soft hair made it difficult to say goodbye to him when it was time to go.

Nothing like a little mother-daughter bonding over dogs.

Wheaton Academy takes two weeks between semesters for what they call a winterim. Kids can take classes, go on trips, or work at an internship.

This year, Derek had the opportunity to intern at a charter school in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago called Moving Everest. He left the house at 6am to catch the train to Oak Park then rode the green line to the school every morning.

It was a great experience for him. He came home amazed at the impact the school has in a tough part of the city. It is giving kids a chance to thrive in life where they would otherwise have no chance.

I’ve learned that going to wrestling meets and tournaments to cheer on the team is an enjoyable way to pass the long winter months. The WA team has more wrestlers than ever before, and it’s great to see the boys improve as the year goes on.

A couple weeks ago was the conference tournament. I caught a glimpse of Derek aiding the coaches.

He had a good day

though lost the championship match in overtime, thus taking second. His feelings about this are written all over his face.

Last weekend was the infamous Midnight Rumble in Rockford. This is definitely our least favorite tournament because of the late night and far distance. But these negative feelings were assuaged as Derek wrestled his way to first place.

It’s neat to see the team continue to bond and sharpen each other.

Derek’s final match was against a friend of his from Chicago Hope. And they were still friends after wrestling each other!

Molly turned 9 this month, which is equivalent to approximately 63 dog years. She is considering joining the AARC (American Association of Retired Canines) soon.

If she could read, she’d probably need readers.

Despite her age, though, she still often behaves like a spry puppy. She sure was excited to open her birthday present.

And play with it.

Molly has been part of the family for so long, it’s hard to remember what it was like without her.

A few days ago, a neighbor alerted us that someone had broken into several cars in the neighborhood, so be vigilant. We were concerned to hear the news, but didn’t think much about it after that.

Then the other night, while Peter and Ruth were at church waiting for each of their weekly events to begin, they perused the archives of our Ring front door camera. Lo and behold, they found a clip of a man trying to open our front door at 12:30 am Sunday night!

We sent the video to the police yesterday morning.

Then I seized the opportunity to turn this chilling reality of thieves attempting to break in and steal into an object lesson. How much more important it is to guard our hearts!

Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

The WA wrestling team competed in Kewanee, IL again this year. Last year I drove alone to watch Derek, but this year the whole family went to cheer him on. He was certainly glad to have Jim there.

Because he had a bye the first round, it was a while before he had his first match; but when he did, he won decidedly.

In between matches, Ruth and I walked the halls. Or rather, I walked while she skipped, hopped and jumped.

Derek’s second match went much like the first, ending in a win.

Meanwhile, another wrestler’s sister came to cheer on the team. Ruth was happy to have a friend to hang out with.

Unfortunately, the final match didn’t go quite as planned. Derek took a knock to the head which ended the match early, and he ended up placing second.

He fought hard, and his family fan club was there to root for him the entire day.

What are the kids doing while the backyard ice rink is a backyard reservoir of water during these days of above-freezing temperatures?

Hanging in the hammocks Jake got them for Christmas. Jim drilled holes into the ceiling joists so the hammocks can be used even in the winter months.

A couple weeks ago we took a field trip to the Nature Museum in Chicago, where you can interact with butterflies year round.

We had just wrapped up the science unit on butterflies, so it was rewarding to be able to see them up close after learning about them from a textbook.

Jeremy consistently had the camera out, taking pictures and video.

We were surprised how close the insects allowed us to get!

It was also fun to see the different varieties and vibrant colors.

The kids enjoyed having grandma join us.

Then when we got home, it was time for Ruth to finish up math facts…with a little help from Molly.

I could hardly capture Peter on the camera as he skated on the ice the other day because as soon as I focused on him, he was out of the frame.

It’s good to know some things haven’t changed. Here he is in 2014:

and again in 2008:

The timing of Christmas break and below freezing temperatures could not have been better. The rink saw quite a bit of action during the final weekend of break. Jim and the boys took to the ice for some friendly competition.

See that pink blur in the background? That’s Ruth sledding down the neighbors’ deck stairs.

These two were frequently competing for the puck.

This happy guy gets the award for being “all in” at all times. More on that later…

Taking a break from the rigorous action:

After dinner, the crew went back out for some night hockey.

This time, Ruth joined the action.

Then the competition heated up among the boys, and Derek commented later how extremely intense Peter is on the ice.

More than once, Peter found himself skating full speed toward the puck–and at the same time toward the rink wall–and falling head over heels over the wall, landing outside the rink.

Thankfully, every time this happened, though he was expecting pain in the moment, he came out unscathed.

Looking at the weather forecast, this was our final rink action for the foreseeable future. Good thing they squeezed every moment they could while the rink was frozen!

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

This year marks the tenth anniversary of our family blog! Woohoo!

I have found that journaling–whether by blog or personal journal–has been a helpful tool to number my days, as the Bible urges us to do. So here we are, embarking on another new year.

We said goodbye to 2017 with our friends the Neatherys. We also were joined by Dave and Judi’s 2 year-old nephew for part of the night.

The next day we had the kids gather for a picture. Michael wasn’t with us in person, but his fathead stood in his place.

Not long after that, we brought Jake to the airport to send him back to school. It was an abrupt ending to his break, but we sure did enjoy the time with him.

If you asked the kids what they miss the most about the old house, the shoe-in answer would be: the pond. Indeed, many memories centered around the pond in our back yard, especially in wintertime. And while our new back yard is superior in size to our old one, it does lack a pond.

As we prepared to enter our first pondless winter, Jim’s wheels began turning; he researched the possibility of building an ice rink in the back yard. His first assessment was that the slope of the yard–while not significant to the eye–was too great for it to work. But with my get-it-done husband, where there’s a will, there’s a way. So off to the hardware store he went.

He and the kids got to work putting the boards up.

Apparently, there’s a guy in Itasca who sells tarps made specifically for backyard ice rinks. The day Jim picked ours up, there was a line of minivans waiting to pick up their own tarps.

Then the filling of the rink began.

Despite my protests, the decision was made to let the hoses work overnight. Two hoses pouring water into the homemade ice rink through the night…unattended. You know where I’m going with this, right? I got up at 3 a.m. only to find that the boards broke under the weight of the water (recall the significant slope) and the backyard flooded with 2.5 feet of water. But Jim was undeterred. He built up the back boards and started again.

The hoses started up again, going all day, and again all night. The next day was Christmas Eve. We were on our way home from church that morning when we got a text from the next-door neighbor that the rink broke and there’s a flood. This time, the flood was in the neighbor’s back yard. Thankfully, they were gracious about it.

Time to give up on the idea of a backyard ice rink? Not a chance. Rather, Jim made it a bit smaller so that the slope was not as much of an issue.

As it turned out, the third time was a charm. After filling it for a third time, the boards held together. The boys went out to give it a try.

The next day, Ruth joined the fun in the subzero temperatures.

Meanwhile, the ice crew has been keeping the ice divot- and bump-free with an iron

and zamboni-mop.

Thankfully, according to the forecast, the ice will remain frozen for several days to come.

Merry Christmas from the Johanik family! Jesus said,

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. -John 10:10

What a wonderful reason to celebrate! We began our day by lighting the final candle of the advent wreath: the Christ candle.

Jeremy and the dog were the first ones up in the morning.

Molly waited patiently for her stocking.

The kids opened up Laser Tag; it did not take long before they formed teams and commenced a battle.

While the boys ran around the house hiding and shooting, Molly and I bundled up and went for a Christmas morning jog.

We enjoyed having the Johanik family over Christmas Eve (apparently I was too busy getting food on the table to take pictures). Little Grace continues to make us laugh with her witty remarks. Then on Christmas Day, rather than convening at my parents’ place, we broke from tradition (a key word around here among a certain 8 year-old girl) and gathered here.

My mom brought all the food here and took over the kitchen. When it was time for dessert, she found herself surrounded by grandkids!

Last weekend we visited Mom and Dad for brunch. The kids brought their skates so they could take advantage of skating the ribbon at Maggie Daley Park.

They had a great time skating, and we adults had a great time watching. It took Ruth a while to get her skating legs, so I walked the perimeter outside the ice while she skated holding onto the rail. After lapping her over and over, her brothers began to feel compassion for her. Jake took her hand, told her to keep her skates straight, and he pulled her along the loop.

Then Derek took a turn encouraging and coaching her.

This day only drove Jim further toward his decision to build a rink in our back yard. More on that coming soon!

There was fresh snow on the prairie path Tuesday morning, which revealed all the activity that took place after the snow fell. The rabbit prints were easy to identify. There was a set of paw prints alongside footprints, signifying another person had been out walking their dog before us. I also spotted unaccompanied larger paw prints, which had me on high alert for coyotes.

After a while, I became curious what Molly’s and my prints looked like. It made me chuckle, so I took a picture.

She’s a shuffler! Since Tuesday, the snow hardened, and every morning after that I see Molly’s shuffling paw prints encased in the icy snow along the entire loop of our usual run. They call out, “Molly was here!”

Last weekend, twenty schools gathered for a wrestling tournament, hosted by the Plano High School Reapers. You gotta love the rural school mascots!

The WA team competed Friday night and fought hard through three rounds. It was a double elimination tournament, so the guys had to win at least two of their three matches Friday night in order to have a chance to wrestle the following day. Derek ended up winning two and losing one match, and was the only one from the team to advance to Saturday. His faithful teammate/friend came along to support him.

Jim and I assumed that the Saturday portion of the tournament would move quickly since there were just a portion of the wrestlers left after Friday’s elimination. With this assumption, the three younger kids came along to cheer for their brother.

As the hours ticked by, however, we realized we were quite wrong about the length of the tournament. It ended up going until 4:00. These kids are troupers, though. No complaining, despite spending their Saturday sitting on wooden bleachers.

It helped that the team had snacks for the day. Ruth periodically would walk across the gym to grab a Gatorade or yogurt from the cooler. We laughed at how confidently she walked among the muscly wrestlers. It’s what life with four big brothers will do to you.

Because of Derek’s one loss Friday night, he was wrestling for third place. In order to earn third, he had to win all three Saturday matches. The first two were early in the day, done by 10:30am. Then the long wait until the championship round:  a five hour wait. Finally, he took to the mat and…

eighteen seconds later the match was finished.

He took third place

and also won the tournament award for most pins in the least amount of time.

I found this sign propped up after Ruth finished mopping the floor.