The task was dirty: cleaning up the back yard.

The boys got dirty: shoveling and bagging dog doo.

But Miss Pinky managed to stay clean and look stylish in the midst of it all.

We’re learning about birds this year and just today read about the incredible strength of a bird’s egg. It’s impossible to break an egg when you apply even force on it.

We were all skeptical…and I was secretly hoping that we would prove the egg fact wrong, which is why I grabbed the camera.

One strong boy

after another

exerted full strength onto the egg

even two-handed,

and absolutely could not break it.

Now you want to go try it yourself, don’t you?

Reminiscent of last year, we have had precious few days when the pond has been frozen this winter. So this week, the boys are taking advantage of every below-freezing minute.

The game? Hockey, of course. It definitely helps that the NHL players are no longer on strike so we may be spurred on by watching the pros.

They get into it for sure. Feelings are not as easily hurt on the ice. The oldest two are pretty aggressive against one another.

Peter is all-time goalie, with protection thanks to his baseball catcher’s gear.

He makes some dramatic saves.

Jeremy is still finding his ice-legs, but holds his own well.

Derek sits in the penalty box.

I have a feeling schoolwork will be accomplished at record pace the next few days. The ice is calling, and the forecast is warning that it won’t be around much longer.

We went on a family trip to Ikea a few weeks ago. Fun and laughs were around every corner.

Pre-reader Ruthie was quite curious about the potty in the middle of the store.

Jokester Jeremy tried on the perfect hat.

We watched Star Wars over Christmas break. This scene made a significant impact on the boys:

It wasn’t long before they were reenacting it using Legos and ice.

I grabbed an apple to cut up for lunch the other day, and this is what I found.

Who knew apples could have belly buttons?

What I’m thinking about these days…

The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,

But the naive go on, and are punished for it. (Proverbs 22:3)

Walking toward evil results in punishment, either now or later. Oh, that God would give me the strength to hide myself from the evil. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it…

The boys and I were sitting in the family room, each child doing their own schoolwork. Meanwhile, Ruthie was busily spreading blankets and pillows on the floor in the middle of the room.

One of the boys asked what she was doing. She said she just finished bringing the baby to the doctor and dropping Jake off at Science Olympiad, and now she was making the bed.

She then proceeded to go around the room, assigning roles to everyone: she was the mommy, Peter was the daddy, Jake, Jeremy and I were the brothers. Derek, wondering where he fit into this Ruthie-role-play, asked who he was.

Ruth exclaimed, “You’re Jesus!”

No pressure, there, buddy.

Despite how it appears, Jeremy is not protesting dinner.  He’s just…being Jeremy. Star Wars style.

Peter continues to broaden his baking skills.

He has moved on to jelly rolls. This one was pumpkin with cream cheese frosting.

Wow, was it ever delicious. So delicious that I never got a picture of it sliced because the slices were devoured in the blink of an eye.

Today, Jeremy had a couple buddies over to play. Peter gave them a baking lesson, showed them how to bake a coffee cake, then sent them home with their own.

Here’s what I’m thinking about lately

Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,

But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox. (Proverbs 14:4)

Jim highlighted this verse a couple weeks ago, and it’s been ruminating in my head ever since. It brings comfort to me as I scan across our often cluttered house…school books piled on every horizontal surface, cake pans in the sink waiting to be washed, even dog bones scattered on the carpet.

If it was all spotless, that would be a sign that there were no oxen. And if there were no oxen, there would be no revenue.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big proponent of order and cleanliness, and aim to train the kids to have a strong work ethic as they grow up. But the goal is not cleanliness, the goal is ‘revenue.’ That’s revenue of the spiritual kind, not monetary kind.

School books are piled up because the boys are reading them, learning, growing. Dishes need to be washed because they are learning life skills like cooking. And well, the dog bones indicate they are learning to care for a pet…a wet-nosed, hairy pet.

I will gladly forgo worrying about keeping a ‘clean manger’ if it means gaining ‘much revenue.’

I did a double take when I glanced at the nativity music box on our mantle. Something didn’t look right.

It has become known as the mystery of the wise man. No one knows just how he lost his head, but due to some violent altercation, he came to an unfortunate end. As the music played Silent Night, I couldn’t help but sense the irony.

Thankfully, we have resourceful children, and the nativity scene has been restored. Sort of.

Alright, who let the purple guy in the stable?

See the smiles on the kids’ faces? Those are some kids who love their Grandma and Grandpa!

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. (Psalm 33:11)

We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell them to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. (Psalm 78:4)

Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. (Psalm 119:90)

I left for a couple hours on Saturday to meet a friend for breakfast, fully content to come home to children and house intact. But this was one of those mornings when my husband was hit with a shot of creativity and energy, and I instead came home to this:

But it didn’t end there.

You see, a couple days prior, we had moved Ruth into her own room and painted the walls pink. But alas, the pink walls were bare. So we went to Ikea and bought a big picture frame…and contemplated what to put in it.

This is where Jim’s creativity kicked in. He pulled out the tempera paints on Saturday morning and guided Ruthie in painting a field of flowers.

After the painting dried, he scanned it onto the computer, added a verse on the bottom, and ordered a huge 20 x 30 photo print at Costco. All done by Saturday afternoon.

Inexpensive, yet personalized wall art. It makes the pink room a happier place!

Peter incorporated two of his favorite pastimes in one day: baking and football.

He received a cake pop cookbook and mold pan for Christmas, and he was itching to try it out. We were all itching for him to try it out. In honor of Northwestern, he coated the pops with purple candy coating.

Aren’t they purty?

And tasty. Yum!

It’s that time of year again. We goal-setting people love it because the year ahead presents a fresh start, a clean slate, new possibilities.

At the end of last year, I committed to reading the Old Testament in 2012. I had no idea then what a blessing it would be throughout the past year. But God knew, and He had put the plan on my heart. Verses like,

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

brought such timely truth and comfort!

1. I wanted to read through the gospels in 2013 and become reacquainted with Jesus; to read His words spoken while living as a human being on the earth. Once again, this Bible plan website came through for me. They had precisely what I was looking for in the ‘words of Jesus’ reading plan.

2. I’ve kept a prayer journal for the past few years, and have found it to be a good tool for staying focused while talking with God, as well as something to look back on and be reminded of the ways God answered those prayers. Thus, I plan to continue in 2013.

3. Why this picture, you ask, of an adorable girl and dog? Well, partly because it’s a cute pic, but also because it illustrates another 2013 goal of mine. I plan to keep a ‘love list’–it’s a way for me to be intentional in encouraging and serving others (such as dogsitting :)) One of my biggest weaknesses is lack of initiative. I often sense God nudging me to do one of these, but I don’t do it because _______ (fill in the blank), so I’m hoping that this will light a fire in me to pick up the phone, write an encouraging email, bring a meal.

Those are the biggies for this year. Simple structure. For my sake, but also for the sake of others, so that as God continues to shape me and refine me, I would behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18) in a way that would draw others to Him.

I love this blog entry from Desiring God. Sadly, it’s the sensational, violent, tragic events that make the news day in and day out. The following article is a good reminder of all the good that God allowed this year.

Where Was God in All the Goodness of 2012?

By John Piper | Dec 27, 2012 01:24 pm

As this year ends, the question I am asking is: Where was God when so many good things happened this past year?

How can God be a God of justice, yet allow so much good to happen to people who dishonor him by disbelieving in him, or giving lip service to his existence, or paying no more attention to him than the carpet in their den, or rejecting the kingship of his Son, or scorning his word, or preferring a hundred pleasures before him?

How can God be righteous and do so much good to us who are so unrighteous?

Where was God in 2012?

Where was God when nine million planes landed safely in the United States?
Where was God when the world revolved around the sun so accurately that it achieved the Winter solstice perfectly at 5:12 AM December 21 and headed back toward Spring?
Where was God when the President was not shot at a thousand public appearances?
Where was God when American farms produced ten million bushels of corn, and 2.8 million bushels of soybeans — enough food to sell $100 billions worth to other nations?
Where was God when no terrorist plot brought down a single American building or plane or industry?
Where was God when the sun maintained its heat and its gravitational pull precisely enough that we were not incinerated or frozen?
Where was God when three hundred million Americans drank water in homes and restaurants without getting sick?
Where was God when no new plague swept away a third of our race?
Where was God when Americans drove three trillion accident free miles?
Where was God when over three million healthy babies were born in America?
Here are a few of the answers given by God himself in his word.

1. God was reigning from his throne to do his sovereign will.

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” (Psalm 115:3)
“He works all things according to the counsel of his will.” (Ephesians 1:11)

2. God was reigning from his throne to prevent much sin and harm in the world.

“God said to [Abimelech, the king of Gerar], it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.” (Genesis 20:6)
“You know what is restraining [the man of lawlessness] now.” (2 Thessalonians 2:6)

3. God was reigning from his throne to give a witness to his goodness and his patience.

“God did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14:17)

4. God was reigning from his throne to summon the world to repentance.

“Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)

So as the year ends, I bow my head as an undeserving sinner, amazed that I have not been swept away. And even more, that because of Jesus, I am forgiven, adopted into God’s family, and destined for eternal life.

God has been good to us. And his best gift is the one that will be there when all the others fail. Jesus, crucified, risen, reigning.

Here’s what we did as a family tonight! Enjoy.

Trick 1: Birthday magic

Step1: Add 18 to your birth month.
Step2: Multiply by 25.
Step3: Subtract 333.
Step4: Multiply by 8.
step5: Subtract 554.
step6: Divide by 2.
step7: Add your birth date.
step8: Multiply by 5.
step9: Add 692.
step10: Multiply by 20.
step11: Add only the last two digits of your birth year.
step12: Subtract 32940 to get your birthday!.

After enjoying weeks of mild, 50 degree weather, I think it is safe to say that 23 degrees is unbearably cold. But we don’t consider things in the conventional way here…for while the fire blazes in the fireplace, here is what’s going on outside:

Breakfast. Outside. In the frigid 23 degree air. They loved it.

The dogs (we are dogsitting this week) and I watched from the heated indoors.

As far as time goes, our mornings are like gold. Everyone’s brains and bodies are fresh in the morning, so we aim to accomplish as many chores and as much schoolwork as possible before noon.

Every so often, however, we make an exception. The other day was one such time. At 7:30, the boys were gathered around the table, setting up their Settlers of Catan game.

I figured I’d let them play for an hour, and then we would dig in to academics. The problem was, they were getting along marvelously…and character-building trumps academics in situations like this.

So five hours later, after playing straight through with no breaks, they completed their game. And they were better friends afterward than when they began. Their schoolwork wasn’t going anywhere, so we didn’t fret. It was accomplished eventually!