As the snow cascaded down to the ground the other day, it did not take the boys long to schlep on their snow gear and romp around outside.

Molly (who believes she is one of the kids) romped around with them.

Have sled, need hill.

Minor casualty

Knowing that her brothers were playing outside, Ruthie considered joining them…

…but wisely opted to stay in her warm house.

Finally, the white candle in the center represents Jesus Christ, the pure, sinless One who was sacrificed for us.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.  (1 Peter 1:18-20)

Over the past four weeks, the boys have taken turns lighting the candles, and today was Bubbie’s turn.

The fourth candle represents the one thing the world misunderstands most: LOVE.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Jesus died for the worst of sinners because of Love. He died so that we might live forever with Him.

This quote from John Piper explains well what real love is.

The love of God is not God’s making much of us, but God’s saving us from self-centeredness so that we can enjoy making much of him forever. And our love to others is not our making much of them, but helping them to find satisfaction in making much of God. True love aims at satisfying people in the glory of God. Any love that terminates on man is eventually destructive. It does not lead people to the only lasting joy, namely, God. Love must be God-centered, or it is not true love; it leaves people without their final hope of joy.

Friends of ours from Florida, the VanHuis family, wrote a story announcing Ruthie’s birth and mailed it to us. The story is told in a most creative way.

Here’s Peter is holding it up:

And here it is up close for your reading enjoyment:

We lit the third candle (a week late…oops) which represents JOY. There are a lot of things that bring happiness, but real, lasting joy comes from trusting Jesus Christ. The joy that He gives doesn’t fade when circumstances fail. The angels knew this when they announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:8-11)

The Joy candle is pink. If you are curious why that is–like I was–read this explanation of the tradition of Lent and Advent.

Speaking of pink, Ruth wore her pink in honor of the joy we celebrated today.

After studying the history behind the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Jake and Derek tried their hands at painting while laying on their backs. Keeping in line with the original Sistine Chapel theme, which consists of numerous scenes from the Bible, the boys chose to paint the story of Noah’s Ark.

As hour

after hour went by,

they began appreciating the toil that the task took on Michelangelo way back in the 1500s.

Thankfully, Ruth was on hand to offer some constructive criticism.

And now the completed masterpiece adorns the Johanik Basement ceiling.

Perhaps preparation for something like this one day…

When the weather is uncooperative, sometimes the boys opt for recess in the garage.

Here’s what Ruth and I saw when we opened the garage door the other day…

The newest rage now is pushing Ruth around the house in the bouncie seat, pretending she’s riding a boat, airplane, race car, or other vehicle. She loves it. She loves it so much, in fact, that she falls asleep every time.

It is quickly becoming an elective course for Peter during school when I need to work with Jake and Derek.

The second advent candle represents Preparation–to get ready.

John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus 2000 years ago:

As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’ ” (Luke 3:4-6)

Similarly, it is good to prepare ourselves now for the day when Jesus returns to the earth. “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:13)

Cheap, flavorful, and simple to make. Plus, it’s a big hit with the kids. It’s the perfect dinner recipe, so I thought I’d share it here through play-by-play photos. And if the sight of raw chicken makes you sick, you’ll want to just scroll down to the bottom.

Before any preparation takes place, be sure needy babies are in good, capable hands.

The star of the recipe is a whole chicken (or two if you’re cooking for a house full of growing boys). We buy ours at Costco for $.89 a pound.

The seasonings and spices: onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, thyme, coarse kosher salt, and pepper (you can always take out what you don’t like and add what you do like; this is a very forgiving recipe)

Combine all the seasonings and rub onto the chicken. Be sure and put some under the skin too–this way, if you’re not a fan of chicken skin, you still get the flavor.

Once the chicken is well seasoned, put it into a gallon-size bag and stick it in the fridge overnight to let the salt and spices do their work.

Around noon the following day, gather an onion or two,

cut it into quarters,

and put it inside the chicken. If the whole onion doesn’t fit, place the extra pieces next to the chicken in the crockpot.

Place the stuffed chicken into a crockpot, and cook on low for about five hours. (new crockpot on low setting)

(14 year-old, wimpy crockpot on high setting)

After five hours, pull the chicken out, cut it up and serve with your favorite comfort food–like peas and mashed potatoes. Yummy.

Roast Sticky Chicken

One of the science experiments Jake was tasked with the other day required the use of plaster. So off to Hobby Lobby we went. Upon returning home, we read the warning label on the container and nearly changed our minds about doing the experiment. It’s not exactly your run-of-the-mill warning label:

“Failure to follow these instructions can cause sever burns that may require surgical removal of affected tissue or amputation of limb”?? Yikes!

So the boys began the experiment with trepidation.

And once they discovered that the warning label may have been…how shall I put it…a little over the top, they spent the rest of the day pouring plaster just for fun into containers from around the house.

Poor Molly (who obviously did not read the plaster warning label) wanted to join the fun.

In no particular order, here are some things we were thankful for this past weekend…

Thankful for smiles from little sisters

Thankful that I remembered to pack a jammy shirt for Peter (never mind that I forgot the pants)

Thankful for Legos…oh are we thankful for Legos

Thankful for cuddles from a certain sweet-smelling baby

Thankful for the sacrifice of family members to house a certain not-so-sweet-smelling dog

Thankful for Kodak moments that we actually captured on camera

Thankful for delicious food, the hands that prepared it, and the family to share it with

Thankful for cousins that love each other…

…and teach one another valuable life lessons, such as how to do a push-up

Thankful for phones with cool apps

Thankful for a grandpa (and great-grandpa) who has godly influence in the lives of his great grandchildren

Thankful for family members who aren’t afraid to be goofy

Thankful for gorgeous sunrises that take your breath away

Most of all, thankful that if every one of these things were taken away, we have a God who loves us more than we can imagine and promises to never leave us. He is the Giver of all good things, and way more precious and worthy of thanks than the gifts He gives.

Tonight we lit the candle of HOPE.

The definition of hope is: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

What do you expect or desire to happen? I’ve shared in the past about this subject and the importance of placing your hope in the right thing.

The Bible talks a lot about hope. In the book of Lamentations, it says:

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

In other words, it is good to hope for salvation. God has promised salvation to those who trust in Jesus, and God is the only One we can trust to keep His promises. It says in Hebrews, “we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure”. I love that image…an anchor that does not budge, no matter how big the waves get. If we hope in the salvation of Jesus, we are secure in Him, no matter what life throws at us.

There is a verse in Romans that explains where this unshakable hope comes from: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”. It comes from God Himself! Do you want the kind of hope that fills you with joy and peace? Ask God.

During this first week of advent season, consider how the birth of Jesus Christ brought–and still brings–hope to the world.

…these guys

just can’t resist

a little cuddle time

with their baby sister.

Don’t even think about messing with this little girl–she is well protected.

And by the looks of it,

I don’t think Ruthie minds all of the attention she’s getting.

Nearly every day this fall, there has been a football game in the yard. The teams change regularly…Michigan vs. Northwestern, Air Force vs. OSU…but the players remain the same: Derek vs. Peter. One day, Jeremy felt confident that he could hold his own with the big boys.

So he asked Daddy to get him suited up. And Daddy happily obliged.

The lesson Jeremy learned is that the helmet and pads may protect your body, but they do nothing to cushion the blows to the ego.

Ruth has been doing a lot of studying. Not the kind of study that requires books, of course.

She’s been studying her brothers.

She looks intensely at them as they coo at and dote on her.

It’s hard work learning how to use those five senses.

I’m already observing how her face lights up when a brother gets close to her and talks to her.

No doubt she will be learning fashion sense from Bubbie. Some influences are impossible to control.

Looking for a fun family activity? This website has a Bingo game for free that you can download onto your computer. You print out the cards, and the computer calls out the numbers.

This has been a great game for our family. Even Bubbie gets into the act.

And to sweeten the deal, so to speak, the winner receives a sugar-filled prize. This encourages some healthy competition. Because competitiveness is hard to find in this house full of boys. *ahem*

Here is Peter with his hard-earned brownie:

Where is Ruth during all this fun? Here she is from my perspective, participating in her own little way with the rest of us:

Ruthie met her middle-namesake, my Aunt Chris, over the weekend. They really hit it off…

and they were happy to include Grandma in the conversation.

In addition to being held by big (and not so big) brothers…

…Ruth is getting lots of kisses from Daddy,

and an occasional kiss from Molly, though it is generally discouraged because as my mom always said, “you never know where that dog’s mouth has been”. Although in Molly’s case, I do know where that dog’s mouth has been, which is precisely why she typically is not allowed to kiss the baby. This picture really bothers me. Excuse me while I go wash Ruth’s hands. Again.

And just a couple close-up shots of the little peanut.

What with football games, swim meets, birthdays, and a new baby, October was packed with events. It seemed appropriate that we cap off the month by dressing up and going trick-or-treating.

In what has become an annual tradition, Judi and Dave took the boys around the neighborhood with the goal of accumulating as much free candy as possible in a 2-hour period.

This year, Judi got into the dressing-up part of the day and donned a stunning, homemade pumpkin costume made by yours truly.

It appears in this picture that Peter is just a little anxious to get started.

Upon returning, the boys dumped their candy on the floor (after putting Molly in her cage) and began their sorting and trading. It turned into a regular math lesson: 1 Kit Kat = 2 gumballs + 1 sucker.

Meanwhile, as the candy sorting was going on downstairs, there was another kind of sorting going on upstairs. Sarah came by earlier in the day to drop off baby girl clothes for Ruth. After unloading the boxes of clothes, it looked like a pink explosion in our bedroom! Then Mom got to work sorting onesies, sleepers, dresses…and tights. We mustn’t leave out the tights, an essential part of a baby girl’s wardrobe (so I’m told).

As expected, this newest addition to the Johanik clan is loved like crazy. And at only a week old, she is already responding.

Jake holds her every chance he gets.

And Derek seems to bring out the stories in her.

And when Peter isn’t holding Ruthie…

…he is following her around like the paparazzi.

By far, he has taken the most pictures of Ruth than the rest of us.