Thankful post #2

As with most things in life, there are pros and cons to homeschooling. One drawback to the kids being home all day is that the house continually has that ‘lived in’ look. Kids + Stuff = Mess.

But with a little bit of planning and teamwork, the fact that the kids are always home can be beneficial. We call it Zone Cleaning, where we team up and clean a zone of the house six days a week. I created a checklist for each zone. This brings great motivation for Peter, who loves nothing more than to check things off a list (I can totally relate, can’t you?). Mondays are dedicated to cleaning bedrooms and upstairs bathrooms.

When we all work together (and wake up on the right side of the bed), it actually turns out to be fun. And a blessing!

So today, I am thankful for a house in order.

Derek is unafraid of grime and grody things, so he gladly tackles the bathroom.

We’ve found that when an area is cleaned throughly every week, the biggest chore is cleaning up clutter.

Even two year-olds, when given a rag and an assignment, can add value to the cleanup.

While it’s good to be thankful every day for all things–as it says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus“–I have decided that, given the current season, I shall declare something for which I am thankful each day.

So today, I am thankful for parents who are in love with their grandkids.

My dad took the older three to see Northwestern play Minnesota today. They spent the night Friday night and woke up to a breakfast made for champions (thanks to Grandma).

Despite the windy weather and sure victory in-hand for the Wildcats, they stayed til the very end. Their reward was receiving players’ signatures on the Northwestern helmet that they brought from home.

The relationship these guys have with their grandparents is a blessing, and I thank God for it.

 One generation shall commend God’s works to another; and shall declare His mighty acts. – Psalm 145:4

After Jake folded and distributed the boys’ laundry into their personal baskets, the facts spoke for themselves.

Derek’s clothes from the previous week:

Peter’s clothes from the previous week:

Jeremy’s clothes from the previous week:

I’m encouraged that he changed his underwear. Once.

Here is the uniform we’ve seen every day for some time now:

We experienced both victory and defeat last weekend, as both football teams with Johanik representation played in their NYFL Super Bowls. It was quite an event–playing on turf with a real scoreboard–one that won’t quickly be forgotten.

The Saints played an undefeated team. We were the underdogs for sure. Because everyone likes to cheer for the underdogs, I noticed several non-Saints parents cheering the Saints on to victory that day. What added to our team’s underdog role was the fact that almost half the team consisted of 5 year-olds. Jim chose four of the little squirts to be team captains for the game.

Despite some highlights,

the Saints just couldn’t pull ahead. A certain 5 year-old needed consoling at one point after coming off the line against a larger opponent.

It wasn’t long before he was back to his chipper self, cracking jokes with his best buddy (never mind that his team was battling behind him).

When the game was over and all the kids were excitedly receiving their runner-up medals, Peter fought back tears, having left every ounce of fight on the field. I love that about him.

The fact that these guys even made it to the super bowl says a lot about their coaches.  And I’m not just saying that because I’m married to one–they really encouraged and instructed these guys well.

We enjoyed a tailgate party between games–many thanks to all the fans who came out to support the boys!

Sammy tried on Peter’s pads for size. They should be a good fit in a couple short years.

Next up was Derek’s game–his overwhelming win helped ease the pain of the earlier defeat.

He took one for the team, so to speak, during this game. He consistently had four linemen blocking him.

The Chiefs played hard and prevailed. A sweet victory indeed!

If you’re a parent, you know that feeling. The house is quiet, and it’s been quiet for several minutes. This was my experience this morning.

After getting ready in wonderful silence, I rushed downstairs, expecting everything from marker on the little girl’s clothes to Molly’s kibbles dumped into Molly’s water bowl.

As it turns out, Ruthie wanted to exert independence in the mealtime arena this morning by pouring her own cereal.

And as all two year-olds know, if a little is good, then a lot is better!

Fortunately for Molly, the entire box of Rice Krispies which Ruthie poured did not all fit in the bowl. It was a snap-crackle-pop fest at the kitchen table.

After taking the dollies out of the box, Ruthie thought it would be fun to get in the box herself.

Kind of reminded me of another character in a box (in more ways than one, if you know what I mean):

It’s a dark, cold, rainy afternoon today–the perfect time to look at pictures from two weeks ago, when it was sunny and warm. Ahh, those were the days.

I recently posted pictures of the kids on swings during our latest visit to the park. Here are some other winning shots.

Jeremy the Brave showed his stuff on the monkey bars.

Derek and Ruthie shared a moment on the climbing hill.

Jake and Molly joined them.

Peter was showing his best side.

Then it was time to pile in the wagon and head home. Derek drove while the younger three squeezed in.

Peter: Hmm, this is going to be interesting.

Ruthie: I am thoroughly dissatisfied with my position here in this wagon.

Jeremy: Any second now, I’m going to tell mom that Ruthie is pushing me off the wagon. It’s not fair.

Ruthie soon bailed and decided she was the driver. Though Peter found this amusing at first,

he quickly hopped out to take over.

After a minor scuffle, Ruthie chose to walk home. Independently. That’s the kind of girl she is.

As the Dad, I don’t have the opportunity to post on here very often. However, with Heidi out of the house being a taxi service for our oldest attending Science Olympiad, I have the blog writing cornered for the afternoon.

Yes, Ruth’s birthday was yesterday, the 27th, and yes we have plenty of pictures of the token blowing-out-the-candles ritual and all that stuff, all which will eventually be posted after Heidi parks the cab. Today, more important business was performed: the traditional birthday flight with Dad!

This, of course, piqued the curiosity of all the boys, who asked in unison where their so-called “traditional” birthday flights went. Ever since going full-time in ministry, raising personal support to fly them around on their birthday went way of the Dodo. My flying hours have diminished significantly, and that’s ok.

But today we splurged. We offered Ruth her first opportunity to fly with Dad at the ripe age of two years to…Schaumburg! (a whopping 20 miles away for you out-of-towners). Schaumburg has perhaps one of the best fly-in restaurants in the country, Pilot Pete’s. So, Heidi packed up the kids sans Ruth in the car and drove to Schaumburg while Dad took Ruthie to the airport and flew to Shaumburg. (Jeremy pleaded ad nauseam to go with me and Ruth until we eventually caved).

Here are the two of them posing for the obligatory picture in front of the plane shot.

To be honest, Ruthie was not all that sure about this.  When the hanger doors opened to reveal the airplane, she bolted off in the opposite direction.  Here’s where having Jeremy with us proved quite valuable, as she dutifully followed her older brother into the airplane.

Now as you can clearly see from this video, Ruth just loved it!

We saw our house from the air.

Ruthie arrived at the airport and quickly found Mom, who was taking pictures from outside the gate.

After a good lunch, we headed back up in the air (this time Derek and Peter argued their case for inclusion)

During lunch, Ruth was a total chatterbox. “Airpane, airpane up in da skyeee” was all she said. On the way home Ruthie was much more relaxed and excited as you can see. Healthy fear, then food, followed by non-stop talking, equals…

After landing, another obligatory shot…

…and Ruthie explaining to Peter that what he sees is an “airpane”.

For a Dad, all of this is priceless. Happy Birthday little girl.

P.S. For the aviation fans out there, here’s our landing on the grass runway at Naper Aero. Ruth slept through the whole thing.

Seeing this picture

reminds me of a cool video the kids and I just watched:

We went to the park after lunch today.

Jake gave Ruthie a push on the swing to get her started.

Then everyone else hopped on a swing and began motoring

and motoring.

And while the boys were laughing

and flying

and talking back and forth,

Ruthie sat on her swing, clutching the chains, observing it all.

Content to be still.

The best part of our after-lunch recess? Seeing the pure joy on their faces. I love that feeling.

She observes more than I realized. She recently confiscated a pair of pom-pons from a cheer coach’s bag, walked to the sideline, and began twirling.

My name is Ruthie.

Yeah.

And I’m a cheerleader.

Yeah.

And I’ve got spirit.

Yeah.

So check me out.  Uh-huh, uh-huh.

She’s becoming quite the renaissance girl…tackling and head-butting her brothers by night, cheerleading by day.

We shopped at the Home Depot today as a family, and as Jake and I were standing in the aisle looking at bolts, Derek said it.

“Mom, Jake is taller than you.”

I used to have visions of my boys towering over me one day, but it always seemed so far off. And everyone I knew warned me they grow so fast, so enjoy them while they’re young. Yeah, yeah, I know.

Well today, I was stopped in my tracks as I found myself ever so slightly looking up into my firstborn’s eyes.

The funny thing is, Jake warned me that he felt like he was in the midst of another growth spurt when he came downstairs yesterday morning and said, “Mom, I feel like I’ve grown about an inch this week.” Yesterday I chuckled. Today I’m taking him seriously.

When Derek looks out the back window and sees this,

his mouth starts watering while he runs for the BB gun. Problem is, he’s had to relocate his shooting spot ever since we had the deck built. BBs and screens do not get along.

But because necessity is the mother of invention, he now has a hunting blind.

He was having a field day going after those geese.

Cause and effect are so much fun.

As most of you know, we’ve been sick around here. While I had my turn with it last week, I learned some lessons. The following is a random list of five of them.

1. It’s important to slow down every once in a while. It takes being intentional–or getting sick–to make this happen, otherwise life fills up and races by at lightning speed. Life goes on if I don’t get to every email within 24 hours.

2. Being sick made me appreciate health all the more, and to be thankful for every day God sustains my health.

3. Health can become an idol, a gift that surpasses the Giver in importance.

4. The horrible feeling that comes from vomiting made me think of the many, many people going through chemotherapy right now, today, experiencing this unnatural thing on a regular basis.

5. Being sick reminded me that there is no sickness in heaven. No vomiting. No disease. No disability. If I was in perfect health every day of my life, would I ever long for heaven, my true home?

1. Long hair

2. Pigtails

3. Tights

The inspiration for this treat came from this night…

when Aunt Judi asked if we had ever made s’mores with peanut butter cups. Mmm, the seed was quickly planted in our minds. So the following evening we gathered the supplies:

First we lit the fire.

The kids roasted their marshmallows

while I prepared the chocolate and crackers.

They plopped their marshmallow on top,

squished the lid on,

and ate.

And ate.

And ate.

And ate.

If you’ve ever been to a football game, you know that what happens on the sidelines can be just as entertaining as what’s happening on the field.

As the Mighty Mite Saints were warming up for their game, someone spotted an abandoned shopping cart near the field. The little guys were attracted to the cart like ants on peanut butter.

Coach saw the potential disaster and command those boys to get off that thing right now. They did.

He says that coaching this age is like herding cats.

Meanwhile, Derek was getting fired up for his game, arm in arm with his teammates, jumping up and down grunting out boy-man sounds.

As entertaining as this is, what perhaps is most fun is watching Ruthie. Let’s just say she enjoys all the attention from Grandma and Grandpa when they come out to watch the games.

Here, she learned how to apply lipstick.

And when cousin Sammy came to the field, she had someone to partner with in all sorts of mischievous fun activities.

There truly is never a dull moment on these Saturday mornings!

We’ve accumulated quite a number of football pictures. Here are some of the best.

Derek enjoys continuing as center on the offensive line this season.

For the first time this year, he is one of the biggest kids in his division. I think he likes it that way. He’s also added defensive lineman onto his resume, and is taking great pleasure in tackling ball carriers. Because of his size, he breaks through every offensive line.

Meanwhile, Peter and Jeremy are enjoying their winning season.

Peter is quarterbacking while Jeremy plays offensive line, occasionally as the center. Every once in a while, Peter has the chance to play some defense too.

If I were to ever fulfill my goal of being a regular blogger, I would dedicate one day a week to sharing Bubbie humor with you. He provides an abundance of material.

Jim recently browsed through the photos on his iPad and found these.

Peter and Jeremy just came in from playing a game of two-hand-touch in the front yard. Whenever they play together, Peter mercifully allows Jeremy to score just enough touchdowns to keep Jeremy in the game. But Peter also always ends up scoring more than his brother.

This does not go over well with the little guy.

Jeremy walked in the house this afternoon, crying angry tears. He yelled out to Peter, “The first shall be last, so I WIN!” Maybe not exactly what Jesus had in mind when He taught the disciples this important lesson, but I’m confident that Jeremy’s understanding will grow.