As I peruse through the “most recents” here on Facebook, I often relate to the musings of my friends as they share snipits of their days.  Lots of smiles & some laughter, too; feeling like in some small way we’ve reconnected or stayed in touch.  It’s amazing as we get older & the miles multiply between our homes just how much those few seconds can boost my spirits.  And then there are times, that I realize what a varied group we are and sometimes, we just see things differently.  I’ve decided this is pretty much just due to life circumstances as many of the comments that get to me most are very similar to what I may have thougth as recent as a few years ago.  Tonight’s gander through status updates has lead me to to some reflecting.  Or perhaps it’s because we’ve enjoyed an amazing couple of days with so many from our community, relishing the simple things, soaking up the moments focusing on our kids.  Perhaps it’s a little of both.

Our son has autism.  He seems to be fairly highly functional, but there are still struggles.  In a week of hustle & bustle like this one, I usually just hope to survive without a major meltdown for Ben (or me) but sometimes, that is even too much to hope for.  So far, this week has not been one of those weeks.

Wednesday night was Scrambles Night.  The kids are divided by gender & age & get to chase & attempt to catch chickens or pigs depending on their ages.  I got to watch my three middle children participate; two of them with HUGE grins.  One even won their heat.  The third did not so much enjoy it, but he tolerated it.  That’s our Ben.  He found comfort being by mom & not touching the chicken.  Two days earlier, we couldn’t even get him to go near our chicken pen, much less go IN it, so just getting him inside the gate was a major milestone.  I’m the photographer for the scrambles, so I didn’t get any pictures of Ben & the chickens, not that he got close enough for that anyway, but it really warmed my heart when one of the organizers reached for my camera & said, “Here, let me do that.” and took a picture of me & my boy.  He didn’t have to do that, but he did.  I don’t have a lot of pictures of me & my kids because I’m usually the one taking them.  And it wasn’t a great picture because Ben wasn’t looking at the camera, but that’s Ben.  Eye contact is hard for him; especially with a stranger, in a pen with chickens, and a lot of people and loud noises.  Noise is also hard for Ben.  But it’s a picture of me & my boy & I love it.  Thank you, Frank.  I’m sure you didn’t think twice about it, but you have no idea what that picture means to me. 

Thursday night was the Pedal Tractor Rodeo.  Again, kids are divided by gender & age to maneuver through a course of cones on a pedal tractor.  Sounds simple & fun, right?  For most kids, yes.  For Ben, fun to sit on the tractor, but not so simple to coordinate the legs to work the feet to move the pedal, not to mention the eye/hand coordination of steering.  And oh yea, the speakers – more loud noise.  It helped it was his dad’s voice, but it was still quite loud for his little hypersensitive ears.  He was the last one in his heat & honestly, I never thought he’d do it.  But he climbed on & sat there.  And sat there.  And sat there.  Instead of his turn being up, the helper really helped – as in pushed him through the course; the entire course.  They were about 1/2 done when I noticed the deafening silence as the stands had grown quiet.  My mommy heart began to pound & my mind raced wondering “What are they thinking?”  I know it doesn’t matter, or rather shouldn’t matter what others think, but let’s face it, as moms, we want our children to be accepted.  And that’s when I heard it.  One small voice.  (Remember the loud noises thing?)  One voice I recognized from way at the other end of the bleachers saying, “Goooooooooo Beeeeeeeeeennnnnnn!”  And the helper kept helping all the way to the finish line.  And everyone clapped & said “Yay Ben”.  It was a pedal tractor rodeo and his time put him dead last, but for a moment, I think I almost knew what the parent of an Olympic gold medalist feels like.  Not because my son won the gold, but because this amazing community we live in treated him like he had.  And why?  Because he got on the tractor & held on while someone pushed.  Thank you, Jay for being my son’s horsepower.  And thank you, dear friends, for encouraging my son through your cheers & clapping. 

Friday afternoon was the annual Afternoon of Fun for Kids.  It really is a remarkable day for the kids – no high tech video games, just a bunch of kids running races.  Boring?  NO WAY!  Our kids look forward to it all year long & this year, Ben was old enough to participate!  But would he?  I thought not.  Once again, this little guy surprised me!  And the compassion of the leaders made me so thankful to be living here in this snapshot of America.  I made a mistake & took him down a heat early for one of the races so we stood off to the side to wait our turn.  The leader gave us a gunny sack so Ben could “get used to the feel of it.”  I hadn’t even thought of it, but what a great idea.  He wasn’t all that sure of it at first but b/c he had that extra few minutes, he was all about the jumping in a sack.  Mind you, he didn’t get but a few feet from the starting line, but he was there & he was participating just like all the other 3 year olds.  And that did my heart good.  Thank you, Shelly, for thinking of my boy, when even I was not.

And Friday night, while gone with our oldest on a quick trip to convenient care (an entirely different story) I received a picture via my phone.  Can you imagine my surprise when I saw it was Ben on a stick horse prepping for the stick horse race during the horse show?  Add to this scenario that Chris was ther with our four younger children, without me.  He is an amazing dad, but Ben is sometimes a handfull.  Thank you, Chris, for never backing down & never saying anything even remotely close to “deal with him” or “he’s yours” or anything else that would indicate I was on my own with whatever situation we faced.  You are my rock.  I am so blessed to walk this journey with you.  And thank you, Shelly for helping Chris while I wasn’t there.

All the while through these milestone moments for our Ben, his siblings (ages 13, 9, 9 & 2) were all cheering him along; encouraging him as only a sibling can.  And again, my mommy heart melts.

It’s moments like these that I am so thankful that God has put us here and blessed us with these amazing children.  Ben has good days and he has not so good days.  Our 13 year old said to me tonight, “You know, Mom.  Everyone has a bad day sometimes.”  He is so right.  Why should a bad day for Ben feel like such a letdown & failure to me as a mom (Where have I gone wrong?  Why can’t I do more for him / be better for him?  Aren’t I supposed to be his best advocate?  How can I do that when we can’t get through the day without major issues?)  Why do I obsess over these “bad days” when we all have our days?   Thank you, Rob, for your ever-so-enlightening observation.  Kinda makes up for that trip to convenient care. 😉

So here’s what I’m thinking tonight,  when you’re out & about & you get frustrated b/c someone else’s child is screaming, please try to remember: not every screaming child is a brat or needs to be “disciplined” & not every parent who calmly sits by while said child screams is a slacker.  Perhaps the child has special needs.  Perhaps one or both of them has had a really tough day & this dinner out, allbeit at McDonald’s, is the one bright spot & that spot just got a little dimmer.  Perhaps this is the only few moments they’ll have together all day & it’s still not going well.  Perhaps we could all benefit from a deep breath & a friendly smile…

Last Saturday we finished up another St. Jude Run. This year Jo joined in on the fun and great fun was had by all. We had a smaller team this year of only 11 from Avon joining the group from Macomb in our relay style run from Macomb to Peoria. However, we managed to raise $9000 for St. Jude in the process. Our friends and family were amazingly supportive in their efforts to sponsor us and support us with encouragement and prayers. It was an amazing experience to again spend the day with great people pushing ourselves and raising money for a great cause. I just can’t help but think about all the support St. Jude gives to children with cancer and their families. We made the trip with Jo running about 7 miles and me going about 9. She has now been nursing a bum ankle, but it is getting better. We finsihed the day off with a wonderful dinner and a presentation of a check to the St. Jude’s telethon for $95,000. It was a fabulou experience and we are already making plans for next year. This event marks the beginning of the end of summer. Next week we kick into Fat Steer Show and then the summer will officially be over.

Jo and Chris are BOTH lacing up their shoes for St. Jude this year and participating in the run from Macomb to Peoria.

Based on the length since our last entry, things have been very busy around here and that sure is the truth. We’ve finally made it through all the busy school spring sports, the awards nights, the promotions and graduations. Amid all that we found ourselves thrown into the thrawls of summer baseball/softball season. The kids finally finish up school tomorrow, so that will make all the schedules a little easier as they won’t have to rise at 6:40 for a few months.

Summer softball/baseball will certainly keep us all busy again this year. It is so good to see the kids enjoy it so much. Robert’s team is based out of Avon (surprise to many of us due to numbers) but they did have to recruit a few players from the neighboring towns. Thomas’s team is based out of Bushnell, although a good share of the team is from Avon, the coaches are from Avon and the sponsor is from Avon. They are splitting practices between the towns but his home games are in Bushnell. (It’s really not bad at all as it is close.) Jaclyn is actually playing on a team that is all Avon kids and based on Avon! 🙂 Ben and Ali often go along for the ride and are quickly getting used to the long rides and entertaining all of us in the stands.

I’ll be finishing up my school year officially next week, but have a few workshops and meetings through the rest of the month. We are planning a few trips this summer primarily for family visits and always look forward to this time. Most of all we look forward to this wonderful time of year when we get to spend more time together as a family.

It’s that time of year when things get totally crazy as far as calendars around the Janssen household each year.  We start with Jody’s birthday on New Year’s eve, and then rush into Chris’s birthday, our Anniversary, the “big 3’s” birthday’s and then baseball/softball gears up (which starting last year meant three different teams!), not to mention trying to finish up Chris’s crazy work schedule of basketball and junior high volleyball.  Wow! I get tired just typing this.

Jody was a fabulous wife and surprised me this year for the big 4-0 with an overnight trip.  She had to keep changing plans due to the rest of the family and then my boys basketball team threw a wrench in things when they made it to the regional championship game which was that night as well.  She was flexible and changed the plans to the point that allowed us to go out for dinner, go to the game in Bushnell, and then head to Macomb for our wonderful overnight.  It was a fabulous overnight (even if it was only 30 minutes from home) the relaxation was wonderful.

Due to schedules we’ve done a little bit of early celebration with Thomas and Jaclyn.  Jaclyn even got her gift trip because it was before her birthday.  On March 4th she and Jo took off with a small group to Rolling Meadows for a Secret Keeper Girl Live conference.  They had a blast and went through some great topics the way it sounds.

Thomas also found his gift out early.  This morning he headed to baseball camp in Bushnell, and then at a later day we’ll hit the batting cages and top things off with a Peoria Chief’s game.  He is really excited about it.

Unfortunately, my lovely bride has fallen victim when it comes to my work schedule again.  We will celebrate our 15th anniversary away from each other as I head off to a conference meeting.  We were hoping for perhaps a really special trip for our 15th, but have decided that needs to wait.   We also had a bit of a surprise when Jody was featured as the “Cook of the Prairie” for the month in Prairie Farmer magazine.  See the story here.

We’ll be finishing up the winter activities and quickly headed into spring and summer activities.  It’s amazing how quickly things roll around to this time of year again.  We will again be going crazy with three different teams practice and game schedules.  To complicate things even further this year, the bridge in Ellisville will be out which is a major route to many of our game destinations, so travel will be a bit more involved.  We do however look forward to the summer months as it often means being able to see many of you that we don’t normally see too often.  Let’s start making those plans now.

Yes, it’s been quite some times since experiencing a blizzard as we did over the last 24 hours here.  All the local schools had cancelled school yesterday morning with the anticipation of the blizzard coming.  Almost everyone was questioning that decision into mid-morning as the snow flurries started, but nothing amounting to much at that point.  However, around mid-day, things got wild and crazy when the snow started falling and the wind started blowing!  It was a storm unlike we’ve seen for many years!  By the time is was all said and done earlier today, we had around 18 inches of snow here and it had drifted unbelievably.  There were many open field areas with absolutely no snow left, while drifts of 4 to 5 feet high were not unusual. 

Yesterday before the storm Tinker had slipped out of her pen while I was getting her more bedding, and she had no intentions of going back in.  During the storm she sat in the yard with her back to the wind just watching.  Last night she came to the door of the house and had obviously had enough.  I couldn’t figure out why she didn’t just go back in her open pen.  However, after I went out to help her I soon figured out that the reason was she probably had a hard time getting back in with the high drifts.

The great thing was that the weather today was unusually pleasant.  The kids all went out this morning and had a ball playing in the snow and even let Tinker out again for some fun and games.  They then went out again this afternoon as I was working on clearing the snow from the drive.  Due to the generosity of the farmer that farms the ground around us lending us his tractor, Ben and I were able to clear the snow from the drive at least enough to be able to get the truck out if I have to for emergencies tonight or tomorrow.  We’ve already cancelled school for tomorrow and that will make snow day number 3 for this storm.  That will give me another chance to clear more snow and prepare for any other storms we have coming this year. 

Ben gave some great help in the tractor today.  He even tore himself away from a movie at the opportunity to ride in the tractor (and those of you that know him know how big of a statement that is!).  He was very quiet for the first hour or so just sitting and enjoying the ride, but then started talking away about the big snow.  He really enjoyed his time in the tractor.  The big kids had a ball playing in the snow, digging tunnels and sledding.  The forecast for tomorrow doesn’t sound as enjoyable as they are calling for sub-zero windchills.

Other news around the Janssen ranch?  Well, we’ve been fighting the same illness as many around the areas.  The colds, fevers and flu; although we haven’t been hit very bad at all.  Jody and I spend our time working and trying to keep up with the kids, especially the big three.  Robert is gearing up to get busy with scholastic bowl again this year, and continues to enjoy Church Youth Group.  Thomas is still enjoying scouts immensly and this year managed to get second in the pinewood derby.  Jaclyn is also continuing to enjoy scouts.  All three of them enjoyed weekend retreats out at Bible camp in January (although Robert did come home early not feeling well).  They are all doing well in school again, but we all are anxiously awaiting as school reorganization continues to be discussed.  Our family time continues to be valued time, but something we don’t get near enough of these days.

It’s hard to believe how busy we can get with things and forget things like getting updates on the blog here for you to see.  The cabinets in the kitchen had the photos cleared that we received from friends and family at this time last year.  The blank cabinets are kind of a change and almost depressing as we miss those photos of friends and family that have been there all year, but it does remind me that new ones will be arriving (and have started already actually).  That also means ours have started and will go out soon to our friends and family and along with them the reminder that instead of an annual letter of goings on in our house, we’ll simply point friends and family to this spot on the internet to keep up with what is going on in our family.  (Now if we could just remember to pause a few moments every now and then to add entries for what is going on.) 

I find myself still busy with work most generally.  Junior/Senior High often means long hours of working on the basics along with paperwork for the state and then getting to watch all of those students participate in activities such as athletics and fine arts.  Unfortunately, it does mean missing out on my own kid’s activities sometimes, but fortunately I’ve got some great folks that I work with that help me out when they can so I don’t miss out on too much.  Even more fortunately, I have a fabulous wife that is amazing when it comes to keeping us all on track at our activites.  In my “spare” time I still keep busy being secretary for the fire department and president of the Avon Businessmen’s Association. 

Jody continues to enjoy her work at Checkrow Church.  She’s got some changes on the horizon there as we hire an associate pastor, but the couple that are coming in for the job are some great people and we are all very excited about the possibilities.  As I said above she is also a master at keeping us all on track and where we need to be.  I’m not sure how she does it, but does so amazingly.  In addition to that, she has started to pursue one of her passions again which is photography by starting up her own photography service, PhotosByJo. 

The kids all keep busy as well.  Robert has gone through some changes in his life in deciding that some things were just not for him such as basketball.  However, he still remains active in politics by serving on student council again this year and also helping youngsters through Awana.  He does such a good job with younger kids.  Thomas remains busy enjoying scouts while excelling at school.  Jaclyn is still busy with scouts and also excelling at her academics.  Ben, well, Ben is Ben.  🙂  He continues to discplay his unbelievable talent with puzzles and enjoys his movies especially Blue’s Clues and Barney with an occassional Veggie Tales thrown in.  His vocabulary skills are progressing rapidly and he remains VERY active which becomes a bit of a challenge as we enter this time of year.  Ali remains his trusty side-kick in watching movies with him and enjoying seeing any of her older siblings.  She’s become quite a hugger as well these days.  She is also starting to follow her brother and take an interest in puzzles.  The kids have also started their first “non-pet” livestock project.  The big three have all gone in together to start a small flock of chickens.  They are hoping to start selling fresh eggs this spring.

Unfortunately we realize this time of year that we have very busy lives, and don’t make the time for great time with friends and family.  We’re still at that point where travel is not necessarily as easy as it is in other stages of our lives, but we’re hoping to transition into that easier stage here soon (although we’ve found finding hotel accomodations for 7 is not necessarily standard).  We hope that this update finds all of our family and friends enjoying the love we send your way and the job of this holiday season.  We also hope you take a little time this time of year to reflect on the past year and make the changes necessary in your life to create the life you want, and not just slip through day to day in trying to make a living.

It’s obvious we are sooooo far behind in posting events here on the blog.  I wonder what has kept us so busy? 

To start with the St. Jude run went much better than anticipated even.  We started out in the dark of the morning and seeing the sun come up over the corn fields while running was a fabulous experience.  I really enjoyed the legs of the race I ran.  I ended up doing 7 miles which was more than I would have ever guessed I could have done.  Running into Peoria was a fabulous experience that was very emotionally overwhelming.  I’m already looking forward to next year.

August brough the Avon Fat Steer Show and with that was many events that we all enjoy participating in.  Everything from scrambles, to photo contests, to cake baking and decorating to just enjoying the steer show.  We all had a great time and it’s a fabulous way to spend the last couple days fo summer vacation before school starts.

This summer and fall also brought a new experience to the Avon area – racing.  Chris has spend many Saturday evenings sitting with the fire truck out at the races keeping everyone safe.  The races have been a great economic boost to the community and enjoyed by many.  We’ve already been approached by another racing group (this time go carts) that want to add to the fun.

The kids were also involved in the Spoon River Rascals fall production.  This year was “Kids on Broadway” and was a musical montage of great musical numbers from Broadway musicals.  The “big 3” were all involved this year.  Ben was originally cast, but then he decided he just wasn’t ready for the big stage.  I think he’ll eventually catch the bug,  but for now, he’s happy on the sidelines.  This year’s production had perhaps the largest cast ever assembled on the Ellisville Opera House stage.  Perhaps it was just a little too intimidating for him.

 Sometimes we get so busy with our terribly busy schedules to really take a few minutes and sit back and enjoy the good moments in life. We are truly blessed to have the children God has blessed us with on this earth. There are so many reasons to be proud of them. 

We have Robert the budding entrepreneur.  He has been brainstorming for a while how to make himself some more money.  He came up with the idea of working with the local cafe owner to play his trumpet outside the cafe at some point in time for “donations” for passers-by.  Friday night at the neighborhood picnic he took the iniative to sit down with Mary and work out an agreement that included him doing just that with patriotic songs on Saturday morning for an hour.  He even exceeded his income goal and we were all overwhelmed by the generosity of the community.  He’s already brainstorming for his next great idea.  Robert, we are so proud of you.

Thomas, well, as those of you that know him personally know, he’s not the largest athlete on his team 🙂  We’ve always tried to teach our kids that even if you aren’t as big or as talented as those around you, the thing you can control is your attitude and hustle.  Thomas has really taken that to heart this summer and has seen incredible results to prove it.  Every ball game he comes to play and uplift his teammates.  He’s always hussling and moving toward the ball.  He’s got a great attitude at the plate which earned him a lead off spot this summer with his team.  His hussle and attitude earned him the title of Captain!  He didn’t understand at first what that meant, but once explained to him, he was so honored to be recognized by his coaches.  His team remains undefeated heading into the last week of the regular season, and he couldn’t be happier.  Thomas we are so proud of you!

Jaclyn had a little different story this summer. Her team struggled a little more than the boys. In fact they ended the season this weekend with one win for the season.  However, she showed us all what it’s like to be proud of what you do.  She just enjoyed the heck out of each game and worked at improving herself and encouraging her teammates.  The afternoon of the last game, she could be found out in the yard working on some skills her coach had suggested to her and looking for suggestions on how to improve.  She’s such a trooper and we’re so proud of her as well.

Ben and Ali have shown great attitude this summer as well. They have continued to travel to games and practices here there and yon, with hardly ever blinking an eye or event putting up a foul attitude.  Ben and Ali we’re so proud of you waiting your turn until we can take the Janssenmobile to see you play as well!

Sometimes you have things that come about in your life and you just feel and know it’ s the right thing to do.  I’ve had one of those moments this summer, and it feels amazing! 

A few years ago I lost a cousin to Cancer in his teens.  Michael was such a good example for all of us in how to live.  I know at the time I wanted to do something to help kids in this same situation, and found myself having a real affinity toward the Make a Wish Foundation. It’s a great organization that does some great work.

Unfortunately, I now have a former student, neighbor and friend battling Cancer in her teens.  The reality is battling Cancer is a battle that no one should have to face, but especially not a teenager.  Lexi is facing this all very bravely and it’s incredible to hear her courage to fight this terrible disease.  It’s inspirational to all of us and again a lesson in how we should live. 

I’ve always loved the small community we now call home as it reminds me so much of the close knit community I grew up in and loved so much.  A group of very caring individuals decided to get involved in the solution for the Cancer situation and started up a team to help raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  They do research specifically with Cancer in children.  They also provide some wonderful services in offering many services to families for free due to the money that is raised through fundraising during events specifically the run to Peoria.  We have a team that will be running from Macomb to Peoria on August 7th and we are seeking out financial donations as well as support and prayer.  I will be part of that relay team.  If you feel lead and can help through a financial donation, I urge you to click the badge below.  We are also very appreciative of emotional and prayer support.  The reality is none of us is as young as we used to be 🙂  If you can offer support through thoughts and prayers, please take a minute to make a comment below.