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friends....

i'm blogging and it isn't even Monday. (see previous post)

lucky you....i'm feeling chatty. that being said, in exactly 13 mins. my sleeping pills are going to turn my now sane thoughts into mush so enough explaining....let's blog.

September 19 was my last official post. that's sad, just sad. not for you, but for yours truly who needs to get you up to speed on our life.

since the likkel family Christmas card will be in your mailbox this week, i need to sum up our last few months in a nutshell. wish me luck. nothing i do is done 'in a nutshell'. (aka: speedy.)

September always seems crazy busy. i was happy to see it end.

October brings routine. i thrive on routine. it's a good thing.

Jackson and Maxwell played football.

those who know me well, know that i don't understand OR love football.

HOWEVER, there's change a-brewin'.

i still don't really understand the game but for a girl, i follow it just fine.

love football? i don't know if i'll ever admit that but what i DO love is watching my little people out there, playing their hearts out. they LOVE the sport so since i'm their mama, i vow to you that i will learn to love it too.

you boys made me proud.

the biggest event in the past few months was trip out to Michigan in November for my cousin, Gina's (AND Scott's!) wedding. not only was the wedding beautiful but i had 6 days of vacation bliss, hanging with my sista. we agreed, it was probably one of the best get-together we've ever had. we had close to NO agenda. we slept in. we shopped. we laughed. we watched a ridiculous amounts of CSI and HGTV. oh, and Lawrence Welk. come on you 70's children, you know you LOVED Lawrence!

we ate out. a. lot. except for all the frozen oatmeal creme pies we ate while sitting in front of the tv. i think i've said just about enough about THAT.

we discovered stores we didn't know existed.

we bonded, my sista and me. yes. we. did.

we 'silently' bad-mouthed our FAVORITE consignment store that SHOULD have been opened, but was closed for remodeling. HELLO?? did they NOT know that the DenBleyker sisters come to Holland just to visit your store??? we'll call ahead next time. drat. i'm still mad about this. if i didn't love you so much, i'd boycott. (a super big threat from someone that lives 3000 miles from you. well, be afraid, be very afraid)

and family...where do i begin to brag about my Michigan family?

i am blessed. that's bragging in a nutshell. (i'm getting good at this 'nutshell' stuff)

we were able to hang out with Gram. i keep meaning to blog about my Gram. she's what my kids would call "rad". yup, she's a rad gram.

saying goodbye was lousy, as usual. i hate it. i hate every.single. thing about it.

in heaven there will be no goodbyes.

i look forward to that.

mid November we celebrated both mom and dads birthdays. (hey sibs, when are we going to take them out to the dinner we promised them?? :)) we are thankful for another healthy year for both of them. we pray for many, many more.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful, relaxing day. tim and lisa opened up their cozy home to us. our cup overflows. our blessings abound. we went around the table, saying what we were thankful for and wouldn't you know it, little miss cry baby couldn't get through it. there was so much more i would've said but really, in a matter of seconds, i would've been a sobbing mess. no one wants to see that. so, i stopped talking.

for that everyone was thankful.

December 1st brought a reality check.

ONLY 9 DAYS UNTIL THE HOME TOUR.

mercy me. stress is a great motivator. i'm the truest definition of procrastination.

back in October, we were asked to have our house featured on the Bethany Christian Services annual Christmas Home Tour. we were honored to have been asked. yet, overwhelmed at the projects that have been looming over our heads for 4 1/2 years. nothing like the potential of hundreds of people walking through your house to get my 'to do' list moving.

and it moved.

and moved.

and i have the greatest dad in the world. really, i could NOT have done it without him.

he's amazing and i'm thankful that he has not only the time, but the patience to help me complete all these little projects that seem so easy in my little head. usually not so easy in reality. (right,dad? :)) i'm so glad he's my dad. he's taught me SOO much. i love that man.

here it is, the day after the home tour and i have to say, i feel incredibly blessed to have been able to be part of this fundraiser. i am tired but in the end, it was worth it.

all projects are done. (done-um....really, are they ever ALL done?)

all beds are made. 3 bathrooms clean. dishes done. laundry done. ok, not really the laundry. it's no where near to being caught up. who am i kidding?

that's it. i'm starting to tell lies so we must call it a night. sleeping pills make me lie. i will have no part in this so goodnight.

bye.

tomorrow

monday, i'll blog.

i have no cute and sassy title for this post. the end.

my children, God bless them, have a enormous love for animals.

 this is a trait they did NOT get from their parents. sad, but true.

the thought of a dog curling up in bed with me, a cat rubbing against my leg or a gerbil, um, gerbilling in my house does NOT appeal to me.

however, when my children come to me with a wounded animal, my heart breaks.

not for the animal but for the broken hearts of my kids.

a few weeks back i was torn.

what's a mom to feel when her eldest shoots a bird, meaning to kill it, only to just wound it?

jack says "we can 'fix' it guys!"

"boys, please, just put it out of it's misery already".

fortunately, time (very little) took care of that.

however, not before my babes made a bed for it, feed it apple peels and hugged it.

uhg.

that's all i have to say about that.

we are now into the full swing of fall.

school has started.

i've begun to start on those projects i've been putting off for months.

like sorting thru their school papers from last spring. (the downside of having a spare room, with a door. out of sight, out of mind.)

before Summer officially ended, we had one last outing at Birch Bay with my family.

sweet times.

my brothers played football for hours with the kiddos.

i love watching them love them.

teachers letters have arrived!!

everyone was thrilled. including their mama.

nice socks jack.

in the midst of my fall purging, i can across the kitchen set that i had as a kid.

what's a gal, who only produces boys, to do with a girly kitchen set that has been sitting in a box for 30 years?

of course, take a picture and pass it on.

below is a pic of my failed attempt at becoming the Pioneer woman.

no point in making a 2 gallon batch of iced tea, when NO one else in your house drinks it.

probably should have thought of that before i used up 15 tea bags.

my callling.

i found this great article.

just wanted to share.

A few years ago, when I just had four children and when the oldest was still three, I loaded them all up to go on a walk. After the final sippy cup had found a place and we were ready to go, my two-year-old turned to me and said, “Wow! You have your hands full!”
She could have just as well said, “Don’t you know what causes that?” or “Are they all yours?!”
Everywhere you go, people want to talk about your children. Why you shouldn’t have had them, how you could have prevented them, and why they would never do what you have done. They want to make sure you know that you won’t be smiling anymore when they are teenagers. All this at the grocery store, in line, while your children listen.

A Rock-Bottom Job?

The truth is that years ago, before this generation of mothers was even born, our society decided where children rank in the list of important things. When abortion was legalized, we wrote it into law.
Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get. In fact, children rate below your desire to sit around and pick your toes, if that is what you want to do. Below everything. Children are the last thing you should ever spend your time doing.
If you grew up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood, to think like a free Christian woman about your life, your children. How much have we listened to partial truths and half lies? Do we believe that we want children because there is some biological urge, or the phantom “baby itch”? Are we really in this because of cute little clothes and photo opportunities? Is motherhood a rock-bottom job for those who can’t do more, or those who are satisfied with drudgery? If so, what were we thinking?

It's Not a Hobby

Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.
Christian mothers carry their children in hostile territory. When you are in public with them, you are standing with, and defending, the objects of cultural dislike. You are publicly testifying that you value what God values, and that you refuse to value what the world values. You stand with the defenseless and in front of the needy. You represent everything that our culture hates, because you represent laying down your life for another—and laying down your life for another represents the gospel.
Our culture is simply afraid of death. Laying down your own life, in any way, is terrifying. Strangely, it is that fear that drives the abortion industry: fear that your dreams will die, that your future will die, that your freedom will die—and trying to escape that death by running into the arms of death.

Run to the Cross

But a Christian should have a different paradigm. We should run to to the cross. To death. So lay down your hopes. Lay down your future. Lay down your petty annoyances. Lay down your desire to be recognized. Lay down your fussiness at your children. Lay down your perfectly clean house. Lay down your grievances about the life you are living. Lay down the imaginary life you could have had by yourself. Let it go.
Death to yourself is not the end of the story. We, of all people, ought to know what follows death. The Christian life is resurrection life, life that cannot be contained by death, the kind of life that is only possible when you have been to the cross and back.
The Bible is clear about the value of children. Jesus loved them, and we are commanded to love them, to bring them up in the nurture of the Lord. We are to imitate God and take pleasure in our children.

The Question Is How

The question here is not whether you are representing the gospel, it is how you are representing it. Have you given your life to your children resentfully? Do you tally every thing you do for them like a loan shark tallies debts? Or do you give them life the way God gave it to us—freely?
It isn’t enough to pretend. You might fool a few people. That person in line at the store might believe you when you plaster on a fake smile, but your children won’t. They know exactly where they stand with you. They know the things that you rate above them. They know everything you resent and hold against them. They know that you faked a cheerful answer to that lady, only to whisper threats or bark at them in the car.
Children know the difference between a mother who is saving face to a stranger and a mother who defends their life and their worth with her smile, her love, and her absolute loyalty.

Hands Full of Good Things

When my little girl told me, “Your hands are full!” I was so thankful that she already knew what my answer would be. It was the same one that I always gave: “Yes they are—full of good things!”
Live the gospel in the things that no one sees. Sacrifice for your children in places that only they will know about. Put their value ahead of yours. Grow them up in the clean air of gospel living. Your testimony to the gospel in the little details of your life is more valuable to them than you can imagine. If you tell them the gospel, but live to yourself, they will never believe it. Give your life for theirs every day, joyfully. Lay down pettiness. Lay down fussiness. Lay down resentment about the dishes, about the laundry, about how no one knows how hard you work.
Stop clinging to yourself and cling to the cross. There is more joy and more life and more laughter on the other side of death than you can possibly carry alone.