things are changing....

so....
i've been thinking.
it being January one and all....i'm thinking i should blog more.
yes. i. should.

i admit. i'm a big talker.
i've got big goals and great intentions but let's face it, when it comes to following thru, i'm....um....working on that.


for the past two years, i've been working on 'Project 365'.
take a picture a day for 365 days. (just in case you were confused about what the 365 meant.)
i've loved having the occasional 'catch-up day' with my girlfriends, wendi and kath (and beck) but girls, it's time i jump ship.

like with most things, i've got great intentions.
i have 3000 pictures from January to may.
10 pictures from may to October.
5 from October to December.
(ok, i'm exaggerating but you get the jest)

that being said, i have decided to give up Project 365 and do a blog post a day (or every 3 or 6 or 9) for a year. since most of my blogging is done for my sister and those out of state, i also do it for my kids. one day i hope to have another book made (thanks sister for my 2009 blog book) so that my kiddos can look back and see their life documented.
this crazy, crazy life.

i've had a notepad, by my bed for a few weeks now, jotting down some random thoughts.
random thoughts often hit me at weird hours.
like 3 am. when all the world is sleeping, i'm a jotting.
what to blog about?
what do people want to hear?
how much to share?
what stories to tell?
which ones are best kept inside these four walls?
what are we as a family passionate about?
what do we struggle with?

topics of interest??
tell me yours.

i've been stalking blogs for a good number of years now and one thing i've learned is that interesting blogs are ones that talk about funny, normal life stuff AND sometimes more serious stuff. i admit, it's easier to chat about the small stuff but this year i vow to write about some of big topics. things that our family struggles with. things that i don't usually talk about on our blog.

i love reading about these things in other peoples lives because it let's me know that we are not alone in this crazy thing called family life.
plus, if i'm going to document our lives, you'd best hold on.

this is going to be a ride.

phewwww. bloggin'....finally....

left to right......

shanda www.sprickcrew.blogspot.com, her babe, penny, yours truly, gloria, mom, lori, tricia, gg (gretchen), tessa and noel.

back in june, we were able to spend an amazing evening with some of the most dearest people on the face of the earth. shanda and tricia are my first friends.

i've written about them before and they're worth mentioning again.

shanda, tricia, kevin and ryan are the children to gloria (my mom's bff) and her hub, dan.

this family has been through SO much in the past few years and yet, they stand united.

the koemans are one of the bravest, strongest, families i have ever met.

yeah for me, i was privileged to be part of this family, so to speak.

most of my childhood memories, somehow have these people in them.

kevin and ryan married amazing girls....kate and gg. shanda and tricia married a couple of studs...matt and gary. all four 'newcomers' are the cream of the crop.

i love these people as if they were my own flesh and blood.

it feels like years of my life have been spent around this very table.

gloria has this incredible gift of hospitality. everyone who walks into her house feels loved. that's how i always feel.

over the years we have eaten more loaves of homemade (and i mean from scratch!!!) bread, pots and pots of soup, Cinnamon rolls. oh, the food. oh the people. oh the memories.

my 'tape recorder' friend. :)

my old siblings. well, they are old. older than me. yes they are. love these peeps.

Max and gg have a very special bond. after vacationing with the koemans years ago, she's the one he's still smitten with. he'll tell you so.

sam with a great throw.

jack with a great catch.

this is max. (#55) max is a machine out on the field.

my #19. he's speedy like the wind.

bai and max~ cousins and yet, best of friends. last night bai stayed overnight. a little after midnight i had to go up stairs to get these two to pipe down. they were giggling (sorry max, you were) and being all chit chatty. as much as i wanted them to quiet down, truth be told, i could have stood in the doorway and listened to them all night long. these are precious times.

my hope is they always laugh together and they always have each others back.

middle school has been good to these boys.

although, they're looking a tad bit naughty right here.

speaking of naughty.

ok, before you look at this next batch of pictures, let me give a shout out to my Bff, kath. www.wubbenworld.blogspot.com

she was a brave, brave friend.

she willingly came out to photograph. and she did it all with a good attitude.

thankfully, she knows how to deal with my children. sometimes better than me.

she caught real life.

oh no, my pictures are all out of wack. hold the picture taking session, we'll get back to that.

in the meantime, this is gina. she's my girl.

my girl got married.

my girl was the most beautiful bride.

she waited patiently (ahem, sometimes) for the perfect guy for her.

God blessed her for that.

she is now married to a great guy!!

scott is perfect for her!

sorry, forgot to upload their wedding picture!!! duh.

coming soon.

here's the bride and her non-bride cousin. i mean i was once a bride but hello, i like my life...i don't need to go running off being a bride again. not that i didn't like being a bride. i did. oh i did. i would go be a bride tomorrow if i could but since the groom needs to go off and work like most responsible groom should be doing. i think i'll just stop chatting about it since my sleeping pill is obviously starting to do it's job. it's job is to primarily make me really loopy and crazy silly before i sleep. i've been warned to never blog after taking one but what the heck, it's the day after Christmas.

party on.

left to right....

amber, sadie, lisa, jodi, traci, heather, lori, misty and deedee

another wedding. another chance to get a girl cousin pic.

sadly, belle and dulce we not able to make it. we think someone needs to photoshop them in SOMEWHERE.

we're a fairly good looking bunch, wouldn't you agree?

these people are one of the BIGGEST (and only) reasons why i would ever consider moving back to michigan. which by the way, will never happen.

this is my #1 baby. ok, so his number is 77 but to me, he'll always be my firstborn, number 1.

tall boy #56 is joshua. he's sam's sidekick.

please note that my very confident child is wearing PINK shoelaces to show his support for Breast Cancer Awerness month. i love it!!

we are teaching our boys to Be BOLD. we were referring more to telling others about Jesus but that's ok, standing up for cancer is Bold so you go!!!

oh sweet happy day to one of the best sister-in-laws anyone could have ever asked for!

we adore you lis.

and those children of yours.

yup, i adore them too!!!

ryes number in high school was #77 . how cool was that for sam to choose #77 just because dad picked it way back when.

ok, back to the quick last min. hurry up and do a photo shoot before the kids realize that it's an 'acutal photo shoot'.

ya, someone ratted us out. it went from bed to worse. then ok to great. then ARE WE DONE YET??? so kath and i just figured we'd take what we can get.

we almost lost them but thankfully, bff jumped in and saved the day.

in theory, having a family of five, jumpin on a trampoline, on a sunny, beautiful day, having a load of fun is sure to create ONE perfect jumping picture.

not always.

in the picture above, you can see me holding up my hand, pleading, no BEGGING to get me off the ride. i was getting dizzy. i was getting panicked. (those of you who have had a child or two knows EXACTLY what i'm talking about. if you don't know, than you need to come on over, jump a few jumps. you'll KNOW what i mean.) i digress.....

mom and dad get off the tramp and all the sudden, the real fun begins.

kinda.

i will not post the pictures of how the this little 'wrestling match' ended.

oh, how i love my little monsters.

post below has finally made it online.....
it sat in my 'edit posts' for a whole week.
didn't want to post until i could upload pics.
now that my 'uploading' is apparently on vacation, i'm posting anywho.
i promise i'll be back soon. (happy sister??)

back

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.