The Bleeker Mishpakha: Update

My kids have been asking that I would please update the blog. The last 6 weeks have been crazy here! It hasn’t allow much time to work on blog updates, but I decided to just take a break from packing (we leave for the lake in 4 days) and do a quick update. Baseball and softball have consumed much of our time, but throw in a few beach days, park play dates, strawberry picking, a trip to the pool, and a trip to MN for the Fourth of July, and we are booked. It’s a rough life, but someone has to sit in a chair watching ball all day. At least one of the kids has had games or practice everyday, most often multiple games going on at the same time. Good thing there are plenty of us to go around. One evening, we had Cade at one diamond watching Miah, I was coaching Romee at another diamond, while Bryan and the little girls drove to a near by town to watch Willow play. But, before I can document all the summer fun, I have to go back to spring and update on a few things. I hope to go back and do more spring post later, but for now it is going to be a really quick update with all my iPhone pictures. Yes, I am finally up to speed with the rest of the world and have the capability to get a group message…and also take pictures!! So here is some, but certainly not all of our spring highlights.

We spent an evening at Grandpa and Grandma’s planting the garden. The kids helped mostly with the peas and beans. All that bending over is hard on Grandpa’s back, so he enlists the help of the kids for that, and they love it! I was over there on Monday picking the sugar peas and the garden now looks like this…

Amazing. All the rain has done wonders, but Grandpa B just knows what he’s doing when it comes to his garden!

The same day we planted the garden we were surprised by some really fun news. Finn and Nora announced that they were going to be Big Brother and Big Sister to a couple of new babies. Yep, not just one, but two babies!!!! Nikki is pregnant with twins! I can’t tell you how excited we are about the arrival of these babies. I won’t bore you with the whole story, but in short, we get one! Isn’t that exciting? Okay, maybe both parties didn’t consent, but Bryan isn’t going to give up trying.

Romee’s class won the Box Top competition at school and were awarded a limo ride and treats at the newly opened Dairy Queen. She was SO excited and wanted to wear a dress to school the day of the ride, because “When you ride in limo’s you have to be fancy.” Romee is in the blue maxi dress and white sweater on the end.

I completed my 5th triathlon this spring. I am not getting any younger. That’s all I have to say about that.

Miah participated in the Dordt track meet this year. One of her events was the sack race. I had never seen this race in action, but it was quite something. I couldn’t believe how smooth these kids were! I can only imagine what would happen if you put me in one of those sacks! Miah and Carissa got second place, only being beat by 8th grade girls with legs 7 inches longer than theirs. Who puts these divisions together anyway?!? I am not competitive, really.

There were so many other programs and recitals this spring. So many. Some I got pictures of, some I did not. I will try post more later.

Good grief, how did this happen? My baby can drive…with me in the car, of course. We have come to the conclusion it is just better if he drives with his dad. His dad calmly tells him to get back on his side of the road. His mom {in his words}, freaks out and says, “What in the world are you doing? You’re going to kill somebody” Honestly, he is a pretty good driver.

Em & Zara’s Kitchen is closed for the summer. I completed my 8th year of meal making. I feel so blessed to have this little gig. It allows me to work very part-time from my home, while providing exactly what our family needs, but by the end of May I need a little break.

Amirah and I finished up our second year of preschool coop. We celebrated the end of the year with a trip to the zoo. It was a great year where many wonderful friendships were formed with both the kids and the mothers.

Memorial Day weekend was spend in Michigan helping Russ and Laura get their house ready to sell. Miah, Bryan, and myself made the 12 hour drive. We got a ton of work done that weekend, but also had a ton of fun. All the hard work was worth it…they sold their house just days after putting on the market. They got multiple offers and one for more than the asking price. They will be moving to Boise Idaho in August.

There it is…an abbreviated update of our spring. June consisted of this…