The tide has turned

My husband has been exceptional in the homework department but I must admit through the years I've been labeled the "weakest link" in the family (unfairly I might add) by my dear children.  They seem to think their dad knows everything and can fix anything (okay this part is true, he really can fix anything).  He is one of those guys who is full of useless information.  You know the kind.  In all seriousness he is the most intelligent person I know except when it comes to spelling and writing.  Let's just say spell check is his best friend and his idea of forming a sentence is writing an add on eBay (using spell check, of course).  Through the years he and Jay have spent many hours at the breakfast bar over math and science homework.  He can handle the weekly spelling test and things have been smooth sailing for father and son until 5th grade!  Writing is introduced in a big way in 5th grade and it is rocking Jay's world.  He is reading well these days and now the writing is really a thorn in his side but never fear, mom is here!  I love words and writing and I'm soaking up that when Jay comes home from school he and I head straight down to my office to work on his writing assignments.  I try to lead him through it by asking the right questions but he's struggling.  I've seen Jay struggle before and I know he'll get through it.  This is new to him and he may not learn to love words or writing like I do but he'll get it.  Most of all, however, is I'm not considered the "weakest link" anymore.  I have redeemed myself.  Glory Be!  Gee, I really hope I spelled everything correctly in this blog.

Mornings in our house

Since I started working from home 19 months ago I laugh more in the mornings.  It's true.  The mornings are a little less crazy (just a little) and I take the time to laugh more with the boys and at the boys.  There are still many mornings when I pull up to that school at drop off and in my head I'm picturing pushing them out the door.  Obviously I don't do that but there are mornings when I can't wait for them to get out of my car and start their day after a challenging morning.  The boys get up at 6:45 and the fun starts almost immediately.  For example, after breakfast this morning Jay went to take his bath (which he does every morning) and before I knew it both boys were upstairs laughing hysterically because Copper "jumped" in the tub - more like pushed in the tub.  So I had to laugh (a little) and then I had to get the boys re-focused on getting their teeth brushed.  While Nick was brushing his teeth he announced to me that my toothbrush "accidentally" fell in the toliet.  Really!  After the bath tub fiasco it was onto getting back-packs ready, shoes and coats on.  Recently, Nick has learned how to tie his shoes which is wonderful but it takes him forever and a day and he insists on doing it himself.  Nick is always the last one out the door - this is just part of what makes Nick Nick.  After Nick had everything ready to go he decided it was "creepy" to wear his jammies to school.  It is wear your P.J's to school today.  I had about 2 minutes of drama about the P.J's but I stood firm.........it was way too late to change clothes!  Meanwhile both boys were frantically making sure they had a "charge" in their Ipod and Kindle.  I have to laugh about this because this was something my mom never had to deal with but she would say that if she had to add electronic devices to the morning routine on top of dealing with my hair issues she would have lost her mind.  Our car drive consistently includes Copper.  My car is small so Copper is usually in someone's face and heaven forbid if she passes gas on the short drive to school.  The boys love listening to the dumbest song ever made (if you ask me), "Gangnam Style."  However much I hate that song there is nothing funnier than seeing my 11 year old do the Gangnam Style dance in the front seat of my car.  It produces a belly laugh from me.  It's a great way to start my day!

Charlotte's Web

I started reading "Charlotte's Web" to Nick a few months ago and we just finished it.  He absolutely loved it and I sure enjoyed seeing his enthusiasm over the book.  However, Charlotte's demise came as a shock to him.  My mom bought him the movie and he's watched it over and over since she got it for him.  Last night I sat down and watched it with him.  Of course I got a little choked up at the end.  Nick noticed I had a tear or two and he said, "Suck it up, mom, suck it up."  I asked him if he was sad the first time he watched the movie and he admitted he was but then he said he got over it!  That's my boy.

The Birthday Boy

 We concluded Jay's birthday celebration tonight with his family get together.  The whole crew came - my mom, Mike's parents and my sister came with her family.  I have to admit I was lazy this year or perhaps just too busy.  It wasn't my finest birthday meal but I did my best.

 Mike and I got Jay a wake board.  My mom got him gloves to wake board with and my mother in law got him the rope.  My in-laws have a boat and Jay will love wake boarding this summer!

 My mom and her oldest grandchild!  Notice Jay is almost as tall as she is.  Crazy!

                                                           Jay & Lauren.

                                                      My sister and Jay.

 Jay wanted a brownie ice cream cake.  Nick and I added the M&M's for fun.  The cake was quite good.

                                                Jay with his grandparents and his nana.

Making a wish on his 11th birthday.  Happy Birthday, Jay!!!  I sure hope you had a great one.  We love you.

Happy 11th Birthday, Jay

11 - to write it just feels crazy.  My 5 lbs baby boy is 11!  Jay was born on a day much like today - cold.  Is it any different in January in central Illinois?  Nick made his brother the poster above.  Nick was so sweet.  He spent days working on it and I was so proud of Jay.  He was genuinely touched by his brothers kindness. 

Jay's usual request for his birthday breakfast is pancakes.  

Brothers 

Don't you just "love" the look on Jay's face?  I mean seriously is a picture with his mother really that painful?  

Jay had a basketball game the night of his birthday.  I brought basketball cookies for the boys and this was the best picture I could get from them.  Crazy 5th grade boys!! 

Ausili's came out to watch Jay's game and then came over for pizza!   

Hugs for Jenny!  

Eleven years have gone by.  I'm so blessed to be his mom.  I love his dry sense of humor, his sense of wonder and his absolute love of the outdoors.  I've seen such growth in him this past year.  I look forward to  celebrating more birthdays with him and seeing him grow.  Love you Jay Michael Siebert.  

The Kindle

Mike and I bought Jay a Kindle for Christmas and it has been a major hit.  I find myself questioning why my almost 11 year old has this cool device and I don't.  My anniversary and my birthday are right around the corner.....hint, hint family members.  My motivation in buying it for Jay was for the reading aspect.  As Jay reads and comes across words he doesn't know the meaning of he simply touches the word and wa-la up comes the definition.  How cool is that?  Plus it's been nice because often times the books Jay's class are reading is different from the books he's reading personally.  He can upload all the books and take his Kindle to school everyday.  This is why I love his Kindle.  Jay would tell you he loves the game, Mine Craft.  He spends a lot of time building forts on mine craft - crazy!  The only down side to the Kindle is Jay use to read in his room at night when he went to bed.  We don't let him take his Kindle to bed or he'd be in Mine Craft all night.  Every evening Jay and I crawl into my bed under the electric blanket.  I read my book, he reads his Kindle.  Last night I asked him if he wanted to spoon with me (ha, ha).  His response, "Ewwww, No, Mom, Gross!"  Gone are the days of cuddling with my boy (who turns 11 tomorrow!).  Oh and big news here....Jay took a reading test yesterday and scored 5th grade level, 8th month.  This is HUGE news.  I'm so proud of him.

Basketball

 Our lives pretty much revolve around Basketball right now and I love it - seriously.  It can be a little relentless at times but I really enjoy this group of boys, their parents and watching the boys play.  Their season started in Nov. and just recently I've seen the boys take their teamwork to another level and it's working for them.  They are starting to win some games and they are playing smart.  Jay's skills have improved leaps and bounds.  Yesterday we had an all day tournament.  Between games the boys would get together with their electronic devices and play, play, play!  Notice how I couldn't get them to smile at the camera.

 At the beginning of the game they announced the boys' names - The picture above is of Jay running out onto the court.  The woman in black is Erin, Jay's coach.  Erin has been a great coach for Jay this year and he's really enjoyed being coached by a lady!

 Making a shot during practice.  Jay's strength is stealing the ball and beating everyone down the court.  He's still working on his shooting.  One game he made a 3 pointer - it was a good night.  I loved it because right after he shot it, his eyes got really big and when he realized what he did, his arms went straight up in the air.

Determined

 Nick is one determined first grader!  His reading has really improved in the last month (thank you, Leslie). Nick is one determined little boy.  He told me the other day he wants to be as good of a reader as J.T. in his class (the best reader in his class).  I told Nick the sky is the limit.  The picture above is Nick wearing my knitted Owl pin from my book club.  I just thought it was a cute picture so I included it.  We recently read, "Wesley, the Owl," and I loved it.  I never would have read it either if it weren't for being in a book club.  That is the beauty of a book club, you are exposed to books you wouldn't normally read.

 Here is Nick determined to learn how to iron.  Or my pathetic attempt to someday score some extra points with a daughter in law.  Ha.

 Nick hanging out with Copper.  Nick has changed his tune about Copper lately.  Mostly because he's motivated to get another puppy - one he can call his own is what he says.

Nick has been determined lately to learn how to tie.  I attempted to show him but honestly my fine motor skills aren't that good and I was proving to be a bad teacher so Mike took over (thank goodness).  Slowly but surely Nick is getting it.  He did say he did not want to go to 2nd grade without being able to tie.  You go, Nick!

Doing Nothing = Doing something

Recently Jay informed me I do nothing for him.  Really!  Apparently all the meals I make him, lunches I pack,  miles I drive and so on and so on basically means "nothing" to Jay.  I developed a rather tough skin as a mom when Jay was in third grade (yeah, remember when he told me he'd prefer I didn't come to his class parties anymore).  In other words sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.  Plus I always try to remember that my children are just that, children.  They are going to make lots of mistakes, they are going to do and say dumb things and yeah, hurt my feelings along the way.  It is my job as a parent to call them out on it.  Jay's impulsive verbal slam wasn't intended but just the same it was important to me that he realize it was hurtful (however unintended).  So this morning Jay woke up to find a "love" note from his mother.  It said that since his mother does nothing for him he would need to do the following by himself.
*make his own breakfast and put all his dishes in the dishwasher
*make his own lunch and put all his dishes in the dishwasher
*separate his dirty laundry from the rest of the family and wash his clothes, fold them and put them all away (and by the way, he is required to fold his laundry and put it away but washing it was a new experience for him today)
*do his homework by himself (he has a hard project right now that requires some parental help - this is probably the one that upset him the most because he knew how much he needed my help with this today)

All of these tasks were rather painless.  I needed to him realize I do in fact do a lot for him.  When he read my note he hugged me right away and apologized - perhaps hoping I'd let him off the hook, I didn't.  I have to hand it to Jay he did really well with his tasks.  He never complained, he genuinely apologized to me and he learned something - mission accomplished.  I did laugh this morning because last year it was a goal of mine to make the boys more independent.  I was starting to think I had failed miserably this morning when Jay asked me how he would know when his waffles were done (after placing them in the toaster).  Then when Jay opened the silverware drawer to get his fork he said, "Wow, I never knew how much silverware was in here."  Clearly I need to work harder at having the boys do more for themselves.  Geez!

My top 12 for 2012

2012 was a good year.  I have no complaints.  My top 12 for 2012 include:
*Spending New Year's Eve with the Ausili's.  Faith and Curtis spent the night and we all went sledding on New Year's day (today).  The kids had a ball and I am so thankful for friends like Mike and Jenny.  Our friendship has always been so natural for us and we are like family to each other but I also know we are giving our kids memories they will cherish forever.  I pray both my boys have friends like the Ausili's in their adult life - a family they can hang out with and have it just jive with everyone.  Mike and Mike are best friends and Jenny and I are best friends and our kids get along great.  They don't go to school together so they really enjoy the time they do spend together.
*A wonderful and beautiful Christmas.  My entire extended family was healthy and happy!  No weather issues, no deaths and no illness.
*This was Jay's year of independence.  I've realized I had to give him a little more freedom.  With the added freedom Jay has had to prove he's trustworthy.  Thus far he's done great and I'm proud of him.  Jay entered 5th grade in the fall of 2012 and 5th grade by far has been the most challenging.  To think he'll enter middle school in 2013 is daunting to me.
*Nick entered 1st grade in the fall of 2012.  Unfortunately Jay's 1st grade experience has been more positive than Nick's - learning wise.  Leslie (my mom's dear friend) started tutoring him in Nov. 2012 and it's helped tremendously.  Bless you Leslie
*My mother in law made Nick a zebra costume for Halloween.  He was the best zebra ever and I savored his enthusiasm in dressing up this year as I know it will soon come to an end.
*Jay played basketball in the winter of 2012 and liked it.  He likes it even more this year.  Jay also played football in the fall and he says he's not playing another season.  Nick played soccer and loved it but says he's playing flag football in the fall of 2013.
*My friend (and neighbor), Laura, got a pool this summer and the boys and I spent a lot of time in her pool this summer.  We loved it.
*Mike's work schedule was the worst I can ever remember.  It started in Oct. 2011.  Mike warned me it would last a year and he wasn't kidding.  The summer was grueling and challenging.  But we made it through and things got back to normal in Oct. 2012.
*I celebrated my 20 year class reunion from high school in July.
*We went to TN with the Ausili's in May.  We had a blast but we got terribly sick.  The boys got sick in TN and Mike and I got sick after we got home.  It was brutal but worth the trip.
*Nick lost his first tooth in Feb. 2012.
*And the biggest thing to happen to us in 2012 is getting our sweet puppy, Copper.  She fits into our family like a hand to a glove.  She was truly the perfect fit and we can't imagine our family without her.  Nick probably could (ha) but Copper has sure been good for Jay.  Even Mike has warmed to her.