Broken

We seem to be going through a season where everything is breaking which causes a lot of stress.  I try to take this all in stride and remember there are such bigger issues we could be dealing with.  Issues such as health scares, job losses, deaths, etc......  We are blessed as these are issues we haven't had to deal with yet.  Just in the past month these are the broken things we've had to deal with or make repairs to.

Our dryer broke May 3.  We have yet to get it repaired (don't ask).   We expect the cost of this repair to be around $500.

Our mower has broken down 3 times.  Mike repaired it with $400 - money always does the trick. 

We have a leaky roof and Mike can't figure out where it's coming from.  He even hired someone to come to a look at it and anyone who knows Mike knows he doesn't hire anyone - ever.  We have yet to figure this one out. 

Our sump pump got jammed and I got water in my office.  All is good now but ugh! 

Jay's 4 wheeler needed new breaks and Nick's 4 wheeler quit working - the least of all our problems but still something Mike had to add to his "to do" list.

Mike had a colonoscopy in April which our insurance company is refusing to pay for.  I think when it's all said and done they will agree to pay for it but it's an added stress right now that we didn't need.

I know there are people who would love have these problems and I so get that.  I really didn't make this list to complain but to remember.  I did laugh with Mike the other night that although everything in our house is breaking, we as a couple aren't broken - Ha!  And one day we'll look back and say, "Remember that spring when I was 39 and you were 40 and everything seemed to break down at once and look at us now.......we survived." 

Cookie maker......I think not

Today is Memorial Day.  This weekend we didn't have any plans which I've discovered is good and bad.  Good in that we aren't on any schedule but bad when it rains all 3 days with nothing to do.  On Friday night Mike gets an idea to make chocolate chip cookies and lots of them.  I think we ended up with more than 75 dozen cookies plus we freezer packed 6 bags of dough!  Mike worked me like a slave.  He would make the dough and I was in charge of pulling trays and trays of cookies in and out of the oven.  We started at 7:00 and what I thought would be a nice bonding experience with my husband turned into my thumbs throbbing and me being extremely cranky by 10:00 p.m.  I spent a lot of time sampling the cookies when they came out of the oven but by 9:00 I was done with those cookies.  I couldn't even stand the smell of them.  Another interesting part of this story is you have to understand my personality and Mike's personality.  When Mike starts any task his attitude is always the same, if you're going to do something, do it 110% and go all the way - he does nothing half way.  Me on the other hand, have a good enough attitude - hence why I was ready to give up on the cookies after 2 hours.  It's probably a character flaw on my part but it's who I am.  Let me point out I do not have a good enough attitude towards parenting/my children.  I do give that part of my life 110% - maybe that's why I don't have enough energy to then give 110% towards making cookies.  Ha!  In any case our family now has enough cookies to last a year.  We packed them up in our freezer in bags that hold 2 dozen each so next time we feel like cookies we'll have to look no farther than our deep freeze! 

Look mom, I found a toad.......yet again

What we're up to

 School is out......can you believe it?  I think we are the only school district in the entire country that lets out in mid-May.  It's ridiculous but ready or not, the boys are out of school.  It's always a bit of a transition (for Jay especially) and we really don't start our "normal" summer routine until June 2.  The boys have spent a lot of time fishing, biking and playing outside.  It's nice not be in the daily school routine but on the flip side my children thrive on structure so I still try to incorporate that during the summer months.  If I don't, it's usually a hot mess!

 Here's my happy go lucky, Nickel Pickel.  He's so delightful these days.  He's reading all the time and he's really improved with his manners.  Everything is please and thank you!

 And here's my other boy who is still wild about his dog!  Copper and Jay are thick as thieves.  She sleeps with him every night.

                                   Jay took this picture of Mike and I before church on Sunday.

The 40th birthday party celebration

 The Ausili's and us really don't need a reason to get together but last night we did.  It was Mike Ausili's 40th birthday. A good time was had by all.

 I love this picture.  I snapped it quick before Curtis could change his mind and boy did I get a good one.

                                                        These boys love their guns.

This picture was taken at the end of the night. . All four kids had showered and instead of sitting apart they all sit together on the love seat.  It makes Jenny and I smile.  We try to savor these moments because we know in a blink of an eye they could be over.  Faith is 13.  Eventually it won't be as "cool" to come to the Siebert's.  She would tell me that will never happen but it could.  I pray my boys have a friendship in their adult life like we have shared with the Ausili's.

Last day of 5th grade & 1st grade

 Today marks the last day of 5th grade for Jay and 1st grade for Nick.  Hello to 6th grade and 2nd.  What a bittersweet day - Jay's final day at his elementary school.  It's onto bigger and hopefully better things.  Jay has already decided he is not playing football in the fall but will be running cross country.  Personally I think this will be a much better fit for Jay.  Nick, on the other hand, has opted to play flag football in the fall but until August comes, we plan to enjoy our summer.

 At the awards ceremony Jay received a perfect attendance award.  That boy didn't miss one day this year.

Here's Jay with Mrs. Johnson.  She has had Jay since he was in 3rd grade.  During class he would go to her classroom and get extra help.  She was wonderful.  She was always positive, encouraging and fun.  Sometimes as a parent it can get to be very discouraging when you have a learning disabled child.  That is not to say you ever lose hope or think your child isn't capable of learning - just the opposite but on days when I needed encouragement, Mrs. Johnson provided it to me and Jay.  She had a baby in late February and returned for the final 2 days of school.  I asked Jay about a month ago if he liked the sub for Mrs. Johnson.  His response, "Yeah, I like her but I do miss Mrs. Johnson."  My son speaks for both of us, we will both miss Mrs. Johnson.  

The big iditarod race

 Remember the Alaska paper I blogged about a few weeks ago?  Well Jay finished it!  Hallejah!  And he got a 98% on it, even better.  All of the 5th graders (who finished their paper) got to participate in the iditarod wagon race today.  It was so fun!  School is so serious these days that it was nice to see the kids get excited and have fun with something educational.

                                                     Even cousin Lauren came for the fun.

 Here's Jay getting ready with the rest of his team for the big race.  Notice the musher sitting in the wagon.  Nick let the musher borrow his four wheeling helmet.

                                                Run Jay Run!  Lead your team to victory.

            Jay and two of the girls on his team.  Not the best picture of Jay but cute of the girls.

                                        Jay and Morgan.....neighborhood and school friends.

 The three amigos, Reece, Jay and Aaron, friends since 2nd grade and now onto middle school.

 I like this time of year.  The weather is usually awesome and there is no homework.  I had 5 boys congregate at my house tonight to have a water balloon fight!  Notice Nick trying to get the balloons on the hose.  These situations is really where Jay shines as an older brother.  Perhaps Nick will one day tell torture stories (that I'm not aware of) of all the times when Jay and his friends were mean to him but based on my observations I don't see it - but that certainly doesn't mean it doesn't happen.  Jay can be a sly little devil.  Most of the time Nick is just one of the boys. Okay, literally, as I'm writing this I can hear Nick screaming for me because the older boys are "killing" him with water balloons.  Go figure........

This picture makes me laugh too - mostly with Jay and Nick trying to figure out what the heck they are doing.

Living off the land

I wasn't sure what to call this title, "Wrap up of 5th grade" or "Living off the land."  I opted for the later - mostly because it describes Jay perfectly.  He is 100% boy.......maybe even more than 100%.  He loves everything that is boy.....hunting, fishing, being outside, riding his bike and playing sports.  He really is into "living off the land."  He caught the two bass above and with Mike's help filleted them and Yes, we'll eat them.  Last week I took Jay into "the city" to get his hair cut.  Within 10 minutes he was complaining saying he wanted to go home, "the city" made him uncomfortable.  I joke with him that maybe one day he'll be living in the city with the girl of his dreams.  He says No Way!  One never knows but this momma would be surprised to see her living off the land boy living in the confines of the city.  Jay needs and desires wide open spaces.
Fifth grade will officially be over this Friday.......it's bittersweet.  I remember vividly taking Jay to Kindergarten and next year he'll be at the middle school.  All in all fifth grade has been positive.  It was a rough start but ended well.  His teacher told me just last week that Jay has been doing a lot better with staying organized and on top of things.  Jay is still highly impulsive and I would say his impulsively is what gets him in trouble every time but that being said he's also very mature.  He continues to pick good friends and I'm pleased because thus far he's surrounded himself with christian friends.  Jay's quiet nature is just that, quiet but recently he had us all in gales of laughter when he did an imitation of Mike using his smart phone - hilarious!  I am enjoying watching Jay learn more about Jesus and starting to develop a relationship with Him.  What has been most challenging for me this year is accepting that our relationship is changing and I mean really changing.  I am thankful that he insists I still put him to bed at night.  We spend a few quick minutes chatting and anytime I can sneak in a hug, I do!

Then & now

 Mike has been friends with Mike Ausili for at least 30 years.  I have been friends with Jenny for 19 years and our kids have been friends since we gave birth to them........and with Faith, the oldest, that was 13 years yesterday.  Happy 13th Birthday, Faith.  I'm so thankful for their friendship.  I only wish I was saving/downloading my photos 13 years ago.  I took some awesome pictures of Faith in the hospital.  BTW, I'm guessing the picture Jay and Curtis are about four years old in the picture above.  As for the picture below I'm guessing (and it's a pretty good guess, ha) that Nick is 1 1/2 years old, Jay 6, Curtis is 5 (almost 6) and Faith is 7.

                                             All grown up (kind of).  Happy 13th birthday, Faith.

My birthday & Mother's Day

Yesterday was my 39th birthday.  It was uneventful which is just fine with me.  We've had quite a week.  Our dryer broke down as did our mower.  Our sump pump quit working which then lead to water in my office.  I have had de-humidifiers running non stop in my office which is quite a distraction.  Our roof is leaking which required a roofer to come out this week (you know it's bad when Mike is hiring someone).  Anyway you get the picture.  When Friday, my birthday, rolled around I was physically and mentally exhausted.  But the boys took me out for dinner last night and for my birthday and Mother's day gift they took me out to buy flowers this morning.  Nick so cute and helped me plant them all!  Nick made me a door hanger at school for Mother's day.  However, I noticed it said "Mom and Dad Rock" on the hanger........apparently it wasn't just for me for Mother's Day.  When Jay asked me what I wanted for my birthday I told him I'd appreciate it if he could just write me a letter.  Well he came through.  He said he had 5 minutes and 5 minutes only of time at school so he whipped out this letter:

"My mom is the best.  The reason I love her is because she let's me do everything I want.  My mom is important to me because she makes me the best breakfast ever.  My mom is also the best because she made my dream come true by getting me a dog named Copper.  In all my entire life my mom is the BEST!"

I truly appreciated his letter.  Thoughtfulness with Jay takes a little more effort and I mean that in the nicest way.  He is a work in progress but I appreciated he had asked me what I wanted and made the effort to come through for me.  Thanks Jay!

Third Day

 My dear friend, Jenny, treated me to the Third Day concert last night for my birthday!  It was awesome.  Jenny's good friend, Margie, joined us and the 3 of us really enjoyed ourselves.  We spent a long while at dinner enjoying each other's company and then we walked to the concert - the weather was beautiful!  I couldn't have asked for a better night and it was a nice early birthday treat.  Thanks Jenny.

This & that

 Today Nick brought this home for me for Mother's Day.  It says:
My Mom.....is Fantastic
She likes to......work (the only reason I can think of as to why he said this is because I work from home)
Sometimes she.......forgets a lot (oh boy).
The best thing about my mom is.....she plays with me
He drew me with brown hair, an orange face and a skinny body.  Oh the sweet innocence of a 7 year old first grader!

This is Jay's book mark that he uses.  I had to post it because it's so Jay!  Jay is exhausted these days but it hasn't slowed him down.  He said he only had about 1 minute to use the restroom at school today.  I think things are winding down at school and teachers are trying to get the students to finish up on their work before the end of the school year which in our case is next Friday - crazy that another school year is almost over.

The big accomplishment

Since 1st grade started every first grader in Nick's class has wanted to achieve A.R. (Advanced Reading) status and today Nick reached his goal.  He's officially in A.R..  He was so pleased with himself (as he should be) and I am beyond thrilled!  I have to give so much of the credit to Leslie who has tutored Nick since November.  She not only gave him some basic fundamentals but helped build his confidence.  Nick's first grade year wasn't what I had envisioned for him but we've made it through and now it's onto to 2nd grade........so watch out Ms. Loyer or Ms. Baner because here comes Nick Siebert!