Nick and his dog

 I thought the picture above was funny.  Cole is always trying to lick Nick and he has no manners!  Anyone who tells you there is no difference between male and female dogs is lying!  There is a big difference.  Cole is like a frat boy!  He walks around the house and burps, farts (and they smell BAD too), he thinks nothing of coming and sitting on your head - wherever he feels entitled to sit, he does so.  He thinks of food constantly and takes up the entire bed when he sleeps with Nick.  How Nick will ever fit in his own bed as he and Cole grows is beyond me.  I like to tease Mike and Nick that their dog is down right rotten.  He likes to get up early and 6:00 early on a week day is fine but I'm not so amused on the weekends.  But I can overlook all these annoying traits when I watch Nick with his dog.  He loves him and as I've learned from Jay and Copper, sometimes when things are just not going right in a boys life, all they need and want is their dog. 

Life hasn't been easy for Nick lately and Mike and I slowly but surely trying to piece it all together.  Second grade has been challenging and Nick just hasn't been our Nick in awhile but he's coming around.  As annoying to me as Cole is, he is a comfort to Nick and Nick takes pride in taking care of him.  So although the dog is a little rotten and quite the frat boy, I still love him and how he takes care of my boy, Nick. 

Proof that 40 is right around the corner.....

Today I had my annual you know what.  The sad thing is about 10 years ago I really dreaded this appointment.  It's not that I get excited for this appointment (Ewww), instead I have more of an "it is what it is" kind of attitude.  It has to be done so I might as well get it done.  Today I was reminded that 40 is right around the corner for me.......I have to get a mammogram.  During my exam there was a female student nurse present who was young and very pretty.  My doctor and I were chatting during the exam, talking about books none the less.  He was telling me about a british author he loves to read (P.D. James, if you're wondering).  He said if I liked "Downton Abby" then I would really enjoy these particular british novels.  If anyone mentions "Downton Abby" it gets my attention.  I love the show which I proceeded to tell the student nurse and my doctor.  I got so excited by the opportunity to talk about Downton that I asked the student nurse if she watched the show.  She smiled politely and replied, "No, but my parents do," at which time I felt officially old!  Ha!  But then I realized I'm not the least bit old, this young nurse needs to get with the program and start watching some Downton and hopefully I did this young student nurse a favor today.  LOL!

Sledding & more snow

 This winter is memorable and not in a good way!  I was complaining today my mom was quick to remind me that all the people out east have been without power for weeks.  Despite all the snow, we haven't lost power and I am thankful for my warm home and appliances so we can eat.  But the snow has been relentless.  We got a snow storm 4 days ago and it came back with a vengeance again today.  It's gotten so bad that tonight when I told Nick to get a bath he argued with me and told me he could take one in the morning.  It was like he fully expected to have yet another snow day tomorrow.  Mike and I had to remind him that although school may be a foreign concept to him right now he does have school tomorrow.  Just about that time "school reach" called which about sends me into panic mode these days.  Thankfully the message is school is starting one hour late tomorrow ..........Hallelujah my boys are going back to school. 

Although I'm not amused by all the snow the boys are still entertained by it.  They love it and will play in it for hours.  The dogs usually join them and we have so much snow their legs get buried and it's like watching Rolo candies sift through the snow.  Every free night we have Mike takes the boys on a sled ride.  Tonight I joined them and it's an experience!  As Mike was hitting about the 5th snow drift I asked him how fast and how many drifts he intended to hit.  His reply, "I make it my goal to knock them out of the sled as many times as possible!"  Needless to say, it's good to be a Siebert boy in all this snow. 

Basketball & snow....Yes, more snow

 Jay had a week long basketball tournament in Pontiac which is about 1 hour drive one way from our house.  Every other night this week we would pile into Mike's truck and head to Pontiac.  My mom was able to come to two games which was nice!  We enjoyed her tagging along with us. 

 The boys did not win their game yesterday but they still had fun despite the look on my son's face (geez). 

 Last night we took Jay and his friend, R. to the ISU/Bradley game.  The two of them bought these dorky foam hands!  My mom had a genius idea and bought Jay ISU tickets for Christmas.  Last night was the last of our tickets.  We sure enjoyed going, mom! 

Over the weekend we got more snow!  The snow has been relentless this month.  The boys built a snow fort and loved it. 

Toothless & loving it

 Nick just lost his other front tooth so now he's lost his two front teeth! Last week he had two teeth pulled on his bottom teeth so in Nick's world it's all about the teeth (or rather lack there of)! 

                                                       Here is he showing off his teeth!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Luke

 My sweet, adorable and very funny nephew, Luke turns 3 today.  Last night we conquered the snow (yes, we have a TON of snow in Illinois again) and celebrated his bday with dinner out and cake at my mom's house.  Luke is the youngest of the four grandkids and maybe that is why we are all pretty smitten with him.  He is one funny 3 year old! 

 Nick's age 7 looks a lot like Nick's age 3 and trust me, that's not a good thing.  The only difference is the goofiness factor.  Nick's age 3 had more of a mean factor - Age 7 is a bit more of the goofiness factor.

 Luke took it upon himself to stick his fingers in his cake when my sister wasn't looking (however his aunt was looking).  Before I knew it there were finger markings all over the cake and his fingers were covered in frosting.

                                      My mom made him a giraffe cake.  Here he is checking it out. 

 This picture cracks me up because Jay is too cool now to get his picture taken with his aunt so this is a forced picture on Jay's part, if you couldn't tell that by the look on his face.  Kim and I, however, thought it was hysterical (hence the look on her face). 

My sister and I.  It was another busy weekend.  Jay played basketball which required us to travel a good hour one way and on the way home we drove through a blizzard - good times.  We went to Luke's party last night and we are going into a very busy week.  This is the season of our life right now and I'm just thankful were all healthy.  My one complaint - THE WEATHER!  This has been a rough winter, lots (and lots) of snow and very cold temps.  We will all be elated to see spring arrive. 

Our 7th (yes 7th) Snow day

 Around lunch time today my good friend, Erin brought over her 4 kids to play with my 2.  Her oldest son, R. is one of Jay's best friends and her 3rd child, C. is only 2 years younger than Nick so they play together well.  I seriously can't believe today was our 7th snow day since January - crazy.  I'm beyond over this winter and I'm praying tomorrow is not day 8!  We are expecting more blowing and drifting over night with very cold temps in the morning.  To say this winter has been long is an understatement.  I doubt I will soon forget the winter of 2014. 

                                                                   Nick and his good buddy, C.

 The kids sledded and played.  We eventually moved locations to another hill that was even steeper.  Plus there were snow mobiles involved so my boys (especially Jay) was all about that idea.

This is my favorite pic because with 6 kids - this really shows the craziness.  I especially like N. (the littlest one) in the background with her hands on her hips.  Cracks me up.

I wish.........

Recently parenting has not been easy for this momma for a variety of reasons.  During those times I am especially thankful for the listening ear of my mom.  She provides me so much encouragement.  I have been quite a handful lately which just proves that the job of a parent is never really finished.  I've been allowing too much self defeating behavior lately and I found myself wishing the other day....wishing my kids didn't fidget as much as others, wishing Nick could just keep his hands to himself, wishing school just came easier for both of them and wishing this parenting thing was just a wee bit easier.  Now I know this "wishing" is wrong.  I know parenting is down right hard and I'm deep in the trenches right now.  Sometimes I feel like a punching bag.  I get punched, I get back up, only to get punched again.  But getting back to the wishing part I quickly realized that for as much as I wish sometimes (knowing full well it's wrong) some other parent may be looking at me thinking they wished their kids had as much energy as mine do or talk as much as Nick does or love the outdoors as much as Jay does, not to mention their overall health.  I took Nick to the dentist today to have two baby teeth pulled out and he didn't so much as flinch.  I knew he wouldn't and then it occurred to me, this is one thing I never have to wish for: to have a kid who doesn't get worked up during a surgical procedure.  I know it sounds silly but I've never had to leave a doctor's office drenched in sweat from holding down a child.  I've never had to bribe my kids to get a shot and I've never had to chase them through a doctor's office.  Now that is something to be thankful for.  I know this season of my life will pass.  I need to be thankful and today I am thankful for my 7 year old who went to the dentist and as he would get his teeth pulled the dentist would ask him how he was doing and he'd quickly give a Phil Robertson thumbs up!  I'll take that attitude any day. 

Jay's 12th Birthday Party

Every other year the boys can have a friend birthday party.  We are a little late in having Jay's due to his basketball schedule.  Jay wanted to have his friends over to have an air soft gun war and then we headed to an ISU basketball game.  I woke up this morning to snow on the ground and freezing rain.  Thankfully it did not hinder our driving efforts and the boys loved it.  Curtis and Jay sported their gilly suits.  Every time these boys wear those ugly suits I just have to laugh. 

 This picture says it's all.  I love it.  The boys with their air soft guns, ready to go!  How can I take them seriously? 

                                               Nick brought his friend, C. to the game too. 

                                              The crew.  Aaron, Curtis, Jay, AJ and Reece.