Happy 13th Birthday, Nick

 In a blink of an eye thirteen years have flown by.  I saw a picture on Facebook this morning of a friend of mine who was holding her baby.  He fit perfectly on her hip and was smiling up at her.  Clearly this little guy was captivated by his mother.  I wanted to comment and tell her to enjoy it while it lasts but then realized that made me sound negative.  Ha!  In truth I enjoy watching my children grow and mature.  I would just prefer it happens a little more slowly.  Nick at thirteen is funny, athletic, good in school, has a large friend group and still loves fishing (hence his birthday gift on his back in this picture).  He's adorable with his blond hair and big blue eyes.  On the flip side, I have found 7th grade to be particularly challenging with Nick.  Nothing we say or do is met with positivity.  There is a lot of negative vibes going on.  Last night I asked him if he wanted donuts for his birthday breakfast.  I was told donuts were stupid and why waste the money.  Al-righty then.  I think Nick's negativity has a lot to do with how he handles stress. I'm praying that with time and maturity that improves because as we all know, stress is just a part of life.

 This weekend I had family over to celebrate Nick's birthday.  We had burgers and Nick opted for a sundae bar instead of cake.  The sundae bar was a huge hit!

 Nick and his buddy, M.  Nick and M have inseparable lately.  I'm really glad because M lives across the street and we really like him.  They do things boy should be doing, working on their four wheelers together, riding them and making trails and of course fishing.

A boys life

 This Easter weekend Jay and his buddies (Parker, Kaden, Aaron and Ayden) came up with this idea (above).  They made a picnic table float!  I love it.  I thought it was genius.  Those boys worked all day on Saturday and late in the afternoon on Easter Sunday they took it out for its maiden voyage and it was successful!  Mike and I always joke that these boys are idiots (we say that with love b/c they are all 17) but man they are a good group of boys!  They are blessed to have each other.

 We did not have school today so Nick started his day doing what he does best - fishing!  Today was his first day out and in the 5 hours he fished, he caught 23 fish.  Nick is kind of a grouch these days.  I'm just saying.  I don't know if it's a preview of what the teenage years are going to be like with him (kind of reminds me of age 3 with him, not fun!), but Mike and I are preparing for the worst -hoping for the best.
Anyway, I would not let him take his phone with him to bed last night which meant I had to wake him up this morning.  I woke him up at 5:30 a.m, as requested, and apparently I didn't do a good job of waking him up because he fell back to sleep.  At 6:30 he got out of bed and was like a grumpy old man.  He was mad at me then he turned his rage at the weather.  He claimed it was too windy to go fishing!  Mike got after him before he left for work and I heard them arguing in the driveway.  I was almost jealous that Mike got to do physical labor today as it meant he got to leave the house.  Finally at 7:00 Nick decided he would make a go of it.  It turned out to be a great fishing day for him.  I reminded him of that when he got home.  It should be an "interesting" summer!  Ugh! Once again it's another example of how I have to stay one step ahead of my boys and some days are better than others.

Nick and our neighbor, Mason, are thick as thieves these days.  They are doing everything together.  They fish together, four wheel together and play ball together.  This picture is of Mason, Nick and Mason's friend.  Mason is in 8th grade and in reality Nick and M. are 18 months apart.  I really like Mason and his friendship with Nick this season has been a blessing!

Happy Easter

 As I write this it's Sunday, Easter night.  What a day!  The weather was perfect.  We could not have ordered a more perfect day.  It was sunny, 70 degrees with a nice breeze.  We went to Kim's church for Easter service and then had lunch at my house.  The day was busy as all 5 dogs joined us, along with our four kiddos, but it was filled with joy.

 Mom and her grands.  Jay (17), Nick (12 but only a week away from being 13).  Lauren (11) and Luke (8).

 Mom and her dog, Walker.  Walker, like his brother, Cole, thinks he's a lap dog when in reality he is not.  Walker thought nothing of jumping up on mom's lap while she was relaxing at my breakfast bar.

 Here are all 5 dogs!  Who knew that between me, mom and Kim we would have four vizsla's and Peanut!  It was a cluster today but so fun.  As I write this my dogs are sound asleep and something tells me mom's dog and Kim's dogs are sound asleep too.

My boys!  They look cute but you have no idea what it took to get them to cooperate for this photo op!

Luke  is playing baseball this spring/summer.  Jay and Nick threw the ball for him the yard.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  Did I mention that already?
As the sun rose this morning I thought of what Mary Magdalene must have felt like when she discovered Jesus was no longer in his tomb!  Looking past all the bunnies, all the food and candy, the reason for Easter is eternal life.  Emptiness in our life is just that, empty, but an empty tomb has an entirely different meaning and Praise God for that!

The Siebert Chronicles

 Spring is here!  We are so thankful!  The weather has improved and the boys are in full swing of spring.  Jay is coaching Nick's Game Time Gym team (Nick is #1).  They have had one game and so far so good.  Jay has a few jobs lined up this summer but they haven't really "taken off" yet.

 My sister adopted Copper's mom, Callie.  We all love her and we have to really look at the two of them in order to tell the difference between the two of them (the picture of Mike is of him petting Cole and Callie).  Kim and Lauren love Callie.  My mom is doing great with Walker.  Tonight as I was talking to mom on the phone she was in gales of laughter over Walker as he had jumped up on her lap and made himself comfortable while she was talking on the phone.  The addition of these dogs into my sisters family and mom has warmed my heart.

 Today was Sarah's birthday and we celebrated by getting pedi's!  Genny was certainly missed but Mary joined us this year.

 Love these two girls.  They have helped fill the void that Genny left.  This week has been full of laughter - at least that's the way I choose to see it.  Earlier this week Jay was headed to the store to get ice cream.  He asked what flavor I wanted (which I did appreciate).  I told Jay it didn't matter because I wouldn't eat any ice cream because I was trying to lose weight.  The best line ever came when Jay said (and I quote), "Really mom, at your age, why does it even matter?"  I can't make this stuff up in my house.  The next story is kinda gross but it's a reality in my house and I have no doubt that it's one of the "memories" the boys will have as they grow into adulthood.  Every time my family piles into the car to make the 35 minute commute to church on Sunday mornings, someone farts!  Most of those farts comes from Jay or Mike.  Rarely is it Nick.  But every Sunday it can almost be counted on that either Jay or Mike will pass gas and the windows will have to be rolled down (despite the temperature outside), everyone will complain, gales of laugher will ensue (mostly by Mike) and eyes will water.  I tend to get angry because I'm the one driving but today I finally gave into the laughter and thought this is who we are - farts and all.