Confused

It's a confusing winter here in the midwest! I am not complaining one little bit! We are a warm weather loving family and the kids told me this morning they didn't care if we didn't get any snow this year. Raegan has broken out her flip flops and is going to be quite disappointed if i have to go hiding them again.

I spent 4 days in bed with the flu this past week and am so happy to be feeling alive again this week! I am now playing catch up big time!

If you ever are considering having January babies, i don't suggest having two in January! It always makes for a crazy month right after the crazy month before...oh heck, what month isn't crazy?!

Ladybug is 11

11 years ago, January 24, 2001 Avery Michelle was born weighing in at 9lb 2 oz.

She had a bunch of hair which made her look older than she was. And then the little booger took off walking at 8 months. Now seeing her personality it doesn't surprise me....she knows what she wants and she goes for it!

early on her daddy started calling her lady bug and it has stuck. He bought her a little lady bug necklace last year and she loved it!

She has always been pretty feisty and strong willed...still is! She may look like me but she has her daddy's personality and is quite the daddy's girl!

She does well in school and is very self motivated. I rarely have to get on her to get stuff done. She gets right on her homework and most of the time get's everything taken care of.

She is going to be going off to middle school next year which while looking at these pictures makes me sad...

She is loving taking gymnastics and can flip around all over the place

She has a warm heart and is learning this year how to manage friendships...fifth grade can be challenging with friends and it has been but it has been a work in progress and for the time being it seems her little group of close friends is getting along nicely. I am proud of her and some of the things she has done to help situations.

She is getting very tall, catching me quickly! It seems like not long ago she was just barely tall enough to ride the Patriot for the first time...

She is very particular and keeps her room as clean as she can with little tornado living in the same space. She can't wait to get her first pair of high heels and thinks her mom should wear them way more than i do!

Her new favorite past time is texting her friends on my phone...lol, gtg, brb, k ...you know regular 5th grade conversations :)

Avery you are becoming quite the beautiful young lady and we are so very proud of you and all your hard work in school and all that you do. Happy Birthday! We love you!

Parenting

Some days this parenting thing makes me feel like a complete failure. I know i haven't even gotten to the really hard part (through the teen years) yet but the past few months have been a bit (that is putting it mildly) frustrating for me and i feel like i have failed more than succeeded at being the kind of parent that i want to be.

We have a big problem in our family with fighting with siblings. Some days i feel like all i do is yell at the kids to stop fighting. I feel like i am prying a cat and dog apart quite often. I do try to stay calm but being honest, i yell at my children sometimes...er more often than i should. I didn't want to be a yelling mom...i still don't want to be a yelling mom but goodness gracious i'm ashamed to say mine have driven me to it.

We are trying some new consequences for talking unkindly to their siblings and the verdict is still out on how that is going to work. I feel like i'm bashing my kids and that is not my intent...i am more bashing myself for not being a better parent to keep the sibling fighting under control.

Don't get me wrong there are days when they get along great, days when i see them showing a lot of love to one another but right now the other days overshadow the good days.

I never pray for patience, i am terrified of doing that. But i will be focusing this month on praying that i can handle situations that arise with the kids calmly and lovingly....i am often far from calm and just plain angry that they won't behave the way i want them to.

If you think about it you can pray with me that God will calm my spirit when things escalate between the kids and that i can be the kind of mother that HE wants me to be.

How is that for a bright cheery post...ha :)

We did enjoy a day at the park on Monday. The kids were out of school and it was 65 degrees mid January, can't beat that! AND, they actually got along for a good portion of the day...

they do love each other, they really do...i just have to remind them that they do...

my pre-teen who hijacks my phone....and begs for a phone because all almost all of her friends have them. Just not happening!!

Even while writing this post i have been reminded that i just need to get on my knees, i haven't been spending enough time there!

The party

I have been pretty slow getting blog posts on lately! When i start having a few of them pile up then i get a little quicker to get the oldest one on. It must be winter, yea i will blame it on that...i seem to be less motivated during the winter. Anyway....

On Trey's birthday he picked his favorite dinner at home and we had Grandpa and Grandma Seaba over to help celebrate his actual day.

Grandpa and Grandma

later that night he had his annual spankings and pinch to grow on...

pretty sure Ethan was excited about seeing his brother get spanked :)

Then on Friday night he had his party. We fed the boys at Pizza Street and then walked over and all the boys played laser tag

They had a blast! We (the girls) were able to watch from a viewing point and Avery decided that she wants to do the same thing for her birthday. The boys are all Star Wars fanatics so they all sacked out in the living room watching The Clone Wars.

Trey, Bradon, Dylan and Austin...cousin, second cousin and a good buddy who since he is a cousin to Trey's cousin (yes that was confusing to them when they were younger) i think they have just declared themselves cousins :)

#Thirteen

I don't know quite how it is possible that we are parents to a teenager but sure enough we are! Trey Michael Seaba was born 13 years ago on January 12, 1999. Michael Jordan retired for the first time on the day as well~ a tidbit for your day. He was born at 8:12 pm and he weighed in at 8lb 12.7 oz. I told Trey that i think 12 is clearly his lucky number! You can't really tell in this picture but his hair went all the way down his neck. I loved all that hair!

By 3 months old his hair was a little unruly and he finally got his first cut! We were helping with the teens at Elm Grove when this picture was taken...

Trey's favorite things when he was little were his Thomas trains! We still have a whole toy bench full of all of the trains that he collected!

When Daddy first got his motorcycle Grandma found this little motorized cycle for Trey. He loved it!

all boy for sure...

In 6th grade he went out for cross country and realized that he really enjoys running! I of course was thrilled with his love for the sport but try not to push as i want it to be something he loves to do...so far, it seems that basketball and running are his two favorite sports with running being his top pick (according to him).

He has grown into such a great young man with a great sense of humor and a giggle that is very contagious! He keeps busy with eating everything he can find in the house, drawing, writing, playing with star wars figures and eating some more! I'm excited to see where he goes in life! Happy Birthday Trey! Dad and Mom are very proud of you and love you very much!

New year's eve

For New Year's eve we got together with all of my siblings except for my oldest brother who was out of town and allowed us to all have our shin-dig at their house. We ate a LOT, played games, went for a run to finish up my miles that i was trying to for the year (nothing like saving it for the last minute)

the kids always come up out of the basement all dressed up in the endless supply of dress up clothes...

later in the evening they all settled down and watched a movie. i caught raegan all cuddled up with her cousin maggie~sweet~

raegan and brooklyn waiting to bring in the new year...

Happy New Year 2012! I caught Daddy giving Raegan a smoocher...yea, he gave me one too

and guess who once again just couldn't hold out for that ball to drop... he tries hard but when a boy needs his sleep it just wins over

I hope you new year is all that you hope for!

Christmas Day 2011

Since Christmas Day was on a Sunday this year and all but one family was in Hutchinson, all of the cousins sang "Away in the Manger" during the service at my Dad's church. They did a good job! I snapped a quick picture of the kids after the service because when they are with cousins, getting them all in one place is next to impossible! They each have their little age group of cousins that they run off with.

one of the kids tables for Christmas lunch

Daddy and Raegan

the cousins ready for presents!

Ethan and his super hero cape

I went out at the beginning of the weekend and bought a 1,000 piece puzzle. It sounded like a nice relaxing thing to work on over the weekend. It was! We put it in a room in the back part of the house that my Grandma lives in and i think just about everyone took their turn working on it! It was a lengthy task of putting it together...i learned that my husband and my brother John are real puzzle enthusiasts, something i did not know! :)

my brother and husband were doing the honors of finishing it up with some help from others...i think they each had at least 3 of the final pieces hidden in their pockets to be the last piece but in the end they saved the last piece for me to put in...

We had a great Christmas. Loved the mild weather and got to go on some runs with my sister and my brother in law.

We came home early in the week and then celebrated with the Seaba side of the family on that following Friday. I forgot my camera which really irked me but i do have some pictures that John took with his phone...so once we figure out how to get them uploaded (we were having some technical difficulty, something that is not too uncommon in our house :))i will have to post a few of those.

Can't believe Christmas and New Years has come and gone...this year is flying!

7th grade strings

I do have a borrowed camera now thanks to my mom so i will be snapping pictures again soon but in the mean time i thought i would post this picture of my handsome 7th grader. He has been playing the viola since 5th grade and has said that he wants to move on next year so that he can take more electives (strings is all year so it would allow him to take another two electives) That is yet to be determined (if he will be quitting) but he has enjoyed his several years in strings and now his younger sister is trying to talk him in to continuing so that they can play together one of these days.

He is playing on a basketball league with some friends of his. They have their first game tomorrow.

He is taking a class called stage craft this semester and thinks he is really going to enjoy it (making props, stage lighting, ect.)

He loves to write! He will sit down and write 15 pages of a story at a time, he says he just get's "in the mood to write".

His art teacher from this last semester said he is very artistic. He really enjoyed art. That has all been passed on from Daddy because i don't have an artistic bone in my body!

He is counting the days down till next Thursday when he becomes...gasp....a teenager!

He is helping his dad with one of his side jobs right now and his dad is paying him so he is pretty happy about that...he is always looking for ways to earn money!

A photographer came to school and photographed the strings players and then they had some for sale at his concert. I was away and unable to go but his Dad picked this one up and i loved it...