Winterjam

Last Friday i snatched Avery from school a little early, dropped the other kids off at home and she and i headed down the the Sprint Center for Winterjam! My sister and her daughter didn't get in last year before they closed the doors so we went with a plan b for the night but once we got there and joined my sister in line we were pretty confident we would get in since we were right outside the doors! :) This was the line behind us...

Avery was excited to get to hang out with one of her friends that she doesn't get to see too much during the winter months. They had so much fun dancing, screaming and of course singing! (and playing with their popcorn)

The night included...Newsong, Building 429, For God and Country, Kari Jobe, Sanctus Real, Peter Furler (mine and Avery's favorite), and Skillet (Avery's least favorite of the night because "they are just too over the top, mom") and more that i am sure i am leaving out.

I had so much fun with my girl. We will be doing it again for sure! I think some of the rest of the family might join us next year too!

Strings festival

Last Thursday both Trey and Avery participated in the ONW Strings Festival.

This was their first concert together and will probably be their last.

The fifth graders got to spend the whole afternoon there practicing and eating pizza

Avery is loving playing the violin. She is very happy she switched from the flute.

She is a goofball...

The concert included 5th grade through high school. They all performed separately and then they all performed a song together which sounded great!

This was the 6th and 7th graders

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If you have commented on my blog and it doesn't show up, i promise i am not deleting them. Several comments have disappeared and i have no idea why. Not sure what's going on...probably a glitch...

Valentines Day

Again, behind on my blogs...

Last week for Valentines Day i went and partied with the kindergartners in the morning...

sweets of course...

a little bingo...

a cute craft...

And then in the afternoon it was back to the 5th grade party. I didn't get very good pictures of Avery. She was having a rough day and wasn't really in the mood for pictures but i did snap a couple of the games...

piecing a cereal box cover together...

When John got home from work i went on a run and when i got home this was on the table. The sweetest thing was that half of this dozen were for Avery. I think her Daddy accomplished making her feel special!

We went out as a family for dinner and then we snuck (ok not really snuck) out a little later just the two of us after the younger kids were in bed (there are some perks to having a teenager in the house!) It was a very nice Valentines Day. Thankful for my family and love them all very much!

Big Sis/Little Sis

We had to make a trip to the mall tonight to pick up a little something for some 13 year old who may or may not have a valentine this year. Avery was being extremely sweet with her younger siblings and wanted to spend some of her money on them.

We stopped by the store that is any 11 yr old girl's dream...Claire's! She bought Ethan a light up bouncy ball and she bought her and Raegan necklaces with a heart that fit together. Her part says big sis and Raegan's says little sis.

The best part of the night for me was watching Raegan on the escalators. It is so obvious we don't frequent the mall since that girl was born! Oh and next best was her little stop off at the Abercrombie little "porch" while she took the opportunity since the music was loud to "get down" and dance!

We then came home and got the kid's valentines ready to take to school. I really like nights like tonight! All except for the late night homework that neither Avery nor Mom understands...thank goodness for relatives that are good at math...this time we made a late night call to Grandpa Neir and he saved the night from complete melt down disaster! Thanks Grandpa!

Random

Haven't had much to blog about the last week or so. Just been keeping busy with life in general! Between my two jobs and John's hours, plus side jobs that he is still working on it seems like we just never slow down!

I have always been one to be always on the go. I never used to want to stay home. Now, i crave a night at home with absolutely nothing to do! Anytime we get one of those nights we take full advantage...i'm still waiting on one!

Here are some random pictures that i have snapped over the last week...the only pictures i have taken in the last week so it wasn't hard to choose...

Daddy helped Ethan with one of his 100th day of school projects. 100 cheerios!

I came in to our room last night and saw this. I thought it was pretty sweet... they were watching a Star Wars cartoon...

Raegan, Raegan Raegan...and all her "messes"! Beside the nickname "tornado" she has also become "the bag lady" Any empty container, bag box, laundry basket, item that holds things she will fill up with "stuff" quicker than you can blink! We always know where to look for missing items. They are usually packed into one of her bags! She usually is the culprit of all things missing around the house and many times will take us right to it but a lot of times just can't seem to remember what she did with it! One of my biggest pet peeves is clutter and all of her bags of stuff to me = clutter so i don't handle it quite as well as i should and empty them just as fast as i can. I do allow her to have one little bag of "stuff by her bed so i have started just consolidating all things from other bags into that bag.

Please tell me i am not the only one who cannot keep my couch pillows the one place they belong! They are CONSTANTLY on the floor and it drives me batty! They are weapons, stepping stones, parts of forts...you name it!

Well i am off to help supervise Raegan to clean up her mess...she get's very overwhelmed and says "but i need help". I remember Avery going through this stage and having to teach her to just do one thing at a time. Avery does super at cleaning now so there is hope for my little bag lady!

Celebrating

Avery was chomping at the bit to get home and open her birthday box on her day...

so she wasn't thrilled when we had to make a stop off at Walmart and even less thrilled when while at Walmart we got a call from Trey and he has missed his bus to Crown Center for his Orchestra trip. We FINALLY made it home after being stuck in traffic for awhile on the way home.

Avery does not like cake. She took brownies for her class treat and just wanted ice cream for her candles at home.

and of course she had to have her spankings and a pinch to grow on...

Then on Friday she had her party with her friends. It was pizza Street and Laser tag. After watching Trey play on his birthday she had decided that is what she wanted to do with her friends. They played four games and had a great time!

crazy girls

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!