Sunday at Home

Church was cancelled today due to the furnace being out and the building being 43 degrees.  We've enjoyed our day at home.  Wish every day was like this!

 



Rachel Videos

These are really entirely for grandparents.  We were lucky enough to see grandparents in August, September, October, and November.  I am SO glad that all four grandparents got to see her when she was still so new and small.  But, now she is growing up and changing so quickly and it makes me sad that they won't be seeing her again until June, by then she could be crawling!  So, without further adieu, here is darling Rachel, who while I type this is pooping.  This next diaper is on Richard.  :)

 

 



 

 

The Week In Pictures

Rachel has been our main highlight this week, or so it appears.  I have been making a concerted effort to take more pictures and videos of this little girl.  She has not disappointed. 

 

She may not weigh a lot but she still has some chunky thighs.

More deer friends, five this time!

 

These two spent a morning playing doctor.



The king and princess of the Leake house.

Speaking of kings, Marshall and I have been talking about Martin Luther King.  Clearly, I have not done a good job telling Marshall about him because I have gotten the following questions from Marshall:

 

"Did Martin Luther King have a knight?  You know, like kings have?"

"How big was Martin Luther King's castle?"

 

I have told him about 20 times that King was his last name like our last name is Leake.  He's not making the connection.  :) 

 

Marshall has spent the last day and a half as King Marshall with a castle in Texas.  :)



Still working on tummy time.  Don't be fooled, this happiness only lasts about 90 seconds.



It is a family affair around here.



After school we went to Discovery World and Marshall got to use this flight simulator.  He loved it!





Marshall was pretty thrilled with the football exhibit.



Bridget on her ship, ie. Izzy steering Bucky. 



Mom of the Year Award right here:  I made dinner tonight, waffles, always a hit.  Marshall protested, said he wanted Ramen noodles instead, I refused to make them, so he took matters into his own hands.  Found the Ramen and ate them dry.  He did all this while wearing his crown and coat.

 The night ended on a good night though.  Look at that happy face.

 





Freeze Please

Life is real good right now, and if I could, I would freeze all five of us in this phase of life.

 

This baby girl just rolled over for the first time on Wednesday.  We've all been cheering her on.

 

Sure, there are things I don't love, like Richard averaging 70 hour work weeks lately, Marshall hitting Bridget, Bridget throwing a few good tantrums every day, and Rachel waking up at least two times a night.  Yes, those things I could do without, but there is so much more that I surely love. 

 

I love catching Marshall talking to Rachel and telling her that she is five months old and he is five years old.

 

I love the endless amount of questions Marshall has for me every day. 

 

I love listening to Bridget play with her Jake toys.  I love the way she ways "Ahoy!"

 

I love Rachel's huge open mouth smiles.  I really giggle every time I see one.

 

I love listening to Marshall and Bridget talk to each other at night after we've tucked them in.

 

I love that Marshall wants a hug every morning before he walks into his classroom.

 

I love the crazy voice that Bridget uses to talk to Rachel.

 

I love that Rachel lets me kiss her squishy cheeks at least a hundred times a day.

 

I feel like after five months I have finally settled into an excellent routine of daily life for our little family.  I've let a lot go, and for the most part, I don't worry about those little things any more.  Instead, I find myself sitting down more to play with my kids, giving extra cuddles, and kissing the cheeks of my baby who is growing way too quickly.

 

I had an excellent, excellent Christmas break with my kids.  I loved having us all together with no where to go.  We played, we relaxed, and life was good.  I was thrilled when school was cancelled for two days last week; I really did relish those extra two days I had with my three kids together.  A few days ago I started thinking about Marshall being in school for a full-day come September and Bridget starting preschool.  Although I am excited for both of them and the things that lay ahead, I don't want those experiences to come.  I like that I have these three around me and usually underfoot for most of the day.  I love that even though Marshall and Bridget are becoming more independent, they still need me and want me for so much.  One day this is going to all be behind me, and I know I'll be happy then too, but man, these are some good days we are having.



Negative Temperatures

We've had two days of miserably cold temperatures, along with the rest of the Midwest.  School has been cancelled the last two days, which in all honesty, I have been thrilled about.  Here's what we've been up to since we've been home bound for the last 48 hours...

 

Admiring the ice on the INSIDE of our windows each morning.

Dragging the entire bedroom out to the living room.

Listening to the "Pete The Cat" books about ten times each.

Conducting science experiments.  One bowl in the freezer, one bowl outside.  In 75 minutes the water in the bowl outside had frozen solid.  The one in the freezer was just frozen on top.

 



Admiring our deer friends.  We usually see these three (can you spot them all?!) at least once a day. 

Celebrating a five month old birthday!  We got out the exersacuer to celebrate.  It was a big hit...with all three kids.

I love this picture.  She is so small compared to them!

Playing "Pirate Princess".

 

And making our own snow!!!  We tried this today and it really did work!  We did not document it though because Marshall was refusing to go outside, can't say that I blame him, and I did not trust Bridget with either the camera or the boiling water.  :)  It was SWEET though!



Matchy-Matchy

Santa brought these two girls matching dresses.  Santa in this case is Richard.  He can be quite the shopper, even for his daughters.

 

 

Goodness I love these two.



The Football Fan

Marshall has REALLY gotten into football this year.  He has quickly caught on to the vocabulary of the game.  He loves to watch the games with Richard and he gets a great workout in as well.  He really does this for the entire first half. 

 



I love how he says Auburn.  Too bad they didn't win. 

 

 



BYU vs. Loyola

On Friday night Richard and Marshall drove down to Chicago to watch the BYU men's volleyball team play Loyola.  Richard really got into men's volleyball when we were at BYU and our weekend evenings usually consisted of going to the games during their season.  He hasn't been to a game since we left Provo so when he saw they were going to be in Chicago he couldn't pass it up. 

 

Sadly, they lost in just three matches.  Richard was bitterly disappointed, but Marshall had the time of his life.  They were able to sit on the 4th row and Marshall is still talking about how high those guys could jump and how hard they hit the ball. 

 



Betty Brinn Museum

The kids and I did venture out once during Christmas break.  We spent a day at the Betty Brinn Children's Museum.  It was a madhouse, but I had prepared myself for that, so I handled it well.  We packed a lunch and spent hours there.  Marshall and Bridget had a great time.  Rachel was an angel and just hung out and slept in the carseat.

 



My little pit crew.

This car is Marshall's sole reason for visiting the museum.  He loves being the mechanic.  Too bad he can't fix our cars now!

Speedy Little Devil

This is a MAJOR back-track, like all the way back to September, and it is a MAJOR brag, I'm not going to lie.

 

 

 

Marshall's school had a Run4It fundraising event the end of September.  It was held during school and each grade got 20 minutes on the track to run/walk and family and friends could pledge money for each lap that was completed.  I was a volunteer for the event and I am still kicking myself that I did not even think to bring my camera.  As soon as I saw these 18 little junior kindergarten kids walking in a single file line from the school to the track all wearing matching, oversized Run4It t-shirts with papers to track the laps clipped to the back of their shirts I instantly regretted not having my camera.  Oh well, moving on...

 

These kids were lined up on the track and the bell sounded to kick off their 20 minutes.  Immediately all 18 kids took off running.  Marshall and his cute friend Gian (a little Filipino boy who has to be a whole head shorter than Marshall) quickly moved to the front of the pack.  My job was to mark their cards as soon as they finished each lap so I was right there to give Marshall a high five and cheer him on.  Marshall and Gian just kept sticking with each other and never, ever stopped running.  It wasn't long before they started lapping kids.  After Marshall completed his fourth lap I told him he had just ran an entire mile.  Another mom by me said, "He just ran a mile?  Its only been nine minutes!"  I went from being thrilled to being elated.  My five year old had just run a mile in nine minutes! 

 

It was shortly after this that Gian started to lag behind, but he never stopped running.  Marshall did the next three laps all by himself.  He never walked once.  In the end Marshall ran seven laps in 18 1/2 minutes.  He and Gian were the only ones who ran the entire time.  Marshall ran the most laps out of all the junior kindergarten kids and he got to wear this Run4It crown for a day at school. 

 

I might be more thrilled with this accomplishment than Marshall is.  Really, just typing this I am beaming.  He can be my little running partner this summer and I'll be trying to keep up with him!  Maybe I'll have him push the double stroller.  :)



Marshall's Christmas Concert

The week before Christmas Marshall's class had a mini-Christmas program.  They just sang three songs, but it was adorable!  Marshall has suddenly blossomed into a fantastic singer and I am so thrilled.  I really give all this credit to my sweet friend who does the music in primary at church each week.  Marshall seems to have weaseled his way into her sweet heart and she has really helped him come out of his singing shell.  Anyway, back to the school program, he did great and I am so proud of him.

 

All these darling kids waiting to be put in their spot.

All of these songs were darling.  I hadn't heard any of them before.  Cute lyrics and fun actions.

Marshall and his CRAZY faces.



This darling girl just might be Marshall's future wife.  We met her and her family the week before school and they have become best little buddies at school.  Marshall really does talk about marrying her.

And just a couple of videos for the grandparents...

 





 



An Unconvential Lesson

A few weeks ago we had the missionaries over for dinner.  At the end they shared a message with us as they always do.  But, this was not just a regular old message, read a scripture, and talk about it.  This involved acting and Nerf guns.  Missionaries are still teenage boys.  :) 

 

They took us through the story of Samuel the Lamanite.  Marshall will surely always remember this story now.

 

Marshall was Samuel standing on the wall, who also happens to be Elder Wahl.  :)  The football had nothing to do with it.  :)

Everyone else was the Nephites shooting Samuel with Nerf guns.

Memorable Evening.



Church Christmas Party

Anna and I pulled together our church Christmas party in two weeks.  We kept it simple and low-key, but it was a definite success.  The kids were thrilled to see Santa and Bridget and Max proved to be adorable little trouble-makers. 

 

Crazy kid.  Thank goodness this was empty when he got his hands on it.

A blurry Bridget making a run for it on the stage.  She and Max decided to hijack the primary singing and put on the elf hats and run around the stage yelling, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" 

Despite some laughter from the primary kids because of Bridget and Max, they kept it together and sang their song.  Marshall was the first one to hold up his sign and he did great!  He sang so loud and we were so proud of him. 

The mischievous elves.



Benson and Marshall.  Still "drinking" out of the soda bottle.

Suddenly so shy.