Life as a Leach

I'm always so good at blogging during hosputalizations--not so good once we get home!!  I seem to hit the ground running and jump right back into things, which is stressful and taxing!   My mom and Dad did a ton of work at the house before we came home, which was amazing!  Dad even recaulked our bathroom and it looks great!  Have I said recently that my parents are awesome?! Matt and I had been discussing selling Abby's loft for a while because of her mobility, but we didn't want to upset her.  She knows her limits and decided she couldn't get up there safely, so that made the decision easy.  We picked out some pretty white furniture and I got to work today selling her old stuff!  I can't wait to redo her room. For right now, Abby is sleeping on the crib mattress on the floor.  Chloe thinks it's her bed!   On Friday evening, we finally celebrated Christmas with the 4 of us.  We even had them sit at the top of the stairs like always! ...

We enjoyed our day today as we celebrated Christmas, even though we were sad to be away from family.  Thanks to FaceTime, we were able to spend time together anyway!     Matt and Caleb come over early this morning with the gifts that Santa brought to RMH. The kids were so excited about their gifts!  We only brought a few of the gifts from us here because of space concerns, but that just means Christmas will last that much longer! Caleb's favorite gift from Santa was a Lego Mars set that shoots alien pods out through tubes.   He also got several other Lego sets, the complete set of Harry Potter movies, and the new Fantastic Beasts book.     Abby's favorite gift from Santa was a bike for her American Girl dolls.  It was all she talked about and Santa did not disappoint!  She also got several Lego sets, a dancing ballerina Barbie, and a book that is all about American Girl dolls.  We let her pick a few small things to keep here in her room ...

From our family to yours! May your holiday be filled with fun, family, and Jesus! Love,  The Leach Family

While illness tried its best to mess with our holiday plans, we all ended up being healthy enough to celebrate with family! The highlight of MY day was watching Caleb's reaction to getting a Kindle.  He really didn't think he was getting one, and he actually cried when he saw it.  He was so grateful and excited!  It was very sweet. Abby got an American girl doll named Marie Grace, along with a doll bed and a doll table/chairs.  She was thrilled and her two dolls are snug in their new bed as we speak! Other highlights for Caleb: * several awesome Lego sets he is looking forward to putting together * all of the Star Wars movies on dvd * an under armour MD shirt * lots of new books to read! Other highlights for Abby: * lots of doll clothes for her new doll * a spinny swing that we hung from the treehouse * a Frozen microphone * Chapstick with her name on it! (It's always fancier with your name on it!) I was so surprised and excited to get a lovely Pandora bracelet with ...

The day after Christmas, we left early in the morning to make the drive down to North Carolina to spend a few days with Matt's family.  The kids were great on the trip, which gave us hope for our even longer drive to Florida this summer! The kids had lots of fun playing with their cousins!  While a house full of seven kids under the age of nine can get a bit loud (especially when five of the seven are boys!) everybody behaved generally well and Grammy and Pop's house remained unscathed...I think! Abby followed E around like a puppy.  It was really cute!  I think E wished Abby was a little older so that she could play with her more, but they had a good time.  Emma even read Abby a few books, which Abby loved. Grammy gave E and Abby matching outfits for Christmas!  Abby loved being twins with her cousin! Caleb read E's new Ninjago book to him during a rare quiet moment. Cousin love (minus G, who was asleep in his stroller!) ...

I'm not sure why we thought it would be a piece of cake to get a picture of a large extended family group with 11 kids in it, but we tried!  Little did I know that my own immature  silly husband would be the biggest problem because of his antics during the photo session!!  (Those pictures were quickly deleted!) This picture represents my grandmother's family:  our matriarch (Helen), her three kids and their spouses (Judy and Ben, Tom and Rosemary, and Dotty and Darryl), five grandchildren and their spouses (Mary Susan and Chris, T and Karen, Ben and Mary, Amy and Bruce, and Matt and me), and 11 1/2 great grandchildren (Owen, Clara, Andrew, Sara, Caleb, Jacob, Hannah, Anna, Abby, Lily, Lucy, and soon-to-be-born baby Thomas!)  Shew...I think I got everyone! The great-grandkids, ages 1-10 While this photo shoot wasn't the easiest, I'm grateful for my close-knit family and the sweetness of our time together a few days before Christmas.  My kids ...

I'm sorry for the delay in Christmas posts!  We were obviously busy Christmas day, and then we left early the day after Christmas to spend a few days with Matt's family in North Carolina.  We got back late Saturday night to a huge mess of luggage, Christmas presents, and laundry, which we slowly waded through over the last few days. I've got lots of pictures to show you, but I'm going to do it in a few different posts.  For now, here's Christmas morning! In case you didn't know, Christmas was a little different this year.  The kids are getting an amazing Ewok-style treehouse.  It has a hatch and a door that leads to a walkway and patio.  While it's not quite done yet (it was supposed to be done in time for Christmas, so we are hoping that it will be completed very soon!), the kids are very excited and have already played in it a bit.  We're waiting on shingles, the siding, and the walkway railing to be done, along with a few other details.  It...

The preschool where Abby and Anna go had an adorable little Christmas program.  The kids sang a few songs, played their bells, and enjoyed some treats! Of course, Abby and Anna were side by side.  Double trouble! The both kept talking to Lucy in the audience. Proof that Abby sang.  :) Anna started trying to think of ways she could get into trouble... ...and decided to just take a step off of the stage.  Abby was quick to say, "Ah, ah, ah!  No, no, no!" and attempt to pull her back to her spot. The pastor shared a little story with the kids.  He started talking about presents, and Abby jumped up and gasped, "I have presents TOO!" complete with dramatic hand motions.  It was pretty cute! Making smiley faces at Lucy Her hot date, apparently.   I loved every minute!

Every year, Caleb and Abby have an Advent Calendar where there's a special activity or treat for each day of December until Christmas.  One day it could be going to look at Christmas lights, the next day we might do a little craft, and another day Caleb might find out he can buy a $5 book from the book fair at school.  (Since Abby is still little, some of the activities are more geared toward Caleb for now, but she can do a lot of them too!) The other day, the day's treat was making a gingerbread house.  This is a tradition that Caleb has just loved throughout the years, and I think Abby really enjoyed it this year too! Since Abby was really into the decorating this year, I had to have a little talk with Caleb about letting Abby decorate her part of the house the way she wanted!  He was actually really good about it (I was a little surprised!) and we really didn't have any issues! The finished product!

Christmas 2011 Christmas 2012 Christmas 2013

A local nursery has a great holiday display, complete with cookies, crafts, stories, and free  pictures with Santa!  When you have a kid with a Santa track record like Abby's, you're all about free! We had good success with the winter scene, so we headed over to Santa.  Abby chatted with him for quite a while and was very happy.  Then came time for the dreaded picture sitting on Santa's lap.  Yep, that did it.  So...here's a picture of the kids with Santa...and me.   Then we wrote letters to Santa and mailed them to the North Pole, just in case he forgot what they asked for! It was a fun afternoon!