Merry Christmas, on this eve of our Saviors Birth! The Leeke home is brimming with Christmas spirit. Boys are all tucked into their beds, stockings are standing by the chimney, gifts are waiting under the tree. Today, we delivered homemade sweet gifts to our neighbors (the one's that were at home), we hope to finish that task tomorrow, we even had one of our neighbors over for dinner. I am even about to put together a crockpot breakfast casserole for us to enjoy tomorrow morning. It seems as though Christmas has snuck up on us this year, there weren't enough weekends to get ready for the BIG day. Amidst all of this hustle and bustle, and our eldest son's special requests for gifts, it has dawned on me that we have made this holiday about everything that is not important. Thankfully, Jared's preschool has been teaching the true Christmas story to our sweet boy, and we have tried to reinforce that here at home. It certainly does make me sad that kids have become so demanding of certain gifts and requesting that Santa give them everything that they want, and this is all just replayed on tv shows, commercials, and even in the stores with strangers. My prayer for my family as well as yours, is that we all celebrate and appreciate the true reason for this season. God sent us the most perfect gift, in his son, Jesus. The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, born in a stable...just a baby, God in the flesh. AMAZING! For God so loved the world (US), that he gave his one and only son, so that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. THAT is the true meaning of Christmas. Don't miss it!

Kitchen Help

So, I recently did something that I know several of my friends have been doing for years, but I never wanted to do for fear of a crazy mess or horrible accident. I let Jared help me cook dinner. Yes, my 3 year old, helped me with it. We made chili, he peeled the onion, he poured the canned products into the pot, he stirred, etc. He even tasted the sweet peppers that I put into the pot....and he liked them. WOAH! I never thought that by letting my child help me cook, I would be introducing him to new foods to try. Jared was even more willing to taste his creation at the dinner table. This attempt at cooking with him was a complete success, no wounds, no extra mess, and it kept him occupied while I was cooking. BEST. IDEA. EVER.

It's hard to believe that it has been almost 6 months since my last post. Life certainly does pass by quickly. The boys are growing up so fast. Jared started 3k at school, has a great teacher and is learning so much. Jacob is talking and running everywhere. We are savoring every moment we can with them. Thanksgiving was this last week, Josh's family was here to celebrate with us. We have now decorated for Christmas. Below are a few pics of our life over the last 6 months...enjoy!

Our new home came complete with a lot of leaves. So, the boys decided to have fun while daddy worked.

Along with school, came new disciplines that we have had to start. Jared is a class clown, and in order to keep him in line, I instituted a "good behavior" jar. When I catch him doing good, or if he has a great day at school, he gets a cotton ball. After 2 months of this, he filled it up...so a trip to his favorite place was in order...

Monkey Joes, is where he wanted to go, and Mimi and Gpa took him there, he had a ton of fun!

Great photo of Aunt Nae, Jared decided to be silly and Jacob is just admiring his big brother.

This what entertains my boys while I cook. They put on this dog backpack and act like they are walking a dog. Sometimes they walk themselves! HAHA!!

Look at all of those teeth. Jacob has been a fussy teether, hopefully he will get all of his teeth soon, and we can all rest easier.

 

 

Well, thats all for now. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and hope that you will have an equally grand Christmas!

While we were gone...

At the beginning of June, Josh and I drove to TN to drop off our boys, then we flew to St. Thomas for a nice, relaxing 5 day sebatical. It was a celebration of our 10 year anniversary this past December. Here are a few photos:

Yes, it was as beautiful as it looks. And, yes those are our neighbors (crabs and iguanas). While we were gone, Nan and Pa took the boys to get their pics taken together:

Well, together and separate. We had a great time away from all of the hussle and bussle of life, but it sure is nice to be back in the swing of things....chasing after these two crazy boys!

One Year ago...

For each Birthday that we celebrate, be it our own, or our childs, we are reminded at how quickly time goes by. Our "baby" turned one this month...my how time flew by. He is walking, trying to talk, eating "real" food, drinking from a cup, and the list goes on. I am certainly one blessed momma! Below are pics from Jacobs early Birthday party that we had while in TN:

This boy needs a hair cut badly, but I suppose since he is my last, and my baby, I am finding it hard to get his hair cut. As much as I would like for time to stand still, and boys to stay little forever, I cannot wait to see what his future holds.

Jacob's walking!

Well, we have moved and settled into our new home, and we absolutely love it! We have a few "home-grown" pets that came with the house...lizards, mice, snakes, roosters and cows. Our first night here at the house, Jared woke up to cows across the street. Jared is always asking us to go and visit our new neighbors, and to go outside and play. It is so nice that we have a large yard now for our boys to play in...and neighbors that we don't mind our boys visiting. I am looking forward to the many years that we will have here and watching our boys grow up here.

Tonight, Jacob took his first steps. He walked a few steps (like a Chimp with his arms over his head), we were able to capture a few more of his steps on video, take a look...

Yep, our 10 month old is starting to walk. And he is getting his first tooth, which has been a bit traumatic for him, but he is getting there. I hope that we can entertain all of our friends and family in our new home soon!

Say what??...

Yesterday, was nice and warm, beautiful. Josh even took Jared around the block for a bike ride, it was truly a beautiful day. Our spring bulbs are about to bloom too. Today, it was cold...cold enough to flurry this morning...but nothing special. We took a meal to a friend that had a baby a few weeks ago, Jared played with her daughter (she's in his daycare class), and Jacob slept most of the time. It was fun. We drove home, Jared fell asleep, and Jacob ate lunch. Jacob and I both decided to nap when daddy got home, but he decided to wake me up to look out our window. WOAH! A blizzard outside! We had an inch of snow accumulate in 10 minutes, and then even more after that. Josh went and woke Jared up so he could see it. Jared was so excited...we got his snow suit on and he and Josh had a blast, made a snowman and went sledding. Jared will certainly crash hard tonight, but it was well worth it. Jacob was not as much of a fan...he prefered to admire the snow from inside. Take a look...

What a crazy day, I never thought the predicted snow would actually accumulate, but it sure does look pretty out there. We even get to sleep in a little extra tomorrow morning, church is delayed an hour. One last snow hoorah at our home of 10 years, loved it!

As Time Goes By...

Let's see, what has happened since my last post? We put our house on the market, and 6 days later had a contract, we have found a new home and are under contract on that house, I am frantically pulling together documents to get to our mortgage company, so we can close on March 8th. Yeah, I said March 8th. Jacob just started crawling, he will be 8months old tomorrow and finally started crawling, see video below:

As you can see, Jared is a proud brother, crawling along with Jacob the entire time. So far, they play well together. Jacob also just started clapping his hands, its so cute. I really do enjoy seeing these developments play out with Jacob...I forgot how it all was just a couple years ago.

We will begin Jared's 3rd year in our new home and I am excited and overwhelmed at the same time. I hate not knowing what is going to happen in a few weeks, I am a planner, I need to know these things. But, we know that God is going to lead our way, and we simply need to follow.

Love, The Leeke's