The Leishman Gang: May 2009

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Rylee's dance recital '09

Sorry the quality of the video isn't very good. I wanted to take my big video camera so it would be better, but I didn't get it plugged in in time to have enough battery power so my tiny camera had to do. (Poor time management yesterday) Rylee is on the far left. I tried to do my best to get her the most without her teachers head in the way and not being in the way of others behind me. It was quite the juggle. Enjoy!

Last two days of school

Wednesday and Thursday were Rylee's last two days of Kindergarten. She was very sad and already misses her best friend, Eowyn, and her teacher, Mrs. Vincent. She likes to look at these pictures often. What a funny girl. She makes me smile the way she loves people in her life sooo much!

On Wednesday, her class had an award ceremony that we were invited to. Unfortuneatly, as I was deleting pics on my camera, I accidently deleted the pic I took of her teacher handing her the folder of awards she had earned. I know! I could just die! (sigh)

Anyway, she did such a good job. Here is a list of the awards that she earned:

Outstanding Achievement in Phonics
Outstanding Achievement in Reading (she read 117/120 words)
The Principal's Award in recognition of Outstanding Homework
Citizenship Award
Certificate of Award for Oral Phonograms
Certificate of Appreciation
Certificate of Award for Math Facts
"I Can Count To 100" Award
Franklin Certificate of Reading
A Yellow Ribbon for reading 50 books since March
Kindergarten Graduation

She is such a good student. Her teacher called each student to the front of the classroom to present them with their awards and said a few special things about them. She said that Rylee is very talented in art and loves to create. Of course, we already knew that but it's fun to hear other people recognize talents in your children. Mrs. Vincent called her their "resident artist" because one of her paintings was chosen for the Kindergarten bulletin in the lobby of the school. We asked for the painting after school was over and now she proudly displays it on the fridge. I think I may frame it and use it somewhere in the house.

We are so proud of how much Rylee has learned. It is fun to see where she started at the beginning of the year learning the sounds to all the letters and two-letter phonograms to writing and illustrating her own books. I love it! We can't wait for next year (especially me. three months can be a long time in hot, hot, hot Arizona!)

Dance Recital

Rylee had her dance recital last night and it was really fun to watch her and her little friends. We tried out a new teacher this year and Rylee really loved her. For her hair, I had decided to put her back in two cute little messy buns since it's so short and difficult to pull back. But, then she came home with chopsticks and a piece of paper explaining that we were to put thier hair in ONE bun with the chopsticks. WHAT!? Rylee's hair is very curly and quite difficult to manage and refuses to stay in one pony, let alone a bun. So, we got creative. I was pretty impressed with my ability to combine a couple of different hairstyles into one in order to get her hair to cooperate. We were successful! It didn't fall out till we got home!

Rylee did a really good job (naturally) at her recital and we are very proud of her ability to memorize and perform. I will upload a video when I can figure out how to find it on my computer, so look for it in the future.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Girls Night Out Anyone?

I saw this event on one of those morning shows and it looks like fun! I think it's a free event on thursday for a girls night out. I was thinking about going but don't want to go alone. Anyone interested? HERE is a link with more info.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Cole is 4 today!

Time has flown by so fast. I love looking at all the old pictures of my little boy when he was just a baby. I don't have any of his baby pics on my computer to post so the first one starts when he was just one-year-old. These are some of my favorite pics of him growing up, just a few among many, many, of course. Cole is such a special little boy. He is very sweet and constantly tells me that he loves me (all mothers should have little boys). He still likes to snuggle with me and then play hard and rough with his daddy. He loves, loves, loves all things ninja turtles (you can see in his interview) and looks forward to starting pre-school in the fall. I am so proud of the little boy that he is and the person he is becoming. Happy Birthday Cole! We love you!

Cole's Birthday Interview

1. What is your favorite color?

"blue"

2. What is your favorite number?

"1"

3. What is your favorite letter?

"G, T, R, and O"

4. What is your favorite game to play?

"the ninja turtles game"

5. What is your favorite book to read?

"ninja turtles"

6. Who is your best friend?

"Callie"

7. What do you like to do with mommy?

"help me play ninja turtles"

8. What do you like to do with daddy?

"rough house"

9. What do you like to do with Rylee?

"help her"

10. What do you like to do with Gracie?

"I like it when she does funny things."

11. What is special about being 4?

"I love you. Because I want to be 4."

12. What will be hard about being 4"

"I don't know"

13. What is your favorite things to learn about?

"letters"

14. What is your favorite food?

"ninja turtle cookies"

15. What is your favorite movie?

"ninja turtles"

16. What is your favorites song?

"ninja turtles" (the theme song)

17. What is your favorite chore/responsibility?

"feeding the dog"

18. What is your favorite candy?

"rainbow licorice"

19. What is your favorite thing to do?

"go to the playground"

20. What is your favorite toy?

"my ninja turtle toys"

ANYBODY SEE A THEME WITH THIS INTERVIEW!!!??? I LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

My Two Mom's

I have been overwhelmingly blessed to have two mom's.

My first mom, the one who gave birth to me, is very special to me. I admire her strength and courage to attend church as a youth when her family no longer desired to. I admire the leap of faith she took when she married my dad and decided to have a family at a very young age with little support. I admire the generosity she shows to those around her in so many different ways. I admire her determination to have relationships with all her family members and to let them know how much she loves, cares, and thinks about them. I admire the selflessness she has shown through all the years I have known her, giving up things she wanted to do or to have for the good of her family. I admire her humility and desire to always strive to do just a little better than the day before. I admire the bottomless pit of love she has had for me and all my siblings, even when it was difficult to love us. I admire my mother for the person she has been, the person that she is, and the person that she is becoming. I couldn't ask for anyone better to be my mom than my own.

I love you mom.

Second, is my mother-in-law. I have only known her for eight or nine years, but I have learned so much from her. She has become a close friend and someone I can count on to support and lift me up. She has given me one of my most treasured gifts, her son. She has served, sacrificed, worked hard, loved, taught, and much, much more in order to give me a husband that no one really deserves to have. He is a tribute to who and what she is and I love her so much for that. Thank you!

Happy Mother's Day to my two moms!

My Mother's Day Gift

Last Christmas, my friend Becki got this really neat necklace from her husband. I fell in love with the concept and told Justin that I had to have one. Maybe for Mother's Day? Well, he didn't forgot. He was very sneaky handing off money in exchange for the necklace right in front of me and managed to keep it secret untill this morning. I was so surprised and couldn't be more thrilled with my gift. Thank you so much, babe, for such an awesome gift. I can't wait to add one more tiny circle at the top in December!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Party video

You can see a short video clip of Cole's party where he sports some of his cool ninja moves at the end (HERE)

(This little boy needs karate lessons. Hopefully someday soon)

Oh! And to answer Jinny's question:

Ninja turtles started in my house when my mom was visiting one day and had brought the newly released movie. Cole loved it so for Christmas, Santa brought him the Ninja Turtle cartoon series. We watch them ALL the time and Cole is often heard singing the theme song (which is constantly stuck in my head). Thanks mom!

Cole's 4th Birthday Party

As you can see, the theme that Cole chose for his birthday party this year is Ninja Turtle. And let me tell ya, it was not an easy thing to find. They haven't been popular for over a decade and the toys were not easy to come by. But, I did it. I managed to find a few toys and come up with a fun party. This cake I am the most proud of. It was actually, physically painful to cut this cake up. I should have made cupcakes for the kids to eat or something and just used the cake as a center piece, but alas, I didn't think of that until it was too late, so the cake had to be cut. Good bye pretty cake and the 2 hours I spend decorating it!

Next, since it was a ninja turtle party, clearly everyone needed masks and belt in order to become true ninjas. For games we were going to play ninja turtle training, but the kids just wanted to run around in the sprinklers so we let them. (video will be uploaded later where you will also get to enjoy Cole's natural ninja abilities)

For food we started with Pizza and green finger jello (ooze). Pretty simple. Then cake, ice-cream, and licorice.

To end the party, the kids got to chase Justin around the yard with grenade shaped water

balloons. We had fun and Cole enjoyed his party. Thanks so much to my very, very, generous friend Shye who let us use and mess up her yard. We appreciate it so much!