Justin's Birthday Date

 

 

 

 

So, for Justin's birthday we had so much fun. We went to our favorite pizza place for dinner called Oreganos where we got a free pizzookie (an giant half-baked cookie with ice-cream on top). Then, we went go-cart racing and got to wear cool costumes with it. We even got free matching t-shirts! How cute! Anyway, we had a lot of fun spending nearly FIVE HOURS alone without the kids. So much fun!

Tempe Town Lake

 

 

 

 

I just love being outside but it's getting way too hot. But, fortuneatly, we have a free water park not far from our house so me and a friend decided to take our kids. As you can see, Rylee and Cole love it, Gracie. . . not so much. She doesn't appreciate the coolness of the water on a hot day. Maybe after a few more months she will find the joy in water. But doesn't she have the cutest crying face!?

Happy Birthday Justin!

Today, Justin turns 29-years-old and he is feeling OLD. He can't believe that this is his last twenty-something year. 30 used to seem so old and here we are approaching it! Time goes by so fast!

So, in honor of Justin's 29th birthday, here are 29 reasons why I fell in love with him nearly 8 years ago!

1. HE'S HOT!
2. He made me feel as if I was the only person in the room, even when we were in a crowd of people.
3. He is a spiritual giant.
4. He made me want to be a better person.
5. He respected my opinions, even if we didn't agree (although we rarely disagree).
6. He was kind to my friends.
7. He would often help my roommates with whatever they needed.
8. He gave up going to ice-cream with his friends to take me to the store to get cold-medicine when I was sick and didn't even tell me what he was missing out on. I found out much later from one of his roommates.
9. He shared his first kiss with me.
10. He can laugh about that first kiss with me.
11. He remembered that I love Cinderella when he went to Disneyworld with his family and brought me back a Cinderella music box.
12. He told me that he loves me for the first time before I told him.
13. He can laugh with me about the circumstances under which he told me that he loves me for the first time.
14. He was happy just hanging out with me and my roommates nearly everyday.
15. When he broke up with me (for the third time) he asked me if he could still call me and tell me that he loves me. (ha-ha, he didn't have a chance).
16. He listens to his parents and takes thier advice.
17. He can laugh with me about a particular piece of advice his mom gave him that he eventually did not take.
18. I knew he would make a great dad and provider for our family.
19. He made me feel as if I were the most beautiful woman in the room (and still does).
20. He appreciates and loves my family.
21. He would help my parents fix things in their house when we would visit, as well as his own parents.
22. We could be comfortable in the silences together.
23. He would always reach for my hand in the car (and still does).
24. I would get goosebumps when he wraps his arms around me (and I still do).
25. He would often have little surprises for me, like showing up unannounced with flowers.
26. He once fixed some things in my car and didn't even tell me about it until I noticed myself and asked if he did it.
27. He tried to help me with my math homework although he wasn't as good as a teacher as he was a learner.
28. He reminded me of my dad.

and the most important reason why I fell in love with Justin is the way that I felt whenever I was with him. I never doubted how he felt about me and wanted to spend every minute with him. I knew he was the kind of person that I wanted to build a family and future with and so I pursued that man as if it were my job. As stated before, he never had a chance!

Happy Birthday, Babe!

Hot Dad!

 

Last week I entered Justin in a "Hot Dad" contest and voting has begun today. It would be really great if everyone who reads this post would vote for him. The first place winner gets a 47" LCD HDTV and Justin really deserves it. Our TV is about to give up any day and he dreads the idea of buying a new one. I thought this would be a really great father's day gift! All you have to do is go to arizonamoms.com and register. It will ask you for a username and your e-mail address and then you just copy some code so they know you're a real person. Then, they will send you an e-mail assigning you a password. When you get that e-mail just forward it to me (if you don't mind) at katrinaleishman@gmail.com and I will go online for you everyday and vote for Justin. We can vote once a day until the 11th and I plan on spending a lot of time on the internet making sure my husband gets as many votes as I can find for him. The picture above is the one to look for if you want to do it yourself. Thanks a ton for your help, and also to those who have already participated!

Don't you know that as soon as I post that I'm having problems posting my videos, I get it to work! Here are the videos of Rylee's dancing. Enjoy the show! And yes, that "Woo!" you hear is Rylee! She's awsome! In the first video Rylee is on the far right and on the next one she is on the left in the back. Adorable! What a talent!

Rylee's Dance Recital

Rylee had her second dance recital last friday and it went fantastic. She loves performing on stage and looks forward to this during the entire year. She had two dances. The first was her tap dance to "Showtime" where they got to use canes as props, so cute. The second was her ballet to "5'2" " (better known as "Has Anybody Seen My Gal). She did so good and at the end her brother gave her a rose and we went out for ice-cream (Leishman tradition). She has so much fun singing and dancing and loves to perform for other people. I think she has just a bit of her Aunt Taryn in her! (Don't we all wish we did!) Anyway, we are so proud of her and love watching her do what she loves. HUGE thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Leishman who make it possible for her to dance these last two years which has also helped her arm tremendously. She can almost raise that arm up by itself! I have videos of her performance but for some reason blogger won't let me put it on here. It's not too big and both are under three minutes. Any suggestions?! If I figure it out I will post them as soon as I do!

Day at the Zoo

 

 

 

 

We spent this memorial holiday doing a lot of shopping, which was, of course, very boring for the kids. So, on on monday we went to the zoo for a few hours and had such a good time. It was such a cool day for Arizona and it was nice to be outside for a bit. These are a few of the fun pics. The kids loved the petting zoo and and the spider web play ground.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Today is my sister's birthday and I want to tell her. . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Sammie has always been a wonderful sister and has become one of my very best friends. I love talking with her and spending time with her whenever I can. These pictures are from her last visit here when we went miniature golfing. Isn't she adorable!

Gracie McKee Leishman

 

Gracie is six-months-old and brings so much joy to our family. She has broken three teeth and I think is working on another, all on the bottom. She crawls around the floor, army style, chasing the dog and often catches him. She loves to try and stick his paws in her mouth to which he gently pulls away and goes somewhere she can't get him. She laughs at just about everything and is happy most of the time, as long as she is rested and fed on time. She is big for her age and I ADORE her chubby cheeks! She has piercing blue eyes that sparkle and she makes me smile everytime I look at her. She has been sleeping through the night pretty good, although occassionally she will wake up and can't find her binkie. She loves being held close to her mommy and smiles HUGE when daddy walks in the door at the end of the day and tries to scoot to him as fast as she can, but since she's not very fast yet, she usually ends up whining for daddy to come to her and pick her up. SHE'S ADORABLE!

Cole McKee Leishman

 

Cole is three-years-old and loves being a boy. He used to love to dress up in Rylee's princess clothes and wear high heels and carry a purse. This, naturally, worried my husband for a bit but he handled it well with gentle reminders from me that he has an older sister and a mom that he spends all day with and is just mimicking what he sees. Well, that has all changed. He now loves to be ninja turtle, turning everything into swords, guns, num-chucks or whatever form a weapon he can come up with. He has a pair of Mr. Incredible pajamas that he wears whenever they are clean. Even after we go out for the day, the first thing he does when we get home is strip down and put on his Mr. Incredible pajamas because "I strong like Mr. Credible." Don't you love it! He is learning his alphabet and recognizes a few of the letters by sight. He can count to ten and is working on counting to 20. He is very smart and learns very quickly. He sings songs that he learns at church and loves to read the scriptures to me. His favorite stories are the ones with Jesus in them because "We have that movie!" Cute! I love him so much and just makes me laugh all the time!