we met erika and aiden at boo boo records for kids music time. unfortunately, matty was overstimulated (cowering in the corner covering his ears) so we left early. the boys had fun at the park then we dropped david at school, picked nicole up from school and headed off to a healthy lunch. erika and i had fun talking while the kids ate and played. she is such a good mommy and friend! here kids are darling, too. what a fun day.

So, every night Steve gets the boys’ jammies on and reads to them. Sometimes I have seen him pull out his guitar and sing to them. He has strong opinions about the ‘best’ books to read. None of these ‘baby’ books. They have to tell a good story. The kids love it! Now here is the funny part…toddlers don’t always cooperate with our great plans, right?! So I tease Steve that this is what the bedtime stories sound like:
-George was a good little monkey and always
-MATTHIAS DON’T KICK DAVID!!
-and always very curious. One day
-DAVID GET BACK HERE!!
-George saw a little white
-SIT STILL, DON’T GRAB THE BOOK!!
-bunny so he decided…
You get the picture! It is hilarious. I know the boys will have fond memories of their story time with daddy. And I never loved doing the dishes and straightening up the house so much!

this is a shout out to erika who thinks this blog is too happy-go-lucky and wants to see the real ‘behind the scenes’ ugly stuff that the Leonards have going on. actually, today is a good day–but we definitely have our bad days, and moments. if you want to hear more, give me a call and I’ll give you all the details! love you erika

we went to cayucos for lunch at duckies–fish tacos and hot dogs :O) then played n the beach for a few minutes. well, david and i cuddled and matthias and steve threw rocks in the ocean and ran around. i thought these yellow and red steps were so cute. maybe next time i can get the boys to look at me?! now its naptime-yay!

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*Email me at lisaleonard@integrity.com with the name(s) of the pieces you would like to purchase. Indicate what words or names you would like to have stamped on the piece.

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We joined Steve downtown this afternoon for the tour of california (or tour de california as i call it!). It POURED this morning–actually it hailed a bit, too. Crazy weather! But it cleared up quite nicely for the finish of the race. I picked the boys up from preschool and carried both of them four blocks while hauling the diaper bag, two umbrellas, and my purse. It was a sight–and a good workout! Matty was a stinker during the race. He had just woken from his nap and even the m&m’s I brought wouldn’t cheer him up! Steve got this great photo of Levi Leifheimer (sp?) who is leading the race right now. We went our for pizza at Woodstock’s after things died down. David was standing in the booth and acting like a hot shot Matty “played” a video game-no quarters required! We had fun and I’m so glad the weather cooperated better than our naughty three year old! Does this stage end soon?! Tomorrow we are off to Solvang. Heldts–what’s the latest? We are dying to hear some news!!

it’s my blog and i can post whatever i want, right?! well yesterday i went to marshall’s while they boys were at preschool and i felt like i struck GOLD! i found these jeans which fit perfectly. and i cut them off to give them a little more crop. i also found these shoes–super comfy and i love the cork sole. i had to scrub for about 20 minutes to get those little stickers off the inside of the shoe–why do they make them so sticky? low adhesive is key here…
we are TOTALLY into big puzzles lately. matty is really good at them. i found four yesterday at marshalls. one small problem–we don’t have much floor space in our home, so we are constantly playing “obstacle course” to get around all the puzzles (and train track).
tour de california (it’s actually ‘of’ california but i think it’s funny to tease steve) comes to town tomorrow and we are excited to see the riders. some of the biggest names in cycling. then friday we’ll drive over to solvang to see them off. the weather is not supposed to cooperate, so that should make it interesting!
have a great wednesday!

here i am in first grade. i remember a lot about first grade. i loved school. i loved being in school all day. i had mrs. colvin–if you’re reading this, mrs. colvin, you were a great teacher! a lot has happened since i was six. i sometimes wonder what it would be like to sit down with my six year old self and show myself photos of my life to come–here are your kids…this is your husband…this is you in your thirties! then i would have to hug that little girl and say ‘life is going to be really hard sometimes, but it will be even more beautiful. and it just keeps getting better and better!” sometimes i trip out on my kids and i think ‘this is their childhood’ they’ll remember these things forever. dumb things, like dishes we put on the table every night or the tree out in front of our house. sometimes it just seems so big! such a huge responsibility, ya know? i wish i could protect them from every pain life will bring, but i know pain makes us so much better and stronger. and i know life will bring them joy, especially if we model joy and contentment to them…i am such an imperfect parent, but hopefully the laughter, silliness, and snuggles are what will stick in their memories!

My beautiful younger sister is in town and she is such an awesome auntie! The boys are getting lots of love and snuggles and she has played multiple games of matching (and built many, many puzzles) with Matty. Should I also mention how she has changed poopie diapers and let me sleep in while she keeps the kiddos entertained?! Gramama is also providing lots of hugs and tickles. Church was great today–awesome message pastor Tim! The boys did really well in the toddler room–a blessing as sometimes they aren’t so excited to separate. Hope you are all having a great weekend!

man these kids are hard to get a good photo of together! a friend made these tees for the boys (littleshowoffs.com) and i thought they turned out so fun–and so perfect for the boys. we had matty measured last week and he is 90% for height, david is, of course, off the charts tiny. maybe these tees can clear things up for people?! David is acutually the BIG brother–he’s just really little!