Holy Moly...

To say it's been a LONG time is an understatement!  Whew...where to begin.  We had a GREAT summer!  In July Curtis' team won the State Baseball Tournament!  We had a great week with a fun group of parents and kids.  Will be something we will never forget! I was LOVING it!



August brought us back to the Midwest for our annual tour!  Visited lots of people, vacationed at the cabin, and had a great time with family and friends as usual!





September brought back to school and lots of chaos.  Kids were getting settled in with school and sports.  We were at a friends house celebrating Johnny's Birthday when we heard Bubba fall down the stairs and cry.  Not a normal cry, the cry when you know that something is wrong.  He had hit his teeth. He shifted and killed a few of them.  Thankfully they haven't turned black, only grey, and he doesn't need them removed yet.

 

Two mornings later I was working out with a friend and twisted my ankle while stepping off a bench and couldn't catch myself.  I ended up falling to the ground in what I'm sure would be a video that would go VIRAL if ever viewed off the security camera.  I broke my elbow and ankle and it wasn't a pretty sight!  Friends and neighbors pitched in and really helped carry our family through the fall.  I had 8 weeks of meals brought to our door every night, friends picking up and dropping off kids, taking kids to school, etc.  I always worried about something happening to me, since I live away from family. I found out we have a GREAT support system here and now it actually feels like a home.



This fall Curtis played tackle football for the first time, and loved it.  He really mastered the techique of laying on the ground for about 5-10 extra seconds after a play, just to make everyone wonder if he was OK.  I realized that I LOVE LOVE LOVE football, but watching your son play is a different story!  Wasn't easy!

Johnny played baseball again and only threw one fit this year when he missed a ball.  Actually, we called it a "mini-fit" as he just pulled his hat down ALL the way over his eyes, kicked the dirt, and cried to himself.  He's come a LONG WAY BABY!  (:

Bubba was the little mascot out on the fields.  He is a crowd favorite, and def thinks he is 9.  He invited Curtis' friends over for his 4th Birthday Party, and all he wanted was Under Amour clothes and Nike Elite Socks that he claims makes him a "Champion!"  He picks out his OWN outfits every day.  (I still lay the other two kids outfits out).  When I was putting all the boys hand-me-downs into his drawers...you know the cute ones that most 3-4 year olds wear... with Oscar the Grouch on it, and "Santa's Little Helper" ...he informed me that ALL THOSE CLOTHES WERE FOR DORKS! I guess three power necklaces and a rosary are for the "Cool" kids!  Love me some Hubba Bubba.

Stories that sums up BOYS:

I donated money and received this bow to display on our mailbox for the month of October for Breast Cancer Awareness. Last week I put it up, and the next morning Erik came in with our newspaper and the bow ripped off and unraveled with a very proud smile on his face. He thought he was doing me a favor...thought someone put a bow on our box as a prank or to cheer me up bc of my broken arm. Total Leaver moment! Gotta love him!

Halloween 2012

I'll always remember as the day I bought Bubba the CUTEST little shark costume and on Halloween he wouldn't wear it b/c it was "dorky" and all he wanted to be was a Power Ranger and it was no fair that he couldn't!  Guess who won THAT battle.  You can tell he's my third and I'm TIRED! 

Boys made Good Morning America on the day Robin Roberts had her transplant.  They were so excited!


One last story:

Me:  Curtis, you can't have a password to get into your Kindle.  You need to take it off!
Curtis:  Umm, YEA, it's for Parental Control...so I can control what my parents see! (Duh!)

Summer Fun

 Went with the kids to the local amusement park and had the worst three minutes and thirty three seconds of my LIFE!  I didn't want Curtis to go on this 78+ mph roller coaster  by himself.  I took one for the team...and let's just say, I will NEVER do it again!

 Johnny at Kindergarten graduation.

 He had the BEST teacher, assistant, and class this year.  

We are SO excited that she is looping with them next year! 

 Last day of school fun!

 Won a bounce house rental in a silent auction and booked it for the last day of school for the day.  Was SO fun, and since it was hot, the water slide made it just perfect!

 Kids having fun!

 Won a snow cone machine too!

 But, when your name is Bubba and you are three years old, you don't even need the machine, ice, or cups.  Just your arm and some slushy juice will do!

 Johnny's football team.

He's the tall one on the left.

 Down, set....

 Curtis's team made the TOC Championship and they were loving that the announcer called him 'CURTIS CURTDOG LEAVER' each time he was announced.

 National Anthem

 He fell in love with catching on his own...but I'm not going to hide the fact that I LOVE that he loves to play catcher!

 We didn't win the game, but got runner up. Here they are getting their awards.

 Neighborhood pool is SO fun this year now that the kids are a bit older!

 Everyone loves the slide.

 Bubba loves eating at every lifeguard break!

 But not as much as he loves going down the slide!

 Curtis and Johnny were also on the swim team this summer/.  Here they are at the last meet!

 Johnny's back!

 Johnny

 Johnny on top getting ready....

Curtis on the bottom!

100% ALL THREE YEARS OLD...

 Bubba is starting to seem SO old to me. He's getting more independent and has an opinion about EVERYTHING...just ask him! He loves to go to the pool or the amusement park when the boys are at school. And makes SURE he tells them all about it when they get home.

 He is always dressing himself and wearing eye black...even if it's NOT a baseball day! He likes to be in uniform at all the boys games.  Above, is him eating the end of a donut that he weaseled out of ANOTHER baseball team's mom at the field on Saturday morning!  Everyone knows him!

 Got my seeds...ready to go! 

 Last day of school, and his teacher sent him home with these sweet glasses and hat!

 Pooped out from trying to keep up with all the big boys!

 At FUN FEST after last day of school.  

This picture is SO him! 

 He's got a soda, cheetos, hotdog, oreo, and topped it all off with a popsicle!

 On the train ride through the parking lot at school!  WILD and CRAZY TIMES!

 Headed to one of the boys tournament games last Saturday!

(His baseball outfit wasn't clean, so he wore the next best thing!)

 Driving the boys to school in the morning...flip flops rarely make it on the right foot!

 Mother's Day Tea at school!

Sneeking in a little kiss....or in the words of Bubba a "WITTLE KISS!"

Love my little Hubba Bubba!

Introducing Willow....

 It all started on an early May afternoon when we found the above beagle looking into our back door at us.  The boys have been BEGGING for a dog since September, and they thought this was a "sign."  They named her Boomer, and we fed her, and took care of her for hours until we located the owner.  They were all really sad to see her go, and 'I'm not going to lie... I was a little too.

 I joined the rescue center's facebook page and would look at dogs that came and went.  The boys enjoyed doing this with me as well.  One Friday, I went to look at a few dogs, and came home with this little puppy.  I was going to try fostering her for a few days.  I've never had a dog, and really am not a HUGE dog person. (Always been a little scared).  We had this sweet puppy, who was a REALLY good puppy.  BUT...puppies are not for me.  It was like having a baby all over again.  Watching the dog every minute, waking in the middle of the night, etc.  I am just sleeping again for the first time in eight years.  So, after three days with our family, we returned her to the rescue center....a VERY hard thing to do with three boys.

 Erik and I decided we DID want a dog, but maybe it would be best to do it after school started in September and we were done traveling for the summer....and we were NOT in a hurry.  We all decided we wanted a beagle, and my friend Erin's mom works in the pet rescue center in Norfolk, VA where the service men and women have to give up their pets when they go abroad.  She was going to search for the PERFECT dog for our family. Two weeks ago, Erin was at Pet Smart getting dog food and called me and said, "They have a few beagles in the parking lot from a rescue center in Anason County, NC."  Johnny and I were headed out to run errands and thought we'd stop by.  When we got there, there was a mom and her puppy.  There were about twelve people around looking at the dogs and holding them.  The mother dog went under the table and right on Johnny's lap.  She laid on us for an hour, and we fell in love.  I asked if we could foster her, because I wanted to see how she was around kids.  They told me no because she had a lot of looks that day and they were hopeful she'd be adopted.  Five minutes later, as I look at Johnny's big brown eyes BEGGING me to take the dog home, a family who looked at her earlier in the day came back to adopt her.  At that moment my competitiveness kicked in and I looked up at the lady and said, "WE"LL TAKE HER!"  The rest is history.  I had to get a personal shopper at Pet Smart b/c I had NO idea where to start.  Two hours later, Johnny and I showed up at home with a DOG!  Erik was shocked, and so were the boys.  After two weeks, we've all bonded well, and everyone is very happy.  We hit the doggy "Jackpot!"

 These two are best buddies!  The boys named her Willow after the Willow tree we lost in the tornado's last year near our house. Erik and I wanted to name her Charlotte, but we were out voted.

This kid now has a playmate all day, and is loving being the BOSS! 

Growing Up

It's been quite a long time since I last blogged.  I'm not at home as much these days as I'm running the boys from activity to activity. That leaves very little time to sit down and blog as much as I once did.  Blogger just changed the way to blog and upload pictures, and it seems MUCH quicker. Maybe that will help me to stay on top of thing from now on.

 Curtis seems to be getting SO old to me.  He made the summer bball team and is having fun with his friends.  They have practice every Friday night and Saturday morning, so sleepovers will be a popular thing this summer.  Think back and remember the days when getting an A&W Rootbeer was the best, and shaving your head with your number in the back was cool!  That's just about where he's at!  Above is Curtis and his friend from last nights CVS run to get some soda, a movie, and and junk food before they hunkered down for the night.

 Curtis made his First Communion back the second weekend in May.  His godparents both came down for the BIG DAY.  Chad was in Africa during his Baptism, and missed it, so it was really special to have them both here together.

 Curtis was so excited and felt VERY special all weekend!

 My sister Megan made Curtis' banner that hung in the lobby of church.  He chose the shamrock and the celtic cross.  She did the rest.  She used material from the boxes of material that my grandma Curtis gave her about two years ago.  It was a VERY special keepsake, that we will treasure.

 Everyone but Erik and Bubba went to church early to get seats for mass.  Erik and Bubba were suppose to show up about 10 minutes early so he didn't get restless.  Mass was starting and they still weren't there.  I texted Erik and he said that he "Accidently" hit Chad's car while he was backing out of the driveway.  He said he doesn't think it did much damage, but we could assess it later.  Finally, Erik came into church, and he was holding a VERY upset Bubba.  We all wondered what happened.  Story goes, that when they got to church, Erik told Bubba to run, and he ran and fell.  He skinned his elbow bad.  Erik comes into church with a first aid kit, and started working on him.  He opened some first aid ointment that totally started to smell up the pew.  I'm wondering what the people behind us thought.  Finally, to top it off, after Bubba was all bandaged up, Erik pulls out a band aid and starts rubbing the gel on his finger and bandaging himself up.  Let's just say we were a TOTAL freak show!  Gotta love Erik!

 Curtis was VERY proud to have chosen to read at church. 

 599 kids made their communion that day.  (In three masses...we go to the biggest Catholic Church in the nation).

 The moment we all were waiting for!

 One proud boy! 

Afterwards we went out to brunch.  We still had not taken any family pics, and I told the boys NOT to change until after I got home and we got a family shot.  When Megan, Chad, Huyen, and I all pulled up to the house...literally three minutes after all my boys....4/4 of them had changed out of their clothes and into gym shorts, etc!  NO CHANCE of me winning that battle! Boys will be boys!