Leiker Family

Flip flops

2011-08-07T17:50:00.001-07:00

Allie and I found flip flops on clearance for $1 a pair. We bought a little ribbon and used stuff from around the house to make these.

Allie has claimed the pink flip flops with the zebra ribbon and sparkly black buttons. The other flip flops will go into my character store for my second grade class to buy with their character cash.

Jennifer

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Finished

2011-07-27T08:58:00.001-07:00

I submitted my last assignment for my summer school work this morning. I REALLY want to destroy these text books but will wait until after I get my final grades next week.

Jennifer

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Waiting

2011-07-22T11:20:00.001-07:00

He gets in trouble when he goes out front so the kids made him stay inside. Here he is anxiously waiting for them to come back inside.

Jennifer

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Incredible pizza

2011-07-18T17:44:00.001-07:00

Our world series trip was filled with Hot afternoons of baseball. On our last night we did get to go out and enjoy incredible pizza.

Here is Allie playing mini golf at incredible pizza.

Jennifer

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World series

2011-07-18T17:42:00.001-07:00

We just got back from watching Ryan play in the 8 and under world series. We spent 5 days in at the world series while ryan's team played. It was HOT! We had so much fun and even got a special surprise from grandma and grandpa who showed up and stayed in the same hotel as us! We had originally thought they wouldn't be able to come due to the work going on at their house, but when we stepped off the elevator at our hotel, they were there holding a big sign to cheer on Ryan!

Jennifer

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Pedicure

2011-07-18T17:36:00.001-07:00

I have had a horrible head cold all day. I was planning to go work in my new classroom today but instead spent the day napping and sneezing. Maybe I am allergic to the thought of going back to school?!?!

Jeff and Ryan just left to go mow papa's law so Allie and I are at home giving each other pedicures.

Here is my little nail technician hard at work.

Jennifer

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Look who came to visit

2011-07-11T20:09:00.001-07:00

Jennifer

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Cookies

2011-07-09T19:03:00.001-07:00

Allie and i spent the afternoon Making and decorating cookies for church tomorrow.

My cross shaped cookies.

Cookies the kids made for our new priest. One pink cross made by allie and a smiley face and aN I love Jesus cookie made by Ryan.

Jennifer

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Ryan's final game

2011-07-07T19:24:00.001-07:00

Ryan played in his last local game tonight. He got his participation medal tonight too.

Post season celebration

2011-07-06T20:40:00.001-07:00

To celebrate the end of the t-ball season, Allison decided to get a few tattoos.....

Must have been a pretty wild post season party! ;)

Jennifer

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The Many Faces of Allie....

2011-07-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

Allie had her last t-ball game tonight. She was very proud of her end of season medal.

Above are some of the many faces of Allie that I captured during her t-ball game tonight.

Baseball party night

2011-07-05T21:41:00.001-07:00

This is the final week of baseball for Ryan's local team. 2 other moms and I planned a great BBQ party for after tonight's game. Best part it was simple but the kiddos seemed to have a blast! After the game we handed each kids a squirt bottle with their name and let them have a water fight in the outfield.

We even had bottles for little brothers and sisters. This gave the parents a chance to sit and talk and start eating ;) safe and dry and outside the outfield fence! After a long water battle we called the kids over for hot dogs, cookies, chips, brownies, homemade ice cream, watermelon and lemonade. The kids ended the evening back on the baseball field playing imaginary baseball until it was too dark to see any longer!

YouTube Video

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Excited about fireworks

2011-07-04T21:41:00.001-07:00

The kids were so excited after the fireworks, they could hardly contain themselves.

Jennifer

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Fireworks on the fourth

2011-07-04T17:53:00.001-07:00

Fireworks, hardly. After shooting just a few fireworks today Ryan had to get in some baseball practice.

He is very excited to be playing in the world series in Bixby in a couple of weeks with the Owasso rockets team.

Jennifer

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Working it out!

2011-07-03T20:03:00.001-07:00

We bought a pull up bar today. Allie is an animal and has done at least 50 pull ups this evening. We have to help her and we can't get her to stop!

YouTube Video

Ryan was a little more hesitant but he did do a few. He wasn't as excited about it as Allie was.

YouTube Video

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Soak up the sun

2011-07-02T21:46:00.001-07:00

Yes, I forgot sunscreen. Ryan thinks my sunglasses tan line needs to be fixed. He told me tonight I need to make sure I take off my sunglasses outside or maybe go to a tanning salon to fix around my eyes!

Jennifer

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Can u see what is missing?

2011-07-02T20:46:00.001-07:00

This is the left side of my text book for diverse learners

And directly across from that page is the right side of the book

Unfortunately, i discovered this DURING my open book test when three questions were about information on pages 415 to 438! Guess that is what i get for saving $100 on my used textbooks from amazon.com!

Jennifer

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Baseball & T-ball pics 2011

2011-07-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

Happy fourth of July weekend!

2011-07-01T18:27:00.001-07:00

Jennifer

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Remember when....

2011-07-01T18:24:00.001-07:00

We are lighting some small fireworks on the driveway this evening when Allie hollers "hey Ryan remember when we used to do this when we were kids?"

YouTube Video

Jennifer

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State documents

2011-06-29T16:48:00.001-07:00

Jeff and I both got paper from the state of Kansas today. One piece of paper brought good news and the other was kind of a bummer.

In case you couldn't tell, the paper on the right is mine and it is my teaching license renewal. The paper on the right was issued to jeff by the kansas highway patrol and is a speeding ticket.

Jennifer

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Daily snapshot June 26, 2011

2011-06-27T17:54:00.001-07:00

"coach Ryan" giving his 1st basemen (Allison) advice before the start of the inning

Jennifer

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Covered clothes pins

2011-06-27T12:27:00.001-07:00

These are so easy, I got a little carried away!

You need wood clothes pins

Mod podge

A paint brush and some cute paper.

Trace around the clothes pin on the paper and cut to size. Apply mod podge to one side of the clothes pin

the position paper on clothes pin and press firmly.

Give a final coat of mod podge to seal the top.

When dry, sand edges (to remove any over hanging paper) and ink if desired.

I applied magnets to the back for some

And have plans for others as photo board pieces, advent calendar parts, chore chart parts, etc.

Simple and pretty!

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Test

2011-06-25T19:58:00.001-07:00

Daily snapshot June 25

2011-06-25T18:38:00.001-07:00

Cat who will sleep anywhere.

Stove that took 5 hours to fix, but we did it on our own :)

Jennifer

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Daily snapshot June 24, 2011

2011-06-24T17:23:00.001-07:00

Wearing our leg warmers and ready for t-ball.

Jennifer

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Push like a man

2011-06-24T08:27:00.001-07:00

Allison is helping jeff this repair our stove this morning. Had to remove two stripped screws and was having trouble removing the screws. Allison was standing behind him holding the flashlight and telling him to "come on and push like a man."

Jennifer

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Snake

2011-06-23T15:40:00.001-07:00

We found a snake behind the pool today. Buster and Jeff killed it.

YouTube Video

Jennifer

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Daily snapshot June 23

2011-06-23T11:44:00.001-07:00

Waiting for lunch crums.

Jennifer

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Mobile blogging

2011-06-23T11:05:00.001-07:00

Just purchased the Blogpress app for my iPhone and LOVE it! For $2.99 it makes keeping up s blog from you iPhone super easy.

Expect to see a lot more blog posts from me from now on!

Any other cool apps out there I need? Post a comment with your favorite app so I can check it out!

Jennifer

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2011-06-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

O.K. it took me a while to figure out (perhaps I should have read tutorials or watched some videos), but once I mastered the whole pinterest and how to pin items to boards boards, I am in LOVE!

There are Many great tutorials and videos out there to teach you how to use pinterest. Google pinterest tutorials or instructions and you will get loads of help.

Basically you request an invitation to pinterest and then you create your account, load the pin it to your bookmarks menu and start pinning. You can create boards for topic you want to accumulate ideas for. The best part is the pins show the picture of the idea you want to keep track of AND the weblink/address where the pin is from is on the board as well! So you can always go back to the idea.

You can also browse other boards people have created and repin the ideas they have found for your own boards.

This is soooo very much better than just bookmarking a site and then forgetting where you marked it!

Here is a link to some of the boards I have created so far!

If you want an invite to pinterest just leave me a comment and I will invite you!

Ryan in Hospital

2011-06-22T17:37:00.000-07:00

Ryan was put into the hospital on Sunday evening for dehydration and a virus of some sort. He was feeling pretty rotten and had a rough time with the blood draws. By the end of the hospital stay he looked like a pin cushion. Ryan spent Sunday night and Monday night in the hospital getting IV fluids and was able to come home on Tuesday morning. Allison was VERY concerned about her brother and didn't want to leave the hospital at all!

Ryan and the Owassso Rockets Baseball Team on TV!

2011-06-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ryan's baseball team was featured on the Little Blitzers on Channel 6 on Saturday night!

He is #9 and is shown scoring a run!

Guess who came to visit

2011-06-22T17:06:00.000-07:00

We were super lucky to have Stella and her family come visit us last weekend. So glad Tracy, Emily, Jeff, Jonas and Stella, Grandma & Grandpa could all come spend time with us! Thanks to everyone for coming down. We will plan to come visit KC and Hays and see all of you again soon! Somehow I only got pictures of Allie and Stella. Allie loved little Stella and was sad to see her go home. Jonas and Allison played well but were always on the move so it was hard to get a god picture of them!

Allison's 5th Birthday

2011-05-13T17:29:00.001-07:00

Fairies at our party

Cake Table with banner on my Cricut cutter

A very Happy Birthday Girl!

Freezer Paper Stenciled shirts

It has been over a year since my last post. About time to catch up! This year Allison wanted a "fairy party" for her birthday. It took a lot of work and planning, but I can happily say that the "fairy party" was a huge success and something to remember. The party was held at Pizza Hut in their party room. Thanks to my crew of highly underpaid workers (A.K.A the birthday girl's family) the party room was decorated from to to bottom with with pink and purple, tulle, flowers, and many other cute accents. I handmade tutu's and flower wands, freezer paper stenciled shirts and ordered crowns and wings for each little fairy guest to wear then keep. We played pin the star on the wand, colored fairy pictures made fairy dust, ate pizza and cake and opened presents. We packed a party into an hour and a half! It was wonderful and we were so happy almost all of our little guests showed up and enjoyed Allison's special day with us!

Oh, and to my underpaid workers (since I know they are probably actually the only individuals reading this), thanks for ALL your help keeping me sane before, during and after the party!

Not enough fingers

2010-04-05T18:49:00.001-07:00

Allison was just counting how many people she was inviting to her birthday party. After she finished counting the names of the girls in her class I reminded her that her brother and daddy and grandparents would be coming. She looked and said "Mom! I can't invite all those people I don't have enough fingers to count that high".

Baseball fun!

2010-04-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

So far, Ryan has played 7 games of baseball in the past 2 weeks. Grandma & Grandpa were visiting during this time and got to see all 7 games. The drive for practices and take one hour each direction meaning that Ryan spends about 6 hours in the car each week if we practice twice that week and play once. On tournament weeks he spends more time traveling, but I think he is enjoying the experience so far. The first game he was to play was rained out, so the season started with a two day tournament. His So far, Ryan has played 7 games of baseball in the past 2 weeks. Grandma & Grandpa were visiting during this time and got to see all 7 games. The drive for practices and take one hour each direction meaning that Ryan spends about 6 hours in the car each week if we practice twice that week and play once. On tournament weeks he spends more time traveling, but I think he is enjoying the experience so far. The first game he was to play was rained out, so the season started with a two day tournament. His team went undefeated in the tournament and each boy got a nice trophy.

Toothless

2010-04-05T14:12:00.001-07:00

Ryan lost his second upper tooth right before Easter. Actually, truth be told, the poor tooth was barely hanging on and I convinced Ryan to let me wiggle it. My wiggling it was actually pulling on it. One tug and it was out!

Our new baseball field at home!

2010-04-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

My parents spent the last 12 days visiting us. Jeff, the kids and I really enjoyed the time we got to spend with them. They were able to attend 7 of Ryan's baseball games and even got to see him win his trophy in the tournament the first weekend of their visit. Since baseball has taken over our life now, Ryan and Jeff have had visions of expanding their baseball playing area at our house. We have 13 acres, so a field of dreams is a BIG possibility in the future. For now however, my dad came up with this lil' gem! He used an old four sided dog kennel we had taken apart. The dog kennel was for a puppy we had a few years ago that didn't work out so well. It had been sitting back by one of our fences in pieces. By using the fence and some posts, my dad and Jeff were able to construct a really neat backstop for Ryan. They even fashioned the gate on the dog pen so it can be used to enter the ballfield! The gate is the part Allie likes the best. Allie could just walk around the backstop/fence to bat, but she prefers to go through the gate!

Home Grown Hearts: GIVEAWAY: Magnetic Pom Poms

2010-03-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Home Grown Hearts: GIVEAWAY: Magnetic Pom Poms

Wear your party dress daily

2010-03-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

Allison has taught me MANY things including one VERY important lesson. No matter what you are doing EVERY DAY is a day to wear your fanciest party dress. For example, pictured above is Allison wearing her new Easter dress outside to play football with her dad and brother. After all, it is important to feel like a princess even when tackling and scoring touchdowns.

Tooth is GONE

2010-03-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

Two months after Ryan kicked his front tooth while practicing his goal kicking, it is finally OUT! The tooth had been wiggly but was barely hanging on once he kicked it. However, it took 2 months and finally a trip to the dentist to ditch that upper front tooth for good. I think he looks so cute without his tooth!

So, does your mother have a daughter?

2010-03-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

Allison was doing my hair tonight and playing beauty salon. When she plays beauty salon she likes to make "small talk" like the hairdressers do when they cut her hair. So I was sitting on the floor while she yanked on my hair and sprayed it with water. She asked me if I wanted my hair styled up or down, flipped out or in, etc. Then she paused and said "So, does your mother have a daughter?" She sounded just like a grown up and it was hilarious! I told her that yes, my mother had a daughter. Then she asked me what the name of my mother's daughter was. I told her it was Jennifer. She didn't get it, but it was so cute I had to hold back giggles.

One week!

2010-02-28T16:49:00.000-08:00

Allie sick today

Daddy Daughter dance last weekend

Ryan sick last week

Wow! Last weekend Allie & Jeff had their daddy daughter dance and Ryan and I stayed home because he was sick. Ryan and I were originally supposed to go on a mom and son date, but he had a sore throat and felt pretty yucky SO, this the picture above how he spent his weekend last week.

On Monday he felt MUCH better and was well enough to go to school, but developed a lovely rash on his hands. Tuesday afternoon his rash was darkening and so I took him to the doctor. He was diagnosed with strep throat and put on 14 days of Antibiotics.

Tuesday evening we celebrated my Birthday a day early with dinner out as family. Wednesday Ryan stayed home so we could watch his rash and let the antibiotics kick in for the required 24 hours before he went back to class.

Wednesday evening brought dance class, college basketball and a very late night out for all of us!

We finally survived the week and made it to Saturday (yesterday)! Thanks goodness. It seemed like a long week around here!

On Saturday Ryan tried out for a competative 6 and under baseball team in Owasso (about 70 miles from where we live). The team practices in Owasso and plays at Obrien parks in Tulsa (about an hour and 20 minute drive for us). Ryan made the team. We will now be balancing Ryan's spring soccer at CRC his competative baseball with the Owasso Rockets (practices a couple times a week and at least 2 games per week) and Allie's Dance practices one night a week.

Today Allie woke up sick for the first time. She has flu like symptoms and threw up for the first time ever! So it seems in one week I have come full circle and am once again nursing a sick kiddo with 7 up and jello as she lays on my couch.

As a side note, I had a relative recommend the book Benjamin's box to go along with my Ressurection eggs. I purchased the book on Amazon and the kids and I read it the other day. It is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it! Thanks Ms. C for the suggestion!

Resurrection eggs

2010-02-16T17:52:00.000-08:00

I purchased a set of Resurrection eggs yesterday for our family to use during Lent. The kids really got into the advent wreath and reading the Bible passage and lighting the candles. They seem to be at that age where they find it interesting and are old enough to take it seriously and be respectful and listen when we read bible passages. We need to do this more often and I thought the resurrection eggs would be a great activity for us AND get us to do more bible study/reading with the kids. I only wish I had done some internet research prior to my purchase. If I had done my research I would have found the following great sites to guide me in making my own egg set! :( It seems pretty easy to make these. SO, if you decide to make your own here are a few different versions.

http://blog.wantingwhatyouhave.com/2009/03/make-your-own-resurrection-eggs.html

http://www.easyfunschool.com/article2110.html

http://www.rainbowcastle.org/resurrectioneggs.html

http://www.smithsroom.com/resurrection_eggs.htm

http://stretchmarkmama.blogspot.com/2009/03/make-your-own-set-of-resurrection-eggs.html

http://www.econobusters.com/?p=1044

Picture hanger, valentines display, memo holder craft idea

2010-02-13T21:09:00.000-08:00

I came up with this idea for a memo/valentines/photo holder to to make in Ryan's Kindergarten class during their Valentines day party. I adhered and sanded the paper to the stick, glued on the clothes pin, drilled the holes and strung the wire on one side, punched and stamped the letters for each child then bagged and labeled the beads and letters for each student prior to going to the party. At the party the students used the glue dots to adhere their name then strung the beads and we attached the wire into the second hole in the stick. The craft took about 10 minutes for the kindergarten students to complete. The complete instructions for this are described below the blurry photos :)

To make the photo/memo holder you will need:
free paint stir sticks
some scrapbook paper,
paint sample cards,
staz on ink,
alphabet stampers or scrabble times ,
a martha stewart circle punch,
wire,
beads
small clothes pins,
Modge Podge
Clear Craft glue
Drill with small drill bit
Glue dots
sand paper or file

I started out by tracing around the paint stick onto scrapbook paper. Then I cut out the shape and modge podged it onto the stick. Once it was dry and stuck on the paint stick I used sand paper to rough up the edges and take off any excess paper. Then I used my ink pad to "ink" the edges and front to make it look distressed. Once that was done and dry I used scrabble tile letters to add a name to the paint stick. On the class project I didn't have enough tile letters to spell all the children's names, so I simply used my Martha Stewart circle punch to punch out paint chips. I then used my stayz on ink to stamp a letter onto each circle to spell a child's name. I found the stayz on permanent ink worked best and didn't smear once it was dry. It did, however take a few minutes to dry so I recommend leaving the circle flat for a little while after you stamp the letter. I used glue dots to let the children adhere their circles to spell their names. To make this little craft into a picture hanger (or valentines display hanger) I used clear craft glue to adhere a miniature clothes pin at one end of each stick. Using a VERY small drill bit I drilled a hole at each end of the stir stick and strung floral wire into it and wrapped it around. The students then strung beads on the floral wire before we wrapped the other end.

The students used their fine motor skills to string the The students used their fine motor skills to string the beads, adhere their name circles and use the clip, as well name recognition and spelling to place their names on the stick. Plus they finished with a really CUTE craft! The best part for me was that I had all the supplies on hand (except the paint stir sticks that I had to ask for)!

2010-02-13T18:56:00.000-08:00

Allie finds a way to dress for EVERY occasion! On this particular morning, she insisted on wearing her princess crown to preschool

making heart crayons

2010-02-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

For Valentines day, Allie and I took a bunch of old and broken crayons and recycled them into pretty crayons to give to classmates! We used a silicone mold to make cute heart shapes. It was a quick and easy way to make use of our excess crayon stash. We then made cards on the computer that said "valentine you make my world colorful" complete with a pretty heart in the center to affix the crayon onto. The pictures above show my assistant and I working on our project. I did learn (after the project was over) that if you soak your crayons in cold water first it makes taking the labels off MUCH easier! Something to remember for next time! :)

Catching up - Allie & grandpa going to daddy/daughter dance

2010-02-13T18:03:00.000-08:00

Jeff had a Basketball game in January and was unable to take Allie to one of the two daddy/daughter dances she will attend this winter. SO, grandpa graciously agreed to fill in as Allie's date for the first Daddy/daughter ball! Grandpa bought Allie a beautiful corsage and they both dressed in their finest dance clothes for the occasion! Grandpa even carried Allie to his car so she wouldn't get her pretty dance shoes wet on the snowy/moist driveway. Prior to the dance grandpa took his "date" to the local mexican restraunt for some chicken nachos and burritos. Then they went to the big Event! They both had a blast and Allie is still talking about it almost a month later. She and grandpa danced and although she was worried grandpa would dance funny, he kept his promise to her and danced and nicely as he could the entire time! They shared cookies and punch and enjoyed fast and slow songs. Grandpa even requested that the DJ play single ladies (a favorite of Allie's).

Where did January go!?!?!

2010-02-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

Where did January go! It has been a long time since I posted anything here!!! We had a busy month to start of 2010. Allie attended her first friend birthday party and had a good time, Jeff & Ryan went to MANY Red Raven basketball games and both kids had really great weeks at school. Both kiddos participated in the Catholic schools week activities and celebrations in January that included special masses at church, PJ day at school, lunch with families and a special concert by the students. Hoepfully I can post some more photos and details about the above mentioned January events and activities as well as some special activities our family enjoyed during the past month!

February has arrived and we have been blessed to have a Valentines visit from Grandma & Grandpa. The kiddos have enjoyed a few days with Grandma & Grandpa. Jeff and I got to sneak away for a nice early Valentines dinner on Friday while grandma & grandpa enjoyed a little Valentines celebration with the kiddos that involved a BBQ dinner and a movie!

Today Allie attended a Junior dance clinic with the college dancers. She had to work really hard for 2 hours to learn the routine with the girls then they all performed at half time of the basketball game. She did a wonderful job at staying focused (which for a 3 year old can be hard) the ENTIRE time! :) She seemed to have fun and was did a wonderful job performing even though she was tired. She was the youngest girl there with all other girls being at least 1st or 2nd graders and older.
Allie working on her Valentines at preschool

2010-02-13T09:35:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day Animations provided by MySpaceGraphicsandAnimations.com

Allie in the paper

2010-01-12T14:12:00.000-08:00

Imagine my shock when I opened Monday night's Coffeyville paper and saw Allie's picture on the front page! Ryan had his picture on the front page of the newspaper from the neighboring town on Sunday and then Allie gets her picture on the front page of the other paper on Monday. In the picture she is cheering with her favorite cheerleader.

Ball boy in the newspaper

2010-01-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

Ryan spent a good part of Friday, Saturday and Sunday as a ball boy at the Jayhawk shoot out basketball tournament. In fact he didn't get home until well after midnight on Saturday. During halftime and between games he enjoyed shooting baskets on the court. Apparently he also enjoyed the hospitality room. Judging by the frequent visits he made to the Hospitality room check out goodies, he seems to take after his grandfather who was a former athletic director for so many years he knew which tournament offered the best food in their hospitality rooms!

This morning I opened the paper to find Ryan's picture on the front page. He and his friend were photographed courtside eating oranges while watching the game.

Staying cool while keeping warm!

2010-01-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

We have our own Gas well which has been a real $$ saver over the past 8 years BUT can be a real worry when we have super frigid temperatures like we are having now. Each winter we worry about the gas well pipe freezing up and preventing us from keeping warm. Jeff and our neighbor take turns maintaining the pipe morning and evening by putting a gas line product in the system. Despite the effots, sometimes the line STILL freezes and we get a little chilly until the guys can thaw it out. Today Jeff brought home a small space heater to use in an emergency. It was the only heater he could find at our local Walmart. Every other heater had been puchased ~ AMAZING!

Following a long safety talk with the kiddos that went something like this: Don't touch, don't knock over, stay back and don't get too close, don't plug in by yourself, don't turn on by yourself,don't leave it running when we sleep,don't leave it running when we are out of the room, house or town, don't put toys on it, don't cook the dog with it, don't try to roast marshmellows with it, etc. (We tried to cover as many don'ts as we could think of, but we are sure the kiddos will find some don't we forgot to mention.) In fact if we did forget to mention something safety and common sense wise, please feel free to e-mail me so we can include that in our daily don't message to the kids. We fired up the lil' space heater and gave it a test run even though our house is still pretty toasty with the big heater running. The kiddos were instantly attracted to the bright orange heat (kind of like a bug to a lightbulb. Apparently the kids felt like they were in the warm summer sun while sitting in front of the heater because after about 2 or 3 minutes of sitting in front the heater the kids got up and got their sun glasses. This is how they looked staying cool while enjoying the heat.

Sledding

2009-12-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

Grandpa took Jeff and the kiddos sledding today. Judging by the pictures, I'm not sure who had more fun, the big boys or the little kids!

Looking for craft ideas, freebies & gift ideas

2009-12-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

I have started a blog to keep track of links to sites that contain crafts, gift ideas, games, printables, freebies and tutorials I want to use or try. If you see a good idea feel free to send me a note or leave a comment so I can check it out and add it to my new blog! Please visit handmadeoccasion.blogspot.com and check back frequently for new ideas found from bloggers everywhere!

A visit to Santa Claus

2009-12-13T18:25:00.001-08:00

We went to the local Mall to visit Santa Claus on Friday. The kiddos were great and spoke clearly to santa and even sat on his lap. I didn't know how they would react and if they would hide and be shy or not. Ryan wants a new video game (wii music) and Allie has asked Santa for Polly pockets dolls.

By the way, I was having trouble with my camera, so the photo of Allie & Santa didn't turn out as well as it could have! For some reason the camera wouldn't fully turn on and open the lens cover. I didn't realize the problem until after Allie has finished talking to Santa.

Personal Message From Santa!

2009-12-13T18:18:00.000-08:00

I discovered a really neat place to send a personal message from Santa. You fill out the info (name, age, eye color, hair color, toy requested, etc) and Santa sends a video messge. Really cool. My kiddos LOVED it! You can even upload a photo of the child that santa finds in his Naughty and Nice book!

Ryan's Message from Santa:http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/fd7d85f596887fe9964eb26d8ea1f60b

Allison's Message From Santa: http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/741b0488df0c5f2d526640357b6acdc0

Birthday plans

2009-12-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Ryan turns 6 in just a few hours! Six years ago tonight I was unaware that I would be a mother in just a few short hours, since Ryan wasn't supposed to be born until December 19th. Six years ago this evening, Jeff and I had gone to the OB/GYN for an exam, stayed out for dinner and then went home and enjoyed our evening. The next morning on my way to school my water broke and I was in labor! Ryan arrived at around 3:30 in the afternoon on December 3.

We will celebrate his birthday at school in the afternoon on Thursday with cupcakes and juice boxes and then we will have dinner at the Country Club with family in the evening. On Sunday we will have about 14 other children join us for a basketball themed party. Above are a few of the items we have completed to prepare for the party time this week!

A visit to the Dentist

2009-12-02T20:25:00.001-08:00

Ryan went to the dentist for his first fillings today. He was very nervous but was super brave! I was soooo proud of him. We have an excellent dentist who took LOTS of time and explained everything prior to working on him. If you live in my area, I highly recommend Dr. Sherwood ~ She & her assistants are WONDERFUL and I even learned a few things about the whole filling process just by sitting and listening to them explain things to Ryan as they worked!

Above are some pictures of Ryan that I snapped just before the yucky numbing with the needle part of the procedure. He was chilling with his laughing gas on. The Dentist gave him the shades to keep the bright light out of his eyes as she worked on his teeth ~ super cool!

'Tis the Season

2009-12-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

We put up our Tree on Monday night and then attended Ryan's Christmas concert on Tuesday evening. Above are photos from Ryan's Christmas program. Ryan did a great job and was an excellent singer! The class performed two songs and then changed into angel outfits to be part of the older students Christmas pagent and sing one final song.

Today I wrapped all the Christmas packages and plan to start doing my holiday baking soon. We will, however, take a short break from the Christmas spirit to celebrate Ryan's Birthday on Thursday! I was busy this evening making the cupcakes for him to take to school and the family cake for us to eat after our dinner out tomorrow. On Sunday afternoon Ryan is having a basketball themed party with his friends.

A wedding

2009-11-22T20:42:00.001-08:00

For the past month Allie has been getting married. At our house she enjoys dressing up her daddy and making him the groom. In fact, a couple of weeks ago at Hobby Lobby she had to purchase a $3.00 bow tie so he could officially be her groom. As part of her wedding gear at our house she wears a crown of stars with tulle on the back and a white dress that had belonged to my flower girl when Jeff & I got married. She also has play rings, ear rings and necklaces to wear as well as a rag tag bunch of flowers she has to carry. We play the wedding march on CD and Ryan usually serves as the wedding coordinator by making snacks (usually crackers topped with canned cheese). During these weddings, Allie has asked me many times where my wedding dress is. Unfortunately, in a cleaning spurt last year, I threw my wedding dress away, because it was stained and ruined and I never figured I would have a use for it again.

WELL, Allie is at Grandma's this week and apparently at Grandma's house you get fun things to play with including Grandma's wedding dress and veil!

Sight Word FUN!

2009-11-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

Ryan has been working very hard at learning his Kindergarten sight words. On Thursday he started reading some little sight word reader books we have from Scholastic. On Friday he and Allison left to visit Grandma & Grandpa and Ryan took his pack of 50 sight word readers. While in the car with Grandpa & Grandma Ryan read his books. Upon arrival at Grandpa & Grandma's house Ryan continued his reading. Yesterday mom called me and told me that Ryan read most of his books! So, I have been on a search for some new sight word readers. During my search I stumbled upon this site: http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/fall_sight_word_booklets.html#Outside. I was delighted to find that I could print sight word books from my computer! With some sturdy cardstock paper and my color printer I have printed MANY new books for Ryan to start reading.

A busy Cheerleader and ball boy

2009-11-16T21:11:00.000-08:00

Last week Ryan started his duties as official Ball Boy for the 2009 basketball season at the college. He and a couple of other friends get to help the team by handing out balls and collecting balls before each game and at half time. They also help by wiping the floors when there is any sweat left on them (not my idea of a fun job, but when you are a elementary school boy, I guess you think it is cool). The college had three home games in a row last week Thursday thru Saturday night, so Ryan spent a lot of time in the gym. Allie and I went to the games on Friday and Saturday night. Saturday evening Allie wore her cheerleading outfit that matches that we purchased to match the college girls and she stood on the sidelines and cheered with them. I really didn't expect Allison to cheer for the entire game, but she had a great time and the girls were wonderful to her. The cheer coach made sure that not only her uniform matched, but her pom poms and hair ribbon did too! She is already looking forward to our next home game this week :)

A song we love

2009-11-05T18:39:00.000-08:00

I discovered this song by accident when making an animoto video recently. By the way check out animoto.com if you haven't already. I have used this site for a couple of years to make some super cool videos with my photos! Anyway, this is a song that everyone in the family has fallen in love with. Ryan walks around singing the words and wants to listen to it alot! It has a great message. Take a moment and go to youtube for a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbi4nSrhRxo

And, in case you wanna sing along too,
Here are the lyrics for the song from Christanlyricsonline.com

Legacy
By Nichole Nordeman

I don't mind if you've got something nice to say about me
And I enjoy an accolade like the rest
You could take my picture and hang it in a gallery
Of all who's who and so-n-so's that used to be the best
At such'n'such ... it wouldn't matter much

I won't lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
We all need an 'Atta boy' or 'Atta girl'
But in the end I'd like to hang my hat on more besides
The temporary trappings of this world

I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy

I don't have to look too far or too long awhile
To make a lengthly list of all that I enjoy
It's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
Where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon enough destroy

Not well traveled, not well read, not well-to-do or well bred
Just want to hear instead, "Well Done" good and faithful one...

Leiker Family

Flip flops

Finished

Waiting

Incredible pizza

World series

Pedicure

Look who came to visit

Cookies

Ryan's final game

Post season celebration

The Many Faces of Allie....

Baseball party night

Excited about fireworks

Fireworks on the fourth

Working it out!

Soak up the sun

Can u see what is missing?

Baseball & T-ball pics 2011

Happy fourth of July weekend!

Remember when....

State documents

Daily snapshot June 26, 2011

Covered clothes pins

Test

Daily snapshot June 25

Daily snapshot June 24, 2011

Push like a man

Snake

Daily snapshot June 23

Mobile blogging

Pinterest

Ryan in Hospital

Ryan and the Owassso Rockets Baseball Team on TV!

Guess who came to visit

Allison's 5th Birthday

Not enough fingers

Baseball fun!

Toothless

Our new baseball field at home!

Home Grown Hearts: GIVEAWAY: Magnetic Pom Poms

Wear your party dress daily

Tooth is GONE

So, does your mother have a daughter?

One week!

Resurrection eggs

Picture hanger, valentines display, memo holder craft idea

making heart crayons

Catching up - Allie & grandpa going to daddy/daughter dance

Where did January go!?!?!

Allie in the paper

Ball boy in the newspaper

Staying cool while keeping warm!

Sledding

Looking for craft ideas, freebies & gift ideas

A visit to Santa Claus

Personal Message From Santa!

Birthday plans

A visit to the Dentist

'Tis the Season

A wedding

Sight Word FUN!

A busy Cheerleader and ball boy

A song we love