Remembering Gramps

Our kids never met my grandfather, "Gramps." He died when I was only seventeen. He was one of my favorite people in the whole world, quiet and patient and so loving to all of his crazy grandchildren.

One night, shortly before Christmas, we received a surprise package in the mail from my dad. Enclosed was Gramps' World War II hat. We had such fun remembering Gramps and talking about him—and sporting that great piece of family history. A treasure.

How I wish Joe and the kids could have met Gramps. They would have loved him.

Andrew in Gramps' hat.

William in Gramps' hat.

Lucia in Gramps' hat. 

Blizzard 2012

This was the winter when our van and our generous neighbor's pick-up-with-plow got stuck in our driveway overnight.

Scenes from the next morning as we extract the vehicles...

Christmas Photo Snappin'

A whole series of Christmas photos, in that annual attempt to get the perfect Christmas card snapshots.

William's 12th Birthday

Happy twelfth birthday to Joe's Saturday morning helper and my consistent helper in all things botanical. (William weeds a mean garden. If you know the weeds at our house, you'll appreciate this.) 

William is just one year away from teen-hood and already becoming such a little man. We love you, William, and we are so proud of all your accomplishments!

Reaction upon opening the uber-cool airplane model from Aunt Cathie and Uncle Jeff.

Big gift: A longboard

Delicious "dirt cake" made by Kathleen and complete with worms and dump trucks.

Thanking Our Teachers

Every year, we try to thank our teachers in some special way at Christmas time. I am so grateful to the wonderful teachers in our children's lives.

Problem is... We have lots o' teachers and lots o' kids, equalling a crazy number of gifts. It can be challenging to come up with a gift plan that is do-able and doesn't absolutely break the bank.

This year, I actually managed to direct the making of a gift from each of the kids to each of the teachers. Some years, it doesn't quite come off as planned, but this year it worked out pretty well!

For those who think we couldn't possibly have so many teachers, given our status as homeschoolers, let me quickly relieve you of that impression:

Kathleen's piano teacher
Andrew's piano teacher
Therese's piano teacher
Anna's band director
William's reading tutor
Anna's Latin teacher
Kathleen's Latin teacher
Andrew's gymnastics teacher
Anna's literature teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
Kathleen's literature teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
Anna's gym teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
Kathleen's gym teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
Anna's Schola teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
Kathleen's Schola teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
William's Science Lab teacher (HFH Homeschool co-op)
Andrew's Science Lab teacher (HFH Homeschool co-op)
Therese's Science Lab teacher (HFH Homeschool co-op)
William's Art teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
Andrew's Art teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
Therese's Art teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
William's Schola teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
Andrew's Choir teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)
Therese's Choir teacher (HFH homeschool co-op)

Next year, we will add a band teacher and a flute teacher for Kathleen who is planning on majoring in music and wants to expand her musical knowledge into new instruments.

This doesn't even count the cross country coaches, the football coaches, and the swimming teachers who teach our kids in other seasons, meaning they miss out on the thrill of those Leone Christmas gifts. ;)

In addition to giving these gifts to teachers, we also give them to grandparents and Godparents. So that's two more gifts per kid at a minimum, multiplied by five big kids, and that makes ten more gifts. So you can see how Christmas gift-giving gets a little zany around here. And we haven't even started gifts from the two little girls yet...

Somehow, we did manage to stay sane in the process of it all. "Sane," of course, is a relative term.

Marguerite's 3rd Birthday

It is stunning to realize that it was just three years ago that we made the frantic trip to Georgia, through the aftermath of a blizzard, to pick up our sweet Marguerite Jane. While time does fly, it is hard to remember a time before MJ.

Miss Marguerite fills our lives with such joy. We pray for her birthmother each night and are forever grateful that she chose for Marguerite and Lucia the gift of life.

We love you, Marguerite! Happy birthday!

Filling the Freezer, Part 2

And this is also how we fill the freezer...

Thanks, Sharp-Shooter, Kathleen! 

Joe shot pheasants as well, and William kept everyone company. (William has not yet taken hunter safety.)

Filling the Freezer

This is how we fill the freezer for the winter.

Thank you, Joe and John! 

Halloween 2012

The Leones bundle up for a spooky night of tricks and treats.

Rice krispie ghosts... and some very cool costumes.  Katness from Hunger Games, a bandit, Tin Tin, a princess, a kangaroo, and a tiger.

The Fans

At every cross country meet there are fans. But the cross country fans pictured below are some of the loudest, craziest fans out there. You guessed it: They're the Leones.

Kathleen (right) and her friend wait for the runners to pass. And when they do, you can count on these two to be jumping up and down and screaming their lungs out.

Some of the youngest fans were also some of the cutest.

Lucia was never run from point to point so fast as she was at those meets when we wanted to get to the best vantage points quickly.

Okay, this fan just looks exhausted.  

And then there are the Leone fans who decided to enter the "open race" after the official meet had wrapped up. Check out Andrew booking it down the finish line.

And Joe makes his move on this woman in the closing stretch. 

And did you ever see such a face on a runner? That's my man, Joe, competing in the open race—in hiking boots, no less—and making it interesting for everyone.

William Runs Cross Country

As a sixth grader, William debuted in his first year of cross country with Holy Family Warriors. A natural runner, William had a ton of fun in his first year.

We are proud of William, our runner! He did consistently well all season.

William's pal helps him stretch pre-race.

The middle schoolers, ready to race. 

Ready, set, run!

William sprints to the finish.

After a hard-run race.