Love

How our ideas about love have changed over the last three years....

It's a loving hug, even if it doesn't look that way!

One of my favorite pictures from the last six months. "Mommy" (and now "Mama") is the most often spoken word in our house.

Lyman Orchards

Today, Grammy and Grampy came to visit and we took them to Lyman Orchards. We checked out the pumpkins, the corn maze and a bunch of other cool stuff. Elizabeth even conned them into a hay ride!! It was such a gorgeous day. You can see some of the pictures below and the rest here. You can also check out some of the great pictures that Grammy took here.

Dancing Baby

Ah yes, another child that inherited my amazing dancing skills (the poor lighting is a result of the early, early morning hour. . .). By the way, that is the Wiggles playing in the background - it's little wonder those guys are zillionaires, both of our girls tried out their first dance moves to Wiggles music!

Unconditional Love

So, of course I understand the concept of unconditional love and I certainly understand that your children are the beneficiaries of such love, but until yesterday, I don't think that I quite understood the full depth of such love - after all, we have a three year old that drives us batty and a one year that won't sit still!! But yesterday, Elizabeth awoke from her nap a little under the weather - she had a slight fever, but not enough to warrant Motrin. She just sort of sat on my lap for about a half hour, resting (very unusual for her). When she asked me to carry her inside, I was a little surprised - and then she threw up all over me. . . an experience that I just now started thinking about as completely disgusting because at the time, Lee and I were too busy comforting her and worrying about how sick she actually was. So there I am, covered in the throw up of a three year old, and I am more worried about drying her tears, making her feel better, and cleaning Cinderella so that she can still take her to bed. . .that, my friends, is unconditional love.

Talking on the Phone with Grammy

Elizabeth and Emily are absolutely hysterical to watch when they talk on the phone, especially with Grammy.

"Here you go, Baby Emily. It's Grammy."

Elizabeth cradles the phone like it's a dozen eggs.

A Day at the Cape

We had a lovely visit with the Yamin family - although they live in Oregon, they were visiting family in Cape Cod for the week, so we made the trek out there to see everyone. Elizabeth and Trevor played really well together and we really enjoyed catching up with Jeff and Jen. You can see pictures from our visit - which was far too short - here. We hope to see the family again when they make their next visit out east.

Elizabeth and Trevor
That Brady is one happy boy!!
Bathing suits are overrated.

The high school buddies catch up on old times.

Making Strides

For the third consecutive year, I am walking in Hartford's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk - this year, I will again take Elizabeth and Emily along for the ride, pushing them in the stroller. Please consider making a contribution to this worthy cause. You can access my personal fundraising page here. Thank you in advance. Here we are at the October 2006 walk

Daddy Got a Hair Cut

At least someone finds it funny when Lee gets his quarterly hair cut. . .

Ooops, He Did It Again

I'm not even going to get into what is going on with Ollie but needless to say, after a long stay at the vet this afternoon (which included surgery), he came home with instructions to wear this ridiculous collar. The second picture is Ollie giving me the cold shoulder (or back, as it may) after I put the collar on him. The dogs can't figure it out, Elizabeth just wants to kiss him and Emily screams in terror whenever he walks in the room. Good times.

Her Father's Daughter - Part II

Yep, that's a caterpillar she has in her hands. Lee found it in the garden and promptly presented it to Elizabeth. And she played with it for a while. I had to remove myself from the situation (I was a bit nauseous) because I realize that it's good to have children that aren't afraid of bugs and remember that we are all God's creatures. Even caterpillars.

Scary Face

This is the face that Elizabeth makes when something scares her - like a spider in the sand box. . . Can't you tell how afraid she is???

First Day of School

Today was a big day for Elizabeth - first day of pre-school and first day of the new dance year. She handled pre-school really well, as soon as she found some friendly faces. She calmly waved goodbye to me when I left, which was just great. This afternoon, she had her first day of dance class - ballet and acrobatics again this year. Now a seasoned pro, she did great there too. We are so proud of her. Click here to see pictures from her big day.

New first day of school outfit (with apologies to Grammy - Mom, they want girls and boys in pants, less scraped knees on the playground, I guess)

Elizabeth proudly shows off her new lunch box.

Showing of her new leotard and some fine dance moves. . .

Actual picture sequence

As these pictures show, Emily is a very happy and very curious little girl.

Ring Around the Rosey...LeBlanc Girls Style!

We have to say, it is nice to see our girls starting to play together.

Happy Birthday Lee!!

Lee celebrates his 33rd birthday today, but we celebrated as a family on Monday. Elizabeth and I made him a "birthday party cake" on Monday - she was such a greater helper, stirring the cake batter and running the mixer for the frosting.

Good genes give Elizabeth a leg up when it comes to mastering the art of baking.

She loved running the mixer for the frosting.

Elizabeth gives Daddy a big birthday kiss!!

Mmmmm, good cake!!

SUCCESS!!!

While Lee has been working on various other projects, including scraping and filling the side of the house (which you can see to the right), I painted two (count 'em TWO) coats of paint on the back of the house and the sun porch. We still need to finish the trim, but we can't help but feel a small sense of pride at accomplishing so much this summer.

Happy Labor Day

On this Labor Day 2007, we celebrate the hardest working dogs we know. . . .

Why God invented living rooms big enough to hold two couches. . . .

By the way, you can see the random pictures that we took in August here.

Truer Words Were Never Spoken . . .

This conversation actually occurred at the LeBlanc dinner table tonight -

Mommy: Emily, don't spit out your food. Don't be a bad girl.
Elizabeth: No, Emily's not a bad girl. She's a good girl. I'm a bad girl.

Mowing the Lawn

Since we moved Elizabeth to her "big girl" bed more than a year ago, she has been very good about staying in her bed - except when Daddy mows the lawn. Once she hears the lawn mower, she waits until he gets around to her side of the house and then watches and waves until he finishes. I caught her in the act (for the first time) last night!