Christmas with the Leonhardts

I'm hoping everyone had a Very Merry Christmas this year. Ours turned out to be quite nice. Commander flew in last week for the Co-ed's Graduation Ceremony and had enough vacation days to stay until this coming Sunday! We went to Mass on Christmas Eve and then to our Good Friends the Villorentes for a Christmas Eve party that lasted until Midnight.

On Christmas Morning we( the Parental Figures) woke up too late to open presents before Mass...much to C0-ed's disappointment....she's ALL about Presents..LOL

Mass was pretty empty ..I guess everyone was too busy opening gifts and playing with all their new cool stuff.....or sleeping in.....but we were there! I think there were more people in the Choir than in the Pews..LOL

After we arrived home we wasted NO time in the exchanging of gifts...everyone seemed pleased with their loot.

Big Zelda fan......Co-ed got the same shirt...LOL ( she dressed as Zelda for Halloween this year)As you can see she REALLY needed this Book!!I think she was more excited about recieving this than any other of her gifts...including the DVD of Mama Mia!And Co-ed was absolutely ecstatic about her new Flat Screen LCD TV!! It was too big to wrap and put under the Tree so she had to go Fish it out of the closet in the downstairs bedroom....she was a little worried when all the gifts under the Tree were unwrapped and she was the only one who hadn't recieved a 'big' gift.....Drama Teen had gotten a new I-Pod Classic...Genious Boy a Navigation System..me ,a Laptop and Commander a huge tool Cabinet......her squeals coming from the Closet were priceless!!

I was quite pleased with mine....my family was VERY good to me this year....Commander finally replaced my dead Laptop! I am now the proud owner of a Toshiba Satellite!
Genious Boy got me a game.....

Commander also bought me a few unique jewelry items at a Craft Fair that my SIL dragged him to earlier this month.....THANK-YOU Kathy!!!!!!

He also found this gorgeous and incredibly soft Cashmere Scarf at the Craft Fair......

Co-ed Knows me too well.......LOL
Everyone got these Beautiful FREE T-shirts from VA Tech(the bookstore hands them out Free at the beginning of each semester..LOL..they have tons so she was able to snag enough for all of us and still have a few left...

Co-ed also gave me this pretty sweater....

More gifts from the Co-ed and Drama Teen........hmmmnn Drama Teen has been wanting to read Twilight for a while....ulterior motives????? Co-ed aslo got me some Cute Ankle Boots( I forgot to take a picture)

and....

Finally....Commander got me Tickets to see Wicked!! in February.....this also means I 'll get to fly up to WI for a visit!!

My living room looked like a tornado hit it after the Gift Giving Frenzy was over.....as I began to prepare our Awesome Christmas Dinner the rest of the family took some time to lounge around.....the girls did help out here and there with some cutting a peeling....Christmas Dinner:

Sweet Potato Casserole

Fruit and Wild Rice Dressing

Potatoes Dauphine

Glazed Spiral Ham

and Dinner Rolls....

Lets Eat!!!

And finally I leave you all with another Video of Mary Did You Know with Both girls singing. They sang it for Communion at Christmas Mass.

Mary Did You Know?

This past Sunday was the Children's Christmas Pageant at our Church...it was a really lovely little play and the children were all adorable...Drama Teen was asked to sing Mary Did You Know?

Graduation!!

Yeah!!! The Co-ed Graduated from VA Tech this weekend! Whew....that's one less tuition bill!!! We lucked out that she graduated a semester early so we only had one semester with overlapping tuition, between her and the Drama Teen. The Commander was able to fly in for the ceremony, so we were all able to attend except the Recruit who is in Monterey and unable to get time off to fly out. Co-ed will be staying here with me for the next few months, hopefully substitute teaching, and then in the fall, she'll probably continue on with her Masters degree. Walking across the stage.........Family pics outside in front of the stadium......Afterwards we stopped off at Co-ed's apartment and then we headed off to Bogens for a celebratory Lunch.....

Disappearing Act?

OK , so I did a little disappearing act.....where did the time go? I don't know it's just been a little busy around here I guess. Thanksgiving was wonderful with the girls home from College and the Commander flying in for the weekend. It was so nice to see them all and be a "family" again if even for just a few days. Commander flew into Richmond on Thanksgiving Day, a two hour drive for me..so my girls took care of Thanksgiving Dinner. It was their first attempt and they did wonderfully. They prepared the Turkey , made bread stuffing from scratch( which turned out delicious) , the mashed potatoes , the sweet potatoes and Drama Teen made my famous Broccoli Casserole. After a really great weekend together the girls had to head back to school and Commander had to fly back up to Wisconisin. It was a short but wonderful visit.

I'm So Excited..

Commander is flying in on Thursday..so he'll be here for Thanksgiving..I can't wait. It's been a month since I've seen him!! And the girls will be home sometime this weekend, so it's going to be a GREAT week!!

Weekend With the Girls

So I had my fun weekend with my girls. It was so great to see them both, and I had a lot of fun. My trip started with my getting held up by the SteeL Bridge in Deep Creek a few miles from my home. I waited while a good 10-15 sailboats came thru. It was like a regatta or something....anyway...after a good 30 minutes or so..I finally got on the road and arrived in Blacksburg around 6:00pm. I had not been to Co-ed's new apartment yet, so I mapquested the directions, and was taken God only knows where. I got to see the VERY RURAL part of town..LOL. I finally arrived and got the tour of her apartment. It's actually quite nice, and quite tidy. One of the main reasons she moved was because her previous room-mates were too messy.

After my tour I took Co-ed out to Dinner. We chose Indian Food this time. One of the fun things about Co-ed is that she's very adventurous and loves to try new foods, so we enjoy going out for various cuisines. Drama Teen is strictly a Chicken Fingers and Fries type gal. We went to India Garden in Blacksburg and OH my...the food was divine! I ordered the Lamb Mango...and Co-ed ordered a different Lamb dish with a creamy almond sauce. We shared our plates and both were absolutley delicious. After wards we got a coffee and snack and Starbucks, I bought my first Christmas Gift for Drama Teen and then we headed off to the Movies and saw The Changeling. I highly recommned it ..it was a GREAT movie. Afterwards it was late and we decided I would go ahead and stay at Co-eds apartment for the night. She gave me her futon and she slept on the couch. It's an eerie feeling being a 'guest' in your own child's home...

Saturday morning Co-ed and I had breakfast at IHOP ...which was a BIG mistake.....bad service..bad cooking ...just BAD all around......remind me NEVER to go back! After Breakfast ( which took forever ,thanks to cooks who don't seem to know how to cook EGGS for crying out loud!) We headed over to Tech to attend Drama Teens Meet.

East Campbell Hall....Co-ed's old Dorm.


Her teammates were impressed that her Mom came to watch...and she was excited to see us both. Sister's...Co-ed tying Drama Tens Ribbon...There were a ton of schools there competing..I was surprised to see students from Purdue, and Northern Illinois, and Tennesee, Kentucky etc. Warming up..It was chaotic but fun to watch. Drama Teen competed in Three events. Vault, Floor and Bars.....she didn't do too well on Bars...but I think her floor routine wasn't bad, and she did pretty good on vault. Shes' a little rusty since she didn't compete last year( too busy with Drama and Chorus) and she's been so busy since starting at JMU , that she hasn't devoted much time to practicing. Hopefully over the next few months she can practice a little harder and do a little better at her meet in February. At the least she's having fun and keeping busy.




I had to leave before the awards ceremony as I had a long drive back home that night. It was great to see them though...Gosh do I miss them.

Off to See the Wizard

Well not exactly! I am off to see my girls though, and I am excited!! Gosh do I miss them...it's been REEAAALLLY quiet around here the last few months...which I'm sure many of you with little ones are thinking what? is she crazy?.....I'd give ANYTHING for some QUIET and some TIME TO MYSELF....well believe me it's GREAT the first DAY or so ..maybe even the first WEEK or so....but...after that....not so much. I REALLY miss them all. Co-ed, Drama Teen, and the Recruit( whose really doing well BTW and loving Monterey and his new career in the AF..I 'think" he even has a 'girlfriend")Genious Boy is still here..but I don't see him much. Oh and of COURSE I miss the Commander more than anything. I am REALLY hoping he will get to come down for Thanksgiving. Looks like the plan is for all of us to go up for Christmas and I am looking forward to that.

So I'm off to VA Tech to watch Drama Teen compete in her first Gymnastics Meet of the year. As luck would have it Co-ed attends VA Tech, so that means a Double Bonus..I get to visit with BOTH of my girls! I'll be driving up tonight so I can spend a little one on one time with the Co-ed, and so I can stay the night and be bright eyed and bushy tailed at Drama Teens meet. I probably wont get too much time with the Drama Teen as I'm not sure exactly what the schedule is for her team.

I'm packing them a couple of Halloween Treat Bags ...unloading a bunch of that leftover Candy that's been sitting around Tempting me..I've been pretty good.. I AM eating some of it but keeping it under control and even managed to lose a pound this week. Yay me!

I am Blissfully Domestic

Today I am particpating in the Linky Love over at Blissfully Domestic.

We can chose any topic that Blissfully Domestic covers, and link a post published within the last 7 days. Click on the Picture above to see a list of other bloggers particpating. My topic for this week is Blissful Home with this post about my Halloween Decorating.

Off to My Meeting

This is what I'm wearing tonight. Today has been a 'fat' day and I feel like a blimp in this outfit.....but it was the best I could come up with tonight. Not to mention the picture turned out really blurry...either my lense was fogged up or my mirror is filthy..it's probably the mirror or a combination of both..LOL

Maggii's Daybook

FOR TODAY November 3, 2008
Outside My Window...it is gray and gloomy...it looks cold outside.... I think it might rain...
I am thinking...It's going to be a dreary day...I have no energy and don't feel like doing ANYTHING!
I am thankful for...my family and a husband that works so hard to support us all.

From the kitchen...I need to do some dishes.
I am wearing...an oversize sweatshirt and some grubby paint stained track pants. I feel too blah to 'dress up" today.
I am creating...absolutely nothing today.
I am going...to my Woman's Group meeting tonight...hopefully my spirits will lift by then.
I am reading...Living Like Ed..by Ed Begley
I am hoping...someone eventually takes an interest in our house.
I am hearing...Silence...PURE silence.
Around the house...I have a few chores I need to take care of...dishes?....and whatnot.
One of my favorite things...staring out my windows even on gloomy days.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: I've got my meeting tonight....choir practice on Wednesday...need to get my truck fixed , probably on Thursday...and then I am heading up to VA Tech to see my girls. The youngest is competeing in a Gymnastics competition at Tech(she's on the JMU team)
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
I really miss my husband.......

Subsitute Teacher

Today I got to be a Substitute CCD Teacher... I've taught CCD for the last ten years and really enjoyed it. But, this year with the move and all, and not knowing exactly how much longer I would be here, I didn't feel comfortable taking on a class. Luckily our RE had a LOT of new parent volunteers so she really didn't 'need' me to teach and so I didn't volunteer for a class. This week I was needed though. The 7 th and 8th grade teacher was going to be out of town, and her husband who teaches with her is our Parish Council President, and we always have our Council meeting on the First Sunday and was unable to teach as well, so I filled in for them. It was great and I realized I REALLY miss it. It didn't hurt that the students were excited to have me substitute...I was their teacher for the last 2 or three years. I didn't realize they liked me so much. So all in all it was a great day and I look forward to hopefully getting a chance to substitute again, and to teaching again when we move to WI, if I'm able.

What I wore to Church today:

Half-way thru Mass I noticed my shoe is coming apart. I'm really disappointed because these are one of my favorite pairs. They are Vera Wang and I really would have expected them to hold up MUCH better than this. OH well...I'm going to have to go shopping and find myself a NEW Basic Black Pump....