what it's all about...

ok, so be honest. how often do you say or hear someone say the phrase...'what christmas is all about' or 'the true meaning of christmas' or 'tis the season'. well, i hear it/say it all the time...but most of the time i, unfortunately, have not walked the talk.

i'm not referring to a lack of focus on celebrating the birth of christ. because...that IS my MAIN focal point...but i'm talking about something else. gift giving.

true gift giving.

how many times are we caught up in the hussle and bussle of getting our family members and friends the perfect give. it's stressful. (or maybe i am the only one who can spend hours upon hours searching, then finally buy something, just to end up returning it for something different the next day, ugh).
God knows my heart, he SO knows my heart. He knew how stressful I make the holidays for myself, in terms of gift giving.
an opportunity knocked on my door this week.
a family here at school was not planning on celebrating christmas. no tree. no gifts. not really even sure if they would have enough food/money to get them through the month of december.

when asking their 5th grade son what kinds of things do you, your twin siblings, and older sibling like? what do you want? he responded with the ever-so-humbling, "oh, we will take anything". now come on. most 5th graders would totally haved rocked this question with a PSP or DS or whatever latest gadget is out there. nuh uh. not this boy. he's a humble fella.

k, so his classroom teacher and I got our staff on board with support and went to town on gathering gifts...
...dinner certificate, date night for mom and dad
...toys, clothes, family board games
...grocerie gift cards

we went crazy. my heart is going crazy.

....my heart is so glad. my cup is so full.

someone has a crush on me...

while reading this book to one of the kindergarten classes at my school...

i got to the page that says, "peace is thinking about someone you love."

one little boy made a squishy/squinty face and then pointed to me.

his friend laughed a little, then pointed at the boy who was pointing at me, and said,

"he loves you."

so, my friends...in the absence of mr. leif....i have my own little romeo in the kindergarten class, here at 'the wash'.

one more funny from my day... i was just informed by our little possy of gangster 6th graders that we no longer use 'cool' when referring to something that is, well, cool. one must use 'fly' (kinda knew that one), 'raw', or 'crispy'. so to their request, i have now been using a lot of 'raw' and 'crispy' when giving them compliments...you should try it sometime. here, you can practice right now. repeat after me, "lindsey, your blog is so raw" GREAT! you did it, now try, "lindsey, your blog is so crispy". baaaaaahahahahahah. that one sounded marvelous. now, go on....add those 2 words to your daily vocabulary. do it for me. i am totally raw and crispy.

sidenote: i get to see my bff(2) in 3 days. san diego here i come.

this morning...

mr. leif caught me doin some serious damage on our bank account.

haha. jk. i didn't buy anything...i was searching for ideas.

i always seem to make such a big ordeal over christmas shopping for my mom(s)...

i want themto just l.o.v.e. their gift, and i want them to be meaningful, and i want them to be handmade...

so i am fervently searching for some good ideas.

if i had a million followers on this blog, i would now pose the question, "what are you all giving your moms for christmas, anything handmade?"

but i think i have like, well, not very many people who read this....so i will just stick to internet searching and crafty-blog stalking.

450 peacemakers at the wash...

we nickname our school "the wash" .......short for washington elementary

as i posted earlier...i am trying to promote peace in our school through my classroom guidance counseling lessons.

my theme for december is 'peace begins with u'. i like it.

i'm trying to create 450 peacemakers.

i wanted to spruce up my lessons this month and make them super deeee duper fun...so along with the typical 'stuff' we usually do...i am doing a fun crafty thing in each grade level.

these are the 5th grader's "peace flags"

check'em out......pretty sweet, ey?

i hung them from the ceiling in the hallway :)

bring on the peace.

side note...wouldn't it be lovely if i could teach them about peace AND the prince of peace??? that would be great.

3 flont flips...

so my sissy usually sends me a picture via text once a day...

here are some of the ones i have gotten...

i just love my bff. aren't u jealous you don't have a bff as cute as mine?

for all you females out there...if that didn't make your uterus do 3 front flips in the air...i don't know what would.

baby c (bff) = cutest thing on the planet.

peace,xoxo,linds

randomness.....

after saving and saving...this weekend, we got a new camera! yay.

mr. leif and i did a little photo shoot in our kitchen, even though i have no clue how to really use it yet. i will learn though :)

oh, and yummidy yum yum

i had this for dinner tonight. best dinner in a while :)

tonight,

there was a cat (not ours because i'm scared of cats, and strongly dislike them) stuck in the loft of our garage. not sure how it got up there. and it really freaked me out. i was too scared to crawl after it. it was making freaky meow noises, ones that might create a nightmare. i just left the garage door, open for an hour,hoping somehow it would make the 10 ft. plunge down and land on its feet (right?) and then dash out of the garage. i haven't heard the wacko meows for a while, so i think it finally figured out a plan of escape. i hope. otherwise that sucker is going to have to wait until mr. leif gets back.......which is not for a while.

tonight,

i am hoping for a snow day tomorrow. i would like that, a lot. i need to finish a final for one masters class and then do my final project for the other masters class. a snow day would be nice. maybe i would get those two things done, and clean my house? snow day? yes please. oh well, at least i don't have to clean the toilets. mr. leif did that this weekend.

i love him.

tonight,

i am watching one tree hill and gossip girl. because i am bored. because i did 2 out of 6 essay questions and that was my goal. because i don't really want to do anything else but be curled up on the couch, while wishing for a snow day.

tonight,

i am so thankful for my husband. when i think of him i smile. i love thinking about him, and more recently, deeply praying for him. it has been the most remarkable feeling, praying for him. through prayer, and lifting him up to God, i feel strangely closer to him during the week. it is so cool.

peace

xoxo

linds

yum.

after much talk about an evening of holiday baking.

after paging through recipe upon recipe.

after coming up with our grocery list of ingredients.

after stirring, mixing, pouring, melting, spreading.

finally....

my sweet friend colette and i created three delicious holiday goodies :)

melting the caramels for the caramel peanut bars...

squeeeeeeeze the white chocolate on the pumpkin spice bars...

roll. dip. place.

the yummy yum yum ginger snaps...

meanwhile, the guys were doing 'man things' in the garage...

but we ended the evening with wine, pizza, and of course.........dessert :)

peace, xoxo, linds

peace.

i have been quite pleased with my recent purchase: the new casting crowns christmas cd.
more specifically, i have been pretty obsessed over their song, peace on earth.

this obsession can be defined by selecting track #1 every time i get in my car. and then pushing the rewind button so i can hear the song again. and then i usually push it one more time so i can hear it a third time.

makes me think ...... time and time again i am reminded how hard it is to teach in a public school, especially over the holidays. i want to 'spread the good news' :) i want to go into every classroom and declare that this is THE most glorious time of the year...we celebrate the birth of our Savior!

my cell phone...

is the only form of photography that i own. boo.
so........via my cell phone cam cam i captured quite the miracle last week.
of course, those lovely cell phone picture files fill up rather quickly, so i wasn't able to take the 5,348,498 photos i wanted to take. but i will gladly post the few that i did :)
because.
this, my friends, is the little birdie that just joined our family.
and, she is my new BFF

yep. i have no words. only the cheesiest smile on my face, ever, when i see this picture of little charlotte. my little love.

yep. there's me, with her. my little nieceypoo
...just a small dilemma though, they live in san diego. and i live in kansas city. ugh.
(not as in ugg boots...cuz those actually make me happy)
wow. she is perfect, ey?? this is take RIGHT after her birth...how you might ask was I able to get such a candid??
i was asked by my sissy to be in the delivery room.
yep. I WAS IN THE DELIVERY ROOM PEOPLE!!!!!
it was amazing. and now i totally know what i will be getting myself into someday
...when mr. leif and i start a fam fam.


and. speaking of uggs....
my little charlotte is soooooo a fahsionista. she totally rocks the owls.

and her shoe collection is glamorous.

and because my sissy did so amazing with the nursery, i wanted to put up just one little sniblit from the most adorable room i have ever entered.

i actually want an exact replica for my own house, baby or not, i want that nursery.

and. by the way my sis and mr. sand made that painting.

yep. they are good.

...

I ate snickers bars while under blankets, while laying on the couch, while mr. leif counted how many times i said, "i miss the baby' on sunday.

i am slowly recovering, but sunday i was totally depressed

on a happy note...

i'm going to be a mermaid saturday night...
and mr. leif's gonna be my fisherman.


.....
post-edit.....
.....

my fisherman :) with quinn, i mean MARIO!

well lookythere, it's ariel? the little mermaid?

and a shroom! she must be mario's wife :)

the waters rise...

this song sums up how i feel. kinda.

i find myself thinking, “when’s it coming?” i often wonder when i will face a horribly scary struggle, one that tests my faith and builds perseverance, like we are told here: James 1:2-4.

but i know now, that i am in a storm. a raging sea. he is in st. louis and i am here. it's hard and it's wearing on me. overflowing joy used resonate in my daily life. it's often easier to ignore it and go on with life, seeming happy to those around me. being successful at work and in school is how i can create a mask. but i want to write about it. so thanks for listening.

the waters keep rising and i fall deep into this battle with staying happy while he's gone. stay posititive. but it's so wearing. he is my best friend, my kindred spirit. he listens to my hopes, my dreams, my complaints, my jokes, and now i have all of those million thoughts in my mind everyday and only the only thing I come home to are the spiders :)

what a weird season in my life.
i’ve never lived alone.
i know i am not truly alone.

when i listen to this song i am comforted.

He will never let go…my soul overflows with the love He has for me and it fills me with hope.
so, as i continue to swim…….i think i just need to turn over and do the back float for a while. to rest. to admit that life's hard right now.

in the mean time…….i suppose i can talk to my laundry and blast amazing music like the david crowder band and mike’s chair.

...

it is nice getting my thoughts typed down. i like this.

hello hobby lobby, i haven't seen you in a while...

just a sneak peak

...at a fun little crafty idea that i am currently pursuing :)

i will be sure to post the finished product!!

p.s.

while i've been slaving away folding, gluing, cutting....

mr. leif has been tackling his own project outdoors, our chimney. whooooooofta. this chimney needed some work, so he is breaking away all the old cracked stucco and replacing it with some new stucco....yikes, look at those old bricks behind there!!!

change of plans...

i am not too much of a routine girl...i like to be more random. i do love to plan and be organized, but i don't necessarily need routine...it makes me bored.

however...

i was supposed to visit mr. leif at his jobsite for the weekend, to see the site, his pad (appartment), and to possibly venture into st. louis for some fun. but, there was a change of plans. he is coming home tonight instead.

it's nice for him to come.

to verbalize what he is going through, i think he still needs to 'come home' to feel like his work is his work, and not his whole life. so we will do the regular friday night hangout, fill our day on saturday with random things, and on sunday we will do church and our usual yummy breakfast/brunch somewhere cozy :)

routine is good, ey?

for mr. leif, yes. and if that brings him home to me, then i welcome routine with open arms.

he will be home in 2 HOURS!!!

so i am speeding over to hy-vee to get ingredients to make some pasta, garlic bread, and an apple pie...i hope he likes the aroma of a yummy dinner when he walks in the door!!!

this morning, i woke up to this

a beautiful view outside of my window

as i looked into our backyard

fall...the leaves have definitely started to!!!

We have these really big, beautiful trees....

in our front yard, the side yard, and the back yard...
the leaves have started to fall...

mr. leif thinks we should wait until they all fall...ya know, so we don't have to rake the whole yard mutliple times, just do it all at once...

but he changed his mind and we did some raking this afternoon :)

lots of big piles!

i totally thought we needed to jump into at least one pile.

mr. leif did not.

it was a beautiful day.

but then he had to leave :(

normally he leaves monday morning. but this week he left on sunday, boo.

good news though, i am going to visit him in st. louis next weekend! yay.

baby it's cold outside...but not too cold for a day at the park

our church is lovely.

one of the best things, other than it being completely Bible believing and totally consumed with the grace of God, is that we always have so many fun things going on. this past sunday, we had our annual tailgate party and flag football game. despite the chilly conditions, we had quite the group show up for a delish bbq, some great flag football, &total fun hang-out time.

i didn't have my cam cam for pics...but check out the fun for yourself!!!

we know how to rock it out, oak hills style....

PS...

.... and update from flag football....we found out this morning (10/18/09) in church that the person who had a 'run in' with mr. leif during the game, actually broke 2 ribs. whoops. he felt bad, but i suppose one can't help being so competitive, huh? :) in mr. leif's defense, they ran into each other and it was no one's fault, complete accident!!! hehehehe....wear pads next year???!

someone came to visit.

she did. that's celia. my little new zealander...

we had a fabulous time going to...

wine night with the ladies at spin pizza, yum and fun. did you know that you can take your own wine to spin, and they uncork it for just a buck? yep, it creates quite the lovely evening: wine.pizza.friends. book club at coco's was next, and on this night ce got to meet some of my KC besties! and silly me, i forgot my cam cam, so i wasn't able to snap.

what's a friend reunion without movies on the couch? a 'night in' fostered some good chat time, and ice cream of course...well someone hadn't ever tried sheridan's frozen custard...so i had to introduce her :)

then the weekend came. mr. leif came home (smiles). and we had fun, the three of us :)

did i say we had fun? because we did :)

next was saturday, it was lovely.

our morning was spent at the farmer's market, getting some lovelies to put on the grill. also, i bought 3 pumpkins. and 2 gourds. yay. i like how they look on my front steps.
yum, fresh, beautiful
spices anyone? friends, me and her.

and what's a weekend with a long lost friend, without creating at least one inside joke...

"bet you girls can't do a back flip!"