bbq'in at the leif's...

...was a good time last night!

alyson, eleanor and joel.......posin for a pic

it was our turn to host our small group from church

and yes it was the hottest day of summer

and yes we still had a BLAST.

our church has truly become our family away from family

this is court, jack, and hannah.

the hamiltons (court and tom) are like mr leif and i's substitute big brother and big sister

(until liza moves here, hehe)

and our small group is just one of the MANY reasons why we love oak hills.

leah's chompin on melon with anthony, the other littlle hamilton boy :)

and cutie cute della is in the background with her momma abby

cheers to fun. food. fellowship. and puffed cheetos. YUM

bbqs are the best because everyone brings yummy food that you wouldn't typically have in your pantry

like puffed cheetos.

but now i kinda wanna go buy some.

yummmm they were so good.

something HE shares with us... and then some other random stuff

...psalm 25:4-5, 20-21

show me your ways o lord
teach me your paths
lead me in your truth and teach me
for you are the god of my salvation
on you i wait all the day

keep my soul and deliver me
let me not be ashamed
for i put my trust in you
let integrity and uprightness preserve me
for i wait for you

..........im struggling in the 'wait for you' 'teach me' 'lead me' areas right now
..........all too often, i'm snappin the reigns on my own life
..........just wish it was a clear cut vision when he 'shows us his ways', and 'teaches us his path'
..........im working on waiting, allowing him to mold me, and being willing to be led.

life is a challenge, ey?
:) :)

and now for the random stuff part.......
this post is GREAT on color coordination. thought i'd share :)
and
why am i so tired?
i had all this energy for about 2 weeks. and then BAM its gone and i could literally sleep all day.

the truth..........ready?

• last night i couldn't sleep........tossed and turned from about 2:14am, (after i went to the bathroom) until 4:30ish.
• then i finally fell asleep HARD and didn't wake up until 7:30ish.
• and then i just stayed in bed, read, surfed the web until almost 10:00.
• next, i had some cereal, had 3 phone conversations, and then mowed the lawn (HOLY HOTNESS ITS OVER 100 today.........wrong day to mow)
• after hosing myself off outside, i came in and had left over tacos for lunch and talked to my sister on the phone
• then......i went back to sleep until 2:36.
• seriously. i don't know whats wrong!!! and now im like a zombie, still SLEEPY.
• but........i need to get my booty in gear. we are hosting a church bbq tonight and are expecting about 20 people, AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! im staring at the deck thinking......what should i do first????
• ps. why is this bbq landing on the hottest day of summer? yikes!
• yawn.

dear babe,

good morning to you :)
is your heart-rate up? because you've been blastin away all morning, kick, punch, headbutt, karate chop.....you name it, im feelin it.

did you know your dad's pretty great?
and strangely knowledgeable about pregnant stuff...........

but most recently i've caught on to his all-knowledgeable self.
you see.............i discovered he gets about 3-5 emails sent to him per week from a 'what to expect when expecting' website. so the cats outta the bag.

i had been quite confused - because he's said things like "good thing we don't have any trips planned, most airlines wont let you fly without a dr letter in the 3rd trimester" and "lets shine a light on your belly, the baby will probably kick at it because he can see now"...........and i wondered how he new about all this crazy, seem-to-be true information. now i know :)

although most moms would be the one to receive these emails and share them with the dads, its quite the opposite with us. but its a good opposite, because i think it really makes your dad feel like he's helping us prepare for you, and he's right :) it empowers him to share this new information with me, the mom, the one who might stereotypically know all this kind of stuff.
he is so excited to meet you. and, you should be really proud of him. cuz i am :)

and ps. your room is lookin great :)
and that's thanks to your dad too.

see you in about 90 days :)
love your momma

today i'm gonna...

...take our cable box back to the cable company.

but for real. we are canceling our cable.
and. just so you know, i did NOT come up this idea on my own.
mr leif wants to do this just as much as me.
he's the one who unhooked it all and has it ready for me to deliver :)

you see.......our cable was not working for about 2 weeks back in june.
and we had THE BEST EVENINGS ever.

we read the bible more

we talked more

we ate dinner not being glued to the tube

we went on walks

we didn't wonder where the night went as we pushed 'power' at 11:00ish

so. in our crazy "new budget/save to get lindsey to stay home with our kids/save so mr leif can someday build us a house .........we are takin steps :)

i'm so excited to see what life without cable, will bring :)

(good thing redbox is REAL close) (we night need a few nights to vege with a movie)

good by cable bill !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and yes. for now, we ARE keeping our internet :) cuz, ya know, he'll have to check scores and watch espn clips........and i'll have to blog, and i'll need to keep stalking this girl (who's having a giveaway RIGHT now!!!), and her too, and obviously her (if only she would post more), and cjane and nie too.

goin on at our hizzie....

a few things.

we had visitors.
we like to call them our regulars.
they come crash at our place. a lot
and we love it.
and we have crazy good times.
...eating at firecookin/throwfoodatyou restaurants
...grillin. real low key like.
...tryin to start fires in our pit/but failing/but still trying.
...watchin our boys play tennis. all sweaty like.
...goin to get 'free facials'
...and bommin it up at schlitters......floatin and slidin in the sun.

and guess what else is goin on at our hizzie.
mr leif is paintin the babe's room.
yay. eeeeek. tripple quadruple sweetness.
and i have bad heartburn or indigestion
......(but no upset stomach/diareah)
duh. like the peptol bismal commercial.
but yeah it hurts.
so i ate ice cream.
and
well...

it helped.
YES. yes yes YESSSS.
love LOVE that ice cream is now justified as a remedy.
booyah to yah.

and in other big news......
im in my 26th week.
and standing in the future babe's room :)
and underneath......
bam!!!!
babyleif is really pokin out

so so so, at 26 weeks:

• hearburn/ouchiness - ice cream remedy, yay.
• boobs have stopped growing it seems, staying a consistant BIG, ughhh.
• getting up at 5. always. but now loving a midday nap (ahhhh the joys of my july of no work)
• feeling babyleif kick/do cannon balls/play karate/shake his booty
• seeing him do all those things and thinking it looks a bit weird when my belly has sudden random bulging movements
• mr leif can feel him/see him move. he likes that.
• ummmm lets see, what else......
• oh yeah, im NOT weighing myself. at all :) yep, its been about 3 weeks of no scale. and its almost like moses came down from the mountain and burnt up my idol and scattered the ashes of my scale into the river behind my house, just like he did to the israelites with their golden calf. so yeah. that whole issue is going GREAT. free.

ight y'all.

im out.

i've been taking some things...

...for granted.

so.
a few nights ago i took a really. long. hot. shower.
and just stood there letting the water beat down on my back.
(dad i know you have a thing for nozzles, so u'd appreciate this)
HAHAHAHHAHHAH totally an inside joke from our family vaca to CO.

and as i stood there. i thought...........
"wow, i have less then 100 days to enjoy my showers, kid-free"

because, that is one thing i've heard from so many moms.........you don't have a lot of time to take showers.

so.
while standing in the shower........i made a mental list of some of the things i
think
i'm taking for granted at the moment,
i really want to appreciate them for the next, 98 days or so :)

my list of things im adoring right now. pre-babe.

• long showers.
• random naps.
• spending an hour(s) in hobby lobby just knicknackin around, browsing isle by isle.
• craft time.
• not very much laundry. at all.
• unplanned trips to run errands. multiple times a day.
• snuggling with mr leif. every evening. just us.
• a clean house (i've had a lot of time on my hands.......spick n span).
• spending hours working in our yard or on our house with mr leif. uninterrupted.
• having plenty of time to get ready. do hair. put multiple outfits on until i decide on the right combo. and do makeup. ya know........girl stuff

ok. that's all. for now.
and really, dont mistake me..........im FREAKING OUT excited for the babe to come.
but.........i'm enjoying the calm before the storm. (the really really good storm)

dontcha like to....

......get rid of stuff?
i do.

me and clutter are not bff's.

the show about the hoarders on tv, freaks me out.

guess what's cool about my street??
the pool is about 5 houses down.
a park is literally acrosst the street.

which means........
lots of people passing by
lots of people like to take stuff.
lots of stuff is what i'm puttin' on my driveway.
stuff stuff stuff.

and

BAM!
POOF!
its gone.

i LOVE IT

i figure, if they're takin it, they need it more than me :)
i mean, i have already had a garage sale.
and it was great......
but this is easy. cheesy. catsmakemewheezy.

i be pitchin left and right.........
and i be lovin every minute of it.

think its 'nesting'??? hmmm. could be.

and really......... i do need to clear some room for the babe.

we are now a FAMILY OF 3 instead of just 2. whoa.

and i can't wait to dress him like these little romeo's..........

whoops. i forgot what store i saw these from. so i can't link the picture. ugh. sorry.

i am really really...

....REALLY looking forward to life with kids.

i'm always daydreaming of the FUN we will have!

whether i'm only home with them in the summers........

or whether my dream of 'home all the time' will come true.........

regardless.

we'll have a BLAST :)

we'll hang artwork up to show daddy!

and i'll help them put on neighborhood performances in our backyard.

and have arts and crafts days when its rainy outside.

and this organizational system makes me so happy inside.

and go thrifting, allowing them to pick out their own lawn chair and their own paint color.

making our yard quite the colorful attraction, SO full of life :)

i

can't

wait!

fam time....

in colorado!

because we will be.......

..........hittin the road later today,


and because we are takin a ROADDDDDDDD TRIP!!!!!!!
and because we are meeting my momma, and dad, and little bro, and little sis, in colorado!!!!!!!!!!!
and my big sissy, and her hubby, and jinxy cat :) too!!!!! (wow, havn't pulled out jinxy for a while, ey liza?!?!)
and because i'm done teaching summer school and i have the whole morning open
and because i don't feel like going on a walk or going to jazzercise
because of those things.......i will post again!

so, remember the swimsuit issue?? (that sounds like a dirty magazine i've heard of)
(which, by the way, i only had like 3 or 4 votes on here, most of you texted me or fb messaged me.........come on silly friends, its ok to write a public comment :) hehehehe

well........ i finally got one.
i mean, i bought one 3 days ago.
and then yesterday i found a cuter one at target
so i took the first one back
and bought this one :)
i love it.
the flowers up top are so cute that it really does take away from my thighs :)
(i cut them out of the picture, hehehehe)but here's what its supposed to look like.
i prefer my stomache showing :)
glad thats over with.
the lights in dressing rooms make you look yucky.
especially when your in a suit.
woof!