Hangin' With the Band

One of the perks of having a daughter who sang with the UW Band is an invitation to sit with the UW alumni band during a recent Badger hockey game (when all the students were on Christmas break and there were plenty of open seats in the band section). Check out the delight on the faces of these kids!

The Things Boys Say

In an effort to bring my blog up-to-date after a two-month hiatus (can you say "Post-Christmas Catch-Up?), I will be posting a series of Leone family moments and highlights...

Let's start off with a peek at a conversation around the breakfast table a few days ago.

Mom, carrying a basket of laundry through the kitchen:
"Dad did laundry for me this morning. Isn't that nice?"

William (7): "He's such a dude!"

Andrew (3): "Do you know what 'dude-ish' means? It means super macho and super powerful and super rock and roll."


For the record, we do try to instill eloquence and becoming speech around here.

Munchkin Earns a Spelling Bee Trophy

For those of you who wonder why we put "munchkins," into our blog title, look no further than this photo. Here, Kathleen, second place finisher of the Holy Family Homeschoolers spelling bee, congratulates first-place winner.

Note well: These are two fourth graders. Check out the height differential.

Needless to say, we do not expect our children to outgrow the "munchkin" moniker anytime soon.

Congrats to our little Kathleen and her much-taller friend for a great job in the bee!

Christmas Morning

Without further ado, here are some snapshots from Christmas morning. The kids sport an interesting array of clothing choices ranging from PJ's to blue jeans to Christmas dresses. That's what happens when you go to Mass the night before and the kids aren't quite sure what the gift-opening dress code is. ;)

My Godfather is Tougher Than Your Godfather

In a breakfast-table discussion about Godparents this morning, seven-year-old William was heard to boast, "My Godfather is a soldier!"

Three-year-old Andrew didn't waste a second getting right in William's face and retorting, "Well, MY Godfather shoots deers."

(William's Godfather is a naval officer, and Andrew's Godfather is a former game warden.)

Paul and John, want to get together and rumble?

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve 2007 here at home with Grandma Leone and Joe's brothers, John and Lou. With good food, good drink, and a beautiful Christmas Vigil Mass, it was just perfect. We kept the food simple, but fun.

We enjoyed an assortment of finger foods, all meatless in keeping with Italian tradition. Joe whipped up his delicious curried shrimp dish, and we had smoked salmon, egg rolls, brie pastries, crab cakes, cheese balls, and a mountain of Christmas cookies and petit fours. The kids loved having sparkling grape juice in wine glasses.

We managed to have the little ones in bed, dreaming of Santa, by a reasonable time.

The following assortment of photos provides a peek into the Christmas Eve merriment. The first photo depicts Joe doing his annual reading of "The Night Before Christmas." The next photo is Anna Marie with Uncle John. The rest are fairly self-explanatory.

The Pack is Back!

Three of the Leone kids before today's most excellent Packers game!

(The Packers hats were donned not two minutes in the door from Mass.)

Christmas Cookies!

Going back in time a week or so, you would have found us feverishly baking our nine different types of Christmas cookies and sweets. It was a two-and-a-half-day (and evening) baking extravaganza. My old back was tired from standing by the end of the cookie-baking marathon, but the kids and I had a ball.

On the 23rd, Joe joined us in delivering cookies -- despite the winter travel advisory.

These photos provide a little peek at our annual cookie-baking fest.

For those of you who received cookie platters, I hope you don't cringe at the covered-with-chocolate-kids who obviously had their fingers (washed, of course) all over the goodies. ;)

William's 7th Birthday

I can't believe our little man is seven! This is the boy who was given a fifteen percent chance to live during his infancy. He not only beat those odds, but he came out of the ordeal strong and healthy, obliterating the predictions. We are so blessed to have Sweet William in our lives. (Speaking of "Sweet William," I have a little spot in my garden where I planted the Sweet William perennial the spring after his medical ordeal. It's still doing great, and I think William relishes the fact that it's there as a tribute to him.)

Without further ado, here are some birthday photos. The castle is William's big and highly-cherished birthday gift. As for the cake, can you tell what William's favorite sport (not to mention favorite team) is? Moira and Jen, you should have been here for the green and gold celebration!

The Mutterings of Children

Joe and I are busy reading in the family room while the kids are upstairs playing "ghost tag" with flashlights. Suddenly a scream pierces the household. Twenty-two month old Therese has bitten eleven-year-old Anna Marie.

In calm, reporter-like fashion, seven-year-old William is heard to mutter, "Oh dear, oh dear. Now we have a travesty going on."

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

We headed over to our local Christmas tree farm (just up the road from us) late this afternoon. Trudging through extremely deep snow, we managed to find the "perfect" tree.

Although the photos look peaceful and idyllic, don't be fooled. Miss 22-month-old was none too happy on her extended sled ride through the fluffy white stuff that kept ending up in her face and in her boots. Her wails pierced the silent solitude of the snow-laden farm.

Even so, we found a great big tree for the family room, plus a sweet little "Charlie Brown tree" for the dining room. We'll decorate the trees on William's birthday this Saturday, as has become our annual tradition.

Another year, another snowy trek for the perfect tree...

P.S. The child in red is Therese who looks a bit like a boy in the hand-me-down snowsuit...

Crafty Girls

Anna Marie and Kathleen seem to be spending their spare time (what little there is, amidst play rehearsals and productions) crafting.

Here is a sampling of some of their recent projects:

Frazzles Dusted with Snow

Well, I've been just a wee bit frazzled lately, trying to juggle all the demands of life with five kids, homeschooling, and preparing for Christmas. Oh, in case I forgot to mention: There is also the fact that we're in the midst of community theatre productions -- a mere seven plays over two weekends, all coming right on the heels of three months of nightly rehearsals. All this chauffeur wants for Christmas is a great big nap!

When I come up for air, I'll catch up on the blog posting. For now, here are some lovely winter photos of our backyard and some additional shots of two very happy boys.

Turkey, Pilgrim, & Indians—Oh My!

This Thanksgiving goes down in the Leone family record book as one that was thoroughly relaxing and utterly memorable. Sure, Joe and I did our annual, sometimes-tiring kitchen marathon in the 48 hours leading up to Thanksgiving, but we had all the dishes prepared in advance, and we benefitted in the form of a relaxed Thanksgiving that allowed us time to really savor the holiday with the kids and our guests.

Unfortunately, my parents and my grandmother were unable to make it for dinner. However, our close friends the Daniels—John, Claudia, and Jen—filled our house with great merriment and good cheer. And they arrived bearing sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, chocolate cranberry tart, wine, flowers, and a Claudia Daniel original drawing! What's not to love about these people? The Daniels are, indeed, like family, and we were honored to have them here for Thanksgiving this year. Together, we enjoyed great food, excellent wine, football passes in the living room, crazy Photo Booth snapshots on the mac, and general mirth and pandemonium.

The photos that follow provide a flavor of the Leone Thanksgiving this year.

Funny Kid Quips

Mom: "Why are you out of bed, William?"

Perfectly healthy six-year-old son: "I feel like I'm going to throw up, Mom."

Mom: "If you're going to throw up, then go into the bathroom."

Mom: "Andrew, now what are you doing up?"

Perfectly healthy three-year-old boy: "I feel like I'm going to throw up too."

Mom: "It seems to be quite popular around here to pretend like you're sick just so you can get out of bed."

Perfectly healthy three-year-old revising story on the spot: "Oh, I got mixed up, Mom. Actually, I meant to say I really like seeing people throw up, so I'm going to go watch William."

Mom: "Good one, Andrew." [Mom sends two perfectly healthy boys back to bed and tries to hide smile.]

________________________________________________________

The kids are looking through a Christmas cookie cookbook, trying to decide what recipes we'll use for Christmas baking this year.

Three-year-old Andrew runs across a photo of a cut-out cookie shaped as a fleur-di-lis.

With great glee, Andrew shouts, "Look! We can make stabbing cookies!"

Apparently, the fleur de lis looked a bit sword-like to little Andrew.