Leonard Log

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Swimming Lessons

This is McKenzie making a big splash down the water slide. She was scared to do it and mentioned before she went that she didn't want to do it. I assured her that they wouldn't go down the slide on the first day! I was wrong, but she now loves it. I am very proud of her. She went three times.
My Miranda girl "monkey'd" down the slide. Who knows how, but she didn't slide out. She monkey walked down to the bottom and stopped.
She refused to jump
The instructor had to pull her down. We asked her how she did it. She said that she kept her hands dry. That is my child. A little strong willed and if she doesn't want to do it, she'll find a way out. The next trip down the slide she got out of because she had to go to the bathroom. Mom wasn't going to go for that when she paid good money for lessons. Miranda had to go again and this time the instructor "helped" (pushed) her down so she couldn't stop herself. She didn't seem too traumatized by it all. I think she will be used to it in no time!

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Mmmmm Apples!

This was picture perfect! I couldn't pass up taking a picture before my first bite. It was as good as it looked!

McKenzie, Miranda and Nyejha enjoying their carmel & chocolate apples. K.C. and I were trying to score good mommy points and I think we did. My girls should be thankful that K.C. lives so close. This was her idea. I seem to be letting the girls do way more than I normally do. It was WAY past the girls' bed times and they have swimming lessons in the morning.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

The Guys Are Away, The Girls Play!

My friend Myrna's husband is deployed too. We had a girls' night out/baby shower for one of our friends. She offered to drive the convertible!

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Miranda's Ride on Chappy's Bike

As promised, Miranda had a turn on Chappy's bike. He took her all around the flightline and she even saw an airplane take off. She was thrilled!

It's NOT Chicken Pox!

The spots have magically disappeared! We are back to normal :) We went to the doctor to confirm this morning. He said it was some kind of rash. No more isolation!

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Kitten Mittens

Miranda has always had "itchy" problems. She would complain that her pants were itchy and her socks were itchy. She has eczema and will NOT wear jeans because they are itchy.....so chicken pox are probably her nightmare. She has been known to scratch and not stop! So, we broke out the kitten mittens like we did for Kenzie when she had chicken pox 9 years ago.

True Sign of Friendship

I was having nightmares last night....I was pretty sure that Miranda was going to be diagnosed with chicken pox and it was the first of the month. I needed to go to the grocery store. How could anybody know what I shop for? I was just overwhelmed. I can't leave the girls by themselves, I can't take Miranda out of isolation and we can't eat Ritz crackers and Crystal Lite for 10 days. K.C. watched my kids in my car, from her car, while they were parked next to each other so that I could cash a check. Then she went shopping for me. The poor girl. I sent her with quite a list. It took her 3 hours with my shopping and hers. That's a true friend. There wasn't any impulse buying. She saved me quite a bit of money. Thanks K.C. :)

The Leonard Girls Visit the Maxwell Clinic!

Well, It's official! McKenzie has shingles and Miranda has chicken pox. Sounds like we will be having a week at home by ourselves!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

S'mores---Air Conditioned Style

Our life is never boring!

I thought Kenzie had ringworm, but it isn't! We had ringworm come home from kindergarten several weeks ago on Miranda and the cat didn't have any symptoms, so I couldn't figure out why McKenzie would come up with two spots over the weekend. That's because it isn't ringworm.....it's shingles. The poor kid. No swimming for several weeks, and I am keeping her home from camp. She seems to be taking it all in stride. I have disinfected everything possible. If the cat holds still too long, I may spray him with Lysol too! (not really, I don't hate him that much)

The pediatrician has seen almost every child on our street this week. We actually came out with a better weekend than our neighbors, they each had a child in the hospital for different things. The pediatrician said that stress could induce this and I replied "...a Dad in Iraq." I feel bad that she has stressed this much. She seems to be doing well otherwise. Thank God for Tri-care!

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The Benefits of Being 10!!!

It's now official. McKenzie is 10. She has her own dependant military ID and now she can stay at home alone. Granted, mom won't leave her long or while I'm off base, but she is allowed to stay there for a little while. I had TONS of paperwork to take care of today....thanks to the AF and their mess ups and my husband being deployed. I was able to leave Kenzie and take Miranda to run errands several times today. I only had to tote one and they weren't fighting!!!

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Dance Recital

Miranda had her end of the year recital last night. Miss. Tonya, Mirnada's teacher, was so excited that Miranda's "dad" could be there, she wanted pictures and even kissed him!

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Summer Has Arrived!

The temperature has been in the 90s most of this week. The humidity isn't too bad yet, but maybe I am used to it. I am sure all of you from the Northwest would say that it was really muggy, but we haven't seen the worst of it yet.

The girls had their final day of school yesterday. I am excited, but very apprehensive! They are completely excited!!!!! I have been "bribing" them in hopes of good behavior and helping around the house. (It worked) They earned their reward the last day of school.....new scooters! (good planning mom :) I wanted them to have a new little entertainment for summer. It has worked for a day! Hopefully it will continue.

Thank You Starbucks!

Our buddy Blake from Starbucks has donated coffee supplies for the troops in Baghdad. I will be trying to ship these through the Air Force in the next couple of days. Dave, more coffee syrup is on it's way.
He tried to buy a bottle from somebody in Iraq and they offered to sell it to him per shot. It figured up to be $60 a bottle....he didn't need it that bad :)

Thanks Blake!

Monday, May 22, 2006

Tooth Fairy is Loosing Money Fast!

McKenzie lost a tooth yesterday and now Miranda lost a tooth today. We have nicknamed Miranda...Gummy Bear. We normally call her Randa Panda or Panda Bear, but now she is going to be Gummy Bear for a few weeks!

Reasons to Adopt

If you were to go to Jerusalem and to climb the mount of olives you would find a mosque captured by Salidin in 1187. It was a church before that where it was believed that Jesus ascended into heaven leaving his last footprints on this earth. Many of us would question the validity of this claim, however, Jesus no doubt left mighty big footprints while he was on this earth. They are felt and experienced every day in every corner of the world. His legacy is one that is far reaching and touches every strata of income, every race, gender and color.

Luke 10:25-37 (NRSV)
25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
woman lay dying on a Calcutta pavement. Her feet were half eaten away by rats and ants. She had been lying there for days and no one had taken any notice of her.
Then a nun came along. She was a tiny woman, dressed in a white sari which hung loosely about her and covered her head. She walked quickly, for she was always in a hurry. Her name was Mother Teresa.
When she saw the woman on the pavement she stopped. Full of pity, she picked her up and carried her into a nearby hospital for treatment. They told her there that the woman was too ill and poor to bother about. Besides, they had no room. Mother Teresa pleaded with them, but they said there was nothing they could do for her. However, she would not leave her patient, and set off for another hospital. But it was in vain. The woman died.
This was not the only person Mother Teresa found dying on the streets. There were many of them. There was an old man who was so thin he looked like a child. It was pouring with rain when Mother Teresa found him lying dead under a tree in a mess of sickness and blood. He was outside a hospital but no one had taken him in.
I think the world today is upside-down, and is suffering so much, because there is so very little love in the homes and in family life. We have no time for our children, we have no time for each other; there is no time to enjoy each other. If we could only bring back into our lives the life that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph lived in Nazareth, if we could make our homes another Nazareth, I think that peace and joy would reign in the world.

"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat" - Mother Teresa"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired" - Mother Teresa

And thereafter, she got engrossed with the task of serving the poor and sick people of Calcutta. The coming years witnessed the setting up of a charity organization called the Missionaries of Charity. In 1950, her source of concern was the care of lepers, the people discarded by society.Missionary of Charity opened its branches in almost every country to assist the poor, elderly, blind and people suffering from deadly disease like AIDS. For the bright future of children, she opened up schools. In 1979, she was awarded with Nobel Prize for the services that she had rendered to the society.

32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
On U2's last tour in 2005, which sold out more than 100 arenas worldwide, Bono gave his fans what they wanted to hear. For two hours, he belted out songs from the band's new album and sang old classics.
He also gave his fans what he wanted them to hear.
He took the opportunity to reach and inform roughly 20,000 people a night about his other job, of trying to eradicate poverty and slow the spread of AIDS in Africa. Through the band's music and his own words, Bono dedicated a portion of the show to bring attention to DATA, the organization he co-founded with Bobby Shriver and Jamie Drummond in 2002.
Bono went on to become a high-profile champion of Africa, as an artist, diplomat, lobbyist and negotiator. His eloquence, celebrity and Irish "moxie" enabled him to confront the rich and powerful from a mountain top in Davos to the General Assembly of the UN, from an outhouse in the bush of an impoverished African country to The White House and Congress, not to mention the stage of his sold out concerts and on every TV network. He has pushed, persuaded, cajoled, charmed and maneuvered the likes of Bill Gates. George Bush, and even Jesse Helms, to support debt relief and the fight against AIDS. He is a passionate campaigner. No one can say no to him
Bono was awarded the Liberty Medal on Thursday for his global work with DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) during a ceremony held on the front lawn of the National Constitution Center.

33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.

34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’

BRIGHTON, Iowa - If you sometimes get the feeling kids today only care about themselves, then maybe you should take a road trip to Brighton, Iowa, where a few nights each month dozens of children, heck, even teenagers, roll up their sleeves, don hair nets and go to work making meals for for hungry children thousands of miles away.
"It's changing them on the inside," says Don Fields. "Every one of these kids will want to come back and do this again."
Don Fields launched this operation two years ago, after a mission trip with his wife to Honduras. It's part of a national Christian program called Kids Against Hunger.
The Iowa kids have shipped container-loads of meals to places like Guatemala, Romania and Ethiopia.
"It helps them so they won't die," says 7-year-old volunteer Noah.
"I like doing it," adds 15-year-old Brianna. "It's really fun to know you are making a difference in the world."
And they are making a difference. To date, the kids have sent some 200,000 specially formulated meals overseas. Nationwide, Kids Against Hunger has prepared and shipped nearly 30 million meals.

36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Karen Daniels, a 31-year-old nurse from British Columbia who heard God calling her to minister through her medical skills in wartorn Sudan, where temperatures often reach 115 degrees and the only "bathrooms" are pit latrines dug in the ground.
Marianne Morton, who donated a kidney to a neighbor she barely knew, a Jewish man who was being kept alive only through daily dialysis

Projected number of orphans worldwide will reach 44 million by 2010

AIDS is taking lives in Sub-Saharan Africa, swallowing families, communities, hopes. So far 17 million have died. At least 25 million may follow. An intimate look at a modern curse.

Number of Christians 2.1 billiion

What can one person Do? What would God have me do?

He is a newborn baby in a third world country. He lives in a room filled with crying babies that no one picks up and no one cradles. He is fed just enough to live, changed on rare occasion. He will most likely never crawl, never play with his own toy, and never be spoken to one to one by an adult. He doesn’t know what it feels like to be full or what its like to be loved.

I don’t know his birth name-but he’s my son. He’s one of my footprints and that is what God has called me to do. What will God speak into your life? Where will he send you? What will be the difference that you make in this world?

Who then is your neighbor? Your neighbor is the person that you see who needs something that they can’t do for themselves. Your neighbor may not know the name of Jesus, the love of God or the feeling of being full.

What can one person do? It was one person who elevated the condition of the poor in India. It was one person who ended slavery in England after a lifetime of fighting it. It was one person who taught children to read on Sundays so that they wouldn’t be destined to lives of mining coal. It was one person who shared Jesus with you and changed your life.

What will you one person, do with one life to leave your footprints on this world before you go?
What is God speaking to your heart? Obey, dream big dreams, take chances, and don’t give up. God is faithful. God gave you the desires of his heart. God designed you for his purposes and you will never be satisfied until you are living the dream that God birthed within you and equipped you to do. Go now and make a difference.