Komen Race For The Cure

Last week the family ran a race to help find a cure for breast cancer. Grandma Patti had it, and we wanted to do our part to find a cure for it. We did pretty well - daddy did the 5k, the rest of us did the 1k (about 1/2 a mile). Catherine and I ran the whole way, but mommy had to carry Matthew for some of it.

We sure appreciate all our family and friends who donated money to support us and the fight against breast cancer. Here are a few photos from the event - enjoy!

Remembering April Ariel Leone

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved albino African black-clawed frog, April Ariel Leone (2009-2009). She was only with us a short time - a little over two months - but she left an indelible mark. We loved so much about her - especially the way she ate (she liked to shovel blood worms into her mouth). One time she swallowed a whole chunk -- and she had to take a break from eating for a while. She was an early birthday gift for Elisabeth, who was so excited to have a pet of her own to care for. The girls took the passing very hard - it has been an emotional day.

We love you, April, and we'll miss you!

- The Leones

July 4 Fun

In addition to the traditional 4th of July activities, we had a new favorite - trains! Matthew has a lot of wooden trains but it seems like we never have time to play with them. So this July 4 weekend, we spent time doing just that. Take a look at our creation - and the builders. We had a blast!

Making A Business Trip Tolerable

I have to take a few business trips to Vegas each year. Most of the time, I am working long days, so there isn't much time for fun. But in May, that changed - at least for a few hours. I typically stay with good friends while there. This time, we took some time to experience the Bootleg Canyon Flightline (www.bcflightlines.com/). It was a blast! Here is a photo and video of me in action. Still was a lot of work on the trip, but we definitely had one fun time on the zip line!

Touching Gold

It's not every day you get to see a gold medal, let alone touch one - and meet the winner all at once! This year, the girls are taking diving lessons at the Woodlands Diving Acadamy - which is the proud home of Olympic gold medalist Laura Wilkinson. She grew up in the Woodlands and eventually won gold at the Sydney Olympics. She also competed in the Athens and Beijing Olympics. Now she is associated with the same diving academy, and the girls competed at the Laura Wilkinson Invitational. They are doing a great job - and they loved the chance to meet Laura!

Fun With Great Grandma Perk

We've had a jam-packed February and March! We had Great Grandma Perk in town, so we had a nice excuse to get out and see some great sites. We also took her to the Houston Temple on Sunday afternoon to see all of the beautiful flowers in bloom - she was used to snow in Utah and was quite surprised by all of the color.

In addition, we had an early spring break this year -- we stayed close to home, opting for day trips to the Houston Children's Museum and the Museum of Natural History in the Woodlands Mall. Plus, the kids spent one afternoon in the sprinklers -- they loved that as much as anything else we did!

Here are the highlights of our last few months in video format. Enjoy!

Texas History

While Grandma Perk was in town, we visited an important location in the history of Texas - the battlefield where Texans led by Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna and his army, which led to Texas independence. Today, there's a monument located where the battle took place (see behind Brad) -- in Texas fashion, it's bigger than the Washington monument.

We had a great time walking around the area and developing a greater appreciation for Texas history. Right next to the monument was the Battleship Texas, which was awesome to see. It was one of the few ships that served in both World War I and II, and it was also the first U.S. battleship with anti-aircraft guns and first to launch a plane from its deck. Today you can literally walk through the entire ship and sit on the anti-aircraft guns and aim them. Very cool!

Matthew's Conflict Resolution Skills Shine Forth

After an afternoon of frustration (yet another potty-training fiasco), Matthew had spent a good amount of quality time in his bedroom. (I like to make him stay in there for as at least as long as it takes the odor to fade -- today's event required an extensive stay even with the window open.)

Anyhow, he had been testing the boundaries of his confinement by increasing the distance of his trips outside his room. Eventually, he came to me asking if he could join his sisters outside. Here's the conversation that followed:

Me: "Dude, I don't think you've spent enough time in your room."

Matthew: "Mommy," he says in a very serious tone. "I need you to be nice to me."

Me: Looking at him, incredulous.

Matthew: "What you need to do is have a deep, deep, deep breath ... like this." At this point, he patiently demonstrates breathing in through his nose and blowing it out of his mouth.

Matthew: "See Mommy? Have a deep, deep, deep, deep, deep breath ... That will make you feel better," he says encouragingly.

Me: "Wow. Gee, thanks, Matthew."


It's the least he could do, don't you think? Having sent me into a fit of frustrated cursing not 30 minutes before? No wonder he loves Daddy more -- of course, he never poops in his pants on Daddy's watch.

California Adventure part 2

Here's some of our favorite photos of the trip, including lots of fun shots of family members - enjoy!

California Adventure

Our adventure began on Christmas Day -- we left our home that afternoon and after a quick flight, made it to Burbank, California -- where Aunt Hilary and Uncle Greg live. We didn't get to their house until after 9 p.m. (which is 11 p.m. in Texas, way past our bedtime) -- but the party was still going with Poppy, Uncle Rich, Aunt Lene, cousins Stephanie and Amy. Plus, we got to meet our newest family member, Cousin Emma! She was so cute and adorable!

We had a fun, action-filled week, including visits to the La Brea Tar Pits, Disneyland/California Adventure (we stayed from 8:05 a.m. until almost midnight!), the Grove and Farmer's Market (home of the American Girl Store), and a family Christmas celebration with Rita and Bill, Andrew and Bryan, Joann and Hector, Ashley and Kevin, plus the aforementioned family from the first night. What a party!

Elisabeth's favorite part of the trip was Disneyland (particularly Big Thunder Mountain) and the American Girl Store. Catherine's favorite part of the trip was seeing her new cousin Emma and going to Disneyland -- particularly the California Screamin' upside-down coaster at California Adventure. Matthew's favorite part of the trip was the Rocket Ride at Disneyland and eating in a train car at Carney's restaurant. Mommy's favorite part of the trip was Cousin Emma, who she claims as her own child, and mommy and daddy loved experiencing Disneyland with the kids, particularly Matthew, since it was his first trip there. And let's not forget the food -- the Leones are all about the food -- including an incredible funnel cake at Farmer's Market!

Christmas 2008

For our first work, we wanted to give a digital snapshot of Christmas. So we pulled together all of the photos Elisabeth took from the second she got her camera to the second we got on the plane to LA Christmas afternoon and turned them into a video. You'll see pictures of presents, action shots of presents, Christmas breakfast and even some people, plus a few final pics at the airport. We used our new computer to add some sound and effects. Enjoy!

New Sheriffs In Town

Little change of plans...Tiff's fallen off the wagon when it comes to blogging, so we're going to try something new. This past year, Santa brought Elisabeth a digital camera, and Daddy made a resolution to "journal" on a regular basis. And a few weeks ago, the light bulb went off in Daddy's head -- I can chronicle our family, show Elisabeth's great photos, and together we can learn to blog.

So, like ying and yang, peanut butter and chocolate (or jelly or pancakes or pretty much anything), salt and pepper, Bono and the Edge, I give you, "Brad and Elisabeth."

We'll do our best to be more frequent in posting Leone haps. We look forward to hearing from you!

First Day of School

Finally. The day we've been waiting for all summer. We were up early to beat the rush and got to school with plenty of time to spare. We dropped off our supplies and took quick pics with the new teachers and that was that! Elisabeth is in 3rd grade, her teacher is Mrs. Crow. Catherine is in 1st grade with Mrs. Marder. It's going to be a great year!

(Because of the ridiculous overcrowding in our 2-year-old school, the entire third grade is out in the portable classrooms. They couldn't put kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade out there, since it's a 10 minute walk to the bathrooms inside. They didn't risk putting 4th or 5th grade out there because they were afraid they'd leave campus. So the 3rd graders won! It's like a little village out there. Complete with puddles of stagnant water breeding mosquitoes in the incessant heat. Hopefully this will be the last year with this portable business, as a new elementary school is being built about two blocks away. But I digress ... )

Anyhoo, I am excited to be back into a routine, although these little girls will be very, very tired by the end of the week.

My conversation with Matthew after we returned this morning went like this:

Matthew: Where are the sissies?

Me: Uh, Sweetie, they are at school.

Matthew: No, they are in the game closet. (Looks in the game closet.)

Matthew: They are not there. I know! They are hiding under my bed. (Looks under his bed.)

Me: Sweetie they went to school, they'll be back this afternoon.

Matthew: Oh.

He's been wandering around aimlessly this morning. It's awfully quiet around here ... It may take Matthew some time to get used being the lone man in the house again. Poor kid.

A Conversation with Matthew

We spent yesterday at the pool, enjoying our last day of freedom before school starts tomorrow. Matthew and I were resting on a chair and having a snack. I was distracted, watching the girls in the water, when Matthew turned my face toward him and began this dialog:

Matthew: Mommy, listen to me.

Me: Yes, Matthew.

Matthew: Mommy, I have a very important job.

Me: You do? What is it?

Matthew: I make people happy.

Me: Yes you do, Matthew! And that is a very, very important job.

Matthew: That's all.

It's incredible to think that just a few months ago, we were struggling to understand anything Matthew said. And now, out of the blue, such insight! Such wisdom! I wish I could say this was his "full-time" job -- it's temp work, at best. But it's almost enough to help me forget the time-outs and trips to the naughty step. For a few minutes. (The picture above is, obviously, not from yesterday. He and Brad were feeding the Lories at the Lisbon Zoological Park a few weeks ago. At that moment, Matthew was definitely making us -- and the birds --happy.)

Leone Family Makes Its Way Onto the Web

Hey, y'all! We're finally online -- though it seems like we must be the last family in North America to start a blog.

I, Tiffany, have been married to my husband, Brad, for 12 years and we have three incredible children: Elisabeth Rose (8), Catherine Eleanor (6) and Matthew Scott (2).

As a family, we've lived in Utah, Orange County, Calif., the San Francisco Bay Area, and northwest Ohio. I'm not sure if we'll settle in Texas for good -- it only has two seasons as far as I can tell (really, really hot and rainy) -- but we're giving it the ol' college try.

Like most moms, I spend my days running a shuttle, short-order cooking, cleaning and tutoring. But before devoting my every waking moment to my offspring, I was an editor in the great big world of publishing.

As a family, we are museum and historic-site junkies. Constantly in search of good Italian/Mexican/Thai/Mediterrean food and hole-in-the-wall barbeque joints, we love good eats. But not as much as we love to travel. We are very lucky to have been to the places we've been and seen the things we've seen.

Humidity and hustle and bustle aside, our life is good. With this blog, I will attempt to document all the goings-on of the Leone clan -- perhaps I'll be more successful in this venture than I have been with scrapbooking (my personal albatross). Don't expect too much by way of links or multi-media elements, and I'll try not to disappoint you.