Ruby learns to say her name

Merry Christmas 2010 from the Leo family!

Greetings to all this blessed Christmas season!

We hope your year has been especially healthy and happy. As usual, we’ve had some ups and downs in the Leo family, but thankfully they were mostly ups. The only real down was my unexpected retirement about 2 months ago. I had planned to work another year, until Tony qualifies for early Social Security. But my major account abruptly went away when the doctors decided to outsource their transcription to the Philippines. No one in my network of transcriptionists had any extra work to send my way; everyone is clinging to what they have because times are tough everywhere, and it didn’t seem rational to seek other employment for 1 year. Tony encouraged me to consider this early retirement, which is actually a very good thing because.....

Next month we’re having 2 new grandbabies! Erika is due Jan. 12 with her 2nd, a little girl, and Jenni is due Jan. 26 with her 3rd, a surprise. We, of course, are very excited, and my retirement has proved to be an enormous blessing, providing availability to help the kids without having to juggle schedules, vacation days, etc. Now the trick is to figure out how to make the most of my time without the discipline of a job. The project/bucket list is growing!!

The kids are all doing great! Everyone is healthy and growing, especially the girls’ tummies. Zoey will turn 4 Dec. 28 and is beyond precocious. She keeps us on our toes always, and she’s already quite a nurturer. Leo turned 2 in August and is so sweet. He’s very different from the girls, and we’re all enjoying the difference. He loves all things boy, and he’s very loving and tender. He’ll be a great big brother. Ruby, 21 months on the 21st, is class clown. She’s afraid of nothing and must be watched constantly for her safety. She’s very funny and full of surprises. A month ago she suddenly decided she wanted to start using the potty and goes several times a day. She’s absolutely adorable!

I turned 60 in April and my dear sisters flew me to Jacksonville for a week of girl fun. Little did I suspect that part of the fun was a 5-day cruise to the Bahamas! We had an absolute blast and made the most of every moment. The night before we left on Carnival’s Fascination, they honored me with a family dinner at a lovely restaurant at the beach. As soon as we walked in, there was my precious best friend since 3rd grade, Jan Brown, and her husband Bob, who had driven down from North Carolina just for that occasion. Jan wasn’t able to go on the cruise as she had a grandchild due to be born very soon, but we did enjoy the time we had together, and I’m so appreciative of everyone’s thoughtfulness and planning. It was the BEST birthday!

When I returned to Texas, my sweet daughters continued the celebration with a wonderful birthday brunch. They truly are party planners extraordinaire! All my favorite local friends and neighbors joined our family for delicious food and fellowship. It was such a special day, and again, I am humbled by all the attention to detail and everyone’s willingness to celebrate with us. 60 has definitely been my most memorable year, and I am blessed with good health, a loving family, and treasured friends.

Recently--the first week of December--Tony and I met Lisa and Bob in New York City for a belated 60th birthday celebration for Tony. We had a wonderful, jam-packed 4 days of shows, Christmas festivities, great food, a little shopping, much walking, and Sunday worship at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. It took a few days after returning home to recover from the frenetic pace; I guess we’re not as young as we think we are! The 4 of us really enjoy traveling together and hope to take at least 1 trip a year, especially after Lisa and Bob decide to retire.

If you’re on Facebook and we aren’t FB friends yet, be sure to “friend” us. Tony is simply Tony Leo, and I’m listed as Mona Warski Leo. I must admit I spent too much time on FB, but it’s such a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. I also have a Skype account, which was absolutely essential this past summer when Jenni and family were at Kanakuk for the summer. Video chatting is the next best thing to actually being there. If you Skype, call me some time!

Our prayer for you this joyous season is a wonderful Christmas holiday and the best of everything in the New Year. May God bless each and every one of you abundantly, and please keep in touch. God bless our country as it finally begins to recover from the ravages of the past 2 years, our troops as they sacrifice to keep us free, and those who are in need of the precious grace of our loving, forgiving Savior. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!! God bless you!!!  Stay tuned for baby updates!

With much love,
Mona and family

Life at Casa Leo is a 3-ring circus!

Good grief! 

I love jewelry.  Not costume.  The good stuff.  I don't have a lot, but what I do have I love and appreciate.  When Tony and I married in 1974, we had a man from church make our rings. I drew a rough picture of what I wanted, and Elia worked from that. We were very happy with the results. Here's a photo from our wedding day.

We moved to Dallas in the mid 1980s, and soon our household included not only our dog, Yogi, but also Alvin the cat and Lacy the kitten.  Lacy was very tiny and loved to hide from us under the clothes dryer.  One day I wanted to dry some clothes and knew Lacy was under the dryer, so I grasped the side of the dryer and pulled it away from the wall to encourage her to exit her hiding place.  The dryer slipped out of my hand and smashed against the wall, trapping my hand.  The only thing that saved my hand from severe damage was my wedding ring, which was mangled. 

We took the ring to a jeweler to have it repaired, and he did the best he could, but it was just never the same. The once graceful setting was now clunky and cumbersome. Tony had always regretted not getting me a larger engagement ring, since I do love diamonds (my birthstone). So, for our 30th anniversary, he upgraded me to this gorgeous piece.

I've enjoyed this ring more than I could ever express.  It's more than I ever thought I'd own, and I feel like a princess because it represents that Tony loves me enough to think I deserve such a treasure.  He even did all the research for the ring on his own, contacting diamond brokers until he found one with whom he was comfortable working.  He proudly enjoys seeing me wear it, and I've worn it happily for the past 7 1/2 years.

On Saturday night, Nov. 6, I was getting out of the back seat of Erika's and Josh's car after a wonderful day at Pecan Plantation, where Josh's parents live.  The kids' driveway is sloped, and it was tricky getting out of the car on the slant.  I grasped the bar between the front and rear windows to help myself out just as Erika slammed the front door, not realizing my hand was there.  We were both in shock for a moment, waiting for the intense wave of pain that was sure to come.  But it never did.  For a second time, my precious wedding ring saved my hand.  But the poor ring!

 The circular band was squished into an oval shape, to the point where I had trouble removing it from my finger, even with copious amounts of soapy lather.  And the diamond setting was bent to one side.  Miraculously, the diamond was unharmed and was still secure in the setting.

  There is a local family-run jewelry store that's been in Lewisville longer than we have and they are very trusted, so of course that's where Tony and I took the ring for repair.  At the same time, we decided to take another ring which had belonged to my grandmother.  It's a lovely white gold filigree ring that I've always loved.  My grandmother left it to my aunt, who knew how much I loved it, and she presented it to me on the day of Jenni's and Dave's wedding.  Its 3 small diamonds are of various sizes and colors because they were each given to my grandmother at different times for special occasions.  The ring was too small to wear on my right ring finger, so we decided to have it sized up to fit.  The jeweler finished that ring first, so I went to pick it up.  It was gorgeous and it fit perfectly.

On the way home from the jeweler, I stopped at Petco for dog food and then Walmart for some groceries.  When I got home, I fed Millie and made dinner.  I took the ring off and left it on the kitchen counter while I cooked.  Tony came in and picked it up to examine it.  He gave me a funny look and asked if I knew that one of the diamonds was missing.  I laughed and went back to cooking because as everyone knows, Tony is a great prankster.  Surely this was just another of his "gotcha!" jokes.  But he was serious.  There indeed was a diamond missing.  I nearly had a stroke!  This nearly 100-year-old ring had never had a thing wrong with it until I had it sized, and now it was ruined.  Surely I could find another tiny diamond to place in the empty spot, but it just wouldn't be the same.

We did the only thing we could think of at such a time.  We prayed.  We knew the diamond could be anywhere I had been since I left the jeweler.  Nevertheless, we started frantically searching the house, the garage, and the car, knowing with a sick certainty that we could never find something so tiny.  It was needle-in-a-haystack time.  I finally gave up and went back to my kitchen tasks.  We both felt horrible, but life had to go on.  Tony left the kitchen to go back to the bedroom for the flashlight so we could try to search again after dinner.  On his way back to the bedroom, something sparkly on the dark hardwood floor of the living room caught his eye.  Yep, you guessed it!  My husband is yet again my hero.  But we both know that finding the tiny diamond was such an unlikely possibility that it could only be a miracle from God, and we're so thankful.

The jeweler was so amazed at the story and so appalled that he let the ring out of his store in such precarious shape that he repaired it at no additional cost.  I picked it up when my wedding ring was finished.  Here are the finished products. 

My prayer now is that I'll be extraordinarily cautious with these rings so I can pass them down to my daughters intact.  I'm tempted to put baggies over my hands to protect against future diamond-related accidents or to put the rings in a drawer so nothing bad will ever happen to them again, but then I'll lose the joy of wearing them.  Yes, they are just things, mere objects, of temporal value.  But they are meaningful because of their history, and I must treat them lovingly and carefully as I continue to enjoy them.  Lesson learned.

Pumpkin Patch 10/28/10

                                                           Ruby, 19 months

                                                       Leo, 2 years 2 months

                                                     Zoey, 3 years 10 months

Half Moon Cookies!!

As promised, here are the recipes for Elk's Black and White Cookies.  So many have requested the recipes, and the publisher has run out of cookbooks due to a surge in popularity.  I'm trying to coax the author to initiate another printing so everyone who wants a book can have one.  It's a very cool book of not only recipes but also history of Elk's Bakery from its inception.

If you click on each recipe, it will enlarge to full screen so you can read the print a little more easily.  The addition of baking powder to the cookie recipe was made by the author; the notation about the cookies needing more flour because they turned out too flat (hey, it was humid!!) is mine.  I used the basic buttercream recipe, but if I ever make them again (and oh, I will!), I might try the fluffy buttercream just to see which I like better.  Happy baking!!!

A little much-needed Z&R

Some folks take a little R&R when they've been working hard.  In our house we do it a bit differently.  Last week we had a little Z&R.  Zoey and Ruby.  Jenni and Dave took a fun road trip up to Nashville and Lexington, Kentucky for the wedding of some Kanakuk friends, so Tony and I had the girls for the better part of 5 days.  We love having our grandkids any time, and there was the added bonus of a few days off from work for me.  Don't get me wrong; having the girls 24/7 was work, but the most enjoyable kind.  Jenni and Dave have them on a wonderful schedule.  They are both good eaters and sleepers.  It's a little harder for Tony and me now than when we were raising our girls in our 20s and 30s, but we still feel the same happy satisfaction when we fall into bed at night.

Zoey and Papa had lots of fun with architecture.  Zoey is active but at 3 1/2, she is much more cerebral than her 1 1/2-year-old sister, who is a study in perpetual motion.

We call Ruby "The Climber".  If it's off the floor, she's on it.  We have to keep our eyes on her every minute.  Case in point, we took the girls to the park near our house, and Ruby put us through our paces as we tried to keep up with her.  This little girl has no fear!

Zoey was a huge help.  She would monitor Ruby from the top while Grammy and Papa played spotter below.  She is such a wonderful big sister.  I call her "3 1/2 going on 30".  She is so mature and helpful.  She clearly loves her sister, and she is instinctively protective of her.  She's also an amazing interpreter!  Zoey also had a good time at the park; it wasn't all work and no play.

Zoey doesn't really nap anymore, but she rests every afternoon with a few books and toys in her bed.  One afternoon I let her stay up and we made whole wheat bread together.  She's very good in the kitchen and enjoys helping.  With my supervision and instruction, Zoey very capably performed every task necessary to construct some tasty bread!

At the end of the day, the girls happily chilled until time for bed. 

Another cute Ruby trick is her invitation to read her a book.  She'll take a book and turn around so her back is to you, then back up until she's at your legs so you can pick her up, put her on your lap, and read to her.  Papa and I have started making the truck backup beep when she backs up.  Both girls really love to read, which makes Grammy VERY happy!

They really did so well being away from their parents.  Toward the end of the 5 days, I could tell they were ready to get back to their own home and normal routine, but they never once appeared homesick.  Papa and I are very proud of them, and we can't wait to have them again.

A very swELMO birthday!!

Sweet little Leo turned 2 on Aug. 27.  The very next day, Saturday, the family gathered for his Elmo birthday celebration.  Erika and Josh grilled hamburgers with all the trimmings, topped off by a yummy Elmo cake, lovingly made by Erika. Josh is awesome.  (Uh-oh, some gremlin--I wonder who--just overtook my laptop and did some unauthorized editing, apparently forgetting to double space after the period.  Hmph!!)  In attendance to help Leo celebrate were his Mommy and Daddy, Auntie Jenni, Uncle Dave, cousins Zoey and Ruby, Grammy and Papa, Grandpa Joe, Grandma Kit, and Auntie Julie.

After presents were opened, Zoey lovingly tackled her cousin Leo to get a chance at his new Elmo doll.

Mommy Erika, Auntie Jenni, and Auntie Julie flaunted their Elmo birthday bling as Ruby played at their feet.

Since it was an Elmo party, red was the preferred color of the day.  But only Josh and Dave got the memo from the doctor.

The Cribbies, all in red, posed for a family picture.....

......as did the Wiese trio.

At the end of the day, I think the birthday boy had a wonderful time.  This is the face you get when you ask for a smile.  Happy birthday, darling Leo!!  We all love you to pieces!!!