I had a meeting this morning that I needed to attend for Camden.  That resulted in my needing a substitute to cover my morning classes.  When requesting my sub last week, I figured why not get one for the entire day and take a much needed mental health day?  So that’s just what I did!  I dropped Camden off at school, the meeting came and went fairly quickly, and now I’m back at home doing some “mom” things.  So far I’ve:

fed the cats
taken out the trash
washed laundry
baked a cake
cleaned the kitchen

It’s days like today that I miss being a stay-at-home mom.  I was fortunate enough to be able to stay home with Camden for the first 5 years of his life.  Were there days that I hated it?  Absolutely.  But I wouldn’t trade that time for anything. 

I think I’ll add a nap to the list above.

I received these pictures from Carolyn and thought I’d share. 

Happy 2012!  We had a busy 2011 and are looking forward to 2012.  My resolution for this year is to spend more time on this website.  I’ve really neglected it and spent most of my time on FB (ugh – I really need to get off of there).  I started this website in 2002 (yes, **10** years ago!) and need to focus more on our original webhome — leake-family.com. 

Some of the highlights of 2011:  Camden is doing so well in 5th grade.  He’s making straight A’s and learning so much.  I cannot believe in just a few months he’ll be moving to middle school.  John and I are doing well at work.  We’ve been working on some home improvements and have several, large improvements planned for 2012.  The cats are fine.  In December, 2011 we took a wonderful family vacation to Florida over the Christmas break.  It was a surprise to Camden – he had no idea we were planning this trip and didn’t find out until we parked at the airport.  We took him to the new Legoland park as well as visited Universal Studios.  It was a fun, but exhausting, trip!

Camden’s dream finally came true!  We learned over a year ago that there would be a Legoland Discovery Center built at Grapevine Mills Mall.  We purchased annual passes early (in January!) for their March pre-grand opening.  The wait to get in was a little long.  However, Camden had a great time and is ready to go back for more!

Camden participated in Cub Scout Pack 940′s Pinewood Derby last weekend and placed 3rd!  He was so excited to receive his very first trophy.  He and his dad worked so hard building his derby car.

Hi everyone!  It’s been a long while since I’ve posted on my own blog.

Things have been quite busy over the last few months.  John was finally able to find a replacement for his truck.  He purchased a 2011 Toyota Tacoma (same color, with even more upgrades) in late October.  Needless to say I’m a **little bit** jealous.  ;)  Camden had a part as an elf in his fourth grade play, “Melton, the Warm-Hearted Snowman.”  He also joined the cub scouts and is still doing wonderfully in school — straight A’s.  We had a fun-filled Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve, celebrating with family and friends.  The cats partied a little more than they should have over the holidays.  It was mostly catnip overindulgence which resulted in a couple of fights (see below).  We’re now enjoying the cold, crisp winter air and even had some snow last Sunday (January 9th).  No snowdays from school, but Camden still enjoyed the fun playing outside with his friends.

John, Camden, and I had fun on our trip to visit Carolyn in Georgia. We stopped in Vickburg, Mississippi to enjoy the 4th of July fireworks on the Mississippi River. In Georgia we enjoyed visiting downtown Atlanta (including eating at The Varsity — yummm) as well as shopping in portions of Atlanta and Marietta.  Click here to view all the pictures and videos from our trip.

Yesterday, Camden and I went grocery shopping.  We saw one of those stickers you can purchase that is personalized with your family’s last name and the first name of each family member.  You know, the one with the cute little stick figures to represent each family member.  Well, I was looking for a parking spot and I quickly glanced at this sticker.  I felt so terrible for this family for possessing such a horrible last name.  It wasn’t until I got a closer look that I had a good laugh!

Happy Easter from the Leake family!