Back to School...

Well, with fall comes the inevitable - school. Most parents are eager to send their children off to get some peace and quiet at home, and perhaps something done. All summer they've been busy, and now it's time for a break from the kids. I, on the other hand, am the one who get the kidsall day, so I'm back to work! School is upon us, and this is where I earn my paycheck. Usually I'm pretty excited to get back to work, a routine, but with the baby coming, I'm just counting down days: til he's born and my leave starts, then from the end of my leave until Christmas break. My new students are all very happy for me, and last years kids are going beserk! I didn't have much of a belly before summer, so they think it's great to see me like this. I just smile, waddle and wave.

Actually, this last week has gone by really fast. The new students are a lot more well behaved (hooray!) and although class sizes are still high (36 ish) it feels like it's going to be a good year. Course, we'll see after the honeymoon period is over :-)

Things are starting to speed up in the baby department. All the big furniture has been obtained (thank you so much grandparents-to-be), clothes are being bought, and Kevin is working on the remodel. Mostly just tearing down at this point, but we're up and running, so it's all good. Kevin is also shopping around for a night job, so we don't pay and arm and leg for child care. He'll be home with the baby during the day, and I'll be home with him at night. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that the sleep deprivation won't be that bad!

Also, we have bought ourselves a new baby-mobile! Kevin's brother Eric was fabulous enough to sell us his beloved Accura.



I am totally in love with this car!! It looks awesome, drives wonderfully, and has AIR CONDITIONING!! Yes, for 4 years we've lived in Vegas with no a/c in our vehicle. I don't know how we've survived, but now...sigh...life is beautiful!




Kevin teases me that I'm going to get pulled over for driving what I call the 'sports car' but I just laugh - I've got the a/c and he's just jealous! It's great to be a 2 car family, he can sleep in for work when I leave, and I don't have to wait for him to get off to come home from school. It's been a blessing that our schedules have worked out pretty close so far, but with him going graveyard, and with no a/c for a baby this just is great. A million thank you's to Eric for takin' one for the family!!

Home on the Range...

You can take the girl out of the country, but never the country out of the girl! I've been visiting my parents back in Montana for the last 2 weeks, and it was a blast! The weather was so nice, a great break from the Las Vegas heat. I loved being back in the mountains, and the color green! :-)



My parents own 5 acres and 3 horses, 2 goats and all the accessories. I love their house, made of pine logs and just what you'd expect in the Montana country. Always something to do on the ranch - Dad's latest project was landscaping the edge of the driveway. He's got rocks on the brain, and scoured the mountainside finding the perfect boulders to use in his wall. Rumor has it he even caused rock slides to get to the right ones! If you ask me, it turned out beautifully.



Mom and I spent a lot of time redecorating rooms inside the house. Now that Tieg, my youngest brother, is out of the house too, Mom wanted to give his room a make-over. She had this great idea of using the musical instruments that had been passed down from her father and grandfather (and played by her father and my brothers, actually) and some old pictures she had of them. We spent a lot of time picking out picture frames and figuring out where to put the instruments on the wall, but after all our hard work, Mom has the best room design! I am amazed at the history and the stories on that wall. It is a true work of art.



This room naturally led to reorganizing other rooms, so a lot of time was spent measuring wall space and thinking really hard (which causes major headaches!). We were able to get a lot done, but she's got lots more ideas and projects, which I am handing over to her sister, who will be visiting her next week. Tami - watch out and good luck! Mom'll put you to work! :-)


We also got to show off our musical abilities. Pioneer day was celebrated while I was there, and the Stevensville Stake celebrated with music and games, and cobblers galore. Ya'll know we have a family band (Mom on mandolin, Dad on banjo and me on fiddle) and we teamed up with 2 others to play some bluegrass at the celebration. What a fun time! Nothing beats a little Rocky Top! Some songs went more smoothly than others, but all in all the Bitterroot Rascals stole the show! It was great to have us together, playing again. I love to play with Mom and Dad, they have a great program of music and cowboy poetry, and I'm proud to be a part of the band in some small way.


After all the shopping, decorating and jammin' I was one worn out little lady as I boarded the plane back to Vegas. I swear, time passes faster in Montana, and I was out of time way before I was ready...but I've got some remodelling of my own to do here at the house. And a deadline, October is right around the corner!



Thanks Mom and Dad, for a wonderful time at home! I love you guys!

Happy Birthday to Us!

Another summer means another birthday! Happy days for Kevin and me. Luckily, our birthdays are the 10th and 11th, making it easy for us to remember and celebrate. Kevin turned 29 and I turned 28, and we had a great time. On Kevin's birthday we went out to eat, and it's tradition to go to PF Chang's. When we came home we did birthday cake. I make one for us each year. Not much on way of decorations, but I added some special touches in honor of July birthdays (hooray for sparklers!)

And Kevin was a sport, posing for the pics. On my birthday we hit the 7/11 gas station - every year on this date they give away free slurpees! (they give them to everyone, not just birthday people) On Saturday my friend Amy took us out for dinner at Nero's in Ceasar's Palace. She always takes us to the fanciest restaurants for our birthday dinner, and this one was great! Filet Mignon, Lobster Bisque, and Creme Brulee! Yum yum. It was a great evening.

Birthday cards, phone calls and wishes all come flooding in, too. I love that all of you call and wish us happy birthday - it's great to hear from everyone! Grandma and Grandpa Lesch always sing, and this year my cousin Jenna did too. I even got a song from Marine-Corp-Tough-Tieg!! Thanks to everyone who called and sent cards or thoughts - we love you too!

Presents to each other were geared towards the remodel on the house - gearing up for the baby and updating. Kevin has been buckling down and tearing stuff up (which is always the fun part!). We're going one room at a time, but it always leads to another room, so half the house will always be under some sort of construction. I wish I could help out more, but it's getting harder for me to carry stuff around. Not that I can't lift (although Kevin always bugs me about it) but that my belly gets in the way. So I've resigned myself to the post of secretary - I make the phone calls to contractors or plumbers, and I research prices and items online for eventual replacement. I'd rather have the crowbar to whack stuff down, but design is fun too, so I'll do my job to the best of my ability.

Hooray for the 4th!

I love the 4th of July! And not just cuz it means my birthday is coming :-) I love the bbq's and the park, the flags and the fireworks! Most especially the fireworks. I wait all day for night to come so I can see the shows. It's hard to do much during the day in Vegas, it gets so hot, but we tried this year. Our bbq didn't work out as we planned, but I had enough food and fireworks for just our little family. I enjoyed getting steaks ready, having some corn on the cob and shrimp to go with, and wash it down with some IBC rootbeer or cream soda (a staple at our house!). Once dark started to fall, it was easy to get a front seat to fireworks, just step outside!

We celebrated at our house, out back. Kevin and I got into a bit of a pop-it war and waved our sparklers at the neighbors and the cops driving by (spotlighting for illegal fireworks). Our cat, Willie, doesn't like all the noise so he hid in the house most of the night. Our dog, Tok, didn't quite know what to make of the sparklers. He was interested until he burnt his nose, anyway.

He was fascinated with everything else, the fountains especially.

Low key, but so fun for just our little family. Baby kicked at the noise, although in fright or fun, I'm not sure. He likes to move around a lot when there's lots of noise (singing in church, music in the house, crowded restaurants, etc), but whether it's cuz he likes it or not has yet to be seen!

Hoping yours was a great holiday too!

Welcome to my Blog!!

Well, who would have thought it, but I'm finally a blogger! Thanks to the stern promptings of friends, who wanted to see the Belly. Plus, I've got lots of time on my hands this summer, spent mostly scrapbooking or reading, so here's another creative outlet for me to use to keep in touch.

So far, this summer has been pretty hot and fairly low key. I spend most of my days watching 'A Baby Story' on TLC, reading and trying to not think about starting the school in the fall. Occassionally housework and cooking get done. :-) I've also spent a lot of time online, researching out baby gear and trying to find great deals for purchasing them. So far, I've lucked out (thanks Dani, for all your advice!!) and found great stuff, and am slowly getting the nursery put together.

Kevin still works for the pool company here in town. He's at a warehouse now, not driving, which has helped him lose some weight, but has no a/c and he's got some down time that keeps him bored. Soon he'll start looking for a night job so he can be home with the baby during the day when I go back to work in the fall. This will help us not have to pay for childcare, which is an arm and a leg!

At the moment we're gearing up for the 4th - putting together a bbq with some friends. I've got great T-bone steaks in the fridge, marinating as we speak! My mouth is watering with anticipation...Then, of course there are the fireworks. And in Vegas, that's quite the show! Most every casino on the Strip sets some off, and across town there are parties, both city sponsored and private, that set them off too, so all we have to do is find a clear spot in town and sit back to watch. Kevin and I have our secret spot to sit (okay, our front porch isn't that secret) and we've got a stock of IBC Rootbeer and cherries to eat while watching.

I'll start getting some pictures uploaded and play around with this blogging thing, so check back later as I get better and better at this...(fingers crossed!)