Hey

I just wanted to let you guys know I'm still online! I'm just so busy with school and other things (like I'm sure you guys are, too). I have so many things I want to post and so little time! I'll try to better manage my day.

 I have opened a new blog called "365 Project". The name pretty much gives away what it is. I'm taking a picture every day for a year. Today's theme was "freedom". I had a lot of fun thinking of the possibilities. :)

I'm also really excited about going to West Virginia (again!). The VoV are going to sing at the Southwide Independent Baptist Fellowship in Hurricane, WV and I am going with them (because I'm in the group . . . :) We leave the morning of my daddy's birthday (Oct 8) :( at 4am!

Ben and I are also dog sitting Aki and Kuma for the Sheffields when they go visit their daughter in CO. Here are some posts from the previous time we dog sat them. :) Here and here

Talk to y'all later!     -Leigha

Christmas Boasting :D

You know after Christmas everybody has to brag about their gifts (*wink*).
I got a Nikon D3100!

And Lightroom, too!

When people ask me how I like it, all I can say is, "It's awesome!" :) I'm still trying to find out how to use Lightroom (can you believe it doesn't come with instructions!?).

This is my official 1st picture (taken with my new camera) edited with Lightroom. (I know I went a little overboard.)

-Leigha

Welcoming a New Member

We have a new member here in the Bauder household. His name is Alfie (short for Alfred) and he's a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. He's Ben's Christmas present. Alfie is 11 weeks old and soooo cute!

Macy is a little jealous because Ben doesn't play with her now, but that just means I can spend more time with her. After all, she's my dog. :)
By the way, in case I don't post before Christmas: MERRY CHRISTMAS
-Leigha

Fun stuff coming up!

Grandma and Grandpa are coming to spent the weekend! Whoo hoo!!! The Back-to-School Rally is tomorrow! Yeah!! So excited! I made Lemon-Cream cheese cookies to celebrate. I don't know if Grandma will be able to play Wii bowling with us this time though. She had surgery Thursday morning. Hopefully she's better. Maybe I'll take some pictures and make a post about the rally. We'll see. :D Bro. Adam says there's going to be food and games. 1 lucky person is going to have a chance to win $50 in a game of Deal or No Deal (like the TV show)!

I made it!!

Pastor held try-outs for the Voices of Victory teen ensemble tonight. After months of waiting and turning in 2 applications, I finally go to audition with my friend Melody R. and her brother Derek. I was sooo nervous! But everyone was really nice about it so I'm thankful for that. He made me sing scales, a random song from a hymn book, and Amazing Grace. I did horrible! He told me to sing a note and so I tried and he said it was a little flat. After all that, he called some of the ensemble members and we all sang as a group. I was so scared he was going to say "I have to think about it.." But he just said, "I expect you all to be there at practice next Sunday. Congratulations!" I was so relieved! So.. you wondering which part I got? He said he's going to switch me back and forth between soprano and alto but I'm mostly going to sing soprano. :D I'm so happy!

The begining of summer

Wow! Do you guys realize that it's already summer? My piano recital was on the 5th and thankfully, I did my piece note-perfect! You don't know how many times I prayed "Please God, help me get this right!" and after-wards "Thank you, Lord!!!" I also started the Wilton Flowers and Gumpaste cake class (course 2) last Friday.

I found out recently that in August, my mom's cousin and his family are coming over from Japan. I suppose it will be like when Miyuu was here but not as near as long. Hopefully we will get them to come to church with us!

Father's day and God and Country day (July 4th) are just around the corner! We have a present for Daddy hidden in my closet! LOL On the 3rd, VCBC is having a mini patriotic cantata called "This Is My America". I like it actually. And after service, we are having dinner on the grounds with hot dogs and lots of apple pie! Hooray! One year ago on July 4th (Sunday) I was in Japan. Good memories at Yokosuka Baptist Church (YBC). :)

The best news!             (which I'm going to announce again and again till it actually happens!)
I'm getting my braces off on July 14th!!!!!!!!!!!! That's 4 weeks from tomorrow! Yaaaaaaaaaaaay! I'm still planning on camo retainers! :D

I'm getting my braces off!

As you can probably guess, I'm so excited!!! Dr. Poppell (my orthodontist) said I can get my braces off and Mom set an appointment for July 14th!!!! (I'm planning on camouflage retainers!)  Yaaaaaay!  (^_^) Leigha

Piano Recital

My 1st piano recital is coming up on June 5th! Well it's not really my first piano recital. I had one in 2nd grade but that was 7 years ago. I will be playing Robert Schumann's Humming Song. It's a very formal occasion so yesterday Mom and I went shopping at the mall. We found a very pretty dress. I like it a lot. What do you think? It was $100 and 40% off! Great deal!

 Leigha

Aki & Kuma

We are dog sitting a couple dogs for 3 weeks. Their names are Aki and Kuma and they're so cute! Aki is a teacup poodle and Kuma is a toy poodle.

Bacon and Pork Chop and the Mother's Day banquet

This is a collage of our new pigs (Yorkshire-Hampshire cross), Bacon and Pork Chop. Bacon has the black back and is mine; Pork Chop has a black butt and is Ben's.

    The banquet was a blast! We played games and ate (of course) and had lots of fun. Since I don't have time to load pictures of all 77 tables, here is the theme and another collage. The center table is ours. It's all origami!

Sorry, way too many tables.

Birthdays in March

Have you ever noticed how many birthdays are in March? I know a ton of people who have birthdays in March. Well, today is my birthday. I'm turning 14!! The best weather outside... not in most opinions! It's thundering and raining pretty hard. I think it just shows how magnificent and mighty my God is. Exactly a week ago was Ben's birthday. On the 13th? was my grandpa's (on my mom's side [Japanese]) birthday. I have a ton of friends whose birthdays were this month. My daddy came home from work this morning and made me my favorite breakfast: biscuits and gravy! And he bought Krispy Kreme doughnuts on the way home! How nice! What a wonderful family I have! Leigha

Tomorrow's trip

Tomorrow, Mommy, Ben, and I are going with the Mainland High school students (because we're friends with the teacher that teaches Japanese to the high schoolers.) to the Japanese Morikami Museum and Gardens. It take 40 minutes to get to the school and 3 hours and 20 minutes of bus riding to get to the museum. That's 8 hours of riding! I'll be sure to bring lots of entertainment. Although most of it's probably going to be books. LOL I'll take pictures and show you guys as soon as I can. I can't post tomorrow because we're leaving at 6am and won't be back till estimated 8pm. I hope I get a chance (and have enough courage) to witness to some of the students. Leigha

March 16th, 2011

Whew! Finally my computer lets me log in again!    The Japan tragedy has been horrible! Thankfully, all my family and friends are okay. But please keep praying for them and all the others who are in Japan as they are threatened with after shocks, radiation, and more.
Ever since I remember, my grandmother on my mom's side (Obaachan) has been sending us boxes around our birthdays and Christmas. We all look forward to that box because it has all the things in Japan that we can't get here. Guess what? *drum roll* We got one today! Yay!

It had a ton of custard bread in it!!!

Melon bread, too!

Ben and I got birthday cards and stuffed animals. I took some pictures. If you want to see them and others visit my other blog (My Supposedly Unique Pictures).

The other day Ben was trying on Daddy's stuff and I thought I'd show you a picture.

If you haven't seen our chicks and the duck (that Ben named Aflac) yet, here are some pictures.

Our church is having a Sunday school contest and so far they have won 2 of 6 weeks and we've won only 1. :( Hopefully we will win this Sunday.   Leigha

I finished!

I know this is really stupid but I'm excited! I finished the Left Behind for kids series by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye. It's 40 books long! It's about the Tribulation at the end of the world. Action + Love story!

They are here safely

Hi guys!
If you didn't know, we have a few guests staying with us for a few weeks! When I visited Japan they decided to come. Yesterday (Friday) evening, the Yamakawa family (Miyuu and her parents) safely arrived at the OIA (Orlando International Airport). Unfortunately, their baggage didn't make it. We had to wait 2 hours just to find out 1 is still in Minneapolis! That's what I call bad service. The next day while Mom, Ben, and the Yamakawa family were at the Disney Outlet stores, Daddy and I waited for the last suitcase. It was worth it staying at home. I got a Slushy, lollipop, and soft pretzel. The car only holds 5 anyway. This morning Mom took them to one of the Disney hotels. For me, Daddy, and Ben, it was Anniversary Sunday.
♥!!!Happy 14th Birthday Volusia County Baptist Church (VCBC)!!!♥
I sang in the choir. Some of the songs were hard but all were fun!! Brother Paul Pitts came and sang. It was great! After service, we all ate dinner on the grounds. I can't wait till next year! Visit the VCBC website here!
I'll give you some updates and hopefully pictures soon!                Till next time!     Leigha☺

Our New Car

Yesterday we got a new car and spent at least 5 hours (not kidding) waiting. It was soooo boring. I think it was worth it though. We got a Hundai Elantra Touring. It's bright red. I mean really red. It's nice though, after mom's car, anything is nice. The funniest thing is that it's mom's car and the only person the Bluetooth doesn't work with is mom! We have to make the call for her.     Here are some pictures.

I told you we were bored. We pretty much went crazy!

They had pumpkins for center pieces on the tables and Ben asked if we could keep them. The manager said yes!

Here are pictures of the car itself.

In 5 days I'll be so busy until December 19 I think. My former blog Chacott Girl's M is coming to the US with her parents. Yay! I'll try to keep you updated. For now all we're doing is cleaning. Next we're going to clean the garage. I'll take a picture after wards so you know the difference. Here is a corner now.

Till Next time!           Leigha♥

Hey!

Okay, just to make it clear. I will not publish weekly or most likely even monthly. Anyway, welcome to my surprisingly girly blog!