Friends From New Hampshire

My Friend Terry and her three kids came to visit recently. (photo above:James 15, Olivia 9, Terry, older than me....ok by one month)....I've known Terry since her oldest (Jesse, far right in bottom photo, was just a baby and now he's 21!)...and Terry was in our wedding 4 years ago. It was a short visit but a nice one! We spent the afternoon and part of the evening together...in Lancaster..and then supper at our place. I don't think Terry would mind me mentioning that since the last time I saw her (two years ago) she has lost about 83 lbs!! It was great to see them all!! Isaac had no problem going to Terry-maybe he sensed that she works in a daycare with kids just his age? I might post a few other pictures but it takes FOREVER to put them on. I hope it's not another two years till we see Terry and family again!

"Isaac Lewis went up the hill.....(wooden hill that is)

....to fetch his mommy Brenda...He fell down but is ok and his mommy came tumbling after...."
Yes he fell down the steps from top to bottom at my sister's house and gave me quite a scare! I actually tried to chase him down the stairs to catch him and skipped a few in the process and almost fell myself....He was fine..cried a little and said over and over "fall down! fall down!" then he got off my lap and proceeded to play! The NERVE of him since I wasn't finished crying!! Later I had an unsettling realization that it's not going to get any easier!!! There's going to be MORE things I'll be catching my breath about and people might start yelling at me "Hey save some oxygen for us!" as I loudly inhale and gasp when Isaac almost hurts himself or DOES hurt himself!! I'm even thinking ahead to when he starts driving!! Will I be a nervous wreck and stay up waiting for him and tell him to call me every 15 minutes! Well I guess I shouldn't dwell on the "what ifs"...He DOES belong to God who loves him even MORE than his parents (hard to wrap my head around that thought)....but he's in good hands and BIG HANDS... I just have to keep telling myself that AND continue to keep a close eye on the rascally little angel who sometimes thinks he can fly! and doesn't think enough about the concept of GRAVITY!

"I prefer to do my reading in the laundry basket!"

A kitchen towel, onesie, and packaging tape

Isaac was down to his last diaper this morning BUT I had to change him twice before I could get to the store and get more diapers....soooooo....I had to improvise a bit...I lined a kitchen towel with a onesie and tape the sides with packaging tape and it worked!! Maybe I'll send this idea into "Hints from Heloise"...or something....No..I imagine I'm not the ONLY one who's ever had to do something like that...

Isaac's First Corvette Ride

Blane took Isaac for a short ride in his corvette and when they pulled into the driveway afterward, he (Isaac, not Blane) was fast asleep!!! I guess he enjoyed the ride! The night before we all went for a moonlight bike ride on the rail trail...with about 30 other people. It started at 8:30pm till about 10:30pm with snacks at the end. Pretty much cancelled out any exercise I got since I stuffed my face with shortbread cookies....
Blane took the day off yesterday....and we set out stuff for our community yard sale...only three houses were doing it so far...and I brought in a little over $4 by the afternoon...WHOOPEE!! Where am I gonna spend it all?

Definitely a "LIVING" Room...

...no there are no eggs in the cartons....they make great building blocks...

First Class Mail(Male)

Well I guess if he gets lost, someone can just mail him back to me.....

Tour De Fra....Uh Dover

Saturday, July 5th..Isaac went for his first bike ride and liked it! They just rode to a playground nearby and played for a bit and came home....Yesterday (Sunday July 6th), my brother Mark, Blane, Isaac and I all went for a bike ride. First we had to wait till the storm passed so we set out around 5:45pm with a diaper and wipes stuffed in the back of my bike shirt in case of emergency ....We rode about 20 miles....what?..what's that Blane? Oh...uh...about 2-1/2 miles....(felt like 20 to me) to one of Blane's aunt's house...visited for a bit so Isaac could load up on grapes, pretzels, strawberries and ginger snaps...then came home. I told Blane starting out that my tires just didn't feel right but he said he put plenty of air in them...so I just assumed it was me and I was out of shape all the more...but really I couldn't believe how far Mark and Blane got ahead of me even on the easy roads. When we got back, Blane looked at my tires and started laughing and told me to look. Well, my tires had plenty of pressure but the back tire wasn't tight and the WHOLE time had been rubbing against the frame!!!!! I'm pretty sure I had that same problem last week in the amazing race!

You The Owner's Manual

I just finished this book....and I regret spending the money buying it even if I got it for 30% off. I should have just as well checked it out from the library instead. I was disappointed the many times they referred to evolution, even if it was in passing. Some of the book was very good, but if you ever read it, I would say go into it with the idea that you will have to "take the meat and throw away the bones" as you read it...I did like their style of writing in layman's terms of how the body works and how everything fits together...All organs are important and depend on each other....What a MORE fascinating book it would have been if they were Christians and put a spiritual twist on it! But I guess that book's already been written - In His Image by Paul Brand, and also another book, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Paul Brand and Phillip Yancey (I think..I may have the authors wrong on that one)...
One thing the book said you could try to test your "brain strength" was to stand with your hands at your sides, close your eyes, and lift one leg...if you are 45 years old and can stand like that for at least 15 seconds, then you have REALLY good Brain strength! I'll just say that I'm still practicing to get there but I think it's improving!!! I'm getting good practice from precarious positions I find myself in when "saving" Isaac from diving off the furniture..that's GOTTA help, right?

The Amazing Grace Race

Just got back from our church's Amazing Grace Race held at a park nearby...Blane and I entered along with 19 other couples. I knew we probably wouldn't win, but come on! LAST??? We came in LAST??? How can that be?? There were times I didn't even see anyone else around during the race so it seemed obvious to me we must have been way ahead, right? Well, let's see, giving it more thought I can think of a few times we may have lost some time....the 3 mile bike trail was first for us...we took our time looking at the map and getting our helmets on while everyone else left us in the dust....After that race my legs were like jello so I walked a little unsteadily to the next thing and couldn't help laughing 'cause I knew if I bent down too much I'd just collapse..., we next did canoeing which I think we did pretty good or at least it seemed like a piece of cake without a toddler sitting in the middle.....but walking to some of the other stations we were stopped a few times from people in the park asking what was going on (we had numbers pinned to our backs) so we chatted a little and told them about our church....So with all that in mind, I guess we could have gained, oh I don't know....2 minutes on our time?? Anyway, we had a good time. There were only two casualties on the bike trail...my poor sister wiped out pretty bad on the steep descent...BIG OUCH!!!! BUT, once she received a little medical attention she continued with the rest of the race with her husband....well not the bike part but everything else....
And thank goodness for other people with extra diapers! I only packed one for Isaac but gave it to his cousin who REALLY needed it...then later Isaac REALLY needed one so someone from church had an extra to give to me for Isaac....what goes around comes around...ha ha...

A Recommended Book...by me

I just finished reading a book How To Raise A Healthy Child...In Spite of Your Doctor by Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn, MD..a leading pediatrician! He's been in practice for over 30 years. It's VERY insightful and coming from a pediatrician it's quite interesting that he HIGHLY encourages parents to take more control of their child's health AND if at all possible AVOID the doctor! He reveals the general mentality of the medical profession and the dangers of putting your child in a doctor's care for minor things where it could very well be something parents can handle at home, rather than seeing a doctor who will intervene in many unnecessary ways! He lists guidelines to follow for many childhood illnesses and gives his opinion on various subjects, including the fact that he DOES NOT recommend vaccinations! This coming from a pediatrician, but he backs it up with very interesting statistics and information that spells out how useless AND potentially dangerous they are....and how to treat diseases (i.e. mumps, measles, etc.) if contracted. He's also against tonsilectomies unless the child's tonsils are so swollen he can't breathe...but he says the tonsils are the first line of defense against infection. He's also against antibiotics unless absolutely necessary (i.e. olive oil recommended for earaches rather than antibiotics)...he's against strep throat cultures and antibiotics for that and explains why...etc., etc...(Perhaps NOW I have a few people curious about this doctor...so you gotta read the book!....Anyway, it's a great book and now I'm going through and highlighting things to keep in mind.
Aside from finishing the book, Isaac and I spent some time playing with play doh and he did so much better this time by NOT EATING IT....just licking it to get my reaction! What a rascal!

Isaac can't fill his daddy's shoes...but I can tell he fills his heart! :)

Happy Father's Day!

Saturday, the day before Father's Day was Blane's company picnic at Hershey Park, which I consider Father's Day since Isaac LOVED being on the rides with his daddy and didn't seem to want to be on rides with mommy, but that's ok! He sees me alot more than Blane...Their favorite ride was the big Fun Slide which they went on four times! Poor Blane had to carry Isaac up a lot of narrow steps each time. We had to walk through the water park area a few times...whew! I think about 70% of the people are much too generous in showing their appearance in a bathing suit.
Maybe next year Isaac will go on a few rides by himself...but for now it was fun to watch him making memories with daddy! It was a completely different kind of memory ON Father's Day when we attempted to go canoeing as a family...not a good idea with a tired, sleepy 19 month old...I thought we'd never make it back to shore! How do you explain to a toddler that it's not a good idea to nurse on a canoe?? He rocked the boat a little bit...but most of the time he rocks our world :)

The Unknown Cowboy

I asked him if he found his horse..all I got was "Neigh, Neigh!"