Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

I'm home again after spending a couple more days with Amy and her family. I forgot to take the camera with me this time so there will be no pictures. I went up Sunday afternoon and stayed till this afternoon. On Monday we did laundry all day long. I also helped Amy do some errands and cleaned her bathroom. The rest of the time I held Joanna and played with Chase. Rough life!

Chase is starting to talk. His favorite words are train, car, backhoe, tractor and truck. He can say almost anything, I think, but he has a funny habit of repeating the last word of the sentence you say to him. And if you ask him a question, he doesn't answer, he just repeats the last word you said. For instance, if you ask him: "Chase, do you have a dirty diaper?" He'll say: "diaper." If you say: "Chase, where is your car?" He'll say: "car." You get the idea. It's pretty funny. And if you tell him he's funny, he'll say: "funny."

This morning Amy and I went to Maternity Motherhood and Babies R Us. I had bought a little outfit for Joanna on my way up on Sunday, but we decided it was too big. So we went to Babies R Us to find a newborn outfit so she can wear it right now. We found a very cute one. Maybe Amy will take a picture of Joanna in it and post it on her blog. While there, I also had Amy pick out some shorts outfits for Chase, because he seemed to be getting them dirty faster than we washed them. (We just did the wash yesterday and this morning there was only 1 more clean pair of shorts for him to put on!) Oh, it's such fun to buy things for the grandkids, and I'm so glad their mothers don't mind that I do that.

There is nothing as precious as a newborn baby. I think I could hold Joanna all day long. Every little stretch and whimper is so dear. I'm very grateful for the privilege of being alive and young enough to enjoy the grandchildren God is giving us.

Fun with Family on the Fourth

Andy and I left the house this morning, July 4th, at 8:30, driving an hour and a half to Lancaster County to see Amy, Ricky, Chase & Joanna. We stayed a little over an hour with them before driving to our next stop.We got to my brother Sam's house a little after 12:00 noon for the 4th of July Yoder picnic. None of our daughters and families could be there this year, but here is a list of who was there:
- my Mother
- my Aunt Sis, daughters Edna & Jenny, and Edna's husband, Don and Jenny's husband Miles and 2 sons, Daane & Colton
- my Aunt Anna Margaret
- my mother's life long friend, Sally and her son Victor (my 2nd cousin)
- my brother Sam, his wife Julie and 2 of their sons and their families (Nathan, Krista & Ethan & Erik, Deb & Aubrey and Mindy)
- my brother Wendell, his wife, Rita, and 2 of their children (John with Andrea - recently engaged, and Annaliese)
- my sister Judy and her husband Kerby

My sister, Toot and her husband, Rod, could not be there because of waiting for two of their sons to return home from serving with the military in Iraq. They weren't sure of the time they would be returning but wanted to be home so they could be available for them when they arrived.

We celebrated my Mother's 80th birthday which isn't till August 15th, but this was the best time to treat her since we were all together.
After eating together and visiting for several hours, we left and drove over to see Christy and Christian and their 5 kids. It was good to see them again and spend some time with them. Andy, Christian and all the kids except Patrick and Asher went on a bike ride. Andy is really into biking right now, but what a workout that was. He is used to the flat roads of NJ, not the ups and downs of Pa hills. He and Christian came back drenched in sweat. Of course, they were both pulling / carrying kids.

All in all it was a good holiday. What better way to spend it than with family! We are so blessed.

More on Chipmunks

In case anyone is worrying that we might be doing something illegal in trapping chipmunks, I researched it and discovered that it is NOT a federal offense to do so. I think chipmunks are in the same category as rats, mice and moles: rodents, pests, nuisances. On the site I checked there were even suggestions as to how to be successful in capturing them. Then the site also said it is perfectly acceptable to "humanely euthanize" them.

Success at last

I got home from Amy's last night and went back to work today. My desk had about 4 days mail on it and it took a long time to open it all and take care of it. I love being at work, though, so it was ok. This evening I'm trying to get caught up on laundry and get my menu and shopping list ready for the rest of this week. I think I'll have to do some work on Saturday this week, since Friday is a holiday. I don't know how I'll get everything done tomorrow.

Andy has been having fun riding his bike. He found this program online that maps out routes for you to take. He and 3 guys went on a 45 mile ride on Saturday. Tomorrow morning, he and a friend are going out at 6:00 am for another long ride before work.

We bought a bike for me, too, last winter, but I feel too unsteady on it. And because of my osteoporosis, I'm a little nervous about the possibility of a fall. I would not be a happy camper if I fell and really hurt myself. At this stage of my life, I'd better be safe than sorry. So I'll stick to my "safe" exercise routines in the house.

We finally caught one little Mr. Chippy. But there are a lot more of his relatives still around. Yeah! One for us!

Grandchild #7

Amy went into labor on Thursday. I had originally planned to be with her in labor, but on Thursday, she told me she thought she and Ricky would be all right. The mid-wives who were working with her were very helpful, and Amy was feeling confident and secure that they understood her and what she wanted.

Early Friday morning, 3:30 A.M. to be exact, we got a call from Ricky that Joanna Alyx had been born. The labor really wasn't that long. Ricky and Amy arrived at the hospital at midnight. Pushing was laborious and difficult, but she successfully delivered the baby vaginally. What a relief and blessing. Thank you to all who were praying. God certainly gave her the desire of her heart. Her recovery and even the breast feeding is going so much better this time.

I went up to the Reading Hospital Friday afternoon and stayed overnight with her in the hospital, so Ricky could keep Chase at home in his own bed. Then she was discharged from the hospital around 11:00 A.M. on Saturday morning.

Amy had some visitors today. Ricky's parents came over, then Christy with Grace, Naomi and Asher came, too. I believe Ricky & Amy's friends, Chad & Sheila, are coming over yet this evening. Chase is doing very well. It's a pleasure to be here with them.

I am including a couple of pictures that I took with my camera. They're the same that I posted on Amy's blog. Amy has more pictures, but I will let her post them when she is up to coming downstairs and blogging herself.

It's a Girl

Joanna Alex Eberly was born to Amy and Ricky at 3:30 A.M. this morning, June 27th. She was 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Amy was able to deliver naturally, for which we are praising God.

I am on my way up to see Amy and their family. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can.

This and That

Yesterday was a beautiful day. The morning was so cool - perfect for working in the gardens. So that is what I did from 7:30 - 10:30. All the bushes are trimmed, all the weeds are pulled, and all the periennels are deadheaded. The weather has been beautiful but we could really use rain. Our yard is turning brown. It saves on time because we don't have to mow, although lack of rain doesn't seem to affect the growth of weeds.

Andy is working on paperwork for the front porch project. He spent most of the day filling out the permit application and making up a materials list.

Our front porch has evolved over the years. We moved into this house in May 1991. We had a tiny little porch then, if you want to call it a porch. Isn't it dinky?

When Andy re-sided and re-roofed the house in 2001, he took off the roof of the porch. The landing is still there, but in sad shape.

We had an architect draw up plans for a new porch. It will be 14' x 10'. I think it will add a nice finished touch to the front of the house. And then I'll have more landscaping to do! Yeah!

We sat out on our deck after dinner/supper with each of us reading a book. I took the camera out there to try getting a picture of the hummingbird. He didn't seem to mind that we were there, but he didn't stay there long enough for me to get a picture. By the time I got the camera turned on and in position, he was there and gone. It must have happened 4-5 times. I finally gave up. You'll just have to believe me that there really is a hummingbird that comes to my feeder.As for the chipmunks, they are still alive and well and running around like they own the place. We put out the Have A Heart trap, but they are clever enough not to go in it. They're probably laughing at us. Sigh!