Life as a Lewis

Remember all our family walks last fall? All the photos I took? (I could link you up, but that would take way too long and I'm trying to finish up before the kids are up.) We live on a country road. But about a mile from our house, there's a teeny tiny road with no traffic that's about 1.5 miles long, and we like to drive down there and let the kids ride their bikes while we walk. It's a great way to have a little family time - the kids generally have a great time together; we can talk about their day and while they're off riding, Brian and I can talk about our days. In the fall we do this several times a week, and in the spring as well, but I have to admit that the fall times are the best. I love that it's cool, that the leaves are turning (okay, they're not turning quite yet). I grew up in Illinois where they have a pretty long and cool (in temperature) fall, and I miss it. Sometimes you can blink and miss fall in Tennessee. I got a little sidetracked the...

For all my fellow Korean drama lovers, I just started Heartstrings on DramaFever. Anyone else watching? Ran across this blog post about the amount of sugar in your kid's food. Shocking! I'm glad to say the only thing they're eating on that list is the cheerios, Yoplait yogurt and Quaker granola bars, but still! I'm definitely getting rid of the Yoplait yogurt. On the phone with my mom, Rory says, "You know I saw Dr. V when I was 3? Well, I've been DYING to see him again because I just LOVE Dr. V." Dr. V would be the dentist, and while he is nice, I don't know why she would love him - she has to have work done every.single.time. In fact, we're going again tomorrow for the 3rd time in 8 days. When I asked Rory how she liked her yogurt at lunch the other day, here was her reply (I totally wrote it down right then and there on a scrap piece of paper): "It has an interesting kick, but I still like it. I like the freshness here." Oh, yes, sh...

Rory's first official soccer game was Saturday, and it was a blast. I mean, they got completely killed to the tune of 20-something to 1, but it was fun to watch anyway. The only way to go from here is up, right? And Rory was the one who scored the single, solitary goal. We got there a little early to see Emma's game, and I have to say that Saturday morning at the soccer field is kinda fun. We followed it up with ice cream cones from McDonald's to celebrate the goal. Rory wanted to know if she scores 2 goals next week if she gets 2 ice cream cones. :) So my goal this season to somehow capture some good soccer action shots. If you look closely, you can see her tongue sticking out. She runs flat out the whole time, and the tongue is always out. Let's just call her the next Michael Jordan. In little Asian girl soccer form. And, yes, she was that red, hot, and sweaty! It's hard work to play soccer. 504. "His eye is on the sparrow" 505. enough money to p...

I promised you Camden, and here he is. :) I never did an 8 year old photo shoot with him, and while plopping him down in his old t-shirt in between takes of Rory's photo shoot for a Lilypad tutorial going up on their blog tomorrow doesn't quite count, I do really like these of him. All shot with my 35mm, f3.2, 1/200ss, ISO 320 using my reflector.

I'm just going to apologize this once for all the soccer pics that are probably going to appear on the blog in the next few weeks. You'll just have to put up with my obsessive pride in how cute Rory is playing soccer. Last night we scrimmaged with our friend Emma's team. And can I just say that this was only our third practice while the rest of the teams in the league have been practicing for weeks now. It was so much fun, despite the fact that we lost approximately 762 to 2. And Rory played almost the entire hour because the coach made the mistake of asking who wanted to play and who didn't, and she was one of the very few who wanted to play the whole time. Getting ready for the big game. That would be her coach with the bald head. (It's a toss-up as to who has the best bald head: me or the coach.) And her coach has a ton of soccer experience, but, bless his heart, maybe not so much experience explaining soccer to 4 year olds. I wish I could remember all the socc...

Just a few things: I have felt so good this week! And with the exception of last night, I've been sleeping well, which makes a huge difference. I am very tired this morning, but thanks to Uncle Michael who had already arranged to spend one of his vacation days this week with Rory, I am kid-free and heading to lunch with a friend. And I'm far enough out from chemo that the food is going to taste delicious! Rory and I have been to the dentist twice this week already, and there's another appointment scheduled for next week. She has SIX cavities. After Brian was forced to endure the nightmare that is our pediatric dentist back in June, he made the executive decision to see if our family dentist would work on her. She loves going to the dentist and despite all the work she's had done is not scared at all. Not only is our family dentist 10 minutes from home, but we never have to wait, and they are wonderful to us. AND he's not going to try to put two caps on her front ...

In case anyone was wondering, yes, I am still taking pictures. :) Just fewer and further between than I would like. One of these days chemo side effects won't be an issue anymore! I've already got several sessions lined up for the fall, and if you're interested, please don't hesitate to contact me (camdensmommy @ gmail dot com). Things are going to be a little more casual, less official, no more website (after September), and more simple. As I went through some of my Life as a Lewis Photography images, I smiled many times. I hope they make you smile too.

Who knew cutting coupons could be so fun (or keep her occupied for so long!).

Rory had a cold last week (okay 2-3 weeks ago now since I started this forever ago) and her ears were bothering her just a tad so she announced she needed ear buds like Emma (who has hearing aids). I've discovered that when you don't have eyelashes, your tears fall much more quickly because there's nothing to slow them down. And that wasn't meant to be some kind of sad comment, just an observation. I promise! And let's lighten the mood with another fun discovery. When you don't have any nose hairs (yes, they fall out there too), there's nothing to stop the snot and your nose kinda drips constantly. Betcha didn't know that! "So you know how I told you I liked school? Not so much anymore." And this would be from Camden to Becky. Pretty sure this has something to do with the fact that 2nd grade is requiring alot more independent work and Camden would most definitely be against independent work. :) And speaking of Camden, Mr. Chatty himself got...

Oh, yes, we're suckers and let Camden have another kitten. The family who gave us the first two had one more left in the litter, and Camden could not be happier. He really is such a sweet kid, and he loves these kittens! Frenchie, on the other hand, is none too happy about her new playmate. She has been downright ugly to poor Skipper. I am hoping that eventually they will be friends, but 48 hours into it and there is no improvement. Our weekend was quite uneventful. I ended up feeling fatigued more than I anticipated and spent most of my days at home on the couch. Brian ended up being on soccer gear duty on his own, but he managed well. The further I get into this journey, the less energy I seem to have to push through the chemo side effects, and I'm more willing to let the fatigue take over - not only physically, but mentally. I did wake up feeling quite a bit stronger today so I am hoping for a good week. We have a pretty normal schedule this week, and I found myself tod...

Not mine. :) Lisa Leonard is having a birthday giveaway on her blog, and she designs my favorite necklaces so go check it out, leave her a comment, and maybe you'll win. Click here

For Mother's Day this year Camden brought me a little coupon book that he made at school full of little coupons like: one kiss, one hug, one walk together, breakfast in bed, etc. If you remember, my first set of 3 chemo treatments were the week of Mother's Day, and I am ashamed to say that the little coupon book did not get quite the attention it deserved. Last night at bedtime (which was kind of late notice for Brian), I decided I should cash in the breakfast in bed coupon. Poor Camden has hinted at it several times. It was so funny because Camden had something very specific in mind. He went and wrote down a menu, which included items like "biskits, scrambld eggs with chees, topings, hony, serup." Brian and I had decided before hand I was going to choose "biskits." So Camden wrote the menu, Rory was supposed to deliver it to me, and then Camden was going to take my order. I deviously gave them lots of extra orders like chilling my milk glass in the freezer...