Teardrop trailers and dropping weight

My dad is super-talented, and that may be an understatement. You know how little kids always think that their daddy is Superman and can do anything? Well, I'm 30 years old and I know that my dad can do anything. When he gets an idea into his head, watch out--it is going to happen.

Over a year ago, he decided he wanted to build a teardrop trailer...from scratch. This required teaching himself how to weld, which he did. He's already a carpentry master (he built the house I grew up in, where my parents still live). In addition to working 60+ hours a week as the head of technology for Craven County Schools, he built this teardrop trailer in his "spare time" (AKA every waking moment after work on weekdays, and all day on most Saturdays and after church on Sundays).

How cool is this?! Inside is a queen-size bed,

cabinets for storage, an AC unit, and a little

television. It hooks up to my dad's truck.

The back opens up to reveal the galley/kitchen.

There is a stainless steel cooler, microwave, and

range top, along with more storage.

Dad's got a little more work to do on it, but it was

road-worthy for the first trip last week!

Mom and Dad spent their anniversary weekend

using the trailer up in Cherokee.

They stayed at a great campground right next

to a creek--Mom said it was perfect. They are

already making plans for another trip soon--so fun!

And as for the second part of this post's title...After getting over the Baby Blues Round #2 and through the holidays, reality hit me in the face in January and, sleep deprived though I was, I started tracking what I was eating online (Sparkpeople.com is AWESOME!) and exercising during the kids' afternoon naps. Over the course of 7 1/2 months, I lost 70 pounds--woo hoo! I'm now getting up early in the morning (Oh, hello there 5:00am--so nice to see you again) so that I can workout before the kids get up, giving me back my afternoons so that I can read (my mental health is just as important as my physical health, and Mommy needs some "me" time while the kiddos sleep!) It feels great to have my energy and strength back--all the hard work has been SO worth it! I'm planning to run a half-marathon in the spring with a friend, so we'll start training for that in a few months...as crazy as it sounds, I love starting my mornings with a long, quiet run outside by myself. My mom took this picture of David and I before we headed out to celebrate our 6th anniversary...who would have guessed that I'd be in the best shape of my life at age 30 with an almost 3 year old and an almost 1 year old? Just goes to show you that you can do anything you set your mind to doing :)

Steamy afternoon at the park

We met our dear friends Katherine and Dan (friends of mine since high school) and their daughter Josephine at a fun park in Cary this afternoon, as it is halfway between the two cities where we live.

Leah-bug loved the swing and the wind

in her hair as she went back and forth.

Joshua on the big-boy swing

Love that smile on my handsome boy!

Joshua loves helping push Leah in the swing,

and Leah loves her big brother, as you can

see by her big grin! Josie supervised with her

sippy in hand :)

I love what a good and helpful big brother

Joshua is to Leah :)

Joshua loved the slides too!

As you can tell by his sweaty hair, it was a

hot afternoon, and it is hard work having

so much fun!

Leah wanted a turn on the slide as well...

at least her daddy thought so :)

Leah-bug and her fly-away hair

(Daddy met us after work, so that explains

the dress shirt)

Somebody still loves sucking on those first

two fingers, as you can see!

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We wrapped up our afternoon with a trip to Moe's for dinner...doesn't Moe's make any evening better? Hooray for fun afternoons with friends!

Father's Day Weekend

We had a wonderful Father's Day weekend! My parents came up on Friday evening and we took them out to dinner at El Dorado--Joshua loved the chips and salsa as usual, and Leah had her first bite of guacamole...she was NOT a fan and let it be known quite loudly :)

On Saturday morning, we took a trip to the Farmer's Market--it was crazy-busy and packed with people (note to self: don't go on Saturdays after 10:00am!), but we were able to pick up some produce to use for dinner that night and lunch on Sunday. On Saturday afternoon, the kids played in the wading pool: Leah liked playing with the bucket and Joshua did lots of standing and talking.

Saturday night, my mom and I made a special dinner in honor of David and my dad: slow cooker pulled pork, coleslaw, oven roasted green beans, oven roasted red potatoes, and homemade honey wheat rolls. It was delicious!

Sunday, after a yummy lunch of BLTs with fresh tomatoes from the Farmer's Market (honestly, is there anything much better than a BLT?!), my parents headed home. Once the kids were up from their naps, we headed over to Brian and Lisa's house for an Isgett family Father's Day dinner with their family, our family, and Keith, Angela, and Sydney. We had grilled flank steak, a yummy salad, fresh cantaloupe and watermelon, corn on the cob, and French bread, followed by a delicious peach and blueberry pie and homemade brownies (Lisa can bake like nobody's business!). So as you can tell, our weekend was full of family and food--a great combination!

I love that the bucket is about as big

as she is :)

Joshua showing us a leaf

I love watching Joshua talk to Leah

and seeing her react to him

Joshua "giving Leah a hug!"

Joshua trying to figure out the bright green

barrette that Grandma put in Leah's hair

Playing together in the water

Joshua smiling at Grandpa and Leah

chewing on her fingers

More smiles and more chewing

Big smiles from my big boy

My handsome little guy!

This. smile. melts. my. heart.

Leah's look of exasperation cracks me up

David's Father's Day gift from the kids :)

All these pics of Leah-bug were taken by

David and Brian while Lisa and I chatted in

the kitchen and the other kids played upstairs

Big cheesy grin!

Our little chatterbox

Serious face with big pretty eyes

Look at that chubby leg--I just want

to eat her up!

This is the "long face" that prefaces a cry

This little girl LOVES her Daddy!

Oversharing?

Since Leah isn't getting into Joshua's toys on her own yet, he is quite happy to share them with her. (I'm sure this will change when she starts taking them without asking!) I've been sure to praise Joshua whenever he shares with her so that he knows he's done a good job...apparently, all the positive reinforcement has worked:

I saw this when I had been out of the room for 2 minutes this afternoon, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud! Leah could barely see over the all the toys that Joshua had stacked on the tray of her doorway jumper, but Joshua was just as proud of himself as he could be. He smiled and said, "Great job, Joshie!" Yes, sweet boy, great job...I'll remind you of this in the future when you come running to me saying Leah has taken your toys :)

When little boys get quiet...

...they are often getting into trouble. Thankfully, Joshua has been playing quietly without getting into trouble. He LOVES his Hot Wheel Cars and he's recently taken to lining them all up on the floor, or the stairs, or the kitchen table...he'll quietly talk to himself about what kind of car they are or what color they are as he does it. It's pretty adorable. Before lunch the other day, I asked him to clean up his cars out of habit before I realized I didn't see them anywhere. When I asked him where his cars were, he walked behind the kitchen table and pulled the blinds up from the bay window:

Someone discovered a new hiding place!

Apparently the cars needed some time in the sun :)

He was pretty proud of himself!

Summer evenings

Oftentimes on a summer Saturday or Sunday late afternoon/early evening, a group of Isgetts will gather at Bernie & Martha's to cookout and spend time outside together. The kids like to play together, and the adults like to sit around and talk, so everyone's happy!

The flash obviously would have made this

a much better picture, but Janie and Joshua

are still cute as can be :)

David served as camera man for the

afternoon, so that explains all the pics

with me in them. Leah obviously finds

watching the other kids much more

interesting than looking at the camera!

She only looked this time because

Aunt Lisa stood next to Daddy and

made funny faces and noises! And I

have to say--I think Leah is gorgeous

in this color!

I seriously want to gobble her face right up!

David trying to catch a sassy face...instead,

he chronicles the continued graying of my hair.

Cute little Ellie--I'm hoping Leah's hair

will be curly just like this!

My anti-camera children :)

The lighting isn't great in this picture,

but I love Joshua's grin as he squeezed

in between David and me.

I'm pretty sure this is the first picture

of all four of us together...and Leah's 9 months

old. Shame on me, but thanks to Uncle Brian

for taking it for us!

Family picture

So, you know how whenever you go to a theme park or some place like that, they grab you as soon as you walk in and take your picture? And then they have them all available as you're leaving so that sweet family-loving people like my dear mother will buy a copy? Well, here you go:

Thankfully, my brother and I were able to limit her to buying just one copy by reminding her that we could scan her copy for everyone else. She could have dropped some serious cash had we not stopped her :)