...and FINALLY, a Decision!

Her name is Anna Michelle Knight.

She's had her official photo taken, complete with pink bow and pink dress.

She's going home tomorrow morning and according to daddy, they are curling up on the couch and watching the IRISH, while mommy takes a well deserved nap.

They're Promising.....

....a name by lunch time. Stopped in on my way to work this morning. Bobby had gone home to take a shower and let the dog out. Angela was in great spirits and "Little Miss No-Name" was sleeping soundly. She promised us a name by the time Grandpa and I return at lunch.

Introducing....

"Baby Girl" Knight - (little Miss No Name).




Born on her daddy's 30th birthday.

9 pounds - 3 ounces - born at 7:52 p.m. - after only one hour of pushing.




Mom and Dad plan to name her in the morning (when Angela is no longer under the influence of drugs).

Her daddy's first comment, "How can you love someone this much, when you've only known them for 10 minutes?"

Today is September 27th....

...it's Bobby's 30th birthday and it's BABY DAY!!!!

Nothing like having a little girl born on her daddy's birthday!!!! I'll post details and photos later - I'm on my way to the hospital!

The Friendly Skies...

Traveling is stressful - no two ways about it. Packing for five people is enough to put you over the edge - let alone driving to Chicago and getting three small children through security checkpoints with sippy cups and well-stocked backpacks. Once in the air, there's the "curiosity" of the tiny airplane restrooms. Carrie spent 20 minutes in this restroom with Grace - who had the "urge". Carrie said the entire time, the door knob was rattling with someone trying to open the door. She finally got Grace taken care of, just to open the door and find Nolan standing there. According to Carrie - he needed equal time. So, after 40 minutes she found her way back to her seat for the rest of her "relaxing" flight with her husband and three small children - along with an aunt, a niece, a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law. Hmmmm - I'm hearing the theme song from the movie "Vacation" in my head.

In Honor Of....

On Sunday evening, our Little League park honored the championship teams from this past summer. It took us 20 years and seven kids to have one with her name on a board to be displayed in the park - the first of our children to play on a State Championship team. Congratulations to Kelli and her teammates for making us proud!!!

House Explosion....

We were sitting in the basement watching a movie about an hour ago when Bob thought he heard something. The phone rang and Mary Lou said that something had exploded nearby and the sky was black with smoke. We ran outside in time to hear sirens and see the smoke. My first thought was that a plane had crashed. Ever since the airport put in the new runway, we have a lot of air traffic over our subdivision. We hopped in the car and drove out to Portage and turned north. We immediately could see fire engines and police cars. We got as far as Arbor Gate subdivision and knew that was where things were unfolding. Residents had been evacuated and were lining the road. We asked what happended, and a man responded to us that a house had exploded - a natural gas explosion. As I looked into the subdivision, I could see a huge orange glow of fire and lots of black smoke. We immediatley turned into Northwood Hills and made our way home, avoiding the oncoming emergency traffic. I'm sitting here now, waiting for the news at 10:00 to get more information. This subdivision sits about a half mile from our home - and about 7 miles from Colleen's home. When I called Colleen to tell her, she said "I HEARD IT - and wondered what it was!!"

Updated on Friday morning with a photo from the local news:

Ripple Afghan

This one took me a about three weeks to complete - mostly lunch hours and late nights curled up with a good movie. Couldn't quite get the colors right with this photo - it's actually a dark purple, gold and lavender. I made it to donate to the silent auction for the softball table at Clay's Athletic Night this winter - but of course, Kelli is trying to lay claim to it. I promised to make her another one. My grandmother taught me to crochet years ago, but I've just recently picked it back up. I can never just sit down in front of the TV and watch - I have to be doing something with my hands. (It used to be folding laundry - but as my household diminishes, so does the laundry). So anyway, I now have some new patterns and an abundance of yarn. I've completed two in the past seven weeks so this may just be the "year of the afghans".

Ben's "YION"

My grandson Ben has this lion or "yion" as he calls it. Let me just say that this thing is UGLY!! It is skinny, has very little hair and just isn't what you'd expect a two year to carry around as his favorite toy. He sleeps with it, he drags it everywhere he goes. Sunday after church, we met Colleen and Jimmy and Ben at Logan's for lunch and "yion" came too. Half way through lunch, "yion" ended up in Colleen's ranch dressing and she told us that the night before (while at some friend's home) "yion" ended up thrown into a bonfire - and was recovered. It's like that Energizer Bunny - takes a licking, but keeps on ticking - just not nearly as cute!

A "Disney" Reunion

My sister-in-law posted this photo on her blog and I had to share. On Saturday evening my brother and sister-in-law drove over to Orlando with my mom to meet up with Carrie, Joe and the kids for dinner on the Disney Boardwalk. The smiles pretty much sum it up...

They're on Their Way....

Carrie, Joe, Nolan, Grace and Jack along with Joe's brother Matt and his wife Chris and their daughter Paige are on on their way to Orlando this morning for a week at Disney World. Gracie and Paige are "Princess Bound". This evening, the whole bunch will meet up with my family for dinner at the ESPN Club on the Disney Boardwalk. It will be the first time my mom will see Jack. Wish I could be there to see the reunion!!!

"Rock Star" by Marah Johnson

My Design Team assignment for this month was to complete a layout using the new "Rock Star" line by Marah Johnson. There are some great papers and awesome rub-ons. For eight years, I've tried to come up with layouts for the photos I've taken with Bob and his band. He liked the layout - actually held it in his hands and looked it over for more than 5 seconds - BUT, he acted kind of embarassed when I told him that he'd be hanging in the store for the next few months.

Passports

Never really thought I'd need one of these - but thanks to new regulations, it looks like anyone planning to get on a plane or a cruise ship will eventually need one. They keep pushing back the date for land and sea crossings, but I guess I'd rather be safe than sorry - and supposedly, this will make the whole "customs thing" so much easier when we disembark the ship. Bob and I have a date today at lunch - meet at the post office and shell out $200. Our "ugly" photos have been taken and official forms have been downloaded and filled out online. All we have to do then is sit back and wait 3 or 4 or 5 months for them to arrive.

It's Finished.....

It took me 9 months to finish, but last night I completed the last couple of pages in my cruise album. The finished product is HUGE. That's what I get for traveling with three other scrapbookers, who like me took tons of photos. We then exchanged discs and ended up with probably 800 photos to choose from.

So, will I do it again? My first thought is "no", but then I realize I'll be traveling with my husband and new friends and family - so I probably will - just maybe not on such a "grand" scale.

Clothing Transition....

This week, I've slowly been transferring summer clothes to the guest bedroom closet - not everything, just the "extreme" summer wear. I realized last night that the next time I pull these things out, it will be to pack them for our cruise in April. You know me - I'll probably start packing in January!!

Accomplishments....

After a long, hot summer - it's been a good week. I've completed six scrapbook layouts and finished a baby afghan. I started the afghan the week I sat through seven softball games in the heat and humidty of Akron, Ohio and a month later, it's done. I remember starting it, and ripping it out and starting over numerous times and the other parents teasing me that I'd NEVER get it done.

It's amazing how much you can get accomplished when your evenings and weekends aren't consumed with ballgames!

Six Years Ago Today.....

...I became a grandmother.

Happy Birthday Nolan!!!!

Notre Dame - Georgia Tech

Well, the outcome wasn't what we'd hoped for - in fact, it was down right embarassing - but it was still a great day, filled with friends, family and fun!!!! We were in the White Field at 8:30 a.m. setting up our tailgate, complete with three tents, two televisions, plenty of music, corn hole, beer pong, and more food and beer than we could possibly eat. The weather was beautiful and I was spending it with my loved ones - couldn't get much better than this.