The Year in Review....

It doesn't seem possible that another year has slipped by. Time passes much too quickly and I really wish I'd spend more time enjoying what's right in front of me instead of always looking ahead. With that being said, I'm going to post a pictoral of the year past and the memories that will stay with me forever....

In January, we celebrated Katie and Colleen's birthdays and booked a cruise for 2008. Looks like Chrissie and I started off the new year jammin' with Rock Star at one of his many local gigs.

Kelli attended her first formal high school dance. Here she is with Michael - the neighbor boy who stopped by for photos before heading off to pick up his date.

February brought us Kelli's 15th birthday. My brother and sister-in-law came to visit - all the way from warm and sunny Florida. They wanted to see snow and their wish was granted. Not only did they get to see snow - they got to see Rock Star perform!!

We spent St. Patrick's Day in Chicago at the wedding of Bobby's best friend, Mark Cohan. Bobby (the best man) got lost on the way to the church with the rings in his pocket - but he made it - five minutes before the wedding started and the rest of the day went off without a hitch.

April brought the first signs of spring and Nolan started t-ball.

If we weren't at the Little League park, we were at the high school watching Kelli. Hard to believe that the last of our five daughters started her high school softball career.

May brought Grace's third birthday and being the "princess" that she is, it was only fitting that she have a party fit for a princess!!!

June brought us a busy summer of softball with Kelli - starting with a tournament over Father's Day Weekend in 90+ degree temps. It didn't seem to matter to this bunch as they ended up coming in second place out of more than 20 teams.

Between softball games, Kelli managed to squeeze in a weekend in Chicago with her friends Maggie and Meghan to see "Wicked".

July started off with birthdays for Chrissie and Carrie and a big 4th of July party with Bob's baseball buddies.l I went to Key West in the middle of the month, with my brother and sister-in-law. Lots of shopping and drinking and staying out very late. I needed to get back to Indiana to recover from this vacation.

July also found Kelli's Little League All-Star team winning the Indiana State Championship.

I spent my birthday in August with Kelli in Akron, Ohio. After winning the Indiana State Championship, it was off to the Midwest Regionals in Akron - where they finished 5 and 1 - losing the championship to the team from Ohio.

By the end of August, we were celebrating Kevin's birthday, sending Kelli off to her sophomore year of high school, Nolan off to kindergarten and Grace to pre-school. Carrie also went back to teaching - 3rd grade at Corpus Christi.

September brought the birth of grandchild number 5 - Anna Michelle Knight, born on her daddy's 30th birthday. I was lucky enough to be right there in the delivery room when she took her first breath.

October found us trying our best to "Cheer, Cheer for Old Notre Dame".

Most of us were able to make the trip home to Greenville for Thanksgiving. For our southern Illinois family, it was a first chance to meet Anna.

We started the month of December surrounded by family as we celebrated Anna's Baptism.

December also found us celebrating Jack and Ben's 2nd birthday. What a blessing those two little guys are!! As we stood in front of the Christmas tree last week, I realize how much our family continues to grow. We're going to need a bigger room or a bigger tree before next year.

Amish Acres - White Christmas

My Christmas gift from Chrissie was a day at Amish Acres (http://www.amishacres.com/) in Nappanee. We stuffed ourselves with the Thresher Lunch in the Barn Restaurant and saw "White Christmas" in the Round Barn Theater. Chrissie remembered how much always I enjoyed this movie during the holiday season and seeing it performed on stage was just perfect. We had a great mother/daughter day.

Under 100 Days.....

On January 10 of this year, we booked a cruise - along with approximately 30 members of our Family and Florida Friends. At that time it was 400+ days and too far in the future to even contemplate. But that didn't stop my sister-in-law from throwing a cruise-booking party. (She'll do anything to celebrate with a glass of wine).

The Florida bunch celebrated on the "300 day mark" ...

... and again on the "200 day mark".

Today, we're at 98 days and tomorrow afternoon, some of them are celebrating to the Redhead Bar at Port Canaveral. They'll sit and drink martinis and watch the Glory set sail - knowing that in 14 weeks, it will be us waving from the railing!!!!

Four Months Worth of Yarn....

Well, I know I talked the talk about how much crocheting I was getting done and how many projects I completed - but I couldn't post photos because most of the items were Christmas gifts. Now that these things have found their way into their new homes, I can show you the finished products.

This ripple afgan in shades of blue, cream and brown is now at home with Carrie and Joe - perfect for their newly decorated master bedroom.

I used this giant "granny" pattern for several of the afghans, simply because it worked up so quickly. This one (in shades of green and pink) went home with Bobby and Angela.

Katie and Santiago took home this one in shades of blue and brown.

Colleen and Jimmy's was done in shades of cream, rust, brown and blue.

...and finally, Chrissie and Brock's - jewel tones in large blocks stitched together.





Now, I'm under no pressure. I'm working on one more for the Clay Athletic Silent Auction and getting back to my scrapbooking. I am glad that I found my way back to crocheting - a craft that my grandmother taught me 40 years ago. I feel that now I'm passing on a little bit of her to my children through these afghans.

My Last Vacation Day....

Everyone deserves a day like this now and then. I actually got up early, but I haven't got dressed and I don't intend to. Here's a visual for you....10 year old fuzzy houseslippers, green plaid flannel pajama pants, an orange Puerto Rico "fish" t-shirt, and a turquoise fleece. Sounds attractive, huh? Doesn't matter. It's just me and the dog and my scrapbook room. I plan to come up for air sometime this evening and then back to work tomorrow - but until then, I'm in comfy scrapbook paradise. Hmmmmm, am I sensing a little jealousy out there?

Today....I Relax!

The past 48 hours have been a blur of cooking, being the perfect hostess, etc. Today, we're off to Mass and then to Carrie and Joe's for lunch. I've cooked the turkey (or maybe I should say that Mr. Turkey is roasting at a comfy 350 degrees as I type). We'll stop back here and pick him up after Mass and go to Carrie's. I'm looking forward to an afternoon relaxing at their beautiful home and watching my grandkids wade through what Santa brought them.

As for last night, here's Bobby (holding Ben), Kelli, Kevin, Katie and Angela.



....and Kelli with her two nieces - Anna and Grace.



...and me with Grace.



Nolan got a "FROG" Webkin.



Ben and Jack got remote control cars and could have cared less about the rest of their presents.

One of the hi-lights of the evening was hearing Nolan sing "Silent Night" to Anna. Her eyes never left him and she made little "baby noises" - like she was trying to sing with him.



Here's the grandkids wrestling with "Rock Star".....





....and the grandkids getting the BEST of "Rock Star".





Here's ALL of us, crowded around the Christmas tree. Looks like we need a bigger room, or a bigger tree. I look at this photo and realize how truely blessed I am. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

'Twas the "Day" Before Christmas....

....and all through the house, not a creature was stirring (except for Kevin who had to be at work at 7 a.m.). AND of course ME! I have to admit to lying in my nice warm bed, longing to just roll over and snuggle in for another couple of hours, but then I knew what awaited me in the kitchen. I've been a prisoner to that room since Sunday afternoon and today doesn't look to be much better. So far I've managed my tortilla rollups, sausage stars, cookies, buckeyes and bacon/sausage/brown sugar wraps. Today's agenda includes my taco dip, party mix, the thawing of the shrimp, a banana-rum cheese ball, and the final arranging of various cheese/salami and cracker platters. Enough to feed an army you say? Well, that's a fair description of what will invade my house later this afternoon.

Photos will follow throughout the day....

It's now almost 1:00 and it's time to get out of my flannel pajamas and make myself look "festive". The dishwasher is being unloaded for the third time in 24 hours - much to the despair of my "elves". The Buckeyes were Kelli's contribution and she did a great job!!! Her special addition to the recipe - Rice Krispies.

I made the Tortilla Roll-Ups yesterday and just finished slicing and arranging them. It was hard not to eat them while I was slicing - OK, I'll admit to maybe just a couple. I LOVE these things!

Homemade Party Mix is a holiday staple in this household. I've already had to chase "Rock Star" away from the bowl and listen to his whining, "but I'm HUNGRY".




And of course, my taco dip - another family favorite. I can remember when Bobby was a little boy, I'd get so mad at him because the first thing he'd do was to dip RIGHT out of the CENTER - and mess it all up!



More photos to come - as soon as I'm looking presentable and the hot things come out of the oven.

OK - it's 3:00 - one hour until my peaceful house will be bursting at the seams with children, grandchildren and enough wrapping paper to wrap my house! The shrimp is thawing and the Sausage Stars just came out of the oven. I think I can actually sit down and relax for awhile!

Layered Taco Dip

I was up at 5:30 this morning, making this for a holiday party tonight. Of course, I'll be making another one on Monday for our Christmas Eve celebration because it's a favorite of my kids. If you want to make a HIT at a New Year's or Super Bowl Party - this is the recipe for YOU.

The "key" to making this quick and easy is to use extremely RIPE avocadoes. Make sure they're black and squishy when you look for them in the store. (I had to go to three different stores yesterday to find the ones I needed). I also had already mashed them up when I decided to take a picture of the ingredients.

Now, I layer everything in my round stoneware dish. (You can use a plate, but by using this enclosed dish, things stay where there supposed to stay).

1st Layer - one can of bean dip

2nd Layer - two smashed avocadoes (I mix in a couple tbsp. of mayo to make it creamy).

3rd Layer - 16 oz. container of sour cream mixed with one package of taco seasoning

4th Layer - shredded lettuce

5th Layer - shredded cheese

And finally, top the whole thing off with chopped tomatoes, onions, black olives, green peppers, red peppers - just about anything you want. I also sprinkled the top with a little southwest seasoning that I had on hand - but it's not a necessity.

ENJOY!!!!

A Father's Worse Nightmare....

...has to be raising five daughters. What can I say - he's finally turning gray with this situation. We've managed to marry off two of them and two more are in serious relationships, which leaves us with the baby - almost 16 - and the biggest handful of all. (Maybe it's just that we're TIRED and OLD). So, last night she comes home with the school newspaper. Published in the paper was a Christmas Survey where four student athletes were asked some questions - one of which was "Who Would You Like to Kiss Under the Mistletoe". A surveyed baseball player, who shall remain unnamed responded, "Kelli Knight". (Said baseball player is also her date for the January Mid-Winter Dance). And so, what was her father's response to the survey??? Let's just say that he took a pen and and changed "Kelli Knight - to - Kelli Knight's Dad's A___".

For those of you who don't know the five of them.....

Daughters number 1 and 5.




Daughters number 2 and 3.



Daughters number 5 and 4.

What's Christmas Without a Little Something Sweet?

These things are on my weekend agenda. Better enjoy them now before January 1st gets here and I revert to my Weight Watcher meals. These little gems are called French Breakfast Puffs and I found the recipe on my favorite website. For additional photos and complete directions, please click the link below.



Photo courtesy of The Pioneer Woman.

http://thepioneerwomancooks.com/2007/12/french_breakfast_puffs.html