I Heart Thorpe!

Thorpe – what’s not to love? I love this pattern and I love this yarn. This is my second Thorpe – this one is for Justin for his birthday. He picked out the yarn at Joann’s (on sale 2/$5.00 – nice!). The yarn is Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky and the color is Seven Seas. Gorgeous. The pattern doesn’t call for a ball on the top but we all decided we like the ball. I added a ball to mine also. Danielle is getting a Thorpe for her birthday too – hers is nearly done.

This is a little of what we did on Justin’s birthday party weekend. We all went shopping and ended up in the baby clothes department at Meijer. Fun fun. Here’s Keith and Corey looking for baby clothes for Zachary.

And here are Corey and Danielle picking out some outfits.

It’s a…………………..

Last night, Danielle had an ultrasound.  Here’s the excited couple in the waiting room before the ultrasound.

HE is a beautiful baby boy (no more wondering what to call “it”).  He has a skull and a brain – we saw that.

He currently weighs 12 oz. and Danielle is twenty weeks along – same as the original estimate.  Sue (Danielle’s mom) and I both got to go in with Corey and Danielle during the ultrasound.  It was very special.  Neither of us had ultrasounds for our babies so it was nice to see our grandson.

Here’s a picture of the happy family…Mommy, Daddy and their son…..

Click here Baby’s heartbeat – 12_15_09 for audio of his heartbeat at Danielle’s doctor appointment in December.

Happy New Year!!!!

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…….Corey’s sleeping….and so is Chloe.  This was a beautiful New Year’s Eve.  Corey and Danielle came and we had pizza and Corey and I made chocolate crinkle cookies (Keith’s favorite – sorry you missed it Keith).  Corey fell asleep pretty early but Mark, Danielle and I stayed up till 12:30 or 1:00 and then they spent the night.  This picture of our sleepy boy was taken at 11:56 p.m.

Danielle and I knitted and crocheted.  Danielle finished her first baby afghan at 11:58 p.m.  I told her to hurry and weave the ends in before midnight so she could say she made three scarves and one baby blanket in 2009.  She did with Mark supplying a little pressure while she weaved in the ends.  Here’s the blanket – I think it’s Bernat boucle.  We’ve since decided that in order to fix one of the wonky corners and make the blanket a little bigger, Danielle is going to learn how to make a border.  So technically, it’s not finished but here it is……..

Pinocchio

Corey made this in high school.  Yes, he’s now twenty-four.  I have had it hanging but finally got around to framing it.  I took him to my craft room to show him and can you guess what happened next?  He said “oh……..I want that”.  I gave it to him.  He wants to hang it in the baby’s room – who could resist that?

Thanksgiving fun

I’m way behind in posting so it’s time to play catch-up.  This is what we did on Thanksgiving after a big, wonderful dinner.  We all made little gingerbread houses.  It was so much fun.  These kids are all so creative.

I should have used the digital camera instead of my iPhone because the lighting wasn’t so great and a flash would have really helped – but here’s a shot of all five of our gingerbread houses……

…..and here’s Keith with his…..

…..and Justin…..

….and Corey and Danielle, who chose to put their little picture that was at their table-setting instead of their sweet faces…..

…..and this reject is the one Mark and I made.  We made a very pretty one last year so gosh only knows what happened here.

Good stuff

It’s time to play a little catch-up with some great pics (for me anyway – because I love my family and sharing what’s important to them).

The first pic Corey e-mailed to me.  He titled the e-mail “my house on a trailer”.  It is all the old siding off of Corey and Danielle’s house, headed to the recycling center (being pulled by Mark’s joy, his Jeep).  The house in the background is not theirs.  I’ll post a pic of theirs with the new siding in another post.

houseThis is a pic Keith e-mailed to me – it’s the ever-beautiful Molly in all her glory.

MollyThis is the computer that Corey built.  In his e-mail, he calls it his “new UV reactive mod”.  It’s really cool and he’s got some great artistic talent.

Corey's computer

Keith sent an e-mail with this pic.  He wrote:  “This little guy was sitting on the sidewalk and was gracious enough to pose for a photo shoot”.  Gracious indeed.

butterfly

Baby baby…..

baby babyCorey and Danielle are going to be parents.  Yay!!!!  That means…………..yes, you guessed it, Mark and I are going to be GRANDparents!!!!!  It is the first grandchild for both sides of the family so he or she will be spoiled ROTTEN.  The due date is June 1 but anybody who has had a baby knows those due dates are kinda useless so we’ll see.

A message to our first grandchild:  You will be loved and cuddled not just with our arms and with all the blankets and sweaters and booties and hats that I am making for you, but with our hearts.  Everybody is excited to meet you.  Uncle Keith and Uncle Justin are excited to be uncles too.  They will be wonderful uncles for you.  Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Grott are excited for your arrival too.  Yes, you will be loved – oh but wait, you already are and you’re not even “here” yet.

A message for Corey:  You have told us since you were a teenager that you wanted to be a Daddy.  When we would go to buy shoes for YOU, you would look at the teeny tiny suede work books and want a pair someday for your baby.  You will have that pair now.  Boy or girl, your baby will have a pair of those shoes.  I couldn’t/didn’t buy them for you then, but I will now.  I also want you to remember and adore when that baby starts moving inside of Danielle – when you place your hand on her tummy and feel YOUR child moving – or put your ear to her tummy – or when you hear the heartbeat – the miracle that the two of you have created a little person – amazing.  There is plenty of joy for Daddy too during a pregnancy.

A message for Danielle:  I’ve already told you but will say it again – enjoy EVERY second of pregnancy.  The bad parts are bad, no argument there.  I hope you don’t have a 10 lb. 9 oz. little guy like Corey weighed, but if you do, look what became of him.  He was worth every inch of that pain.  On the other hand, the great parts of pregnancy are amazing.  That child growing and moving inside of you – kicking you to say “hello” – total joy that you will never forget.

A message for Corey AND Danielle:  Be the best parents you can be.  Corey – you were told over and over again when you were growing up that you will be better parents than we were.  Parenting is a learning process – every generation SHOULD be better than the one before just because you can learn from our mistakes.  I hope you also take away the great things that we did as parents.  I know you’re really not fond of my response when you would ask for something that we could never afford in our wildest dreams:  “I’ll get you two!” – so you may not use that with your child but then again……………maybe you will???????

Best wishes and you will be a great Daddy and Mommy.  What a lucky baby.

Oh happy day…………

Corey and Danielle's weddingCorey and Danielle are now married.  They got married on October 17, 2009.  It was a beautiful day but brrrrrrrrrrrrrr chilly.

Here’s a pic of the bride and groom with the best man and maid of honor, Keith and Dayna.  The wedding was actually inside the hall because it was so cold, but it was such a beautiful fall day so we took pics outside.  Notice one of the swans in the background between Keith and Corey.  Both swans were in attendance that day – as they are inseparable – the other one is hiding behind Corey.

Keith-Corey-Danielle-Dayna

Here’s a picture of me and my best friend, Julie.  She was so helpful with everything from rehearsal to just being my rock.  Love love you, Julie – but you already know that.

Julie-Teri

There was a d.j. for music but there was also a magician to entertain – my sweet sweet man, Mark.  He put on a great show and everybody loved it.

Mark wedding

Here’s Keith and Justin dancing.  Some day their day will come, although they’ve told us they won’t have the big wedding.  Apparently, their wedding is at the airport and they’re jumping on a plane to wherever and we’re all going home.  LOL.  Whatever makes you happy.

Keith-Justin

We wish Corey and Danielle the best of everything as they continue their journey through life.

If I could offer one bit of advice:  have a sense of humor.  I could offer more but since nobody asked…………….I’ll leave it at that.