First time, precious time!!

Hello baby Eli!!

A grandpa's pride!

The new Auntie!!

We spent the day at the hospital, each taking our turn to hold Eli!!
Randi, Eli and Nick are all doing well! Mommy and Daddy are a little tired.
(Grandma and Grandpa too!! {smiles})
Randi and Nick didn't really get to bed till 5:00 this morning.

They plan to take advantage of the nursery tonight. Hopefully lights out at 9PM they said!!??

They will only bring Eli when he needs to nurse. Which is also going very well.

Nick has changed all Eli's diapers, the big guy is getting good at it!

One of the nurses joked that they could use him in the nursery!!

Sounds like Randi will be in the hospital till Tuesday evening/Wednesday morn.

They are awesome parents. They were so ready for the roles!!

The memories have just begun!!

A GRANDMOTHERS JOY!!!

The card above pretty much says it all!! It's been a long 32 hours

for Randi and Nick. They started 'medical intervention' Friday

afternoon. Some things moved along and some didn't. Last night

it was decided it was necessary to take Eli by C-section. Little guy

was turned the wrong way with no signs of turning. Funny thing,

Randi was facing the wrong way when I was in labor with her but

ended up turning shortly before she was born. Tim and I got to

bed at 3:20 this morning. We are anxious to get back to the

hospital today and share the joy!!! Eli and Randi are doing

wonderful. His first apgar scores were 9!!!

While Nick took Eli to the nursery for a bath and tests I was

able to be with Randi. I was so glad she didn't have to be alone.

So here he is!! My little grandson!!!! Eli Timothy!!

ELI'S CHRISTMAS STOCKING!

Well, I'm still knitting away for the baby!

Just finished Eli's Christmas stocking yesterday!

(used some 'vintage' yarn I inherited from some

relative or friend). And I also finished

a little cadet cap today. (picture later)

I'm really pleased how the stocking turned out!

Randi picked out the color and wanted it done

in cables. So I looked at dimensions of stockings

and came up with the pattern myself. Good

thing I wrote down the pattern, Randi wants

three more just the same.

And since Eli is taking his time getting here

plans were made to have some medical intervention.

Randi went in this afternoon,

we just left her and Nick. Things are going well.

Actual labor is expected to start in the morning.

Soooooooooo.....

we wait some more!!

Refurbished!!

I finally got hold of Angela's slippers! I have been wanting to 'fix' them up

ever since I saw this picture of her wearing them at a bonfire!! (tisk-tisk)

I gave them to her last January(check out her post here!) after she

shared a few of the NEW Unity stamps to try out!

The bottoms were intact but they need 'restamping'!

I've learned to put lots of paint on the stamp and lot

of pressure when stamping on the felted slipper.

And to make them outdoor friendly I added leather to the bottoms!

The leather will keep the bottoms from wearing out

and they are still soft and flexible on the foot.

And the 'restamping'!!

Now to get them back to Angela and get her feet warmed up!

MAKING CARDS!

Some of the Unity Designers do a challenge every

Monday! This week was to make a Christmas card

with non-traditional Christmas colors.

BABY WATCH.........

Not long now..........check my 'gma's countdown'!!

crowdSPRING...........hire Kelly Purkey !!!!

......for your new Community Marketing Manager!

SO I DECIDED TO MAKE STEW.......

...............and I went to the grocery store to get beef, potato's and carrots.

Yeh, I thought they were long carrots when I picked up the package.

But I didn't get the whole effect till I opened it!

How'd they get them outta' the ground with

out breaking them??

Just another card with Unity Stamps.
I was able to visit with my sweet friend, Angela today!

Unity Stamp Co.is really keeping her busy.

I admire how she keeps working on balance with work,

family and friends!! She's doing an awesome job!!

Angela and I at their 'hunting shack'!!

I'm practicing making cards!

I'm hoping to make my cards this year

and I'd say it's time to get busy!!

KNITTING FOR ELI!

Many people have been asking if I have been doing

a lot of knitting for Randi and Nick's baby.....well, I

just finished this little green hat this morning. And

the sweater/hat set I had finished last weekend and

just sewed the buttons on today. All three are made of

Classic Elite 'Premiere' yarn. (50%cotton/50%tencel)

It is sooo..........soft!

Next will be a Christmas stocking!!

HAPPY MONDAY!

Top of my list of things to get done today was to 'dig out'

any receiving blankets I could find for Randi.

They would be at least 25 years old.

Since that is how old my baby is.

But what would be better to wrap our grandchild

in than 50 year old receiving blankets.

My MIL gave me a few of Tim's baby things

many years ago.

(The top 2 blankets were my DD's and the bottom

3 plus the heavier one they are sitting on were DH's.)

I also had this little yellow wool hat of Tim's!

How about a vintage 1957 snowsuit?

(Note how they had the tie at the top of the head.)

I'll have to check with my MIL, but it looked like the

snowsuit was homemade.

And here are a couple of rompers!

How about this, Randi!!
It's a squirrel!!!!!

I have everything washed and ready to go!
(Not the clothes!!!! Just the blankets and little hat!)

Eli's ETA is Thanksgiving Day!! Randi's ready, heck we're all ready!!!

So......we wait!!!!

Almost for got about this white crocheted baby blanket!

My Grandma Irma (Randi called her 'big ga-ma'!) made it

when Randi was born! She made one for each of her grandchildren

when they had their first baby. It was meant to use for their baptisms.

The blue and white wool blanket was Tim's.

I love being able to pass on keepsakes with their stories.

Fun with Unity Stamps!!

This is a felted eyeglass case(that I made a while ago for my friend Susan) using a Unity stamp and paint.

(Do I need to stick it in the mail, Susan?)

This is one of the 50 cards I sent Mary for the 50 days

before her Birthday!

And this is a LO I gave Angela at Unity!

Gus's shrub trimming shenanigan's couldn't go un-documented!!

Creativity!

I'm finding I need to do more crafting like this. (It's great stress release!)

(This card looks alot better in real life.)

I use to do alot of different crafts, most I used for gifts and sold a few.

For years I made papermache Santa's. A different one every year.

(I'll post a few when I get my Christmas decos out.) But for the last five or

so years I have mainly knit and a little(and I mean little) scrapbooking.

Time to get a balance again. We'll see what I come up with!

Happy Birthday, Mary!!

My friend, Mary, has joined the ranks of the

fifty year olds!!! Today!!

Happy Birthday, dear friend!

I sent Mary birthday cards for

fifty days before her birthday!

(It was a commitment on my part.)

Getting a card to her every day for over a month!!! Wow!

(sooooooooo...glad it's over!!)

Only thing she committed to was to get her mail! LOL

I also hung 25 bras at the Spicer Legion!

The sign said,

"Fifty cups of cheer,

the Birthday girl
party's here!!!'

And that she did!

The guys admiring the bras!!

That red one IS a favorite!!

The Party's Over, it's time to call it a day.

They've burst your pretty balloon

and taken the moon away.

It's time to wind up the masquerade.

Just make your mind up the piper must be paid.

The Party's Over.

The candles flicker and dim.

You danced and dreamed through the night,

it seemed to be right just being with him.

Now you must wake up, all dreams must end.

Take off your make up,

The Party's Over.

It's all over, my friend.

FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON!!

Yep! Woke up to this!

(Can I park in the garage now, hun?)

Finally Up and Running!

We were having a little wireless/router issues since Saturday! Had the Charter boys here and they gave us more speed and locked our wireless. (Now I'm not friendly any more!) So, now I can share what we did this past weekend!

Friday night, (Halloween of course!)we decided to go out in Spicer with friends!

Costumes required!!

This is how Tim greeted our Trick or Treater's while I was getting ready!

Note he already has his Frank bolts on his neck!

While Tim was getting ready I greeted the Trick or Treater's

as Francine! Frank's bride! A little pirate(Savanna) stopped by

with her Grandma Joy!

After greeting about 140 Trick or Treater's, (yes, 140!!, our

neighborhood always gets a ton of the little ghosts and

goblin's!! And some aren't so little!!), Tim and I headed to Spicer,

as Frank and Francine for our own Halloween fun! Here are four of my beautiful friends!!

Sweet Angel Brooke, Sassy Mermaid Susan, Sexy Snow White Angela and Diva Bat Eryn!
Grant and Cari!
Best lookin' pirates I have ever seen!
Here we are hangin' with our Ghostly friends and Waylon and Willie!
It was a fun night! Lots of interesting costumes(and people)!!

Saturday was a day to get jobs done at home. Seems we are always on the go and to
have a day at home is very needed. Oh, I guess we did get out again Saturday evening!

Tim and I went to the movie, Saw Five!!! We have seen all of the 'Saw' movies and when

I saw that Saw Five was here I just had to see it! It was just as intriguing as the first four!

AND by how the movie ended, there will be a Saw Six!! I'll be watching next year!!

Then on Sunday Tim and I headed down to my dad's farm to help

get things ready for winter. My sister Julie and her family came too!

Before we got too busy I wanted to get

a picture of dad with his new buddies!! Waldo and Rusty.

We laughed when dad said he named the older cat Waldo!! Didn't seem

like a name my dad would choose. He said he had watched a TV show

and an older character who he got a kick out of was named Waldo.

One job was for the guys to get dads restored John Deere started.

No key on this old thing, you spin something on the side!!!?

And to hook up the snow- blower (that dad built in 1969 when

we had a blizzard that lasted 3-4 days and snow was to the top

of the Quonset.) Still works good!

We also had to stack wood. My nephew Ken moved the wagon with

all the wood closer so we could stack it behind my dads shop.

Here my sister Julie and her son John stack a few more logs!

It was such a gorgeous day!! John took a few minutes(after the

work was done) to practice his aim!

Ken loves everything with motors. He had his own 4-wheeler along

but took time to ride Grandpa's 3-wheeler!

After the gutters were cleaned, leaves raked, sticks picked up,

lawn mowed, ashes hauled out,wood stacked, tractors moved,

old pick-up run down to the neighbor to get some tin, (and then

let Ken drive a couple miles to get the fluids moving in the old thing) and a

hair cut for Ken, it was time to grill out and relax.

I love days on the farm with family like this.