And my newest grandchild is going to be......

A GIRL!!!!!

Whoohoo! Amy had another ultrasound today and this time the baby was fully cooperative! What a wonderful blessing for all of us!!

I just couldn't wait to share the news.....

things hidden, meanings found

Have you ever had an experience where you think at first what you are going through is just a random thing, and then you later find out it has a much deeper and more extensive meaning than you could ever have realized?

I posted a few weeks ago about being in a purging and cleaning mode, and about all the great de-cluttering that I was doing....come to find out the reason...our daughter #1, son-in-law and granddaughter are moving in with this weekend!!! It all had a good purpose that I must have somehow known was coming!!!

We have been scrambling, since the decision was made a couple weeks ago, to create the space needed for them. We have built two walls in the garage, creating a bedroom for DD#3, Lizzie, a laundry room, an area for the computer desk and a storage space. Then we have had to clear out a bedroom and the computer room (for granddaughter's bedroom) and move everyone and everything into the new spaces. What a job!!! I have been keeping track, and have made 11 trips to Goodwill so far, plus two dump runs, plus the garage sale we had. We have gotten rid of literally, probably over a ton of stuff!!! I still have my stitching closet to clean out, and I have no idea where it all will go. I guess it will have to find a place in the storage part of the garage!

The story behind all this is long, but the short version is: son-in-law Max found a job working about 3 hours north of here on an island in the San Juans. He starts next week. DD Amy is 27 weeks pregnant and does not want to move away from family and her support network right now. So she & the grandkid(s) will stay with us until probably school is out next June, while Max commutes home on the days he is off. Hope that's not TOOOO confusing. It will be fun to have everyone here...but a houseful. When the new baby comes, there will be 9 of us under one roof!!!

Well, best get back to the cleaning and moving!

Grandma's Pride and Joy

Alana Jo

Picture taken August 24, 2007

21 months old

Sore, aching muscles!!!

But that is what I get from trying to clean the whole messy garage in just one day. I got halfway done cleaning said garage yesterday and wished I had taken a "before" picture so that I could proudly post my "after" picture. It really was super duper clean and almost empty...until we moved all the stuff for the garage sale BACK INTO the garage for safe keeping until said sale next Saturday. So it is full of stuff again, but at least it is CLEAN underneath all the stuff and by Saturday night, it will ALL be gone. What doesn't sell will go to Goodwill! (a charity that accepts household goods). It feels good to get that accomplished, tho I have about three boxes here in my computer room that now need to be gone through, but I can do that at my leisure next week.

I'm still in my rabid cleaning and purging mode, as you can tell. A bit of a success that I can share, I got four pieces of stitching "framed". Actually two of them, the old birthsamplers I did for my oldest daughters are now mounted neatly into scrapbook protectors so they can be inserted into their scrapbooks. Here's some pix:


I'm reading a book at the moment I can't seem to put down. My mom found it at the library and said it was excellent. Then my dad read it and said he couldn't put it down. I started it this afternoon and am about half done so far...it's called Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky...about a Knitter, from a family of knitters, who has a baby that changes her family forever. What a good read, when she get's stressed, she knits. I think that Ms. Delinsky must be a knitter/stitcher!!! I highly recommend this book!

Have a great week!!