Merry Christmas everyone!

November 2011 in Portland, MI.

Josey, Isaac, Ella, Leah, Kenny & Logan at the park in Portland, MI. We took a bunch of pictures for a present for Ken, Karen & Dick!

 

 Pink Arrow Game September 2011.  4th annual fundraiser football game!

 Plus, for the Pink Arrow IV, we ran the 5k after Josey sang the National Anthem :)

 Art Prize 2011 in downtown Grand Rapids, MI.

 Josey was in the play, Pocohontas.  She was Keetcha, Pocohontas' mother.

 Flag football, Ken was the coach again this year.  They got to play at the High School and it was a rainy mess, but they had a blast!

At Art Prize downtown Grand Rapids.

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season!  Merry Christmas an Happy New Year!

Well....lots to say & show!

Where to start!!  Winter is over, spring has passed and today is the first day of Summer!  With summer upon us, today Josey & I did our own planter!  I'm very impressed with ourselves since I've never ventured into this type of project before, but I wanted what we had last year with less expense, so...

Josey's & my creation :)

So now that I've brightened your moods with pretty flowers, let's discuss the fam! 

Ken is working out of town again, but luckily he was able to work in Jackson through the winter until May.  He is working in Armada and living 10 miles west of Port Huron at Fort Trodd Family Campground http://www.forttrodd.com/.  We love it!  It's our home away from home every weekend and will be for the month of July when I'm off of work.  Yes, you heard that right...I have a portion of the summer off now in my new role as Assistant Director of Dining Services!  I'm going to be a Chartwell's employee effective August 1, 2011 and will become an Assistant Director in doing so! 

Anyway...enough about Ken & I....the most important parts of our lives, the kids!  

Let's start with Josey!  She has had a performance in Sleeping Beauty through the West Michigan Youth Ballet.  She was a Courtier and had more of an acting role than a dancing one, but she did great!  She was asked to sing the National Anthem for the Lowell Community Expo. She has performed in her first Voice Recital through Megan Vos Music.    http://meganvosmusic.com/ She sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow and A Thousand Miles.  She got to sing in her first Solo & Ensemble Competition for which they earned a II rating.  Finally, she performed in the Ada Dance Academy Dance Recital doing a Ballet Technique routine and a Lyrical routine.  All this...and I just got her report card today!  She got an A+ (choir of course), four A-'s and a B+.  WOW!! 




Ballet Technique

 


Lowell Community Expo

 


Lyrical costume





Sleeping Beauty March 19, 2011

 


Kenny, he's starting to become a little ball of busyness himself! He has been involved in Little League and loved it! I was able to go to a field trip with his class to Fredrick Meijer Garden. Memorial Day was spent at Higgins Lake, next deep in sand and full of fun!



Come on butterflies!! Land on my arm already!!



Kenny is the catcher!

Beach time at Higgins!

I love this smile!!

Play area at the campground

Most recently we went to Port Huron and checked out the bridge to Canada.  One weekend we will make some plans to take the kids to another country, but for now, we are enjoying our family time when we can get it!  And the goofier and fun, the better!



Father's Day 2011, Bridge to Canada

Bits & Pieces from November 2010 to February 2011

Well, it took a snowed in day and a bum hip to get me to update the blog! 

Holidays:

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Ken's family at our house this year and we did so with a couple of extra kiddos in the mix!  Ella and Isaac, our new niece and nephew that joined their big sisters, Leah and Logan, in September.  It was wonderful having them visit our home for the first time to celebrate all we are thankful for and to celebrate Kenny's birthday.

Ella, Josey, Logan, Isaac, Leah and Kenny

Kenny and Josey with Santa at Lowell Showboat

Christmas at the Knight house!








About the kids:
Josey is getting all A's and B's, is in Honors Choir, is taking voice and piano lessons, is taking lyrical and ballet technique classes and was in the Nutcracker in December and is currently in Sleeping Beauty (March 19, 2011...let me know if you want tickets).

After the big show!  Josey as a Russian!

Josey in the dressing room as a Soldier before the show!

Kenny has been in football, cub scouts and wrestling.  He loves it!!  He's doing well in school.  He is still having troubles reading and spelling, but they are working with him closely.  I even have meetings with the principal, teacher, reading specialist and social worker every 6 weeks to discuss his progress.  He has a tutor at school and we are working with him at home.  His math is excellent, but the reading part is a little slow, which they say is normal with kids that started with a speech delay. 

1st Place for Tiger Den in Pinewood Derby!

Kenny wrestling Keegan!  Go Kenny!!



Daddy was the coach!  Were they listening??

 We had an addition to our family just before Christmas.  A new puppy named Daisy.  She's a cutey pie!!

Little Daisy Doo Doo!!

Joker loves her too!!

Saje, old girl!  She is a doing well except for a bum leg and hip issues :(

We had a HUGE winter storm on February 2, 2011 that left us all at home! The kids had fun playing outside, playing video games and board games with Dad and Mom and enjoying the day together. I hoped to get some cleaning done but my hip....what can I say, can't get up out of the chair... so much for 3 days at the gym...what did I do??

Yes...Daisy wears a coat :)  You can't see her otherwise.  Ha!



Rough and tumble in the snow!



I'll try to be a bit more up to date next time...but you know how it is :) 

Love to you all!!

School Days are here!

Wow, I find that we are into October already...didn't I just post?  OMG, that was in July!  Since then we have had weekends with Ken at the trailer in Holly, MI, movie nights, football games, flag football for Kenny, ballet has started again for Josey, remodeling some around the house...  Geesh! 

The first day of school was our mission to get Kenny's room done!  We moved him up into the loft area and made the walls enclosed so he has his own little "Bat Cave" now.  The night before school was his first night in his new room!  Daddy, Grandma, Papa, Josey & I put in lots of work to get the final touches in after our friend Darl did the prep work.  It looks great!  

Also a fun thing that happened was that Josey was asked to sing the National Anthem for the 1st Annual Pink Arrow 5k!  What an honor!  She was a bit nervous, but did great!  She is standing on the scaffolding by Tony & Brooke from 105.7FM. For details on what Pink Arrow is check out http://www.pinkarrowpride.org/ . 

Pink Arrow 5k, 9/11/10, Josey singing National Anthem

Pink Arrow III Football Game on Friday, 9/10/10.



Ken is the Parent QB for Kenny's Flag Football Team



Papa & Grandma came to visit at Ken's "home".  It was Halloween weekend at the Holly KOA!

 

Our Tiger Scout!! 



 The time just keeps flying!  The kids will always be my babies though :) 

 Date for your calendars...December 11 & 12th, Josey is in the Nutcracker Ballet again this year!  Forest Hills Fine Arts Center.  http://www.wmyb.org/

Hugs to all!!

Wow...it's been too long yet again!

We are now in mid July, the day before Josey's 11th birthday. Can you believe it?? 11!!! Going on 16 I must add. First year we are taking her shopping for her birthday instead of buying her something ahead of time...feels weird, but we just want our "baby" girl happy :) I mention that my little girl is turning 11...but by her 12th birthday I'm sure I'll be looking up at her. Yes, she's a little bit less than a 1/2 inch shorter than me and is only 1 shoe size away. Again....WOW!! Heading into middle school in a couple months, dancing up a storm at camps, getting ready for 2 ballet classes and the youth ballet (Nutcracker again in December) and she's going to starting voice lessons next week. Singing a solo in her class concert and also singing in two talent shows recently, she loves to sing and we love to listen to her. So proud of our girl!

Josey in the Cinderella ballet, she was #12, on the right. She was also a mouse.

Kenny is doing great! He is also getting taller and has loved going to football camp and also church camp on Wednesdays. He & Josey also got to attend a camp near Ken and staying with him for a week at the trailer. He is enjoying the summer and hanging out with his other daycare friends. Daddy put some training wheels on and now Kenny is actually even wanting to attempt riding his bike. Still trying to get those off, but he's trying!

Ken is still "living" in Clarkston for work. We visit him as often as we can and he comes home when I need help around the house, we have an event or he just wants a a nice long shower...trailer showers just aren't the same. We miss him, but it makes us enjoy the time we have together. We had a wonderful weekend at the Riverwalk Festival in Lowell. Fireworks, Kids carnival and shopping on Saturday. Then a family water gun/hose fight on Sunday. Fun!!

For those of you that have not heard, we lost our oldest "child", Russ. Our beautiful golden retriever that would have been 13 this month. A tumor that took over his internal organs was what caused it. Making the decision was the hardest thing our family has had to make in our lives together. He sure has left a large hole. What a wonderful friend he was. At least the last weekend we had with him was at Higgins Lake and he was able to enjoy the water and the beach he loved so much.

Saje, our mighty hunting girl, had to have some doggy x-rays this week. Unfortunately, the depression and lack of exercise since losing Russ has caused some tightening of her joints. She had an old injury, an ACL tear. Now she is limping and the x-rays show that she has had a mild case of hip diplasia all along as is evidenced by the amount of arthritis in her hips and now in her knees. Well, we have decided to give her pain medicine and doggy chews that help with joint pain for now to see how she does. Surgery is not out of the question yet, but we want to see how adjusting her diet and medicine works first.

Dog number 3...yes, you read that right. A couple of months before Russ passed away, we got a new "puppy". His birth name is Wakes Up Laughing and his nickname is Joker. He was 18 months when we got him. He is an English Bulldog, Ken finally got his dream dog! He is a big sweety.

I'll try not to wait too long to post again. But life has had other priorities. With Ken working out of town, my working full-time, taking care of the inside and the outside of the house, and my favorite part....completely loving my kids and taking them everywhere they need to go has made for a busy life.

Thanks for taking the time to read about the family I'm so proud of.