And I shall name her Sparky...

My father and step-mother were avid bowlers. My dad worked afternoons and bowled on at least 2 leagues a week. Sunday nights with them were usually spent at an alley somewhere begging for quarters to play the video games. Bowling on a league seemed like such a cool, adult thing to do. The idea of joining a mixed league was tossed around in the last few years, but unforeseen circumstances never made it a reality...until this year.

Some friends and I formed a team and blindly joined a league that bowls every other weekend. We are not good, but we have a fabulous time! That's the whole point. To get out, meet new people and have a good time.

I've never had my own bowling ball. It always seemed so extravagant considering I rarely bowled and I wasn't any good. With joining the league, it's obvious I will not get any better using a house ball. I've been struggling with whether or not to buy one. Again, it seems like such a frivolous thing. I got shoes on sale a couple of years ago. They made sense because you pay $3.50 each time to rent them. Paying $9.99 for the pair I have means that they've already paid for themselves and then some.

On Tuesday, Peanut had to visit the pediatrician. I was a little freaked out about the why (and finding out later, justifiably so). We stopped to get gas on the way home and when I put the pump back into the holster, I noticed someone had dropped their credit card. It was raining...and to take it into the station, I'd have to pull Peanut out of the car and it'd be a pain. But then I thought, if that was my credit card I'd want someone to turn it in for me...so I did just that. When we got home, I found a check in the mail from our previous cable company telling me I had overpaid them. Huh? How did that happen? The amount of the check was just enough to cover a new ball.....

So I picked out Sparky. She'll come home with us on Thursday. I'll test her out on Friday. On Saturday, she'll be tweaked (if needed) and then used for league night. This photo really doesn't do her justice. She seems to twinkle like the night sky. Hopefully she can help my 93 average.

There has been a lot of knitting and photos of it, but they're trapped in the camera. I finished a pair of baby eyelet socks that were gifted to a coworker. I'm also working on a red baby sweater. I finished the first of the BFF socks and I'm nearing the end of the toe increases on the second. For some reason, lace seems to keep coming up. I'm wondering if I might be ready for a real like project soon. Maybe that'll be a 2008 thing. I would still like to get a little cardigan knit up for Peanut. I also picked up a few skeins of an awful fun fur at the Dollar Store to make into a princess worthy scarf for her.

We hit Zoo Boo last weekend....it was fun, but not really worth the money. If you have little kids that would tire easily from traditional trick or treating, then it's definitely worth it. A gaggle of kids aged 3 - 6 made quick work of the 13 stops and stingy candy amounts. I'm glad we did it, but I don't know that we'll do it again.

Oh! And I've been on Ravelry for a while now...I'm jbknits over there too. Might as well stay consistent, right?

This is what 4 looks like...

Peanut and The Monkees share the same birthday. I always forget to ask what time they were born.

The celebration of 4 started with a party at Peanut's dad's house and they visited Build A Bear. She came home with a pretty new pink bear. It has been given the honor of residing in her bed without her shoes.

The party continued when she got home with the party with my immediate family. I think she was happy with the Princess cake by way of Costco.

Tuesday, was her actual birthday. She took cupcakes & frosting to school to have a snack that they could decorate first. I picked her up early to go have dinner at Big Boy with Gram and Aunt Peanut. Big Boy is her new favorite restaurant for some reason. She chose to have hotcakes with apples & whipped cream for dinner. It was her birthday and she was allowed to choose to have whatever she wanted. That's the point of birthday dinners, right? That was followed up with a giant chocolate ice cream and carmel sauce sundae. Before she slipped into a sugar coma, we headed to Chuck E Cheese for a couple of hours.

40 hrs later, we were on a train headed for Chicago. This was a trip I'd been planning for seven months with one of my best friends from CMU. Her little guy turned 4 on 9/30, so it was a birthday present to both of them. We headed to Shedd Aquarium on Friday. She was most excited about the dolphins and beluga whales. She fell asleep on the city bus on the way back to the hotel and I had a really hard time waking her. I'd say she definitely enjoyed the aquarium.

On Saturday, we visited the Children's Museum on Navy Pier. What an awesome place! We had the best time there. We spent the afternoon on Navy Pier and finished up the day on the Magnificent Mile. I thought she would faint from the Princess display at the Disney store. Here she is modeling her new jammies and dolls from the day.

Peanut's other big birthday gift was a Leapster. The kid loves this thing more than I could have imagined. She's pretty good about only playing it for 30 mins or so at a time.

The last year has been tough on us both and I think we've weathered it well. She's recently snapped out of a phase where I affectionately referred to her as "The Devil". I was worried it was never going to end, but it did and I am so thankful for the sweet little girl that has emerged. While I'm sad that she's growing up so quick, I'm excited for the little person she's becoming. I can't wait to see what other adventures are in store for us, but I'm thrilled to have her to share them with.