I made it outside!

My mom came over yesterday afternoon to watch the kids (me) so Andy could go to work. She brought with her a big plastic pool...a HUGE hit! Our pool is a blow-up shark that takes about 2 and a 1/2 days to blow up, so the surprise for the kids was wonderful. They were busy all afternoon.
This was my first venture outside much less out of bed in a while...it was refreshing.

Thank you Grandma & Grandpa, and Mema & Papa for ALL your help the past week, once again we wouldn't know what we would do without you!!
This...equals

This.

Of course, as good upstanding kids, they had to find other things to do with the pool. A perfect use for an umbrella.

After dinner we ventured outside again, two times in one day for me, Yahoo! They played a little soccer while I cheered them on.

And the kick...

Goes...IN...

YEAH!

(I'd like you to take a look at the kids clothes...bless 'em, it has been interesting seeing what daddy puts them in the past few days. Nina here has on an undershirt and long underwear pants, and Harry, well I guess all he needs is a shirt.) :)

It feels good to finally be up and around. Said recovery should be 2 weeks for me...I'm chomping at the bit.

Star Wars Begins...

Hi all, just a quick note from a guest blogger - Andy.

We are on a quest to help Harry become more accustomed to action in movies. I took the kids to see "Up" the other day to make the house a little quieter for Jeanine to rest in, and it didn't go that well. Harry was very upset by the action parts whenever anything bad happened, and we left with him screaming and crying, with his coat over his head so he didn't have to watch. Amelia did fine, and was upset that we were leaving, so we ended up leaving our apx. $42.00 worth of popcorn and candy in our seats and watching the movie from the entryway hallway so that Nina could watch it and Harry could run back to the exit doors if it got too bad.

Anyway, I thought that I would try and help to teach him that all action in movies isn't bad, and also that there is nothing to be afraid of in the movies that he watches - Disney mainly (which actually are a bit scary when looking at them now). Just to note, we don't even let our kids watch Bugs Bunny yet.

Anyway, I figured what better way to introduce him to good action then a Star Wars space battle scene, right? And if he happens to catch a glimpse of Darth Vader, the all time super villain, well then it at least makes the 80 year old bad guy in "Up" seem a little more tame. I know, this is completely a dad-mentality thing, and not something that Jeanine would really condone, but she's a bit laid up right now, and I'm scrambling. (You've all seen the picture of Amelia covered in green marker, right?).

Well, one picture sums this all up. For the record, I showed them the death star battle in the original Star Wars, and then as a treat (because they were so good today), I showed them the Hoth battle scene from Empire Strikes Back. Nothing too graphic.

On the top, you will see Imperial AT-AT Walkers, a clip from a classic scene of Empire Strikes Back.

On the bottom... Harry's "Attic Walkers."

They Doooo need me!

I had surgery a few days ago, it didn't have the exact outcome that we would have liked, but at least we have some options now to work with. Today is the first day that I have been out of bed except for Thursday morning the day I went in.
It has been a rough recovery, but the worst has been being away from my family. They have been great. Daddy has been holding down the fort quite well.

I had had my camera on our bed, I had been showing it to Mema. Harry kept coming in to check on me, chatting about anything and everything.

So I was saying that Daddy had things under control...well mostly. I got a glimpse of Miss Amelia on Friday Evening when she came to see me...I called Andy and asked what did she have on her?! He said what do you mean...Yeah. She decided to color her whole body green.

...They DO need me! :)

Mr. Mieszko has not left my side...what a great doggy.

The reason I had been showing my mom my camera is to show her the amazing pictures I took on Wednesday before surgery with the new lens that they got me!! Words cannot express how grateful I am and how stinkin' excited I am to get better so I can play play play with pictures! :)

My mothers day gift from Harry from school. The flowers sure have done well, they are my favorite, of course!

Tuff to be a girl

While waiting for her toe nail polish to dry, it was just too much hard work. Nina gave in to the long hard day of being a girlie girl. Tutu, as many bracelets as she could find, hot-pink bobble necklace, hair doodads...it's exhausting. :)

A Volunteer

This sunflower was a volunteer on the side of our house. We almost pulled it when weeding, but thought we'd give it a chance. It's gorgeous. We have talked about planting a bunch next year...those probably won't grow like this guy, we'll just enjoy him as long as we can! :)

Thank you birdies!

(Andy took these pics last night before we all headed in for the night)

Summer day outside

Look how long Harry is?! I can't believe it. If he were to lay down he is the length of the slide, did that happen last night?

The water pressure had changed momentarily. The sprinkler had been on a low amount. Nina got blasted by it.

Many of you have asked...proof that it is in the garage, and will stay there :)

Harry & Nina actually stood still for a few moments in between running through the sprinkler for some pictures.

Well...Nina stayed longer than Harry did, as you can see by more pictures of her. This one, So Nina.

...and of course it would not be an outside picture without a bug in the post. So you are not disappointed, here is your inchworm for the day. This one was different from the ones that we have seen around here. This guy was (oops, I think he is still around)/is purple.

What a trip!

What a day! We knew that it would be a bit of a running around day on Saturday. We had a family reunion in Lake Geneva, WI. I woke up that morning in pain, not feeling so hot. We finally made it out of the house an hour after we had planned, but still pretty okay on time...so we thought!
The traffic was HORRIBLE! I don't remember the last time that I have been is such a mess of traveling. Every corner we turned it was bad. Then at the end of it, after our final toll booth we had spoken with my dad (they had gotten there earlier in the morning to set up.). He said to get into the express lanes in the construction area, they were moving faster than the local. So we did. Then we watched the locals whiz by while we were at a stand still surrounded by cement barriers not letting us out. UGH. A 3 hour trip took just shy of 5. We finally got to my Aunts house for a little bit and then had to turn around and head back home. At least we made it right?! Frustrating.
But hey! I did remember my camera this time! Didn't get a chance to use it all that much, but at least I remembered it right?! :)

This is a washer game that Lou & Ryan brought when we went camping. We didn't get a chance to play it, so I lovingly convinced my husband to make one for us. We did not get a chance to play it until yesterday, and we had a blast!

Andy having fun with the lens.

Nice, Harry.

Hylok family -2. Jeff & Annie. It was a bit far for them to make it.

Jerlinga family -1. Kraig is out of state right now.

Cousin Matthew came with his wife Jen. Look at that form.

Trying to get our Polish flag just right in the pictures.

This was about 1/3 of the people that were there. I think they had taken a family picture just before we made it there.

Slight change in people in the picture.

The Jerlinga siblings with their mother.

Just girls.

Boys with their Ma.

Cousin Jen. Nina took right to her and Matthew. She just chatted up a storm with them, or to them.

Kids had about had it with pictures.

Nina kept making this smile. Funny.

Making Great Grandma happy...her great grand kids.

I wasn't going to put this picture in (not a great one). It got lumped in with the ones that I had sent to blog. I thought it was kind of funny with the juice box in the corner of the picture. We cruised straight home. No traffic, of course. Plus, Mema & Papa gave us their I-Pass, which made the trip faster as well...Thank you!

All and all it was, of course, worth the trip. We were happy that we made it. It was nice to meet some new people (family), hopefully our next get together will be soon and we can chat longer.