What We are Thankful For

Here are the Nurkiewicz boys playing over at Dave and Jen's this fine Thanksgiving. I only have one shot left on my cell phone and this is what I captured. What was gratifying was to watch the laughter these two were sharing. Lots of fun to put the gears together then knock them down. Katie was great and keeping the boys in line (thanks to Maddie for the training) and even picked up Sam a time or two to keep them all herded in the Family Room. We did have some football on in the background which will make the Holman side happy.

The food was incredible! Dave and Jen are amazing cooks with all the dishes that they made. We were so lucky for such an incredible meal. The best part was the ziploc bags that Grandpa Ken helped invent so we could take home some of the leftovers. Yeah- no cooking for the next few days! Thank you!

Now the part of our thankfulness I most want to leave you with on this blog. My kids each got to share what they were thankful for at their schools this year. This is what they said on their turkey artwork that was sent home:

Katie is thankful for Mom and Dad, the Earth, God, Food, and Horses.

Zach is thankful for his sister, Katie.

I am thankful for anyone who may be reading this blog. Happy Thanksgiving!

Time For The Beast Feast

No it is not Christmas time or Thanksgiving. Katie is seen here dressed as her chosen animal...a deer...for the 1st grade Beast Feast at her school. If you live in Zville, you dress your first grader up as an animal that lives here in Indiana for a feast of sorts. The girls bring in the fruit and the boys bring in popcorn. Sounds tasty, eh? We were pretty happy with the home made costume this morning as seen here.

WE are all well and looking forward to a great meal at Aunt Jen and Uncle Dave's this year as always. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Peace, Love and Happiness....

Tuesday was Mickey Mouse Day at school. Katie got to wear Zach's shirt and her mouse ears from an old Halloween costume to school. The smiles reflect the harmony I am seeing lately with these two as they sit together for more things now. Katie has been trying to read more to him and he is enjoying the playtime they have in the basement lately. The tent was the "kids club" and no adults allowed. Get this.... tell Uncle Dave/Bill that the monster in the basement bathroom has been replaced by a dragon that won't let Zach go pee. Or at least that is the excuse he gives me when I remind him to take care of this bodily function. At school he played the leper in the church play that thanked Jesus for healing him. He was the youngest one up there with the 4 and 5 yr olds. His teacher said he was very comfortable up there. Could we have another inspiring actor in the family? Only time will tell.

This week will have a different start as Katie got the infamous stomach flu that reeked havoc on her last night. Jeff is pretty good with handling that aspect of parenting. My bets at this time of posting is that she will be home with me tomorrow. I am sure Zach will not be too far behind since he is sharing tent space with Katie as I type this.

So much for the Nurkiewicz harmony I am seeing.....

Peace.

New Dos for the Holiday Season

Well us Nurkiewicz girls are chopping the hair and getting ready to look lovely this Holiday Season. Katie and I are seeing the same lady now and Jeff's comment was now we look even more alike. Sporting the shorter styles, we are looking forward to several events that are coming up for us. For starters, we will be at Dave and Jen's for Thanksgiving this year. Then the annual Santa Breakfast on Dec 6th followed by some frolicking fun at the academy for the 13th. Not to mention all the great MOPS activities Becky and I have planned for November/ December. We have our cookie exchange to go to, gift wrapping night and of course I planned a fun lunch at Patrick's.

Our Santa list is growing this year. Katie has been inspired by her recent visit to Hudson learning all the cool stuff from Maddie and placing the Ninetendo DS as her first request to the big guy. Zach is not far behind as he wants more speed racer cars and remote control cars to zoom around our floors. Should be a fun winter here!

This just in...... I have heard a rumor from the Katie and Daddy camp that they are plotting to get another giant Christmas tree this year. I can not confirm nor deny these rumors for at the time of this publishing, it is strictly hearsay. Stay tuned to this blog to find out if we can smash a 13 ft tree into a minivan.

Have a great weekend!

Katie Reads to Lilly the Dog

Here is a shot of my girl Katie reading to a working dog in the PAWS to read program at our local library. What a great way to get Katie into reading. This dog Lilly is being trained to go into retirement homes and hospitals to work with the elderly. One great way to socialize the animals is to have kids read books to them. Plus the dog enjoyed seeing me come in and out of the room. Good practice for her and for the Katester to get that reading under wraps. I was told we need to be at a level 26 reader by May so we are working at a fierce rate to keep up with the rest of the kids in Boone County.

Speaking of which, if you lived in Boone County, your president would be John McCain by 65%. We also had a record 80% voter turnout. Jeff even voted this year. I think that is the 2nd time he has done so since he was 18. Me? I pride myself in getting in there everytime since I was 18. I may not always vote for the guy my brother Rob would approve of. But this year, Rob and I are seeing eye to eye on this front. (Except our governor here. I did vote Republican.)Jeff was the only guy in the office to vote for Obama as well. So we are kinda laying low here in Zville for a little while. Shhhhhhh! Don't tell!

Were All in This Together

Just a quick post to update you on the rest of our weekend....

Saturday morning, Katie and I caught a 10 a.m. show of HSM3. Two hours of fun music and listening to Troy trying to figure out what he wants to do in life...pretty brutal. But the Katester did great and enjoyed the giant popcorn and icee. The sad thing is this is the first movie Katie and I have been to in the theater. Better late then never!

Then later that day, the family did a bike ride over to Lions Park. In case you forgot where it is located, pretty much on the other side of downtown Zville. We discoverd the end of the rail trail as it ran into Pine Street and then took this course all the way down to the park. The kids had a blast and I was impressed Katie could keep up with us adults. Especially me since I was hauling Zach behind me. I think I am going to start training or something. Then we ended the evening with a bike ride to our favorite place Patrick's Diner and Kitchen for some dinner. Finally after three years of living here, we rode our bikes to dinner. Yeah!

Sunday we skipped church and had fun at the Lake with the grandparents. I made some grinders for dinner and grandma and I worked on my craft for MOPS. Catfish Jeff caught several fish. Seven of them for eating. We had the best fried crappie dinner last night. Yum. Mercury....

So that is the latest report. Go out and vote for your best man today!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween from the gang at Cobblestone Lakes! Miss Katie went as a beautiful princess and Zach thought it would be really funny to be Blue from Blue's Clues. Although, all night long people were mistaking him for Sully from Monsters Inc. But whatever you called them, they had a great time trick-or-treating with Sophie who was Sharpay and Grandma/Grandpa Nurkiewicz. We ran into one other grandpa out there who was dressed as Abe Lincoln. I asked Ken why he did not go all out and dress up and he replied is was going as an old man this year. Nicely done, Grandpa Ken.

The favorite candy treats here were the "tootsie wootsies" which I think Zach figured out if he called them that he would score way more candy from mom. Katie was really into the airheads and licorice pieces. My kind of girl. I have to admit that I picked up a Three Musketeers bar as the first thing I swiped from the kids candy. Perhaps you would like to comment on what your fav in the kids bag was this year. Special note: I did not see any grandparents sneaking candy. Or maybe they were just way to clever to get caught!

On to Turkey Day!