What I am Thankful For....by Katie Nurkiewicz

I am Thankful For My Family....
Nation, Megan my dog,
Using my pencil,
Riding my bike,
Katelyn my Friend,
I Love my Family,
Eating rice,
Water Park,
Ice Cream yummmmmmmmmm,
Cool grass in my backyard,
Zoo trips with my mom and my little brother.

Astro Boy Zach

Here is my son Zach. He intentionally swirled his hair to give himself an Astro Boy look. "Take a picture mom!". So I obliged. Ran downstairs to get the camera and take this guy's funny photo while he is still in my fan club. His sense of humor is as wonderful as his sense of the world. All bright. I love this age. All the cuteness...the chubby cheeks still intact. The hugs and kisses a daily routine. When asked what he was thankful for this year, Zach said "I love yous".  So this year, that is what I am thankful for too. I love yous from my little man, Zachary. ASTRO BOY....

btw, he does not want to see the movie in the theater for it looks "way too scary".

Turkey Run Revisted

Hey! We have lived in Indiana for 7 yrs now and we FINALLY made it to Turkey Run this Sunday. The kids loved the 1.7 mile hike with the ladders and caverns. The bridge was fun for Zach and we could not keep Katie off the rocks and the creek beds. Just an amazing fun time for us here. The most important part of the trip was we all did great and the lunch I packed was delicious. I think that helped the gang...or at least I would like to that credit if I may. Gymnastics money is well spent as Zach climbed stuff his fear of heights would typically keep him down on the ground and Katie scrambled the rocks like her old man. Too funny!

Zach's First Day of School

Here is Zach working on his first project at school today. Nice how he holds the pencil, eh? We are still working on that but he did great checking himself in today. He was actually smiling when he walked into the building today. Iron Man backpack, lunchbox and undies gave him that extra confidence to seize the day. Hopefully the teachers will feel the same!

Katie's 1st Day of School 2nd Grade

Here is my grown up Katie at the bus stop on August 17th. Her first day as a 2nd grader. All is well so far. She loves her teacher!!!!

Summer is Officially Over

Our last trip this summer was to the Art Museum where Zach and Katie ran around the and discovered the LOVE and numbers statues. This was a fun day and the best part of it was the art museum here is still free...

Free....as Katie got on the bus this morning at our usual stop, we ushered in a new school year of 2nd grade. Our teacher is Mrs. Dettemer and we are excited about this school year. Fun times and lots of hugs are promised in this classroom and that is exactly what Katie is needing after two years of very tough teachers. The added bonus was finding out her best bud, Katelyn now rides the bus since the bus routes have all been changed. Things are looking good for Katie.

Zach starts Gymnastics PreK tomorrow and then his PreK program on September 9th. He is looking forward to going back to school and hates to see Katie go on the bus in the morning. And it is just day 1!

Soccer Season is ON!
Zach's practices are on Tuesday evenings and Katie has practice on Thursdays. Jeff has graciously stepped in as Asst Coach for Katie's team. Zach will be my guy as we watch him run around with the five other boys that play on his U5 team. (That's kids under 5.) His league has 14 teams and we will play them all. Our first 4 games will be next weekend and the fall will get into full swing. Look for more postings on how the teams are doing.

The Cousins Unite

My fav pose of the gang. Akron Zoo was a fun time. Stay tuned for my pictures posted to shutterfly.

I Want to Live at Kings Island.

After getting our passes here in Indiana, the Nurkiewicz's headed southeast to a land down under they call, "Kings Island". Met up with Mo, Maddy, Bill and Judy and started off at the Haunted Castle in the Nick side of the park. Then it was off to the Fairly Odd Coaster and the Helicopters you have to wait in line for 30 minutes so you can view the land for 5. The Giggle Coaster was the fun ride for the group and I watched with glee as the other adults rode the coasters and I hung out with a crowd that I could truly related to....Mo, Zach and Katie. We had a blast with the bumper cars and back to the giggle coaster. We ended the day with cotton candy and a giant fried elephant ear for Mad. The country show we took in at the former German place was foot stomping and the pizza we ate there was colon stomping. As we left the park, Zach asked if we could move there and live a life in the park. Little does he know we already do.

Zach Plays Soccer

Zach's Little Kicker Lessons

Here is Mr. Zach playing soccer at the fields this summer. He is looking forward to a full fall season with his sister starting late August. Some highlights include making his coach laugh at his antics and trying to kick the ball in past the goal. Friends Gracie, Molly and Harrison like to keep up with him and drive the ball past Coach Andy. Lots of fun this summer on Monday mornings...

Happy 4th to Zach and America!

Another Rainy Indiana 4th of July at the Nurks...

Sideways pic of Zach blowing out his candles. He had a custom Vanila and M&M cake for his birthday from Maggie Moos. Very yummy!!!

Katie all ready for the fireworks at 4 pm. She has her glow necklace on and her loot she won from the carnival around the corner. For the remainder of the day we stayed in the patio due to the monsoon rain. Had a great time and even had my annual 4th of July Corona with Mr. Nurk as he cooked up some awesome steaks for us.

Happy 4th!

peace

Summer Fun

My two Knuckleheads

Swimming in the Emerald Green Water

Here is the gang snorkling off the side of the rental boat. Notice Dad is standing. :)

I am finally getting a chance to sit down and summerize our Summer thus far. June has been a giant ball of blurry fun. We have kept the good times rolling here . The proof are the two kids on Destin beach showing off some of the gymnastics lessons we have put them through. I was pretty proud at how well these two guys got along with each other this trip. Zach has been a little more expressive and Katie shows her kind soul off by giving in to some of the craziness of a preschooler world.

Destin News

It just occured to us we have 5 more days of vacation and then it is back to Indiana. Today we played it cool and hung out at the pool. Then Kate and I ran over to the outlet mall and purchased some fun things for us to wear this summer. Monday we rented a boat outside of Panama City. Yes...you read that right. We rented a small Boston Whaler and cruised around the bay area. We went snorkling with the kids on a place called Shell Island and watched our kids frolick in the green emerald water. Zach loved floating around and Katie was finding all kinds of treasures ranging from sand dollars to hermit crabs of various shell forms. We made it an all day cruise...a little burnt but as Katie procliamed- probably the funnest thing we did this week.

But this is still the middle of the trip....

Lots of fishing, boating and shopping in store for us in the next few days. We are having a blast down here and are so proud of our kids as they make friends with the kids at the pool and giggle at bedtime as they share a bedroom. Pictures will be posted later as I am using Jeff's work laptop on location. :)

Katie Drives the Ball

This picture says it all. Check out the expressions on the opposing team. Worried, concerned, trying their best to get the ball. Not Katie. She smiles the whole time she steals the ball away from you and takes it to the goal or passes it to an open teammate. It has been fun to watch her play this spring. We have two more games this coming weekend. A morning game on Sat and a 2:15 game on Sunday. Should be interesting to see how we wrap things up. Just wanted to post this new shot from our new camera two weekends ago.

Zach Gets In Touch With Nature and Katie Scores More Goals

Zach touching a baby chick at the library.

Bawk Bawk! Zach watches the library instructor show the class the fresh egg the chicken laid while we reading a story.

Then a couple of days later, Zach and Mom find a toad in the back yard.

Zach is being extra gentle with the squishy toad. Mom tells him it is a good idea to put him back home by the bush.

Miss Katie pausing for a moment in front of spectator Mom while getting the ball in focus

Here is Katie running past me and taking the ball away from the other team.


We had a good week here. Lots of fun with soccer and various animals. Katie had Young Author's Night on Thursday where she read a book she wrote. Her teacher was very impressed with her creativity and let Katie take the book home to work extra on the story.

Zach told his 3's teacher this week that in the word "Zachary", the a's are the vowels and the rest are constantants. I can't even spell that. Not sure where he picked that up.....

Zach at Gymnastics Class and Katie's Stats in Soccer

This is what our son is doing at his gymnastics class. I know I have been posting a bit on Katie and her rockin soccer season but thought the boy should have a little air time as well. This was a special class that they showed off to the parents and then was awarded a medal at the end. Zach was excited to get one because he has been eyeing Katie's medals and trophies wondering when he would start earning them. Hmmmmm. If it was for reading, then he would have a few. But if it was for coordination and stamina, then it may be awhile for Zach. He is still getting the hang of things....except for throwing a baseball or football. That he has down since he was 18 mos and I have the crooked nose to prove it. Or was that from my brothers throwing stuff at me as a kid? Okay...some little guy in my life is to blame for my nose. :):):)

Katie's 2nd Soccer game was a good one as well. Coach put her on as the "Sweeper" and she enjoyed kicking the crap out of the ball and driving it away. Our team won 4-1 and the girls all had a great time at this late game. Next weekend we have a game on Sat morning and another one late Sunday afternoon. This gives mom a chance to wash the extra socks and shorts for our next performance.

Pink Panthers Win 11- 9

Soccer Season is ON!!!!!!

Katie starts out as the goalie for the team vs the Purple Pandas. Old Coach P was the opposite coach which sparred some concerns from our side. Luckily, we have some key players that take this game to the limit. Cameron being one of them. I think they had to pull her out and have her go to the sweeper position because she kept scoring the goals. Her total was 7. Emma scored 2 goals and Katie scored the last goal at the game with 10 secs to go giving her a total of 2 goals for the season opener. Katie did a great job at goalie stopping alot of action and trying out her new goalie gloves for the season.....fancy!

Next game: Tomorrow at 3:30.

More later.

Scooping Eggs, ex-Friends, and Bikes

Hey---Easter happened, Jake the fish and Leap the frog died, and I wiped my bike out trying to repair a trailer incident. That is the latest from Kim here....

Easter---- Wednesday was the MOPS Easter Brunch that I was able to set up for the gals. Everyone brought some yummy food and my personal favorite was the fruit Jen brought that I could of sworn tasted like she had lemon juice squeezed on it. Maybe I have been diving into the migraine meds a little too liberally but it was a big hit with everyone. Zach pounded a bowl of the yummy berries after the clean-up crew ( me and two other girls) made the rounds. Fun day and I was able to take some of the tulips home with me when one of my prize recipients did not claim her prize. The pie lady also provided me another free pie for a door prize. I was very lucky this year to have so many cool things to give away to my buddies. Only one more meeting in May and I can stick a fork in this year.

Jen and Dave hosted the Nurks this year and provided an incredible Prime Rib he made in his new giant green egg on the porch. The kids found the eggs in the backyard and the grandparents provided some fun toys to play with. If you ask Zach the best part of Easter, he will tell you about the gummies that light up and then you eat them. Kate enjoyed playing fetch with Hannah and finding a jawbone next to the creek in their backyard. Don't worry...it was not human.

Dead Fish and Frog Floating ---- I got a little cocky and posted a pic of my..ahem..the kid's prize beta fish here a couple of weeks ago. Well, I had read that these fish only live about 2 yrs in captivity. Mine made it almost 3 yrs...good ol' Jake. Rest In Peace in the sewer canal that I flushed you in. I am sorry you were probably dead for at least a day or two before I scooped you out. Spike was kinda freakin because he was sharing the water and did not like the stuff floating around the fish condo. Then there was our new friend, Leap. Katie noticed last week that the other frog seemed to hog all the food and not leave any for this little guy. I guess I should of crammed more food in there but I did not want to gorge the poor snail. Lots of stuff to worry about when you are trying to keep the perfect ecosystem. Now we are down to one fat frog. Since they prefer to live with company, I am guessing this guy has about two weeks tops before he bites the giant worm in the sky.

Bike goes boom---- Well I guess I need to do a better job at checking my bike but when I came up the hill from the rail trail on our Easter bike ride, the trailer snapped off and so I pulled over to the side to check out the situation. That is when my bike took a tumble on the sidewalk and I bent the little round part that holds the chain next to the wheel. Man I am cool. I have owned this bike for less than 6 months and will already have it in twice for repairs. Jeff is probably very happy we are refinancing the house. This is how we will pay for all my bike boo-boos.

Okay. Now I am on to an exciting week of volunteering at Katie's school, jazzercise, soccer practice, avoiding headaches and spending money. I live a charmed life and just glad I can pop a pill to keep the fun rollin. Look out 40!!! Here I come!

Spring has sprung in Ohio

Our Ohio Trip was filled of fun and frolic. We had two trips to Target, checked out the Kohl's, played at two playgrounds, El Campasino, Aunt Judy and Uncle Bill's house, Chapel Hill Mall, making friends with the manager at Applebees, meeting black eyes in the parking lot, and lots of naps which was what a break is all about. I even think we had better weather than our buddies in Florida this year. Not bad guys. Thanks for taking care of us there and we will see you all in June or July.
Dog licks!

Front and Center at Pacer's PreGame Show

Posted these here for now. Will comment later today. Must go buy Zach a bike today that does not have princess stuff all over it. He is getting too many chuckles at the bus stop.

Trophy for Katie

Last night was trophy night at Katie's Dance Team. Here she is getting her pink trophy from Ms. Michele, the teacher and also my jazzercise instructor. She then went up on stage with the rest of the girls and posed for pics.

What was cool about Katie is that the whole time this was happening, she was worrying about a little cut she had on her hand. That is our Katie. Not bashful this time ethier. She did a great job dancing and the Pacer's performance will be on the 20th. Katie and her dance team will be performing at the pre-game show at Conseco Fieldhouse. So us parents get to show up early and take some pictures of our kids with some "Pacerettes" and watch the local TV crews take some footage of them. (Which they will charge us later for a "small" fee.) Zach asked when does he get a trophy and Katie was surprised that her trophy did not look like the Piston Cup from the movie, "Cars". What a riot!

Eddie, Leap, and Gary Move In

Jake the fish we have had for going on three years, seen here in his condo next to spike, is pleased to announce some new neighbors in the tank next to them.....
Meet Eddie, Leap and Gary. You guess on which kid named which frog but these guys are our newest addition to the Nurk Home. They are African Dwarf Frogs. Living in a perfect little ecosystem, I only have to change the water twice a year. The rocks stay put and I don't move any of the little stuff unless I am bored and want to tempt fate. There is a small snail named Gary(notice the brown blob in the back) that acts as the janitor. A live bamboo plant to keep the water and guys healthy. Special rocks that remove toxins and lethal stuff underneath the green rocks. They call them "living rocks". Pretty interesting. I mostly purchased these guys to support our bus driver/owner of toy store in downtown Zville. You feed these guys twice a week and that is it. Sounds good to me.

Blurry pic of Leap, they are about the size of your thumb and do not get any bigger. Teri our bus driver assured me that they were two males so I won't have any froglets to take care of or introduce a new breed of frog to the American soil here. That is a green rock they sit on in the back of the frog to the right.

So....that puts us at three Betta fish, one pukey dog, two frogs, and one snail. Check back next month as the catterpillars move in to turn into butterflies. We had fun with that last fall so we are ready to try that again.

Beach Day At Both Schools

It was Kokomo Beach Day at Katie's school and Beach Day at Zach's school. So mom decided to follow the kids to each school and find out what all the fun was about.
Pirate Zach here with his girlfriend Grace dig for buried treasure. They were focusing on the letter "S" today and many "shells" were in the sand to find.

Katie's school cafeteria at lunch time was turned into a "beach" with the towels spread out and lunch was served. Katie is the one in the left hand corner sharing her towel with the new girl who had no clue on what to bring for this big celebration. Alli and Anna are on the towels next to hers.

Then Katie was jumping and dancing to the extreme. She was moving so fast that nothing on my camera could capture her! Wow, Katie!

Then the 1st graders goes nuts with dancing as the song "Crazy Frog" is played. Notice the cool boys from Katie's class in the front. Too cool to jump around. :)

This was definitely a fun day for all here in Zionsville. It started to snow as I walked out the door of Katie's school. Ahhhhh. If only it were spring....

Seeing Brothers Holman Without Leaving Indiana

How lucky I am as the oldest sister to have both my brothers come visit me within a week of each other. Didn't have to drive...except to Patrick's or the Children's Museum...but I will take that any day to have a little Holman fun.

Rob zoomed in week before last for a quick Prime Rib at Patricks and just long enough to learn that he enjoys drinking Stella. This was valuable information which helped me decide what beverage to provide for the other brother during his visit. Of course the standard Mountain Dew and Diet Pepsi was on hand as well.

Bill, Judy, Maddy and Mo arrived on a busy Valentine's Day here at the Nurk household. Everyone had fun on their minds as we took over the local wings place. The kids had fun with the video games and quickly dominated the field. After loading up on fried delicacies, we headed back to watch the recycle bin fill up quickly. And of course laugh at my husband get upset about the TV and then bring on some rockin tunes.

The next day we headed to the Children's Museum to show the Ohio gang what happens when Hoosiers have very little to do on a three-day weekend. It was a little crowded but the kids did not mind and we even got to take in a comic strip workshop and some autism education. All four kids were just perfect. Lots of fun and good times.

Btw, we were/are fighting fever/flu things here. Katie did two weeks ago...Zach did last week and as I am typing, Jeff now has a 102 fever. So I am hoping our Ohio brethren did not take anything more than luggage home with them.

But don't let that stop you! Come back soon y'all. Ya, here???

See ya in March.

Achew!

R.I.P Two Hour Naps

Ahhhhhhhh...we have officially hit another milestone here. Time to get busy. I was VERY lucky to have a good napper the 2nd time around. Now Mr. Zach is wanting to stay up and play with his cars or talk mom into going to Target to get more cars. But don't worry, Mom has a plan...I signed him back into Gymnastics school on Thursdays. Gotta keep that boy focused!

Next up, we are working at writing his name. He has the Z down and part of the a. Not bad for a wise little guy.

Nurk vs Nurki

Here is Zach losing his hat in the snowball battle. He was pretty set on staying behind the melted snow fort they built prior to the battle.

Dad takes a moment to teach the fine art of snowball making.

"Look Mom! I am flying!"

Happy to get a snowball over the wall and hitting his target...Dad.

Dad strikes back. Notice his form....

The snow was great here. We were able to get over to the new hill across the street and then over to a new sledding spot that someone tipped us off on. Zach and Katie could of stayed much longer but the no naps we are taking with the Zman ended our fun at about an hour into the sledding. Then it was back home for some more fort building and trying not to play in Meg's pee. :) But this always offers a very valuable life lesson for the Nurki. Yellow snow is bad.

Stay warm and make the best of what is around you.

Dolphin Swim Party is a Blast!

Katie's Party was fun!

Here is Katie with her buddies the Petersen triplets plus Mary T.

Blowing out all 7 of those candles with Connor and Alli at her side. Connor is her buddie from preschool days and Alli has been in her class for the last two years.


Katelyn and Katie posing at the pool. Katelyn is our buddie from the neighborhood and we have been fortunate to play soccer against her many times. These two have a good time! We also Katelyn in the same class the last two years. Yeah!

Katie's best friends Sophie and Katelyn.

It was snowing just a bit outside as we swam in the warm pool. Nice change and a great day!