Roller skating Memories

This is my niece and nephew 'round about 2001 or so, pre-YaYa or just after.

Lisa and I took them to a rec class at South Division to learn how to roller skate. Lisa did our niece's hair that morning.

Milk Bottle Toys

My fave as a young girl so had to get them for my niece Caitlin when she was a young girl. I think I may have found them for my great niece too. They are magic! - Lisa

The Christmas Light Show at the State Fair Expo Building

Mom gifted Alex & I tickets to go see the indoor Christmas light set up at the State Fair Expo Building. It was super enjoyable, I’d recommend it for anyone looking for some cute Christmas pics - YaYa

Thanks for the tickets! - Caitlin and Danny

YaY!!! Congrats!

Congratulations to my niece Caitlin, who gave birth today to a healthy baby girl!

A Productive Day

Saturday my nephew Jonah and I rebuilt my front steps and I worked.  Sunday I visited my folks,  then we had a family dinner and played cards with the exchange student.  Monday I walked the kids to school, installed the porch railing with Eric, won my fantasy matchup to go 2-0, fought with my two teenage girls, and went for another walk with my two youngest.  Busy trio of days.

Shopping for Cars with our Niece

Today was spent helping our niece find a reliable used car. If you think there is a more exhausting way to spend a day, then you are wrong. Congratulations Caitlin Anne!

Aunt Missy

The Aunt/primary caregiver of our niece/Goddaughter in Arizona died today at 34. Things are a mess here right now, as we try and make arrangements to fly LuLu down there to be with her and represent Team Slap. RIP

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen. May almighty God bless us with His peace and strength, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Unacceptable

My niece/ Goddaughter/ cousin to my kids was in town and guess when I found out? When they needed to find her a ride to the airport. Note to young couples, don't expect your in laws to change, they never do.  - Lisa

A Good Day

THIS was a good day at the library. The Mrs out helping our niece, a can of Surge, NFL Sunday Ticket, and a new Lee Child . . . life is good lol

What Generosity

My niece wanted Lisa to send her a pic of the toaster we bought her, so she could see what it looks like. This is what we sent LOL

Twenty Questions

Lisa and I went to dinner at the restaurant where Caitlin works, and  our niece did a fine job of trying to squirrel out of my questions about her plans. :)

YaYa's First Job

Thanks to her cousin Caitlin, YaYa landed a one night job at a local restaurant, filling in for someone that called in sick. While she worked her butt off babysitting over the summer, this marks my oldest' s first day at a "real" job. #ProudDad #ProudMom

Because she was working, YaYa got out of Mass tonight. Because I messed up the time, the rest of #TeamSlap (and LK's friend Alyssa) showed up for church after it was half over, so . . . you're welcome kids. Following Mass we treated everyone to a chicken dinner at the church. It was pricey, and may curtail some weekend activities, but church should be followed by a good meal. :)

Congrats!

Got accepted into the dental hygiene program🙏 - my niece Caitlin

A New Driver on the Road

 My nephew got his temps today, so I picked him up from the DMV, took him to St. Adalbert's cemetery and put him behind the wheel. By the time we left his driving was much smoother, and he learns fast. Congrats Jonah!

Creed

just got back from the creed concert with my uncle was a good show. - Jonah

Thanks for going - Me

Glad you had fun, Creed puts on a good show. glad you got moved up too...that's always awesome! - Lisa

Sounds like a good time.... - Grandma J

Smiley and his Cousin

Smiley and his cousin

Jonah's Wail

In my haste to transfer material to blogger I almost forgot 'Jonah's Wail' an AOL Journal my nephew kept (briefly) in 2005-2006, when he was eleven years old. He quickly abandoned it for myspace, but I figure I'll preserve his words here for posterity.



* * * * *



Super Bowl
Yea !!!!!!! the Steelers won the Super Bowl, I knew they were going to win the whole time .I went over to my uncles house and watched the game at his house we had a good time.He mentioned it in his blog which you can go to if u click on the link.Well I had a good time all the way until the Half time show,and I know I'm not the only one who thinks it sucked .My aunt made a good point and said "It should entertame kids my age ." And I'm only 11 yrs old. Well I had a good time and I hope you had a good time watching the Super Bowl yesterday (if you care for sports). Bye



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Monday, January 16, 2006
Sk8ting
Hi again, for the past month or so my friends and I have been skting .We have alot of fun we all have speed skates expect one kid but he barely goes....I'm a pretty good skater and I like going fast on skates not slow (expect for when its a slow song)Before I used to go skating like every Friday,and then I stopped going because it got boring.So then like 10 months later my friend convinced me to go and now I go alot.So I guess Its a new start of an old hobbie.Well thats all I have to talk about on this topic so I'll see you people later.

Bye



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B-Ball game
Hi,people on New years Eve I went to a Harlem Globetrotters game,at the Bradely Center.I went with a few kids at school and it was really fun.My friends and I had a good time ,and we just tried to embaress ourselves in the following ways:Yelling out crazy things, trying to start he wave ( it didnt work) and wearing funny things on our arms and head and alot of other stuff. (I'm sure)I have a question for you people......How was your New Years Eve ?,and what did you do ?

Bye !~



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Lack of Posts
Sorry for the lack of posts I've been hanging out with friends and stuff latley so ice been busy





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Thursday, November 10, 2005
Floridia Trip
Hi people,

Ok starting sunday morning I'll be in Florida,the trip is good and bad at the same time.....how you ask well I'll have fun in Flordia but back at school my homework is just gonna be pileing up and up.So I just wanted to tell youso The lack of posts so you do think i quit putting up posts. Ok bye !




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Sunday, October 30, 2005
Happy Halloween !!!
Happy Halloween people,

how was your Halloween ? Halloween is kinda mostly a kids holiday but some adults goo around witha mask r something scaring children or other adults. I like Halloween for a few reasons: 1: Free Candy ! (what kid doesnt like that ) 2:Scaring people and wearing costums,and thats all I can think of at the moment but...you get the idea. Also for thoose who decided to play the game runescape , well heres a little tip .... ok now jagex(creators of the game) on holidays they put like a chacter on the game and they hand out free stuff and tomarrow I think there gonna have the holiday drop .So if you play it u can get the fre item. Well thats all I have to say so i hope you have a good Halloween !

Bye



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Saturday, October 29, 2005
late entry
Hi people,

Im very sorry for not posting any entrys in a while. I've Just started playing a game called runescape. I guess its kinda a kid game but I saw alot of adults who play it.The game is mostly a giant chat room,where u can talk to any one in the world (who plays).well the website is www.runescape.com go to this site to play the game.Ok so if you decide to play it tell me and ill make another post and update you on any new up grades ,or update you on how im doing. Also if you play the game make a comment and I'll talk about it in a post. So again sorry for a delay of posts.

Bye



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Tuesday, August 16, 2005
State Fair
Hi again,

last week i went to the Milwaukee State Fair,I went with my frined and his family we went on like every ride again again and again we had so much fun.The Wisconsin State Fair is best known for it cream puffs,cream puffs are like bake dough with whip cream in the middel.I dont have much more to say about this post so i can say anymore,so

Bye





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Thursday, July 28, 2005
B-Day
Hi people,

On July 20th was my B-day I turned 11,I had my b-day at this place called MegaQuest. The place is so big it has a mini ferris wheel,go karts, tilt-a-whirl,lil rollercoasters,arcade and a 2 gift shops.1 is where you use tickets to by stuff 1 is where you use money buy stuff, at the money giftshop you can by brand name stuffbut it costs alot.Then I had a sleepover at hotel and we had alot of fun.

bye



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shot post
sorry about the delay of post's I've been pretty busy



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6 Flags Great America
Hello,

This weekend I went to 6 Flags in Illinois ,I went for my birthday and went with my Dad,sister ,step-brother,aunt ,and her boyfriend.One day we went to the theme park the second day we went to there new water park ! We had a lot of fun at the theme park and at the water park,but the water park gets really really crowed and its has extremely long lines.But people who like amusment go to 6 Flags Great America!!!!

Bye



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Tuesday, July 12, 2005
special events
Hi people,

Today was the All Star game ,the National League v.s Amercian League {if your not the biggest baseball fan}. I went over to my uncles house and he and I watched the game ,and we also had a bbq before the game so it was like we were at the game but we really weren't.

In Milwaukee W.I we have the worlds biggest music festival called SummerFest.It began Jun. 30 which at like 10:00p.m they had something called the Big Bang, and they set off tons of fireworks.Then it ended on the 10th of July.If you have any events you know of in your state or any where send it in to me and I'll write about.

Bye.

KayKay's Volleyball Games

[Irrelevant aside: today was Smiley's 1st ever school picture day. I'll post the pics when I get them.]

In the two weeks she stayed with us we attended both of my niece's volleyball games.  The first week her team lost all three sets to my kids' school (booyah!) but they took 2 of 3 sets the following week versus another team.

(if you haven't been to a volleyball game in a bit, you now play up to 25 and earn points on every volley, whether your team served the ball or not. A similar rule seems to be in effect in professional beach volleyball.)

Both weeks Lisa and I were ticked off at the coach. Her team was horribly handled. A girl twice fouled by serving over the line, they rotated incorrectly, it just went on and on. I don't know much about the sport and I think I could have done a manageable job of correcting the errors.

On top of that the coach's kid is the captain, naturally, and my niece was forced to sit the second set of both games. This, despite the fact she was one of the best players. I'm not speaking (soley) out of bias here. There were girls who couldn't serve, and one in particular who couldn't/didn't get a ball over the net in any capacity either week.

[After one revolting play I turned to Lisa and said with disgust.  "They're never going to win if they keep that girl in. She may wear #7, but she's no Mickey Mantle." This earned me a (deserved) elbow to the ribs. The girls Mother was two rows in front of me, and the girl was a good friend of my niece and had even been to parties at their house when I was in attendence. Oops. My bad.]

In one set my niece was the only member of her team to score a string of points, but was still pulled in favor of one of the yahoos.

"KayKay!," I yelled in between one set and motioned her over. "You want me to say something to her. 'Cuz I will."

"No!," she said, mortified. "Then she'll never play me."

Nice. Classy coach.

Anyhow, here's some pictures of her games.

aoljurlAdd, aoljurlAdd_8

Smiley's first day of school and my nephew's too!

September 2nd was the first day of school for Smiley. It was also the first day of high school for my nephew. As you know, the kids were at my house that week so I took him to school. Yeah, he was nervous, but he seems to have adjusted well.

Wow, these kids look thrilled don't they?

Shall we try again?

Ah, the moody YaYa. Third times the charm?

Eh, better. Here's my nephew on that monumental first day of high shool. He ditched the bandana before I dropped him off.

And finally, here's the handsome and debonair Smiley on the first day of his second year of school (K3):

Tags: Smiley

Seven kids, four cats, a turtle . . .

When the house was sold my sister C had difficulty finding an apartment, only securing one with three or four days to spare. Unfortunately the landlord was in the midst of replacing the carpet, thinking the place would sit vacant another month, and couldn't get it ready in time. So on the day of the move her items went into the storage locker in that building, she went to crash at my Mom's new digs, and her three children came to stay with my family.

Through a series of delays and a variety of reasons they remained through this past Sunday the 14th. For fifteen days my household consisted of seven children, four cats (two of theirs), a turtle, three grasshoppers, a walking stick and a praying mantis.

Oh my.

Honestly, we adjusted very well. We quickly absorbed the kids and their routines into our daily life, and rather seamlessly too. Sure, we only Bernie Mac'd it for two plus weeks, but I think we could have pulled it off permanently if (God forbid!) we had to, and with aplomb to boot.

Every morning I'd roll out of the house at 7:10 with a full van, drop my nephew off at high school, swing by and drop my kids off at their school, head over to drop my nieces off at theirs, and then head over to work.

Lisa would pick up our kids after school and I'd pick up my nieces (my nephew took the bus back). Sometimes my niece would have volleyball practice and we'd head there, and on one occasion she had a school dance.

We'd have the kids sit down after school and complete their homework, then set to work on a decent dinner. Come nighttime my youngest niece would sleep on a foam couch in Lu's room, as would Lu herself, while niece KayKay grabbed her bed.

In Smiley's room the new twin bed we'd gotten him was now occupied by my nephew, while the toddler bed we were set to get rid of was put back into use for Smiley.

YaYa, being the prima donna she is, slept alone in her room.

They put a dent in my pocketbook as my grocery bill grew, but other than that it was fine. Oh YaYa went through a period of 'You love them better than me!" but that passed, and soon enough she was content with hanging out with her cousin.

Meanwhile Lu and KayKay bonded and Smiley became my nephews Number One fan. He should be; they are the only two males in the generation that includes not only our extended family but also our friend's children. X chromosomes appear to be in stark supply 'round here.

One great thing about having the kids here: it gave us a little wiggle room to 'go mobile'. Lisa's at work and I'm out of eggs? Egads! Oh, never mind. I'll have KayKay stay with the kids while I go. Lisa took my keys to work with her, stranding me? Pay no mind, I'll send J. on my bike to retrieve the keys!

{plus both of the older kids really like the New Kids new CD, with KayKay even using it for a class project. How cool is that?}

Following a long day we even took advantage of their presence to go visit the speciality drink bar I once wrote about here. It was met with their scorn mind you, as in my family letting a drop of alcohol pass your lips is just a notch below smoking crack in a synagogue, but whatever. They need to learn that responsible adult behavior is just that - adult, and responsible.

I was sad to see them go, I really was. Smiley seemed the most upset, but at his age he forgets quickly. 

At least now Lisa can't refuse to *ahem* becasue she's afraid they'll hear us ;)