Birthday Wishes to Ms. Anne S. in Addison.

Hey how come you are not at work at Bramic? Oh you want a day off? ...... Well have a great day today on your Birthday Anne. See you on Sunday in Lake Summerset, by the looks of my picture you are grilling already for us.

What I did week of Aug 27- 31

On MONDAY, I went with Suzia and Ela, Julia & Stevie to visit Kasia in Wauconda, Mile was not home he was at work. We had a fun time playing with Nicolas and Danny. They have grown so much since we last saw them. They are some cute handsome little guys now. Nicholas looks like Mile, brown hair where Danny is the blond in the family and looks more like his Babcia Kris. Kasia is due in October with number 3, but she thinks that it will more likely be end of September. NO, she does not know what they are having and does not want to know till the baby is born. (Hey I like that thinking, that is the way it should be, in my opinion).



We also stopped by the little house that Suzia used to live in with Koy when they lived in Wauconda. A cute little blue bungalow.















After the visit with Kasia we went to see Koy at work at CDW. Stayed for awhile there, Stevie went inside to visit and to get to meet some of Daddy's co-workers. Then to the grocery store to pick up some things for tonights dinner. Stefan will be joining us at Suzia's, and this will be a quick celebration for the end of summer and back to school. For all. Ela, Julia ,Stevie and Suzia. Suzia starts on Tuesday evening.



TUESDAY was pool (Billiards) night for Stef & Karen, so we got to see Maddie, Stevie & Lily again for the evening. We go for walks to get a lollipop at the local gas station and also to buy a lottery ticket or two. (I keep hoping) By the time we come back it is time for a snack an apple or banana or a cookie or two, then it is time for a bath. I get all 3 into the tub for a quick fresh-up and into pajamas and into bed we go. Lily falls asleep in no time in her playpen, and the other 2 I lay down next to them and scratch their backs and they are out to lala land also. I get up to finish cleaning up after dinner. Wait for Steve & Karen to get the kids and then lock the door go to sleep myself.



WEDNESDAY FIRST DAY back to school. Ela is going to the 5th grade, Julia will be in the second and Stevie is in Pre-school. He will be turning 5 but not until November 22. Way too late for the cut off date of September 1. In the evening I went out for dinner with Diane and then we went to see a play called "Married Alive" at the Lincolnshire Theater. It was funny and almost comparable to my own life. Too bad it is ending tonight, I would recommend it to you,.. to go see it. It takes a "couple" from Niagra to Viagra. I got home by 11pm.



THURSDAY is my day to watch Maddie, Stevie & Lily for the day. I get to their house by 7am, make breakfast for them, get them dressed and then Lily naps. After her nap I get them ready to go for a walk or to the park or etc. Today we are planning on going to the park with Stevie, he is out of school by 11:30 am. Ooops, his Daddy Koy is home , so that changes plans, we are going alone with just Babcia. I know that Stevie has a lot to tell his mom & dad about his first day in school.
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On my way home Maddie saw the waterfall on River Rd. and she wanted to stop to see it. But I told her there is no place to park. But I do know of a waterfall that has a parking spot and we could see the waterfall up close. The one on Touhy and Milwaukee. So off to the waterfall we went. Got to see it up close, and well of course we are close to Ciocia Diane's work, we stopped in to say Hello.

For Dinner I called Anna to come join us, I was making potato pancakes (yes I know it is a Thursday I usually make them on Friday). Stef was picking up the kids at my house. We had dinner together, spent some time talking and playing with the kids and off to the tub with all 3. After the bath got them in pajamas and into their van they go towards home.


FRIDAY I went to work, then went out to lunch with Basia my neighbor. Why because from now on she will be gone for most of the day at working, babysitting for a little boy in Skokie. He is about a week older than my Lily. He was born end of November, where as Lily was born Deccember 4th. She will be ONE this December.
Stefan went golfing today, what a beautiful day. I came home from lunch and then cut the grass, and cleaned up in the house.

Also on Friday Janette & Payton are coming in to town for a visit. I hope that we will get to play and spend some quality family bonding time with them.

SATURDAY Stefan is golfing from early am till late afternoon. Daniella will be doing?????

SUNDAY we are going to Jerry & Anne's place in Lake Summerset for another BBQ to celebrate that Stefan is a healthy man now and it is 2 years since his Leukemia was found.

On MONDAY, Labor Day, Diane & Bruno will be hosting a BBQ at their new house for the family.

Pani JILL HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you 8-31-07

A very Happy Birthday Ms. Jill J. in Wisconsin. STO LAT, see you soon at your wedding to Mr. Jason.

Happy Birthday Mike J. in Madison 8-28-07

Hope you got my message for your Birthday today. Now that school has started it is hard to get a hold of you. STO LAT. See you soon at the end of September.

Street Block Party

I spent the day with Maddie, Stevie & Lily. There was a block party on my street. By the looks on their faces I think they enjoyed themselves a lot in the "Jumping Castle". By late evening they just had enough energy to take a bath and it was time for nighty night.

P.S. Karen & Steve had gone to the NIU-Northern Illinois Cornfest and to be with about 20 of their college friends. They spent the night there and had a great time.

Happy Birthday Mike P. in Arizona 8-26-07

Hoping that your Birthday is fun and happy. Enjoy your weekend of studying for your tests. Say Hi to Sonia from us.

Brookfield Zoo & The STORM of 2007

I spent the day Thursday with all my grandkids going to the Zoo. Suzia came along also for the day. We enjoyed looking at all the birds, and then the Penguins and walk in the sprinkler. Cooling off in one of the mist tents was great. The weather was a hot 91 and very humid. (Before THE storm) We also got a special treat to pet the stingrays. Boy, are they soft to touch. This special exhibit is only for a limited time at the Zoo. Even Lily enjoyed looking at those swimming "things" in the water. Karen's wagon with the sunroof came in very handy today. Having fun chasing the geese in the park till they flew away.












After walking around for the most of the morning and part of the afternoon and snacking all day, we decided to leave, because of a dark cloud overhead. Thinking it would pass after we got home and had something to eat that we picked up at Wendy's. WOW were we wrong. The sirens went off in Villa Park, so that meant we all headed for Suzia's basement. We stayed there and ate our late lunch. We came back upstairs for about an hour only to be sent back downstairs, when the second storm came back with a vengenance. We settled downstairs as comfortably as possible. Little Pan Maca fell asleep still in the van and kept on sleeping right thru the storm.Ela made sure her Koko was also with us downstairs. If any body was watching the news, YOU know what happened in this part of the country.The damage in Addison, Villa Park and Lombard made headline news. We had a severe thunderstorm(personally I think we did have a tornado touch down).Power did not go off, but it did shake a little on and off. The damage was visible all over town on my way home, which took me almost an hour and a half. Regularly it would only take me 25 minutes to be home.




Well that would conclude this week of fun with the grandkids,....till next time have fun living your LIFE your way.

A good time was had by all

We enjoyed close quarters at our Sunday dinner with family and friends. Andy got to have some more of blueberry pierogi's for a belated birthday gift. All the children , Ela, Julia, Stevie, Maddie, Stevie, Lily, Lauren & Alex got along quite well for the evening. Koy got to have some special time with Alex playing with cars,.. while Lauren got to do a little drawing with Maddie at her side. Lily got to be fed by her cousin Ela. Grandma Anna got a close nuzzle with her Alex & Lauren. Prababcia Hela had fun posing for the group picture. We told her, You just keep looking here and smiling. Dad,Stef got to give some horsey rides. Alex got a real close look at my necklace of my 6 grandkids.
Suzia worked on solving a puzzle.

Proud Great-Grandmother

Tell me that's not the face of a very proud great-grandmother - go ahead, I dare ya to tell me different!

The only great-grandchild missing is Payton, who's in Florida.

From left to right: Stevie (Maca), Ela, Maddie, Babcia Hela holding Lily, Stevie (Koivun), Lauren, Julia and Alex.

Here's a picture of Payton... Her cousins sure wish they could play with her more often!

A very Special Anniversary of 60 Years

Diane's parents ,The Strusinski's are celebrating their 60th Anniversary of their Marriage today. What a special day for them both. To have come this far together, thru good times and bad. STO LAT to them both. Wishing them many, many more years together. They plan on celebrating with the whole family later on in the year.

Birthday wishes to my Godchild, Jason

Happy Birthday on your 27th year, Jason. STO LAT, may you have a terrific year. Hope this job is a keeper.

More pictures from Starved Rock (from Suzia)

Okay - here are some more pictures from our 3 Generation Mother-Daughter trip. They're in no particular order, but they show just how much fun we had on our little road trip.

We pulled over when we saw this giant-leafed "plant" growing... maybe it's Jack's Magic Beanstalk? Seriously - these were some HUGE leaves!

Babcia Zosia loves the smell of hay and said that when she was young, she used to climb on the bales. So we found some roadside and dared her to climb them again!

This was actually the last 'adventure' on our road trip. We drove out along a country road West of DeKalb so we could do some star-gazing. This is Babcia Zosia and Daniella laying on the hood of the van, trying to find the Big Dipper.


Daniella sitting atop Cheyenne, her horse at Starved Rock Stables, where we went for an hour+ long walk. In the high heat of the day. Did we mention it was 100 degrees out when we got off our horses?

In the Koivuns' van on road trips, if we go over a bridge, you have to put your hands up in the air. We made sure Babcia Zosia learned the van rules and followed them... even when we were on the trolley!

I sat behind Babcia Zosia and Daniella on our paddle-wheel boat tour of the Illinois River to see Starved Rock and the Starved Rock Dam.

Babcia Zosia wanted to take one of these home... we told her 'no.' (They're actually power-generating windmills just south of Amboy, IL.)

A very nice picture of Babcia Zosia, taken on our return hike from Wildcat Canyon.

Finally, a picture of me! Babcia Zosia and Suzia at one of the 23 carved tree stumps around the Starved Rock Lodge. This one was actually at the trailhead down to Wildcat Canyon.

An action shot of Daniella riding...

Our Daredevil Babcia, riding ala John Wayne, waving her hat in the air.

Then Babcia Zosia put her hat on backwards and said she was a 'homey' - too funny!

Babcia Zosia loves trees that split in a vee, especially so near to the ground.

My mother and her mother, walking on the grounds around Starved Rock Lodge.

On our hike to Wildcat Canyon.

OK... Can you guess where this was taken? I'll give you a hint. I've only said it a handful of times already... and, it's carved into the railing there, if you can make it out.

And to end our photo journey, a very pretty moment caught in time... my mama. And on this trip, she rejuvinated herself and took off a good ten years... and it shows!

Hope you enjoyed sharing our trip to Starved Rock!