And on to a New Year. HAPPY NEW YEAR...PLEASE POST!

I'm posting this a bit early since tomorrow, New Years day we have Special Meeting. (York)
SO... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
How about if all of you out there reading this make a resolution to post a comment to let us know you visited????!!!!!!
I love blog hopping, and do know how difficult it is to sign someones blog when you don't even know who they are, so I understand. BUT I also realize it's a little rude (blogging etiquette?!) to check in on someone all the time, and not even let them know you were there. Right? SO, I'm trying to do better about saying hi when I drop in on someone. Do us a favor, and say hi to us! We'd love to meet you!

Resolutions:

A traditional New Years thing...

I've ignored the idea the last few years, but it kind of niggled at my conscious this last week. Last night at the table I asked the kids to think about it. I explained that what I was looking for was not just the "I want to do...I want to get" kind, but more the "What I can change kind". Does that make sense? Kaela actually got it right away, she said she wanted to work on "doing what Mommy told her to do". (No, I didn't prompt them!!) Kara said hers was to work on picking up and putting away behind herself, so she wouldn't have so many chores to do. Wow, smart girl! Wonder if she's been on my flylady website???

Morgen and Meshayla had a little more trouble with the whole thing, maybe that's an example of being child-like. Younger kids are more honest and open, the older we get the more we resist the idea of stating or even acknowledging to ourselves or others what we really know needs worked on.

My resolution is "Spiritual prosperity". It wasn't something that I'd thought about, and to be honest, I can't even say that it's something that I WANT to work on, the thought just came to me the other morning, and I realized that it was something I NEEDED.

I also realized that although I had acknowledged it to myself, I didn't really want to state it either. It didn't have anything to do with the idea of whether I'd be able to accomplish it or not, it's only the idea of baring our true feelings to others. Of being open. It leaves us with a feeling of being vulnerable. (& I don't really know to what!) Maybe similar to the idea of letting someone you don't know, know you were reading their blog??!!

So, once again, I'm wishing you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR. I hope it's a wonderful one. Full of Life, Love & Laughter. And, the most important thing, Spiritual Prosperity, in what ever aspect that means for you.

The end of Christmas week...

- Ryan, Jana and Derek-

This was taken before Jana headed to Sidney to spend the rest of her vacation with her other sisters. I'm sure it will be a much calmer way to finish up her time at "home"!! I was really happy to get a picture of these three together tho, since it's unusual if it's more than a once a year occasion.

I was really happy with this picture. My camera is toast, so I'm using Jeanne's, which something is wrong with the light meter (or something!). In case you thought the former pictures I posted were horrible... well, you were right, but it wasn't really my fault. I can still get outdoor pictures, so until I can replace mine, I'll have to put up with it I guess.

All healed up!

This picture was taken a week after the sledding incident... wow, it's healed so quickly, and well! Probably given the fact that she was very good at keeping her med. on it, and not picking at it...(like I would have done at her age!)

Random pictures from Christmas week

In looking thru these pictures, I realize I got a picture of everyone that was there except for Jeanne! I don't know how I managed to do that, except I really didn't even set out to try and make sure I got everyone. Usually I don't. Maybe I'll manage to get some good pictures to post the first week in Jan when we get together to go to Gma Jane's. Ryan will be with us then also, and he wasn't in Sidney.

Plenty of food to keep us all happy... we didn't stress over it, cooking that is, I guess we all like to cook enough that it doesn't seem a very big deal. There's always new things we want to try, and old favorites that we "have to have"! Lynisha has lovely counter space, and a nice open kitchen, so we didn't feel secluded from the rest of the bunch.

Uncle Derek found a unique place to play peek-a-boo with Trey

Morgen's favorite pastime inside--getting anyone to play pool with him!

The house fairy brought toe socks for the girls last week, they were a big hit!

Trey enjoyed being pushed around the house by Kaela

On Monday we loaded up and went to Sidney to spend a couple days with Lynisha & Jim, & Jeanne. We took a pickup load of stuff out to Jeanne for her apartment, so it's looking a little more livable now!
It was fun to see Trey walking around, and sure enough, he did learn to walk & crawl the same week. He's pretty good at doing both now.
We had plenty to eat...games to play, as you could see, plenty of music & enjoyed being together. Relyssa's friend Emmett came over on Tuesday morning and spent the day with us all, then Wednesday morning she went back to his parents place in CO with him.
We enjoyed seeing snow when we woke up on Christmas day, they got more out west than here in Kearney. Seems like so many years lately it's been a "brown" Christmas, rather than white!

We had planned to head home Tues. eve, but with the snow and blowing we decided to wait till Wed. a.m. too. Nothing urgent we needed to be home for anyway.

Sunday morning

By Sunday morning her eye was nearly swollen shut, & part of her lip was swollen too. I think all the rest of us hurt to just look at her!

Keep that ice going girl! By Monday it was doing better, a thick scab had formed, & she was pretty good about keeping ointment on it & not picking at it. Today, a week later the scab just fell off, and I don't think there's going to be any sign of it when she goes back to school next week!

Sledding bruises

A great way to start off vacation... The kids had a sledding party with friends & cousins on Saturday the 22nd. Meshayla and Kara came home looking like this. Kara went flying off the sled & skidded on the icy snow on her face. When she first got home & came in, I thought someone was playing jokes... looked like a circle of paint. Soon tho we saw it was swelling, and I tried to get her to keep ice on it. Not an easy task when there's a house full of kids to play with.

School program- 1st graders

As I mentioned earlier, my camera is not working, I did manage to get one picture on it of Kaela's 1st grade class. Not good quality, but after years of taking pictures, I realize that usually a bad picture is better than none at all. The school puts on a great program every year, the teachers and kids work really hard from right after Thanksgiving. It lasts an hour, and all the kids have speaking parts, costumes, although usually very simple and sing quite a few songs. If I can figure out the phone camera thing, I'll post more later.

It's snow fun

Morgen talked dad into using the snowblower to blow the snow onto his igloo so he could make it bigger! What were those rings that "appeared" in peoples fields some years back?? makes our back yard look kinda funny now, but he's sure had fun with it. Now he's managed to tunnel thru

to meet his top opening. I asked him if he was going to have door's all around it, but he said that the others were just "false" doors!

Cold, Windy...

The "igloo" and a plastic tub lid makes a good snowboard & ramp for lack of anything better!

Wed. night was Special meeting in Grand Island, and Jana came home with us until New Years.
After helping me with some cookies for gift plates on Thurs a.m. she spent most the rest of the day just napping & resting. Thursday eve we went to the younger kids program at their school which is always a treat. Hopefully I'll get some pictures posted from it. My camera is acting up the last couple days, and is CRACKLING.... sounds like wires popping... NO! I need my camera, and can't afford a new one!! Leon took some pictures on his phone for me, likely their not great quality, but at least they'll be something, that is if I can figure out how to get them off his phone!!
Yesterday Jana decided the downstairs bathroom needed an updated look, so went to work on that. She started pulling the wallpaper off the wall, and I went and bought paint. We'll see how far we get on that project. We've not re-done that room since we did it 15 yrs ago. Since it's the kids bathroom it gets lots of use.... (picture Sunday mornings or special occasions with 6 kids or more.. combination of boys and girls, combing hair, shaving & primping.) Yes, it's a big room, counter with 2 sinks all along one wall & huge mirror above.
This afternoon we're suppose to have a sledding party with several families, then they're coming to our house for a soup supper.

Let it snow...

Today finally we get some sunshine after 3 days of cloudy and snow and a bit of ice. Nothing drastic with ice this time thank goodness, looks like OK city and some other places got plenty this time. For lack of a hill to slide down, Morgen figured he could use the back steps. A little bumpy, and they made plenty of noise. He and Kara are working on scooping all the snow in the back yard into a fort now. I had to call them in 3 times last night, they kept sneaking out to work on it. It's always fun to see how high the snow will pile up on our back deck table too... looks like we got alot more snow than we really did. It drifts pretty good there in the shelter of the house coming off the roof. Derek's busy cutting firewood, today, seems like our big pile of logs never got split, and we're all quite anxious to enjoy our fireplace again. It really keeps our heat bill down when we keep it going.... all I have to put up with is the snow tracks thru my house bringing in wood. (UGG!) I need to figure out where to put a wood box inside somewhere.

It's December!
It looks like it, it feels like it. Unfortunately today's weather also brought us a grim reminder of what we went thru last year. We woke up to mist putting a fine coat of ice on everything. At 7 a.m. I had to feel the deck railing to see if it was icy or not, by 9 a.m. you could look out the window and see the ice coating. There were tiny little icicles hanging off everything. I didn't have my camera at home, so missed pictures. We had a scrap weekend scheduled, and had been there Friday night, but most had cancelled due to the forecast, so about noon today we went and loaded everything up and had our day free after all, which since it is the day before Special meeting here, was very nice. (back in May when we scheduled our weekends for the rest of the year, we had no idea that we'd hit on special meeting weekend!)
I went to the store about 4 this afternoon, and although underfoot was still kind of slick, the streets weren't too bad. It had warmed up enough to keep it from freezing more, but by the time I got home it was getting dark already and fairly chilly again. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little warmer, and we'll lose the ice.

Random pictures from the last month

Dalayna & Jessi, Jessi, Morgen's 11th birthday, Grammie & Jessi, Kyrie & Trey at the park, Trey, Kara and Kaela at the park, Kyrie,

Thoughts in November

It's hard to believe this year is nearly over! It's been a very eventful one, but then with 12 children, 3 grandchildren, a globe trotting mom, 3 siblings on my side, and 6 on Leon's side, an elderly mom in town to keep check on, and 9 in town/local nieces/nephews, 2 in state conventions, one daughter leaving to go oversees... what can you expect?
Our special meetings start this coming Sunday already. Kearney, then next week Ansley. York is on New Years day.
We had a dusting of snow on Saturday... Kaela was out as soon as she could, trying to make a snow man! She did succeed, a little one, and using nearly all the snow in the back yard!!
We enjoyed having Kyrie and Trey here with Lynisha all week before Thanksgiving. It's a guess whether Trey is going to crawl first or walk.. he's working on both. It's so fun to have a baby boy around again, it's been a long time since Morgen!
This last Sunday was also the last Sun. a.m. meeting at Gma J's. Dan and Cyndie will have it now. It's been a hard time for Gma to let it go, but it had really gotten too much for her. After meeting on Sunday, Nathan (my nephew) asked Cyndie if she was going to have cookies for them after meeting at her house! Oops...Guess I missed that requirement LOL!!

Thanksgiving day at our house. As usual with any large family gathering the kids out-number the adults. This time 19-14. We had a wonderful day. Too much food as usual, we stuffed ourselves, but wonderful company all day long. Darla and Laverna stopped by for a while in the afternoon to visit. Andy showed up in the afternoon, he was coming to visit his folks for the weekend, and missed our main meal, but as usual we have plenty of left-overs & more pie! We had food, games, food, entertainment, food, poems, food, good conversation, food, lots of kid commotion, and more food.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Be well, safe, happy, Enjoy your day

your food, your friends, your family

and be Thankful!

Love from the Jelineks

Kyrie's 3rd Birthday party

Since Leon now has Friday nights off, it makes it able for us to have a little time on weekends to do something. We left Friday and went to Sidney, and after getting the kids to bed, helped Lynisha finish up with the border in Kyrie's bedroom. Lynisha and Jim had spent the week getting it all painted while Kyrie was at our house. We did the border partly free-hand, and partly stencils. It matches the quilt that I made her and the matching curtians that Fern (her other Grammie) made when we were there in Feb when Trey was born. The room turned out darling! We got her the little table and chair for her birthday.