"And they were married and given in marriage, and were blessed according to the multitude of promises which the Lord had made unto them....and surely there could not be a happier people who had been created by the hand of God."
---Book of Mormon 4 Nephi v.11&16
"Zawierali malzenstwa i byli blogoslawieni zgodnie z wieloma obietnicami Pana...i zaden lud stworzony reka Boga nie mogl byc tak szczesliwy jak oni."---Ksiega Mormona 4 Nefi 11&16
Since our extended family has started sharing their life stories on ourstory.com, great blessings have come into my family's life.Samuel and Isaiah learn a great many things from their aunt's and uncle's examples.
I'm going to give just one silly example.Ever since I can remember Isaiah has hated wearing underwear.So he decided never to wear it, not to school, not to church, not when climbing on the monkey bars, and even not when swimming in real loose shorts.Josh and I tried to tell him that that is not a good idea.His pants could rip or fall and he could be very embarrassed.Well, Isaiah did not care.Our pleading and persuasions had no effect on him, and he is 8 years old!
Well, a couple of weeks ago one of my husband's brothers wrote down his most embarrassing moments.One of them included not wearing any underwear at school and having a big rip in the crotch of his pants, and people staring.We read the story aloud to our kids and we just laughed and laughed.Miraculously ever since then Isaiah has always worn underwear.He even asked me to get him some more….
I'm attaching some pictures of bees in my flower garden. There are very few bees where I live in Georgia.I had a lot of problems pollinating my garden.There are no honeybees around here, so bumblebees do all of the work, but there are not enough of them.Tomatoes self pollinate, but cucumbers and squash often have to be hand pollinated.
Josh told me that he once heard that if all of the bees die out in the world, humans would only survive 4 years after that.I make sure that we don't use pesticides in order not to harm the bees, and even though we catch and collect bugs, we would never kill a bee!
Favorite Books this week
Samuel's
The Abhorsen Trilogy: 1. Sabirel2.Lirael3.Abhorsen.
( Fanstasy by Garth Nix)
Isaiah's
1. The Magic Pretzel (Humor by Daniel Manus Pinkwater)
2. The Giggler Treatment (Humor by Roddy Doyle)
Sylwia's
A Drowned Maiden's Hair (Melodrama by Laura Amy Schlitz, one of my favorite books!)
Niedawno moja rodzina i rodzina mojego meza zaczela pisac ktorkie opowiesci ze swojego zycia na internecie.To bardzo jest porzyteczne czyatac moim dzieciom.Samuel i Isaiah duzo sie ucza od swoich wujkow i ciotek.
Dam wam jeden przyklad.Moj syn Isiaiah bardzo nie lubi nosic majtek.Ja mu mowie ze on musi nosic majtki do szkoly bo moze mu spodnie spadna lub sie podra.On mnie nidgy nie slucha.Nawet jak ma ktrotkie spodenki, na lub jak idzie plywac w luznich spodenkach.Ja i maz go prosimy lub mu grozimy a on nadalnie chce sluchac i on ma juz 8 lat!
Ale pare tygodni mojego meza najmlodszy brat napisal ze jak on byl maly to on tez nie lubil nosic majtek.Raz poszedl do szkoly i spodnie mial w kroku podarte i wszycy sie na niego patrzyli.Jak on zauwarzyl ze nie mial majtek i na co oni patrzyli to bylo mu bardzo glupio.
Ja to przeczytalam moim dzieciom i sie dlugo smielismy.Od tego czasu Isiah zawsze nosi majtki.Nawet mnie poprosil abym mu wiecej majtek kupila…
Po angielsku napisalam tytuly ksiazek ktore nam sie w tym tygodniu podobaly.Tez zalanczam zjecia trzmielow w naszym ogrodzie.Tu w Georgia nie ma miodowych pszczol.Zreszta na calym swiecie jest coraz mnie pszczol.Tu gdize ja mieszkam to sa tylko sa trzmiele.Ale ich jest za malo. Aby miec warzywa w orgrodzie to trzeba samemu plytek z jednego kwiatka na drugi przenosic.
Josh mi powiedzial ze jesli wszytkie pszczoly zgina, to ludzie tylko beda zyli na ziemi przez 5 lat i sami zanikna tez.My szanujemy wszytkie pszczoly, osy, i trzmiele.Tez nie uzywamy chemikalji w ogrodzie bo nie chcemy aby trzmielom zaszkodzilo.No i nigdy ich nie zabijamy!
It's almost 3 am and I just got back from the midnight showing of Twilight with my friends.I am not a chick flick fan, but this movie had so much action that I have to rate it as fantastic!
This surprises me, because even though I always read a book before I watch the movie, I only tried reading this book.Each time I read, I fell asleep, it was so boring to me.I'm just not into the teenage drama.So I only got through about a ¼ of the book.I gave it an honest effort, but after sleeping off and on for two days, I had to get back to real life and take care of my kids.
My friends planned a trip to see the very first showing.We packed a car of 8 people and then met up with 8 more at the movie.We had a blast sitting together and laughing.At least I was laughing, especially when Edward said "you want to be a monster like me?"and I responded, "no, I just want to be with you forever"then a few seconds later Bella repeated my words, word for word.Ahh, teenage romances are so predictable.And all the teenage girls know exactly what they want at 17.I sure did…………not! The whole theater was almost entirely filled with squealing teenage girls!
But all in all, the movie was awesome!It had just the right mix of action, romance, drama, and fantasy.
Enjoy the pictures of us the older ladies at the late showing at the movies!
Sylwia
21 Listopad 2008
Film Zmierzch
Jest prawie trzecia rano i ja wlasnie wrocilam z kina z moimi kolerzankami.Bylysmy na filmie Twilight, to chyba tlumaczone na polski nazywa sie "Zmierzch".Ten film jest o ksiazce Zmierzch ktora byla napisana przez mormonke z mojego kosciola.W Ameryce to bardzo slawna ksiazka i wszystkie moje kolezanki z kosciola ja przeczytaly.Film mi sie bardzo podobal, byl doskonaly!
Ksiazka za to dla mnie byla bardzo nudna.Bo byla o milosci nastolatkow i to mnie za bardzo nie interesuje.Ja zawsze czytam ksiazke przed ogladaniem filmu, ale tej ksiazki nie moglam skonczyc bo byla taka nudna.Dla mnie ksiazka za bardzo byla melodramatyczna o nastolatkach milosci. Za kazdym razem jak czytalam to zasnelam.Prawie cale dwa dni przezpalam, wiec tylko ¼ ksiazki przeczytalam bo musialam zajac sie dziecmi a nie cale dnie czytac i spac.
Moje kolezanki zaplanowaly wycieczke do kina w nocy aby ogladac pierwszy film o 24:01.8 z nas razem pojechalimsy samochodem i 8 jeszcze spotkalismy w kinie.Razem siedzialysmy w kinie, zartowalysmy i sie smialysmy.Ja to sie bardzo smialam jad pod koniec filmu Eward zapytal sie, "chcesz byc potworem jak ja?"a ja odpowiedzialam, "nie, ale chce byc z toba na zawsze".Po kilku sekundach Bella powiedziadla dokladnie co ja, slowo za slowem.Romans nastolatow jest taki latwy do przewidzenia.No i wszytkie mlode dziewczyny dokladnie wiedza czego one chca w zyciu.Ja tez tak myslamam jak mialam 17 lat!Ale bylam niedojzala!Cale prawie kino bylo wypelnione piszczacymi mlodymi dziewczynami!
No ale film byl swietny!Byla dobra mieszanka romansu, akcji, dramatu, i fantazji.
Zalanczam zdjecia nas, staryszych pan.Na pierwszym zdjeciu to 8 nas przed kinem a na drugim to dwa rzedy moich kolezanek z kosciola.
Where ever I live, I try to see all of the available attraction with my children.We have therefore visited many parks, zoos, and museums.
A couple weeks ago, for my birthday we met my father in South Carolina and we visited a children's museum called EdVenture, and then ate dinner at a great Indian restaurant.
EdVenture was the funnest museum for children that I have visited so far.The only thing that comes close is the Myrtle Beach Aquarium.At Edventure when you first walk in, there is a two-story statue of a boy. You can climb in from behind and explore inside his stomach, heart, head, etc.Then there was a hands-on exhibit about Timbuktu.The kids fished, rode on a camel, braided hair, wrote in Arabic, sold goods at a market, played the African drums, and even pretended to drive a moped with fake chickens on the back.
Downstairs the permanent exhibits featured a restaurant where the kids cooked and served plastic food and learned about digestion.Then they pretended to be dentist, looked at x-rays and even played a life size game of Operation, to name just a few activities.There was also a kid's size supermarket where the kids "shopped" and could operate a cash register that scanned and beeped.There was a real life size fire truck for kids to play in and there were firefighter clothes and boots to wear.There was a car to gas up, and a kid's size bobcat to operate, among other things.
EdVenture was a truly remarkable and fun filled place.If I lived in South Carolina I would buy a pass and go there often to play pretend.I suggest if you ever drive with small children through SC, that you stop and enjoy a day of educational fun!Just look at the pictures!
The last couple of pictures are from the Indian Restaurant with my dad.He is a big time road biker and he organizes several biking clubs.One club is composed of Polish guys and they all wear cool matching Polish shirts.We all took turns taking pictures in my dad's shirt.
Sylwia
Muzeum Dla Dzieci
Wszedzie gdzie mieszkam to lubie zwiedzac wszystkie atrakcje.Chodze czesto z dziecmi do muzeum, zoo, i innych parkow.
Dwa tygodnie temu spotkalismy mojego ojca w stanie South Carolina na moje urodziny.Tam poszlismy do muzeum co sie nazywa EdVenture, a potem poszlismy na obiad do bardzo dobrej Indjanskiej restauracji.
To muzem to chyba najlpsze miejsce dla dzieci ktore to tej pory znalazlam.Nawet bardziej moim dzieciom sie podobalo niz nasze ulubione Myrtle Beach Akwarium.Jak sie wchodzi do EdVenture to tam jest taka ogromna statula dziecka do ktorej mozna wejsc i pobawic sie w srodku brzuchu, w sercu i w glowie.Tez byla piekna wystawa o Timbuktu.Tam dzieci sie bawily jakby lowily ryby, sprzedawaly warzywa, wchodzily na wielblada, jechaly na motocyklu z kurami, graly na Afrykanskich bebenach, plotly wlosy, itd.
Na dole muzeum to byly minjaturki naszego swiata.Dzieci sie bawily jakby gotwaly w restauracji, jadly, naprawialy zeby jak dentysta, i robily operacje jak hirurg.Tez byl skep w ktorym niby kupowaly i nawet same mogly byc kasjerka.Tez byl tam prawdziwy woz stazacki, i dzieki sie ubraly jako strazaki i w wozie sie bawily. Byl samochod ze stacja benzynowa, i no i inne jeszcze atrakcje.
To naprawde jest wysmienite muzeum dla dzieci.Jesli bym mieszkala w South Carolina to bym kupila bilet na caly rok i bym z dziecmi tam chodzilia sie bawic.Jesli ktos z was bedzie w South Carolina z malymi dziecmi to naprawde warto tam pojsc.Zreszta popatrz na zdjecia!
Ostatnie zdjecia to z naszego obiadu w Indjanskiej restauracji.Tez sa zdjecia zrobione z moim ojcem.Wlodzimierz bardzo jest aktywny i bardzo duzo jezdzi na rowerze.On tez organizuje rozne kluby rowerowe.Jeden klub to dla Polakow.Wszycy nosza takie Polskie koszulki.Robilismy zdjecia we Wlodka pieknjej koszulce.
Ever since I started reading books to my kids, listening to audio books with them, and finding more books for them to read, I have gotten hooked on enjoying children's books myself.Often I read juvenile and young adult books by choice.
I have a couple of recent favorites that I would like to share.
1."Half Moon Investigations" by Eoin Colfer.It was just as entertaining for me and Josh as it was for the kids.And that's the true mark of the good children's book.I recommend this for reading out loud to boys 8 and over or just get it on audio, and let the whole family enjoy the Irish accent as well.
2. "Good Masters!Sweet Ladies!" by Laura Amy Schlitz.This book is one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written.I learned more about medieval life from this book then from any other source and I could not put it down.I even cried.I still think about the characters and their lives.So does Josh.My son Samuel loved this book as well.I plan to buy this book.
When children fist start to enjoy reading it is a good idea to get them hooked on a series.They want to keep reading about the same characters and in the same format.I use 2 main websites that help me search for series of books.One is the mid continent public library.I got this site form my favorite Iowa librarian Betsy.I go to this site just about every day: http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/series/juv/title.cfm?browse=A
When my kids enjoy a particular author who does not necessarily write series, I got to:
For those who are interested, here is a very incomplete list of juvenile series that my boys loved.If your kids like the same kind of stuff, I can make more recommendations by email.I am listing these by the name of the series.In order to find these at your library you will need the specific book title.You can find that by searching the website I mentioned earlier:
Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy by William Boniface
Shredderman by Wendelin Van Draanen
Bunnicula by James Howe
Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley
The Young Adult List
Bloody Jack Adventures by L.A. Meyer
Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix
Stravaganza by Mary Hoffman
Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Artemis Foul by Eoin Colfer
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
Children of the Lamp by Phillip Kerr
Children of the Red King by Jenny Nimmo
I've attached pictures from our trip to the zoo last Saturday. It was fun day with perfect weather, pooping elephants, cute meerkats, and mating tortoises...
Sylwia
Ulubione Ksiazki Dzieci
6 Listopad 2008
Jak zaczelam czytac dzieciom ksiazki, sluchac z nimi ksiazek na kasetach, i szukac im wiecej ksiazek do czytania, to sama sie zainteresowalam ksiazkami dla dziedzi. Teraz czesto czytam dziecinne ksiazki.
Tu pare ksiazek ktore przeczytalam w ostatnim tygodniu co mi sie bardzo podobaly:
1.Ksiazka "Fletcher Moon Prywatny Detektyw" napisana przez Eoin Colfer.Bardzo fajna i smieszna ksiazka dla chlopcow powyzej 8 lat.Moj maz i jak tak samo bylismy w tej ksiazce zainteresowani jak nasze dzieci.
2. Ksiazka "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies" napisana przez Laura Amy Schlitz.Ta ksiazka to dla mnie jedna z najlepszych ksiazek literatury dla dzieci.Napisana jako sztuka do teatru na temat zycia w srednowieczu.Caly wieczor czytalam i nawet plakalam.Nadal jamoj maz myslimy o zyciach tych ludzi.Samuelowi tez ta ksiazka sie bardzo podobala. Mam zamiar kupic te ksiazke.
Jak dzieci zaczynaja lubic same czytac ksiazki, to dobrze jest im znalesc serie ksiazek, bo dzieci lubia czytac o tych samych charakterach.Aby znalesc tytuly serji po koleji, ja uzywam pare stron internetowych.Moja ulubiona strona to jedna biblioteka ktora ma wszytkie serie dla dzieci spisane.Tu link do tej strony:
Jesli moje dzieci bardzo lubia jakiegos autora, to ide na inna strone internetowa.Tam wpisuje nazwizko autora i srona pokazuje mi jego/jej wszytkie ksiazki.Tu link do tej strony:
A tu lista po angielsku ulubionych serji moich dzieci.Niestetynie wiem jak poprawnie przetlumaczyc tytuly tych ksiazek.Jesli ktos z was zna jakas strone co tlumaczy tytuly ksiazek z angielskiego na polski, to bym tym bardzo byla zainteresowana.
Ulubione serje syna co ma 8 lat
Myth-o-Mania by Kate McMullen
Dragon Slayers' Academy by Kate McMullen
Five Ancestor by Jeff Stone
Animorphs by K.A. Applegate
Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka
The Zack Files by Dan Greenburg
Eoin Colfer's Legend of…by Eoin Colfer
Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy by William Boniface
Shredderman by Wendelin Van Draanen
Bunnicula by James Howe
Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley
Ulubione serje syna co ma prawie 10 lat
Bloody Jack Adventures by L.A. Meyer
Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix
Stravaganza by Mary Hoffman
Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Artemis Foul by Eoin Colfer
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
Children of the Lamp by Phillip Kerr
Children of the Red King by Jenny Nimmo
Zalanczam zdjecia z zoo z ostatniej soboty. Byla piekna pogoda, slonie sie zalatwialy, syrykatki byly sliczne, a zlowie sie laczyly w pary...
There has been so much talk about change during our last election. Our economy has been changing for the worst, the deficit has been growing, and the dollar has been dropping in value. So I decided that maybe it really is time for a change.
Today, instead of voting for either of the two main contenders, I wrote in and voted for Ron Paul.Now there is a guy who not only talks about change, but lives it.
I'm tired of choosing the lesser of the two evils.My job is to vote my conscience in order to make America a better place for my kids.
Sylwia
4 Listopad 2008
Glosowalam Na Zmiane!
Prez cale te wybory wszycy rozmawiali o zmianach.Nasza ekonomia zmienia sie na gorsza, nasz zad ma coraz wiecej dlugow, i dollar jest coraz mniej warty.Wiec ja zdecydowalam ze naprawde jest czas na zmiane.
Jak dzisiaj glosowalam to nie zaglosowalam ani na Obama ani na McCain.Ja wpisalam innnego kandydata Ron Paul.On nie tylko gada o zmianach ale on zyje zgodnie z tym co mowi.
Nie chce mi sie glosowac na lepszego kandydata z dwoch zlych.Musze glosowac tak jak mi sumienie mowi, aby ulepszyc moj kraj dla moich dzieci.
For the last 4 years the kids have been asking me to decorate the outside of our house for Halloween.I never did it, because I did not have the money, and I did not know how to decorate without making the house look dark and gory.
There are two schools of thought about exposing kids to the gross and gruesome.The first is to protect our children from exposure and to avoid it at all cost.The second is to let them look at skeletons and goblins once a year on Halloween, so that they can get the curiosity out of their system and go on with their merry lives for the rest of the year.
I have not decided exactly what I believe on the subject, but I know that I don't like looking at devils or bloody chopped up bodies myself, so I try to avoid that kind of stuff.I also decided not to let my kids dress up as very evil characters (with the exception of Darth Vader…because he does change at the very end, and because it's too hard to argue against Star Wars when you have 3 boys.)
But anyway, this year I decided to finally give in and decorate. I took my friend Ashley along to help me shop.We bought a pumpkin, some orange lights, spider webs, a large spider, and a ghost….and then there was the skeleton.I hesitated.If I bought the skeleton would I send the message that dead people with chopped of heads are ok too? No, they are not, so where is the line? Then Ashley solved my problem by finding a sign that said "Autopsy Room".And then it came to me like a revelation.I could hang the sign, the skeleton, and a picture of my husband, the wacky doctor!
I really enjoy Halloween here on Fort Gordon.The weather stays warm, almost everyone give out candy and decorates, kids and grow-ups dress up, and tons of kids come around.It is a happy time.One of our neighbors goes really out.Last year he was a very handsome Frankenstein, and this year he was Elvis.He made everyone dance and sing before they could have some candy.
Since moving here Josh and I decided to dress up every year.This year Josh was the Avatar Aang and I was Katara, characters from our all time favorite TV show—the Avatar.Avatar is Grace's, Nephi's, Isaiah's, Samuel's, Joshua's and my all time favorite show.I normally don't buy movies(a big waste of money), but we bought all 3 seasons of Avatar and we watch it all the time!
Samuel and Isaiah wore their favorite costumes that grandma sewed for them, the Egyptian god Horus, and the bat.Nephi is still on the Spiderman kick, and Grace was supposed to be a witch ballerina, but she misplaced her hat.After we made our rounds, Nephi's favorite thing was sitting on the porch and giving out candy, while Samuel and Isaiah played outside with their friends.
Sylwia
2 Listopad 2008
Dekoracje na Halloween
Przez ostatnie 4 lata dzieci mnie prosza abym udekorowala zewnatrz naszego domu na Halloween.Do teraz nigdy tego nie zrobilam bo nie mialam na to pieniedzy i tez nie wiedzialam jak to zrobic bez wstretnych zeczy jak smierc, krew, itd.
Dobrzy rodzice maja najrozniejsze opinie o strachach na Halloween.Niektorzy nie chca dzieciom nic strasznego lub wstretnego pokazywac.Inni mysla ze jeli raz na rok dzieci popatrza na strachy to nie beda reszte roku tym zafascynowane.
Ja nie wiem jaka jest moja opinia na ten temat, ale ja sama nie lubie bardzo wstretnych zeczy jak diably lub ciala bez glowy z ktorych krew leci.Ja tez zadecydowalam ze moje dzieci nie moga sie przebierac za bardzo niegodziwe postacie (oproz Darth Vader z filmu Star Wars ?Wojna Gwiazd?, bo Darth Vader na koncu sie zmienil, no i tez ja nie chce sie klocic o film Star Wars z trzema synami. )
No, ale w tym roku zdecydowalam kupic dekoracje na Halloween.Poszlam z kolezanka Ashley do sklepu.Kupilam dynie, pomaranczowe swiatelka, pajaka, pajeczyne, ducha…i zobaczylam kosciotrupa.Zawachalam sie.Jesli bym kupila kosciotrupa, to myslalyby moje dzieci ze krwawi ludzie bez glowy to tez ok dekoracja?Nie takich dekoracji u nas nie wolno, wiec gdzie jest granica?Ale zaraz Ashley mi pomogla bo znalaza napis " Pokoj Autopsji". I wtedy mialam pomysl jak udekorowac nasze drzwi z tym napisem , z kosciotrupem, i ze zdjeciem mojego meza-- szalonego lekarza autopsji.
Ja bardzo lubie Halloween tu na bazie Fort Gordon.Jest zawsze cieplo, duzo ludzi rozdaje cukierki, dzieci i dorosli sie przebieraja, i bardzo duzo dzieci chodzi od domu do domu po cukierki.Tu jest bardzo wesolo.Jeden naszych sasiad bardzo swietnie sie przebiera. W ostanim roku byl przystojnym Frankenstainem, a w tym roku byl przebrany jak Elvis.Kazal kazdemu potanczyc i zaspiewac przed otrzymaniem cukierkow.
Po przeprowadze tu do Fort Gordon Josh i ja zdecydowalismy sie tez przebierac na Halloween.Josh byl postacia Avatar Aang, a ja bylam Katara tez z tego samego programu telewizijnego "Avatar".My nie ogladamy telewizora ale kupilismy ten program na dyskach, choc ja nie kupuje filmow. Ale to jest naszej calej rodziny ulbiony program.2 letnia Grace tak samo to lubi jak 32 lenti Joshua.Zawsze ten program ogladamy.
Samuel i Isaiah przebrali sie w stroje ktore babcia Nancy im uszyla pare lat temu--Egipski bog Horus i nietoperz.Nefi nadal jest Spiderman, a Grace miala byc babajaga balerina ale zgubila swoj kapelusz.Jak zebralismy troche cukierkow, to Samule i Isaiah bawily sie na dworzy z kolegami, a Nefi bardzo lubil rozdawac cukierki.
