He's got seven candles today...

It's time to celebrate for Pierre Barsaloux (Jewel Barsaloux) today as he has his 7th birthday.   Hope you have a fun and happy birthday, Pierre!

Guess that explains a lot of things....

The English language has some wonderfully anthropomorphic collective nouns for the various groups of animals.
We are all familiar with a Herd of cows, a Flock of chickens, a School of fish and a Gaggle of geese.
However, less widely known is a Pride of lions, a Murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens), an Exaltation of doves and, presumably because they look so wise, a Parliament of owls.

Now consider a group of Baboons. They are the loudest, most dangerous, most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive and least intelligent of all primates.
And what is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons?
Believe it or not ....... a Congress, that much explains the things that come out of Washington, doesn't it? 

It's "happy anniversary" today for Doug & Dawn (O'Donnell) Inman as they celebrate nine years...and three munchkins.  Happy anniversary, Doug & Dawn...maybe grandpa and grandma will babysit tonight so you can have a nice dinner out? 

Traffic stoppers (or accident causes)

These bus photos from different countries are definitely eye-catching, but one would think they'd be cause for accidents as well as people would definitely be looking at them instead of the road....some very clever ideas indeed.



It's her special day today....Lexi Dupont (Mike & Brenda Magnuson Dupont) turns 7 today, which hopefully means a special treat and privileges at school today as well.  Have a great birthday, Lexi!



Of course he'll study today, mom and dad....

It's a birthday today for Erik Nelson (#19) (Kevin & Julie Korkowski Nelson), and we are just positive that he will be hitting the books and not engaging in any sort of crazy birthday celebration, right??  Maybe he can do both...heavy on the books and light on the crazy birthday celebration...happy birthday, Erik!

Erik Nelson



As we near the end of the golfing season, a bit of humor (or fact for some!)

These greens are so fast I have to hold my putter over the ball and hit it with the shadow. ~ Sam Snead
I was three over. One over a house, one over a patio, and one over a swimming pool. ~ George Brett
Actually, the only time I ever took out a one-iron was to kill a tarantula. And I took a 7 to do that. ~ Jim Murray
The only sure rule in golf is – he who has the fastest cart never has to play the bad lie. ~ Mickey Mantle
I don’t fear death, but I sure don’t like those three-footers for par.. ~ Chi Chi Rodriguez
After all these years, it’s still embarrassing for me to play on the American golf tour. Like the time I asked my caddie for a sand wedge and he came back ten minutes later with a ham on rye. ~ Chi Chi Rodriguez
The ball retriever is not long enough to get my putter out of the tree. ~ Brian Weis
Swing hard in case you hit it. ~ Dan Marino
My favorite shots are the practice swing and the conceded putt. The rest can never be mastered. ~ Lord Robertson
Give me golf clubs, fresh air and a beautiful partner, and you can keep the clubs and the fresh air. ~ Jack Benny
There is no similarity between golf and putting; they are two different games, one played in the air, and the other on the ground. ~ Ben Hogan
Professional golf is the only sport where, if you win 20% of the time, you’re the best. ~ Jack Nicklaus
The uglier a man’s legs are, the better he plays golf. It’s almost a law. ~ H G Wells
I never pray on a golf course. Actually, the Lord answers my prayers everywhere except on the course. ~ Billy Graham
If you watch a game, it’s fun. If you play at it, it’s recreation. If you work at it, it’s golf.. ~ Bob Hope
If you think it’s hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball. ~ Jack Lemmon
You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work. ~ Lee Trevino
I’m not saying my golf game went bad, but if I grew tomatoes, they’d come up sliced. ~ Lee Trevino

How did this sneak up on us?

My calendar, and the recent cool evening temps, tells the tale....today is the first day of fall.  Ah summer, we will definitely miss you....but, bring on the meatloaf, baked squash, and apple pie of autumn...



More birthday candles again today

Another birthday celebration again today....Chad Hanson (#32) hopefully gets to kick back and relax a bit on his special day.  Wishing you the best, Chad...happy birthday!

Chad Hanson



The action's in Florida today

Birthday cake and ice cream in sunny and warm Boca Raton today as Andrew Majhess (Joe & Jennifer Korkowski Majhess) turns 5.  Will he be excited today?  You can count on it!  Happy birthday, Andrew Carl...

Andrew Majhess



The Korkowski frizz is alive and well...in Florida!

It's such a hoot to see genetics pop up here and there in the family, and the Korkowski (or should I say Lambertz?) hair frizz is still going strong!  Here's a picture of Ellie Grace Majhess (grandma Grace would be so proud!) with her wild and wooly hair being agitated by the Florida heat and humidity.  Cute as a bug!

The birthday chair today...

Lots of birthdays in September, and today another one...this time it's Sr. Cordy Korkowski (#72) who has her day in the limelight.  We know it'll be a day of celebration for her...happy birthday, Cordy!

Another birthday....and, one day closer to retirement....but who's counting??!!  Cliff Korkowski (#69) has many reasons to party...a birthday of course, the sale of one house and purchase of another, and then there's that retirement in sight.  Wow....a lot to celebrate for an old guy!  Happy birthday.....

A simple way of life....

On a recent Saturday morning, we drove up to Wadena to check out an auction that my sister had seen advertised...the Amish were selling goods with all the funds going to the school.  The yard and field were teeming with things for sale, but the best part of the whole scene was looking at the Amish people, especially the children, as everyone did their job.  With no electricity to help them, the women and girls could be seen in the large 'kitchen' producing a steady stream of pies, doughnuts and other baked goods.  The tables in the adjoining room were full of these goods to be purchased.  I so wanted to take a picture of the work in progress but knowing their hesitation re: picture taking, I did not try to do so.  However, I did snap these little ones scurrying behind their dad to go see the livestock that was going to be sold later, and also snapped a picture of the Amish 'parking lot'.  No gas needed for these buggies!

Real 'horse'power

Yup, that's Andrew alright!

The following note came in last night from Jennifer Majhess to report this 'funny' from Andrew (almost 5).

Just because out of the mouths of babes is so priceless and so fleeting, I need to share.
Andrew and classmates at school have been reading various 'versions' of 'The Gingerbread Man' in school.  However, what Andrew excitedly reported to me last night was, "Momma, Mrs. Jones is reading us lots of gingerbread 'virgins'. "

Two birthday girls

Two birthdays for today....Deanna O'Donnell has a landmark birthday today with 30 candles on her cake, and little Alyssa Korkowski (Nate & Edith Korkowski) will have three candles to blow out.  Have a great day....

Deanna O'Donnell



Alyssa Korkowski

An annual tradition...

Every year, the five Korkowski sisters gather at various locations to spend a weekend talking, laughing, eating, and perhaps even a bit of imbibing as they catch up on each other's lives.  This past weekend, they were in the hometown area and stopped by to see Norb & Donna...and to play a little footsie!  Can you match the feet to the right people??

Is that hair growing on the one leg??

Rose Peterson, Faye Magnuson, Sr. Cordy Korkowski, Donna Korkowski, Annette O'Donnell, and Theresa Krentz

Rose Peterson, Faye Magnuson, Sr. Cordy Korkowski, brother Norb Korkowski, Annette O'Donnell and Theresa Krentz

WebCam 101 for seniors...

If you've watched television in the last couple of days, you may have seen parts of this video which was captured when an older couple was trying to learn how to use their new webcam.  Unfortunately (for them!), they didn't realize it was recording while they had their funny conversation.  When a grandchild came at a later time to help them, here's what she discovered...and the rest is history!   Thanks to Andrea for sending my way....hopefully it wasn't a nod to my absent-mindedness of late!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcN08Tg3PWw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Today's celebration is an anniversary for Joe & Sue Korkowski as they celebrate year #21 of marriage.  Wishing you the best today.....happy anniversary!



A guaranteed 'smile' for the day....

I almost forgot about this until seeing my note re: putting it on the blog...on Monday of this week, driving back to Andover from the lake, as I was driving east on Hwy 10 near Anoka, there was a good old 'honey wagon' in front of me, and across the back end of the 'honey' barrel it read as follows.."transporting political promises"!  Being I was driving, I couldn't snap a quick picture but I did have to call Cliff at work immediately to ask if he could guess what those words might be on, and he had no idea.  But, we both agreed it was very clever...and very true!!

Big, big mistake on my part....

You know how sometimes your eyes see one thing but your brain is telling you something else?  Well, that obviously happened with today's original posting. When I was posting birthdays and so on last week, trying to get a lot done in a short amount of time...I have no other explanation other than selling a house, buying a house, and packing!!  At any rate, I had today as Rachel Korkowski's birthday..and that is not correct.  Today is Rachel Krentz' birthday (#29).  And, since no one made me the wiser, it was only now when I looked at Facebook that the little birthday reminder told me it was Rachel Krentz, not Rachel Korkowski, who was the birthday celebrant.  Sorry to both of the Rachel's.  Happy birthday, RACHEL KRENTZ!

The beginning of a new school year.....

Thank you, thank you to all those who have sent pictures of their kids going off to school this fall....we love seeing them all excited and ready to go!

From Doug & Dawn (O'Donnell) Inman's house...Logan was so, so excited about going off to preschool that he was the first person in the classroom...even before the teacher!  He didn't even have time to give mom a hug goodbye...he was anxious to get moving...

Logan Inman, preschool

Big brother Sean was probably not quite that eager, but then, he's an old pro at this with him going into the 2nd grade...

Sean Inman, 2nd grader

Over in St. Michael, Natalie Zuidema (Nate & Andrea Magnuson Zuidema) had time for a picture with dad Nate and little sister Courtney before the school bell rang for the first time as a 2nd grader....seems her teacher has a 'special' football in his classroom that opens up to reveal Snickers (who wouldn't love that guy???!!) 

Courtney, Nate & Natalie Zuidema

But, now that big sister Natalie is gone all day, Courtney has decided she'd like a horse after she had her first ever pony ride (nice trade-off...a horse to replace her sister?) but alas, who wants to board it?  Any takers?

Courtney on her new best friend

And up in New York Mills, Haley Korkowski (Nate & Edith) was off to catch the bus for the first time as she started kindergarten....

Haley has been waiting for that big yellow bus to come..and now it's here!

And then it was time to pose for the camera before the bell rang...

Haley Korkowski

Double the celebration

Two cousins share the same birthdate and the same year of birth....Patrick Korkowski and Jill Korkowski turn 36 this year.  That's worthy of a big birthday greeting....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PAT AND JILL!

Patrick Korkowski

Jill Korkowski

Do you see any new age lines?

Now that Donna's 60 plus 1 day, Norb thought we should compare pictures from 'before' and 'after' to see if there are any new crows' feet or wrinkes....what do you think???

Donna "before" 60

Donna "after" at 60 y/o



We remember...

Brothers in force...once there were 8

Memorial at Gerald's favorite blind on top of Buffalo Pass, Colorado the day he left this world three years ago today

A golden birthday

Every birthday is fun and special, but none more so than your golden birthday, and today we have just that....Morgan Thompson (Troy & Brandi Magnuson) turns 12 on the 12th!   Happy birthday, Morgan, on your special day!



To all the grandparents out there.....

We can't let the day pass without wishing all the grandparents in the family a special recognition on this day which is national Grandparents Day across the USA.  Grandkids are the best....you can spoil them rotten, let them do all the things you wouldn't let your own kids do, and then send them home when they've had more than enough candy, ice cream and sodas!

We can never forget....

We can never, nor will we ever, forget where we were or what we were doing on this day 10 years ago....a day we all wondered if the world was coming to an end.  Even though we celebrate some 'fun' things today, it is a day we cannot and must not forget....

Please don't light all your candles..........

A really BIG birthday today for Donna Korkowski as she rolls over to the big 6-0, and that means a lot of candles on the birthday cake.  Maybe skip the candles and just have the cake!!!  Happy birthday, Donna; have a wonderful day!

Probably not a big night out this year....

With the new baby keeping them awake at night, Megan (Korkowski) & Bill Nicholas probably won't be out celebrating their 6th wedding anniversary in a wild and crazy way...maybe more like a pizza at home and early to bed??  And, check out this hot-off-the-press picture of the new family....beautiful!!  Happy anniversary, Bill & Megan....

He was ready...and waiting

Tyler Stark (Mike & Lisa Krentz Stark) was all smiles as he waited with dad for his first day of kindergarten to get underway.  And, then the big moment, getting on the bus...which brought an extra big smile.  Little does he know that will be the start of approximately 15+ more years of school.....

Thanks, grandma Theresa, for sending our way!

A fashionable little girl....

It's great to see the first-day-of-school pictures coming in, and in this case, it was Kiatta Korkowski (Rick & Deize) who was looking very snazzy on her first day of kindergarten.  She scored an A+ with this cute outfit!  (And, every bus driver must have had his picture taken dozen of times on that first day!)



Minnesota? Montana? Where are we?

Look who we ran into this evening when we decided to go to the Corral in Nelson for dinner....across the room, we saw this couple waving at us but really, we had to stop and think a minute because we certainly were not expecting to see Jim & Ronie Floding sitting in a restaurant here in Minnesota!  Seems a cousin of Jim's who lives out near them in Montana called one day and asked Jim if he wanted to go fishing in Minnesota, and without a moment's hesitation, they were on their way.  No driving involved for them personally so it was a win-win situation.  They looked great and wanted to make sure we greeted the whole family...so, "hello, Korkowski family"! 

Cliff Korkowski, Jim and Ronie Floding

Could there be fame and fortune ahead?

If any of you watch America's Got Talent, you know that the final four acts of the season have been determined, and the winner will be announced next week on September 14th.  Show airs on NBC and will start at 8 PM.  (On the day prior, September 13, the final four acts will do their performances, the American public will vote, and then the winner is announced on the next night's show.) 
And, the reason I mention this is that there is an Alexandria connection....two of the young people in one of the final four acts....The Silhouettes (from the Rocky Mountain School of Dance) are the grandchildren of Al & Brenda Kvitek.  Al and his dad Norm operated K&K Sports for years in the area, and of course, there is the connection of Al being my first cousin and Norm being my uncle.  Al and his wife now live out in Neillsville WI, but were out in Hollywood this week for the next-to-last performance...don't know if they'll fly back out again next week though.  The two kids are probably the youngest in the group...Emmy is only 3 and Brady is 7.  Emmy is usually being held by another dance member so she gets noticed in amongst all the bit bigger bodies. 
So, you may have a bit more interest next week if you happen to watch....the winning act takes home $1 million.  We wish them the best!



He's one year older today

Another year older, another candle on the cake....today, Monte Korkowski will be celebrating birthday #25.  Happy birthday..............