30 Days Hath September!

Can you believe it's the end of September? Here in Spokane we are enjoying an Indian summer and I LOVE the warm afternoons & then being able to snuggle under a comforter at night when it drops down into the 40's.

I always have to share this poem for the last day of September. Enjoy the day!

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
February has twenty eight alone
All the rest have thirty-one
Except in Leap Year, that's the time
When February's Days are twenty-nine

Spiced Slow Cooker Applesauce

Today was a good day for creating something yummy in the crockpot. I'd gotten a bunch of apples from the Serve Spokane Food Pantry (David and I work there twice a month.) so I wanted to make something with them. This recipe was super easy. If you could only smell my kitchen at the moment -- delicious!

Spiced Slow Cooker Applesauce (allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 8 apples - peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions

1. Combine the apples and water in a slow cooker; cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours. Stir in the brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice; continue cooking another 30 minutes.

Type 1 Diabetes and Ian

This week's lesson: Type 1 Diabetes and Ian

Location: Spokane's Sacred Heart Hospital and home

This Tuesday found Ian at Sacred Heart's Emergency Room with a very high blood sugar level of 600. From there, he spent 2 days on the 7th floor, getting excellent treatment (and no sleep!) and learning how to deal with insulin injections and food choices. We were glad when he got to come home and we all had a good night's sleep!

I'm proud to say that he is adjusting well, even looking up recipes that look tempting to try. We're all eating healthier and I think it's going to be an even healthier lifestyle change for us.

Thanks for continuing to pray for him and for your support of our family!

Happy first day of school!

It'd become a tradition in our house to do a "first day of school" photo. Not having kids in school for awhile, we'd gotten out of practice.

Not anymore! Today was OUR first day of school. I'm a part time librarian for the Spokane Schools and David is doing a teaching practicum in Orchard Prairie School District. (He'll be doing his student teaching in February and graduating from Whitworth Univ in May.)

A very fun day of meeting kids today and learning what our jobs are all about. I can't recall the last time I read the same story three or four times. I had seven classes with at least 22 in each class, ranging from Kindergarten to 3rd grade. I have a bunch of names and faces to learn, but how exciting to share my love of reading and learning with all of them.

David tagged-team taught with his master teacher. He even brought science notebooks home to make teacher comments for the kids. Poor guy, he has college class tonight -- it's his PE methods class and boy, do they learn to play all of the games the kids learn. (I keep telling him that he's an ADULT and not to break anything! One guy broke his foot last week. Just sayin'....)

I have five or six classes tomorrow and then I'm off to Goldendale to be with Jen, Brad and Easton for the weekend. I'll be checking on current children's literature ideas, though. What's your favorite kid's book?

What's for Dinner?

A really quick no recipe version of Beef Stroganoff!

hamburger, chopped onion, can of cream of mushroom soup, Greek yogurt, elbow macaroni, pepper

Brown the hamburger with the onion and drain; add soup, yogurt and sprinkle of pepper; stir well and thoroughly warm up mixture; add cooked pasta. Stir again and serve.

No complaints from the peanut gallery here tonight. Ian came back for two helpings!

A Sweet Boy and His Puppy

Yesterday was Easton's last day at his first house. I wanted to take a picture of him in his bedroom and Baylee the Beagle decided she needed to be a part of the picture, too. L-O-V-E this picture of them!

Phase 1 of Jen and Brad's move is almost complete. We worked hard Saturday and Sunday to get things boxed up & moved into storage. Their house in Yakima should close on the 7th of September and then we'll do Phase 2 and 3. (Phase 2 is prepping the house to move in...sanding floors, etc. Phase 3 moving boxes again into the house! Strength training at its finest.)

This morning I'm enjoying the last vacation Monday morning (the Beagle Boys and Manchas are barking up a storm!) with a cup of coffee and some cool temperatures. I need to plan my menu for the month, make a shopping list and check out sales. Watering the garden, picking the ripe tomatoes and the oops, grew too big zucchini. Just kinda puttering and then it's off to school to see what's taking place at the library. Excited to get started.

Happy Monday!

It's a fun sub start job!

Yippee! I had a phone call from the sub desk today. I'm going to sub start as a part time librarian for the first three weeks of school. The cool thing is I'll be back at Bemiss, where I taught first grade last year. That means I get to see all of my kiddos!

We're spending the rest of the weekend with this cutie and his parents. They're packing up their duplex and moving to Yakima as soon as their house closes. What a long process this has been.

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter & Jen starts teaching @ West Valley HIgh School in Yakima and I'll be at Bemiss in Spokane. Let the school year begin! (But let us enjoy the nice summer days for a lot longer!)