sweet pictures

Happy Birthday Boy!

Easton October 2011

Easton and Oma in December

Brad, Jennifer and Easton October 2011

Ian, Brad, Easton and Jennifer Dec 2011

It's official!

I'm officially a librarian for Spokane Public Schools! I was hired yesterday, signed all of my papers and I'll be ready to go on Monday. I'm only part time but it gives me time to still sub in the classrooms & take time off to be with Easton on Fridays.

L-O-V-E my school and the staff and the students! It's going to be a fantastic year.

This weekend I'm in Yakima with Easton so stay tuned for some more cute pictures. Ian and Brad went to Seattle to watch the Sounders and Jen is working today. So Easton and I are hanging out together. Right now he's working on a nap and I'm finally updating my blog.

Happy Fall weekend!

October 10 on 10

Hello! I had the sweetest little boy at my house this weekend so I'm going to share pictures of him for my 10 on 10. Only one photo was taken today, but that's ok! Enjoy~

Worth his weight in gold -- all 21 pounds

Easton and his daddy

Pumpkin Patch kid

Hello, Mr. Sheep!

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

A few of Easton's friends

Checking out the pumpkin

Sleepy boy in the pumpkin patch with Oma

Just listening

Today's lunch time with Oma before Easton went home

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!)

Advice for Myself

I'll offer this to all of my friends, too, for those tough times.....but for now, I'm claiming it as my own advice.

"If I only had a brain....."

This morning's rush out the door was to get to the neurologist for a quarterly checkup for MS. I can almost do all of the tests by myself; it's become that routine in checking for anything new or different. I'm not doing an MRI this year due to there not being any change in the last year. Pretty stable, which is great.

I found a yard sale on my way home from the dr's office. I only had three dollars so I was hoping for some sweet little deals. Yep, I found them. A pretty blue tall metal pitcher for my outside table. Perks up that little spot quite nicely. Two rustic reindeer tea light holders...cute! And a small birdhouse that fits in with my other two birdhouses on the piano. I look at my finds and they make me smile so three dollars well spent.

Checking out a new Pho place in town. It's a Chinese place that went out of business and now they're offering $5 Pho. Carrie (from Whitworth) and I are going to try it out before she heads to work. We'll let you know how it is!

Happy Friday!

Facebook

Tonight I'm saying goodbye to Facebook for at least until Christmas. The pain I've felt the last week has been too much and it's better to be off of FB rather than feeling sorry for myself because I don't have a lake place, a boat, a teaching job, no exotic vacation, big bucks in the bank to play with, etc. I'm going to focus on what's important and healthy for me. I miss being a part of people's real lives & being invited to share in the activities of the summer. It gets pretty lonely.

Keep in touch with me through my blog, email or phone messages. I'll post pictures and recipes here.

Kerri

A Week @ Lake Kachees (nestled in the Cascades of WA)

It was finally our turn for vacation. David was done with school for three weeks and we'd "reserved" the Gilbert's cabin for a week. Jen, Brad and Easton were able to join us for three days and our friends Jim and Jackie scooted over from Spokane for a night, too. Fun and quiet week. Lots of berry picking, walks, card games, sunshine, book reading and naps.

Kerri, David and Easton

A sweet baby boy with his Oma

Easton and his daddy at Gale Creek

Easton (8 months) on the stump

The end of July

Wow, this month zipped past. I've spent the last few days watering the garden area and the berry patch A LOT. We've been getting tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and the last strawberries. David and I picked 3 gallons of raspberries at Greenbluff. I am making raspberry sorbet and jam tomorrow or Tuesday. It's H-O-T so I'm trying hard to pace myself. Last week was a constant but fun on the go schedule -- dentist, lunch with Charlotte, a day at camp with Melissa, a dr appt, tea with Celia and a few farmers' markets. I LOVE fresh vegetables and fruits & boy is it a challenge to make sure they get eaten right away. We can only eat so many meals. Last night dinner was shrimp and clams that I'd purchased from Spokane Public Market...David bbq'ed them....and then the second round of dinner was crunchy potato salad. SOOOO good! Tonight it's corn on the cob (Spokane Farmer's Market) and pork tenderloin...both on the bbq.

David and Ian are going to the Spokane Indians game tonight so I'm going to brave the temps and turn on the oven to make a peach tart! Peaches are from Wapato and once Jen & Brad move to Yakima, we're going to be visiting Wapato for peaches to can. Another yum!

Moving Smart: "M" IS FOR MONKEYBARS: Getting Ready for Writing

Moving Smart: "M" IS FOR MONKEYBARS: Getting Ready for Writing

July already.....

Hi, everyone! We are half way through summer vacation. Thankfully. summer and the sun showed up. The last full day of school we had indoor recess due to rain!

Here's pictures of our sweet little Easton. He's 7 months already.

What does this summer hold for you? I'm looking for a teaching job, working in my yard and playing with Easton. Not a lot of traveling except a quick trip to visit Lisa in TX and then a cabin vacation on Snoq Pass in August. It's the same cabin we honeymooned at 27 years ago so it'll be great to go back after being away from it for a few years. I can't wait, especially since Easton (and his parents) gets to go with us!

One of my recipes got chosen for the Gooseberry Patch cookbook "Fresh from the Farmstand." I love their cookbooks and having my recipe "Sensational Springtime Salad" in their upcoming book will be wonderful. It's my yummy recipe for asparagus, smoked turkey breast, pineapple and strawberries. Definitely a springtime salad since we love the asparagus to be tender and thin for the recipe. If you get a chance to use any of their cookbooks, you won't be disappointed. I've been cruising through "Comfort Foods" and thinking about making a few things from it.

Tonight's dinner was Spinach Enchiladas, a recipe from a dear friend in Germany. I had lots of chopped spinach to use up so I made pepperjack cheese enchiladas and then spread the spinach cream sauce on top. Meatless and delicious! It makes a big pan so we'll be eating it for a day or two. I usually like to make this recipe for company but when the ingredients are screaming "use me!", you make the meal.

(I made sausage and spinach manicotti last night and it's in the freezer for another day!)

What's been happening in your life?

Weekend of Memories

Good morning!

It was the Susan Komen Race for the Cure event yesterday. A group of us walked in memory of our sweet friend K'Anne.

And Easton was with us this weekend, too. He's 5 months today! I was getting ready for the race in this picture and Easton wouldn't smile for anything. He's got an aversion to the camera because he'll smile right after you put it away. Love this little guy and can't wait to see him next weekend for Easter.

HAPPY GROUNDHOG'S DAY!

Yipppee! Puxatawney Phil didn't see his shadow today so it will be an early spring. This is one of my favorite whimsical types of days to celebrate. I think I'll pick up some daffodils for my office at school. Cheery and springlike, even it's only 14 degrees in Spokane this morning.

Glad you're here!

I've been busy with that sweet little Easton boy, plus being a Math Intervention teacher at Lidgerwood Elementary. I see about 5o kids a day, rather than having my own class. It keeps me hopping!