All posts by KME

Aunts and Uncles, Family, Grandparents, Joshua, Project 365

Michigan Family Time

Sarah and I are in Michigan to enjoy some time with my mom as she recovers from her hip replacement. The surgery “just happened” to coincide with a dear friend’s wedding. I was already planning on coming to Michigan in October to attend the wedding, spend time with my mom, and see Joshua and Kelsie. Joshua was the best man in the wedding – he and Kelsie drove up from Tennessee to be here over fall break.

A few minutes of relaxing before rushing to the next thing.

A few minutes of relaxing before rushing to the next thing.

When Mom’s surgery was scheduled for the end of September, it worked out beautifully for my aunt to come for the first week of recovery time, and then Sarah and I to come for the next two weeks. So many sweet things came together – we got to see my mom’s twin sister, we had time with Joshua and Kelsie, we got some relaxed, intentional time with Kelsie (my beautiful future daughter in law), we were able to attend David and Christianne’s wedding, we shopped for wedding outfits, we pampered Mamie, and then we had time with my brother and his youngest daughter.

Sarah gets some loving from Aunt Kate!

Sarah gets some loving from Aunt Kate!

Wow!

Not sure why I haven’t been blogging all of this. Just know there has been joy. There have been some tears. There has been a lot of reminiscing and talk of my beloved (and SORELY missed) dad. There have been even more giggles. Quite a bit of ice cream and other delicious food. Sweet discussions on faith and life. Quiet moments of Bible study. Painful stretching and hip exercises (we ALL do them with Mamie). Other silly video workouts. Good chocolate. Visits with Mamie’s INCREDIBLE friends. And more.

It was hard being gone for Tim’s birthday, but we managed to celebrate him here in Michigan.

We missed being with Tim on his birthday.

We missed being with Tim on his birthday.

We love you, Tim!! Happy Birthday.

We love you, Tim!! Happy Birthday.

And he was obviously thoroughly spoiled on his birthday back in Washington. We are a blessed and loved family! A huge thankful to all of our friends for stepping in and partying with Tim in my absence.

Tim and David have been surviving just fine without us (somehow). Hopefully they haven’t been spoiled so much by my sweet friends that they don’t regret us returning home on Tuesday.

Kathy – more to follow
Project 365 – October 7th & October 8th

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Daily Life, Project 365, Recipes/Food, Sarah

Fresh Spring Rolls

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By Sarah

Today, for my special day with Dad, we set up a bank account for me and went to the store on a mission. Our mission was to buy ingredients for homemade spring rolls. Our hope was that we could make homemade peanut sauce and spring rolls to surprise Mom. But, when we received the call that she was coming home, we decided to let her in on our secret.

As soon as she got home, she jumped with joy at seeing the ingredients arrayed out on the counter and we quickly explained our plan. She pounced on our plan with excitement and we got to work. We soon finished making the peanut sauce and started on readying the rice paper. We laid the rice paper in warm water and waited… Faster than we thought, the rice paper softened and we laid it softly on a dry towel. All the spring roll fixings were not so neatly put on the counter; lettuce, cilantro, baby shrimp, shredded carrots, and Thai basil.

Spring roll fixings

Spring roll fixings

We assembled, ate, assembled some more, and even more eating, and finally most of us were full. MOST of us. Mom, well just wasn’t quite. She could eat those for days and never grow tired of them.

Mom with her fresh spring rolls

Mom with her fresh spring rolls


Mom eating her beloved spring rolls

Mom eating her beloved spring rolls

Well, I must say that these spring rolls were a huge success and I wouldn’t be surprised if we made some more tomorrow.

Project 365 – Day 269
Sarah

Ps. Oh and eventually Mom filled up on spring rolls and reluctantly tore herself away from the kitchen, so no need to worry about her.

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Daily Life, Project 365

School and Cats

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Somehow we have become a family of cats. Not just one cat, but two cats live in our home and deign to let us take care of them. Of course, they have snuck into our hearts and we love them.

Most of us anyway. Tim tolerates the cats and insults them when he thinks we’re not listening. We all know he secretly loves them.

For some values of the word “love.”

Marco (Sarah’s rather large, fluffy, always hungry kitty) appreciates the time we take to do our daily school reading. He almost always comes up on the couch with us, finds a snuggly spot, and settles in for a nap.

School, art, and Marco

School, art, and Marco

David and I fight to have just the right spot for Marco, but inevitably he picks Sarah as his reading/napping buddy. Rachel’s cat, Misty, doesn’t usually join us for school. She prefers to nap upstairs in whatever sunny spot she can find. We all know she’s waiting for Rachel to come home. Which won’t be until Christmas, so it’s a rather long wait. Don’t worry, Rachel, Misty passes the time patiently.

A random blog post for the day.

Project 365 – Day 259 (Sept 16)
Kathy

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Sarah Cooks – Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole

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We’re continuing with our meal planning. Hooray! It’s not difficult, but does require me to make an actual plan. The wonderful thing is that Sarah has gotten to the age (and experience) where she can do a good portion of the work.

And, it turns out, if you abandon her, say, and go off to a meeting, leaving her with a recipe and ingredients and strict instructions to feed her father and brother, she can do all the work!!

Gathering the ingredients

Gathering the ingredients

I had a Board meeting for our homeschool co-op, and I left Sarah with instructions to make dinner.

"Let me see if I understand everything here."

“Let me see if I understand everything here.”

She did beautifully – read through all the directions before I left. Gathered all the ingredients – again, before I left. And prepared dinner.

"I've got this, Mom! Go to your meeting!"

“I’ve got this, Mom! Go to your meeting!”

I got a text from David in the middle of my meeting.

“Oh, Mom! I am soooooo stuffed! I ate so much of Sarah’s dinner. It was delicious!!”

Hooray, a success. Obviously I didn’t take any pictures of the final recipe (since I was gone), but it was taken from Pinch of Yum website and turned out perfectly. We used slightly less peppers, but otherwise followed the recipe.

Note to readers – MAKE THIS RECIPE!! So tasty.

This recipe was so yummy! I’m definitely adding it to our rotation again. I have found wonderful recipes on the pinchofyum site. And her photography is gorgeous! Visit this blog as soon as you can – it is a delight to the eyes and the palate.

Can’t wait to see what Sarah makes next!

Project 365 – Day 251 (Sept 8)
Kathy

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Daily Life, Daniel, Friendship, Project 365

For You, Daniel

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Today we are here to feature a few of Daniel’s Favorite Things

Cause we’re thinking of you, and we miss you, Daniel!!

wpid-20150910_130118.jpg

Friends – Daniel’s good friend, James, came over to visit David today

Games – David and James played DC Comics Deck Building, pretty much Daniel’s favorite board game.

Food – and they all ate homemade mac n’ cheese. Definitely Daniel’s favorite side dish of all time. He once got a huge pan of it as a Christmas present (top gift of the year).

Sport – not just any Frisbee for Ultimate, but a Worldview Frisbee.

This blog post is for you, Danny Boy! We miss you. The only thing we forgot was a can of ReddiWhip and some Minecraft. LOL!

Hope you’re having a great time at school!

Project 365 – Day 253
Kathy

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