Time flies when you're having fun.

We have had some fun since my last post of more than 8 months ago! We've also had some difficult times. Here's what we've been up to:

January/February: Another year has passed since my cousin Melissa went missing. We continue to pray for closure. We celebrated 3 birthdays between the 2 months. There were field trips & tee-ball registration.

March/April: Addison's 3rd birthday was celebrated, along with my mom's birthday & my parent's anniversary. My brother & his family came to visit for a few days (yay!) and tee-ball practices started. Ian was in his first parade for Little League opening day. He did great!

May/June: Celebrated Ian's 6th birthday! and my mother-in-law's birthday as well. Enjoyed watching Ian play tee-ball & had my nephew off & on for a week. Ian graduated kindergarten & won the "best handwriting" award! We also had to put my Grandma in the hospital for a strep infection. She was there for a month & then placed in a nursing home up north. We have been looking for a place for her closer to us, but keep waiting for something to open up.

July/August: We have been making trips to see Gram. She is fairing well. Her dementia has kicked in full force. It's hard to see her not remember things. So far, she still recognizes people, but does have a hard time recalling names. We took her to a family reunion & she was able to see her sisters & 2 of her out of state daughters. Aunt Bobbi came home for the reunion & married her longtime boyfriend in a quiet ceremony on a small lake. It was beautiful! She continues to fight her cancer & has remained postive throughout. The kids were sick for 2 weeks straight with a virus. No symptoms other than a high fever that lasted 5 days each. I've been canning, as is par for the course this time of year. Keith had a staycation again & we were able to make it to the Erie Co Fair this year. Ian had a blast on the rides! Addison, not so much. They had to stop a ride & let her off because she was crying! We also had our annual ABF picnic at the lake. It was fun despite the rain. We're also getting ready for Ian to go back to school & for the MOPS year to start.

I'm sure I have forgot some things, but that's what's been happening around here!

Smoothies

Ian has a thing for smoothies lately. Can't say that I blame him, they're fantastic. Except I had no real way of making him one and I'm not willing to pay good money for one. Somewhere out there, I read that I could use my food processor to make them. Yeah, not a good idea. Nothing really pureed well enough and they were too thick to drink.

So, what to do now? Smoothies are so healthy & any way I can get more fruits & veggies in my family is great. I decided I was going to research blenders. There are way too many choices for blenders! I read reviews, compared features & thought I might lose my mind! So, I just gave up & decided to go get one.

My mom gave me $50 for Christmas, so I set that as my budget. Have you checked blender prices lately?!? For something that just makes food drinkable, they want an awful lot of money! Anyway, I found one at the local bed & bath store in my price range (-ish). AND, I had a coupon (which turned out to be expired & I pretended I didn't notice & they used it anyway!). So, I spent $51.83 on this beauty (IN BLACK), and we've used it just about everyday since we got it. It's fantastic.

Cuisinart® SmartPower™ 7-Speed Electric Blender

My next wishlist item is a good Belgian Waffle Maker. Any suggestions?

So, what have we been up to?

It's been almost 6 months since I last posted! Needless to say, we have been quite busy. Ian started Kindergarten in September and he's had a wonderful experience. I am so glad we chose a private Christian school. Driving back & forth to school has taken up most of our time, but has been well worth it. There have been field trips, parties, a Christmas program & a book fair so far. I love being able to help at school!

Addison & I have had some great Mother/Daughter time while Ian's at school. We really haven't had much time for that before. She is quite the little princess & loves to pretend!

I have also been busy with Northgate MOPS as I continue to help as the finance person on the steering team. The fellowship with other moms is awesome! It's a great time to just recharge & grow. We have also participated in some wonderful service projects this year, including making food baskets for our Teen MOPS moms.

Keith still works at the farm. Not much has changed in that respect. His boss seems to be gone quite a bit on business, so that keeps Keith on call and has been difficult on family time. I am thankful he continues to be a valued employee in this crazy economy. He did recieve a nice Christmas bonus this year, but alas, it is already gone as we try to push ourselves toward financial freedom.

We had a nice Thanksgiving & Christmas. My brother & his family came to visit in between. The kids had a riot playing together. I love how they interact now! I wish they didn't live so far away.

We've contiued to stay pretty healthy in our immediate family. Our extended family has had a rough health year, though. From cancer, to broken bones, to life threatening falls, and other ailments along the way, we continue to pray for improved health & safety for both sides of the family.

We have set some goals that we'd like to work on throughout 2011. The biggest one being for our finances. We really want to go credit card free. It's a major step & is awfully scary! But, I know it will free us considerably.

Another goal that I have, is to try a new recipe every week. My cooking passion has grown considerably & I'd like to step outside my comfort zone a little more to try things I normally wouldn't.

So, that's a little snapshot of what we've been up to. Hopefully, I can get back on the blogging train!

Still missing....

On July 4th, a new article came out about my cousin Melissa. Please read it & continue to pray for justice for our family. Here is the link:

Melissa Sue Flores

Mix it up!

Last time I posted, it was about saving money by menu planning. Today I'm posting about saving money & TIME by making up quick & easy mixes. There are lots of ways to do this, but I've focused mainly on breakfast items. I am not a morning person, so any way I can make things easier is great. All you have to do, is spend a few minutes mixing your dry ingredients into plastic bags. And don't forget to label them! Here are a couple yummy links you might want to try: Multi Grain Blueberry Pancakes & Basic Pancakes. Muffins are another great make ahead mix item. I personally like these. I also have Baked Oatmeal as a mix. Here is my recipe:

1 1/2 cups seven grain rolled cereal blend
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 (heaping) teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup total of dried cherries & dried cranberries
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 handful of chocolate chunks
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2-3 eggs

1. Combine dry ingredients in an ungreased 8x8 pan.
2. In a small bowl, mix together remaining ingredients.
3. Pour wet over dry & mix thoroughly.
4. Bake @ 350* for 40 minutes.

Do you menu plan?

We are a one income family & my husband gets paid once a month. Needless to say, we have a tight grocery budget. One of the ways I've recently incorported frugality into our life, is to menu plan. I sit down once a week and plan what we will eat for dinner. Sometimes I even plan 2-3 weeks at a time. I look at the grocery store ad to see what's on sale, then go to my freezer & pantry to see what in there, & this time of year, I look at what's fresh from my CSA, my garden or at the farm market. Once I know what's on sale and what I have on hand, I start making a list of what I'll need for each meal. So, what does my menu look like? Here's a sample:

(I started this week on Tuesday with an easy meal, because I was out of town for the holiday.)

T ~ grilled cheese & tomato soup with applesauce
W ~ black bean chili w/ gluten free cornbread & fruit
> peach** cobbler for dessert <
R ~ grilled chicken & asparagus* & pears**
F ~ spinach* lasagna & salad* w/ pears**
Sa ~ country sweet chicken pizza w/ broccoli & onions
Su ~ hamburgers*** & macaroni salad w/ peaches**
M ~ cajun rubbed pork chops*** w/ roasted potatoes & onions &
applesauce.

I actually did another week & a half, but I figured you'd get the picture.
What do the * represent?
* = something from the CSA
** = something I preserved last year
*** = meat that I purchased in bulk straight from a farmer. (We buy 1/2 a pig & 1/4 beefalo ~ another way to save money.)

So, that is my menu planning strategy. I hang my completed menu on the fridge so I can readily see it. I just use a spiral notebook, but there are some worksheets that may help you plan easily. They can be found here. I also try to take out the meat I'm using to thaw in the fridge once I get things planned. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment & I'll try to answer your inquiry. Happy Meal Planning!

Happy Birthday To My Firstborn!

Today is Ian's 5th birthday! I cannot believe how the time has flown! God made me move out of my comfort zone when He blessed us with a boy ~ what was I going to do with a boy?!? I've learned to look at bugs, dig in the dirt & spend time with the cows at the farm; not to mention that I can name most of the different kinds of tractors! It has been a joy to watch him grow & learn. I can't believe he'll be starting kindergarten this fall! Anyway! Here are some pics to look at:

May 4, 2005

May 2006

May 2007

May 2008

(for the record, he asked for pink frosting!)

May 2009

May 2010

It's a special day!

Happy Birthday Mom! Love you so much! Thanks for all you've done, do & will do! (Happy Earth Day, too!)

Eating Better - Recipe Review

So, as I mentioned yesterday, I'm trying to eat (and feed my family) healthier foods. For Christmas I recieved the book Deceptively Delicious. I've tried some recipes already, but mainly just the easier ones. Tonight I decided to try the recipe for Macaroni & Cheese with Butternut Squash. Even though it looked daunting, it was fairly easy to make. However, it calls for 4 oz. of cream cheese and that is all I could taste. I was not impressed. I might as well have just chewed on the brick of cream cheese, it was that strong. I wonder if you could make it with only 2 oz? Hhhmmm? I'm not sure I'll try, though. One recipe from the book that I absolutely love, is the Chocolate Chip cookies with Chick Peas. YUM!!!!! I cannot eat just one. They're even better fresh from the oven. I'll let you know if I try any more of the recipes.

Weekly Recap

I decided that because I'm so busy and hardly ever home that I would do a weekly recap. Here's what happened this week:

1. I made applesauce. 2 different types of apples. Canned 11 quarts and 7 of them separated. Chucked them down the drain. Don't know what happened, but not pleased that I only have 4 quarts left.

2. We went to the apple farm in the dreary rain. The highlight of Ian's trip was that he got to "go into the apple frigerator which was only 40 degrees!". We got to pick Red Delicious apples which you can't use for anything but eating the way the Good Lord made 'em. I thought maybe I could replenish my sauce reserves with the apples we picked, but apparently not.

3. We had preschool open house, which we weren't supposed to bring the kids to (even though no one said otherwise). It's kinda hard not to when my mom is out of town and my friend Julie, who's my backup, is at open house with her kids, too!

4. I attended calling hours & helped with the funeral dinner for a young man who died way too young. His mom (mentor) & ex-wife (mops mommy) are part of our MOPS group. He had a motorcycle accident last saturday.

5. Today, I found fresh brussell sprouts at the farm market! SO excited! They are my new favorite food and taste great when roasted.

6. My aunt moved to Tennessee yesterday. The doctor told her she needed surgery to remove the cancerous spot on her liver. They don't believe it has spread, but she'll need chemo in 3 months as well. Please keep her in your prayers.

7. We are meeting with the mortgage broker from our bank tomorrow. We looked at a house we really liked last weekend and want to put our house on the market. Anyone want to live in the Wildlife Refuge? We'll see what happens. If this is in God's plans for us, then He will put everything into place. If not, then we will just keep praying and looking.

So, I'll probably just end up with another weekly recap next time, unless I somehow end up with a little extra time to blog.

Blessings for now!

I'm a blog slacker

I don't know where the time went, but last I knew it was summer and now it's fall. We have dealt with a lot in the last few weeks. Illnesses & vacations & school starting; it's all so time consuming.

So what's been going on in the Keberle household? Let me tell you:

1. I had the WORST bronchial asthma attack ever. I could not breathe and had to have steroids. My breathing improved, but I still was congested and had to do the anitbiotic thing.
2. I had an abdominal ultrasound & Upper GI to make sure there is nothing wrong with my digestive system, because of some pain I've been expriencing. More than likely, it was just anxiety attacks.
3. Ian started preschool & is doing great with it. He's a little clingy when I drop him off, but is fine once he gets in the room. His class is going on a field trip to an apple orchard next week. He has homework assignments! He has to cut out pictures relating to the color & letter of the week. Oy! I don't even have magazines! I had to borrow some from my mom.
4. Our new MOPS year started, at least for the steering team. It's going to be a fun year and we have a couple new moms, which is fantastic!
5. My grandma came down for my cousin's funeral, so we had a nice visit while she was here. Tried to talk her into moving down this way when my aunt moves to Tennessee.
6. Just found out that the aforementioned aunt had a follow up scan from colon cancer treatment and the doctor found a spot on her liver. She's going to have another scan and surgery, but that's all we know for the time being. She still plans on moving.
7. My nephew turns 1 this coming saturday. Happy Birthday Joshua!

There's probably lots more, but I can't think of anything right now. I still owe you pictures from our trip to the cape. Hopefully they'll get posted soon.

caught off guard

I was totally caught off guard today. My dad called me after church to let me know that my cousin, J'Michael, had passed away. Although it is quite unexpected, there is some background to his death.

About 2 years ago, J was skateboarding home from somewhere (I don't remember whether is was a friend's or work) and he was hit by a car. He wasn't wearing a helmet and he suffered head injuries. He was in the hospital for a while and was left with sproadic seizures.

He just got married recently and his wife found him this morning. He had a seizure, then fell & hit his head. He was 28; days away from his 29th birthday. He lived in San Diego, near his sisters. His mom (my mom's sister) lives in Hawaii. I met J once when I was 8 and we went to California for a vacation.

He will be missed. For all he was and all he could have been. We loved you J'Michael. I wish we could have known each other more.

vacation ~ part I

Very late last night we got back from what was supposed to be a relaxing trip to Cape Cod. Keith, myself, our 2 kiddos & my mother-in-law. Drive out Sunday, drive back Friday. Miss 2 hurricanes. Simple enough.

Or so you would think. We had all of our plans in place.

Hurricane Bill gone -check.
Free lodging - check.
Swim gear - check.
Suitcases packed - check.
One toddler w/ a throat virus -check.

We went on vacation with our sick toddler, who was at the doctor saturday before we left. The dr then called, after we were already in MA to say it wasn't a virus, but strep. We then ended up with a sick 4 year old & a sick daddy. We spent the 1st 2 days @ the local urgent care facility, pharmacy & on the phone w/ the uc in Rochester. AND, a grandma who was counting the days on the calendar until she came down with strep. (I haven't even gotten it & I live with them!). So we kind of laid low until Wednesday.

Once everyone who needed them was on drugs, we started our vacation. A week that was supposed to be spent on the beach, included precisely 2 hours of beach-going. We did however visit quite a few museums & ate a lot of ice cream. So, it wasn't very relaxing, but it was nice to spend time with family. For some reason it seems that being sick at the ocean is easier then being sick at home.

I did manage to take a few pictures which I'll post later.

Summer Busyness

I cannot believe how fast summer is going! We took a trip to Northern NY to visit family for July 4th and then made our way down to visit more fam & friends in Ohio. Since we returned, we've been harvesting nature's bounty. I've canned jam a lot! and froze berries as well as eaten a ton of yummy veggies. Peaches will need to be canned next and I'm hoping to try my hand at my friend Joce's blueberry syrup. We are also planning a trip to Cape Cod at the end of this month. (Thanks to Keith's generous uncle, who has a house out there.) I can't wait to show the kids the ocean; Ian will be amazed! Pictures will follow.

An upcoming adventure

In 2 1/2 weeks we will be embarking on an adventure. Where to? We are going to Dayton, Ohio to visit my brother, sister-in-law & nephew. Maybe a few friends, too. I am so excited because we rarely get to see each other.

On the other hand, I'm not so excited because we'll be traveling with our 2 little ones. Ian is recently potty trained so that means more stops because of his little bladder. A 7 hour trip could easily become 10,12,15..... You get the picture. Addison is still in diapers, but hates the car seat! When she's had enough, she screams bloody murder until you get her out. It is not pleasant!

So, in the meantime, I will be praying that our trip is safe, but also that we hit nap times just so. A sleeping baby is a happy baby!

I will have pics of our adventures to Ohio and the many things we'll do while we're there. We are planning to at least go to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery and the National Air Force Museum. (Yum, astronaut ice cream.) Maybe we'll hit the Cincinnati Zoo. None of it matters, though, as long as it's spent with family. (I'm sercretly hoping to go to the Mongolian Grill & I hope we don't eat @ Waffle House!)

Addison Jael & Mommy

People have always said that Addison looks like me, and she does. I just didn't know how much until my mom found a picture of me @ the same age Addy is. (Sorry the pics are a little blurry.)

Michele:

Addison:

change of plans....

So, I was planning on telling you a story this weekend, but my plans got changed. I'll have to tell a different one.

Friday afternoon I was planning to have a relaxing weekend. Not do too much, ya know? Well, my mom called me at 3pm to tell me that my grandma was in the hospital with chest pains and did I want to ride along to see her. My grandma lives in Potsdam, NY. We, live near Rochester. It's a 5 hour drive on a good day. I was not about to take the babes with me. So, I called my hubby and asked if he could have Saturday off from work. Praise the Lord, he said yes! He stayed home with the kids.

My mom and I headed out Friday evening, spent the night in Watertown & then proceeded to Potsdam in the morning. We went straight to the hospital, where we sat for 41/2 hours waiting for the doctor to tell us what's going on. My grandma was the LAST patient on his rounds. He finally came in and told us that she had had a bad asthma attack, but she should have a stress test to rule out anything else. He then proceeded to send her home..... (We did not know that my grams has asthma! When did a doctor ever diagnos that? My gram needs a new primary care doc.) We got her set up with a nebulizer and she was fine. Oy! What a weekend.