beach camping

There's no time like a Friday night after the 1st of week of going back to teaching 1st graders in addition to the normal back to school craziness of your own kids to blog, right? I'll be honest to tell you that this last summer wasn't our easiest for several reasons. Although we were thrilled to sell our house in 4 days, the stress of finding a new home and the wait time of escrow is not for the faint of heart. But we are in. The right house was found and is a hot mess, but we are in.

We left for beach camping, came back, and moved the next day. We cray cray like that, yo.

Beach camping.

It is my cup filling event of the year. And I'm not a camping girl. But, I'm a rent a trailer, sit on the beach kind of girl so it all comes together.

The beach is Switzerland in our family. Everyone is neutral.

I'm already waiting until next summer.

Much love,
Katie

we hate cancer

5 years ago Kevin walked into our home that was in the midst of witching hour and told me within seconds that he was just diagnosed with melanoma.

Time stood still for us as we wept and clung to each other in the entryway of our home. Meanwhile 5 year old Luke, 2 year old Charlie, and 6 month old Jack continued playing in blissful ignorance of the news that he just dropped.

I didn't know much about it. But, I knew it was the skin cancer you really didn't want to have.

It  turns out that the so very tiny freckle that kept on bleeding, was a deep cancerous tumor.

Kevin let it go for awhile. He thought it was just a freckle that kept getting scratched when he was getting dressed, surfing, etc.

The initial biopsy came back negative, but his dermatologist had a nagging suspicion and took a bigger sample to biopsy which came back positive.

As the oncologist said best, "If she didn't do that, you'd be a dead man."

Two invasive surgeries later and finding out that the cancer had spread to a lymph node, Kevin started a year of grueling treatment.

This spiraled us onto a new life path. Although he has been cancer free for 5 years, the long term prognosis is that his cancer can come back at anytime, anywhere. We have moved forward, but cancer is a lurker.

Melanoma is a beast. If you don't catch it early, it is hard to treat and the recurrence rate is high.

So it is with our story that I encourage you to be sun safe. Don't post photos of your sunburn on Facebook. Be preventative all year long. Wear your sunscreen. Use an umbrella at the pool, beach, or lake. Wear a hat and protective clothing. Get your skin checked.

Please.

Not only will you hopefully live longer, but you'll look cuter too!

Much love,
Katie

just in time for july 4th

A few days ago, my father-in-law generously shared a large bag of peaches with us.

While we adore peaches, we don't love them enough to consume multiple peaches per day in order to keep them from ending up as mushy moldy fruit.

I have to admit that cooking is chore for me. If it was not for the direct threat of my children and husband starving to death, I'd elect to remove dinner as a meal option and eat a bowl of cereal each night.

However, baking is an entirely different story, friends. Don't tell anyone that I sliced the peaches without taking the skin off first, which meant that I had to take the skin off the hard way.

Slice.

By.

Slice.

Behold, peach pie.

I didn't quite have enough enough crust to fully connect the bottom and top crust so the juice bubbled through, but trust me, if it happens to you, it won't change the fact that this pie will whisper your name and tell you that it is okay to have a 2nd piece. Not that I know anything about that.

Follow this simple recipe and you will be on your way to pure deliciousness.

I have one confession, though. I cheated this time and use a box recipe for the crust. Here's a great crust recipe that I make when I bake apple pie. It is from my father-in-law. He's a professional chef so he knows his pie crust.

Enjoy your 4th of July!

Much love,
Katie

7

My Charlie is 7 today.

He is such a blessing in so many ways.

Charlie fixed my broken heart after two miscarriages. I was not sure if we'd ever have another baby.

He is gentle boy who is squished in between two rambunctious brothers. I admire his ability to handle them so well. Don't get me wrong, though. The kid has some spunk.

We call him Fun Time Charlie because the kid is always up for anything and makes even the most mundane days an adventure.

Happy 7th Birthday Charlie.

We love you more than you will ever fully know.

Much love,
Mom

It's been awhile

We're in full summer mode. The end of the school year was nuts. NUTS. NUTS. NUTS. Is there anyway to make it less crazy? We finished t-ball and then went full force into the eye of the end of the year storm: parties, awards, and the performances. I super love all of that for sure. After all, I teach 1st grade kiddos, but it all leaves me exhausted. Are you with me? If not, can we agree that you'll keep it to yourself to preserve the mental stability of us worn out mamas?

 (Jack's pre-k class performing a rainbow song...he's in purple)

 (Luke holding the "clap" sign)

(Luke's 4th grade award ceremony)

Summer has consisted of VBS, swimming, cub scouts bridging ceremony, movies, swimming, board games, swimming and a little more swimming on top of that.

 (Luke had the honor of switching Charlie from a tiger to a wolf)

 (Luke and his best friend getting ready for a skit)

Summer days are sometimes trying, but they are always the best

Happy summer to each of you!

Much love,

Katie

guest posting at hannah's happy days

Hello Friends!

I know it has been awhile. Although I still read all my favorite blogs in the early morning while I drink my coffee, I have found that after teaching 1st graders and then tending to my family leaves me too exhausted to write. I miss it. Which is why I am SO excited to be over at Hannah's, Happy Days, with a  guest post about motherhood. I love Hannah to pieces. I'm sure you are familiar with her, but if not, please check out her beautiful blog here. 

Much love,
Katie

easter 2013

My kids take their egg dying seriously; hence the straight faces.

I should say the same about their egg hunting. They don't mess around when there is candy at stake.

We had a fun day celebrating Easter with my side of the family. Sun, family, delicious food...what a perfect day. Well, it was a perfect day minus my mischievous 5 year old pouring green Gatorade on my sister's white car. Fortunately for him, my sister handles those things much better than I do!

I hope your Easter was filled with blessings and joy. 

Much love,

Katie