Author Archives: we4keenes

I got an Instant Pot for my birthday. I love it. Pressure cooking, it turns out, is really efficient and easy. I love that it cooks simple things I use often really well, like brown rice and quinoa, but it also does a great job with meats, chicken, fish, and stews. I haven’t tried yogurtContinue reading “Friends of Instant Pot”

It’s a tradition! We love spending a day at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup every September. We haven’t missed a year since JT was born. First stop: scones. The kids wanted to ride some things, so we picked out bumper cars to do first. JT and Jim were wearing their matching hats, thanks toContinue reading “Do the Puyallup”

School started for JT on September 7th, but Haley had to wait all the way until September 12th. Brutal! I am so excited for JT’s year. He has two awesome, job sharing teachers – and his morning teacher was a good friend of mine starting in about fifth grade. You know, 25 years ago. SoContinue reading “First Days of School”

I have no pictures to record it, but Jim completed the Black Diamond 70.3 long course triathlon on Saturday! (The kids and I were home for JT’s first soccer game, so we missed it – sad.) That’s a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. Ouch! We are so proud of himContinue reading “Triathlon Weekend”

We’ve been a little busy not being busy! Last week, the kids and I checked all sorts of things off my summer bucket list. First, we went biking in Jackson Park. It turned out, JT loved the bike jumps and had a great time. We also enjoyed playing “Follow the Leader” through the forest –Continue reading “Ending Summer”

Friday, August 26th was my last day in Kent School District after 15 years as a teacher. It felt like a mini retirement, especially since I’m leaving public education. For Kent, I taught second, third, fourth, seventh, and eighth grade. My first students have long graduated college and are off finding their way in life.Continue reading “Last Day in KSD”

For her birthday gift, Haley got a new Power Wheels Jeep. The big deal is that JT decided to sell his Power Wheels truck so he could help pay for her Jeep. It was very, very sweet. It didn’t come until two days after her birthday, so we were excited to give it to herContinue reading “Haley’s Jeep”

Haley had a great time turning six. We started the day with her requested breakfast: pinkalicious pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, egg and cheese omelets, and bacon. She also said she wanted to open her gifts from her immediate family at breakfast. So we got up and got going because we were planning toContinue reading “Haley Turns Six”

We had another wonderful 11 days at Banks Lake with Grandpa and Grandma Keene, the Bonnell family, and the Jaime family. There were some major milestones while we were there, which I’ll post about separately. Meanwhile, here’s a Sway with some of my favorite photos.

Jim and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary while we were at Banks Lake this past trip. Wow! It started off with perfect weather, which was really fun. We went out and skied, just the two of us, and the lake was the best we’ve seen it all summer. So that was awesome! And thenContinue reading “15th Anniversary”