Willlow Glen Craftsman For Sale

Happy New Year!

We have all the new photos up on the website www.kreshel.com and have added links for all our Peripatetics. Check them out.

Instead of hosting our own pictures this year Jay tried out Picasa. It hosts the pictures for you, allows you to do slideshows etc and you can buy the photos from Shutterfly if you want. We will try to stay more on top of keeping photos updated. But, you know how resolutions sometimes go, so bug us if the pictures get stale!

~ The Mom (Karen)

Bonavita Crib for Sale

FOR SALE - White Bonavita “Lisa” Crib with Pottery Barn Crib Mattress - $150 obo

Our son is moving on to a big boy bed and we need to make space.

Crib is in excellent shape. Crib comes with all hardware. It is white with slats. See pictures for full details.

The mattress is 2 years old and has had a mattress pad on it the entire time. No stains or tears. Looks new except for some fraying (1/4 inch) on a trim seam. No impact to mattress functionality. Non smoking and pet free home.

You are welcome to the fish aquarium seen in the pictures too; bedding not included.

Buyer must pick up crib.

Please contact Karen at 408.293.5475 or karenkreshel@yahoo.com if interested.

Krebu Catalog Collection (The KCC)

We have created The Krebu Catalog Collection (The KCC), a web site of online shopping resources that we consistently use to buy goods and service for our family. If you are like us, you have identified a handful of companies that you go back to for purchases. We use this page as our launching point, and we think that you should too.

Many of these vendors have agreed to give us monetary credit for purchases that we, and our friends or relatives make that originate from this page. So, if you are planning on making any online purchase, and want tp support the Krebu Kids as they prepare for College, please book mark this page and use these links.

Please pass this web address www.krebu.com to any of your friends or family members too. We could use the traffic.

Business Success Through Learning

Here is an article that I wrote about how to build Business Success into an organization through Learning!
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Organizations have linked their business success to many factors including sales and marketing genius, unparalleled customer satisfaction, talented and dedicated employees, strong 3rd party partnerships, and stellar leadership! While each of these are certainly valuable assets to have in any company, reaching these heights can rarely be done without what I consider the key underlining commonality to each of the above: Learning. READ MORE

Protecting Daddy

In spokane over the weekend, the family stayed at the Kreshel house. Per usual, the place was streaming with people - Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Family Friends, Neighbors. They were here to both celebrate Mom's (Jerry) 60th birthday as well as see those family memebers that came in from out of town (Jeff, Stephanie, Brian, Anna, Jay, Karen, Creighton, Easton, Kim, Shara).

Shara, our cousin came in from Colorado. They brought with them a gift for Creighton's Birthday / Christmas. The gift was a Mini Hockey Goal Set. For a 3 year old, it is a perfect size.

So, Creighton, Brian (Creighton's Cousin) and I were outside playing. Really it started out as Brian and I starting to play, Creighton sort of followed beside me and just watched.

OK. Brian took a whack at the ball, missed and hit me in the foot. I said (ouch). Brian stopped. Creighton, though, thought that Brian was intending to hurt me. He stepped between me and Brian and then whacked brian with his Hockey Stick. I mean he truly stepped in to defend me. I could tell that he was angry, defensive and concerned. So I quickly gave him a hug and assured him that Brian wasn't trying to hurt me.

Good boy!

~ JPK...

Scuba Dude

Jay and I took Creighton to Downtown Willow Glen's Trick or Treat event (It was Easton's nap time, so he said at Tamien). His costume turned out great. Everyone loved the scuba diver, although I think Creighton enjoyed it best...

~The Mom

Basketball First for Two

Tonight was both of the boys' first professional basketball game. Creighton watch a lot of the game. He had just a BALL with his cousins. He even made it down to the front row at one point to watch the game.

Easton played hard for three quarters visiting everyone and ended up crashing about 3rd quarter and loved snoozing in his cousin Shara's arms.

I even think Grandma enjoyed the event. About 65 of her friends and family were able to join us for the game/party and I don't think she even minded having her picture on the Jumbotron for all of Spokane to see.

~The Mom

Surprise

We all headed to Spokane today. We surprised Grandma K with a 60th birthday party at the Spokane Arena. The Seattle Supersonics played the Portland Trailblazers. And the Sonics even won! We had a spot overlooking the court called the Spotlight Landing and it was also right under the Jumbotron, so it was fun to watch the game and turn around and see it on the BIG screen too. The folks at the Arena really took great care of all of us. We believe we were the first event to use the Spotlight Landing during an NBA game. We highly recommend it.

~The Mom

Glodeo

Earlier in the month, we took our family Peripatetic down to New Mexico. We saw the 2005 Alburquerque International Balloon Fiesta. On our Journey, we took along Ernie Wright and his friend Michelle Stratton. You can see some of their photo's from the event, as well as Karen and Jay's photos.

I was also able to find this footage from the evening "Glodeo", an event where many balloons line the field and hit the gas, lighting up their envelopes (balloons).

If you are interested in seeing a balloon festival for yourself, I suggest waiting for the big one next October in Albuquerque... But if time is of the essence, you can get a list of other nation wide events here.

"The 405

I found this little film clip a few years back and really liked it, so I thought that I'd share it again. Its called "405 The Movie".

Check it out. Click here to see the clip!

That one kid!

Remember that one kid that used to play on your soccer team that had really good ball handling skills and could juggle but was tapped out at the other important skills of the sport? You know, shooting, passing, moving, running, jumping, etc.

We'll here he is showing off his abilities.

Sitting

Standing

Cougars

Grrrrrrrrrr.

Coug it - Defined?

More "Couging it"

What's all the hype about Skype?

Recently, eBay made an acquisition of a company called Skype. Skype is a peer to peer telephony company. They have figured out how to create clear phone calls over the internet. Yes, you can make phone calls from one computer to another computer anywhere in the world. All you need is a set of speakers (or headphones) and a microphone. Actually, there are computer ready headsets with an earpiece and microphone in one device.

The great thing about Skype is that its FREE. Its FREE for one Skype user to call another Skype user.

Its also easy to implement. All you need to do is:

1. Go to the Skype website
2. Download the software
3. Set up your account
4. Call me for Free!

If you want help installing the software, click this link to understand the steps.

Once you have set yourself up with a skype account, you can add Karen and Jay to your contact list. Jay's Skype account is "jkreshel". Karen's Skype account is "kkreshel".

And Remember, its all FREE!

~ The California Kreshels

Halloween spirit and cars?

I was looking through some weblog sites tonight and I found this link that showed something about the spirit of Halloween. Its called In the Spirit of Halloween. Skip past the crap on the top and go straight to the article. Make sure your speakers are up. Its hard to hear. Check it out!

~ The California Kreshels

Soup!

So, I woke up with a tickle in my throat the other day. I went to the cabinet and grabbed the container of Airborne, the mystery herbal remedy that is supposed to suppress any flu like symptoms before they come into being! So, after chugging a small glass full of orange-ish flavored water (including the little alka-seltzer like bubble sediment), I went off to work. Later that day, I continued to feel that itch in the back of my throat, only now, I also felt a little thumping in back of my head. So, I took two Tylenol tablets to get the headache to go away. So, when I continued to feel my throughout scratch every time I swallowed, began timing my steps based on the rythic thumping in my skull, and added a new symptom of a cold chill encompassing my spine, well, I was surprised and disappointed!

OK, done whining! Lets talk remedy.

Soup! Yes Soup! Soup is good. It's warm. It's southing, and is typical when I get sick, its filling after going several hours without food! mmmm. Soup.

And what kind of soup you may ask? Well, there are three answers!

1. Tomato Soup. Tomato soup could simply be the worst food on this planet (close second might be catsup - yucky). I remember when I was young, my mom would make some sort of Tomato soup when she was sick. Perhaps its psychological. OK, obviously its psychological, but still!
2. Noodle Soup. The old Cliche. If you're sick, eat Chicken Noodle Soup. Now for me, I like noodle soup. Not the chicken part so much, but the hot noodles are good. And if you drain out the water from the dish, and eat it with a grilled-cheese sandwich, it can be good. There are three challenges with it though. (a) Finding out the right amount of water to put in the noodle soup is always difficult. But who wants to pull out a measuring cup for water. And if you don't, you end up with a diluted or too strong of a soup base. (b) Clumps of powdery substance. Often if you don't stir the soup enough, you end up with gloms of yellow speckled soup base. Not good on the end of a spoon, and not even good with a grilled-cheese sandwich. And everything goes with cheese! (c)
3. Broccoli Cheese Soup. Yes. The answer! Here's why... Broccoli Cheese Soup when its warmed to the right temperature (a little on the hot side is good) is mmm tasty. You get your vegetables, you get cheese. It can be southing on the pallet. It warms the body. It provides you sustenance!

Now, don't get Broccoli Cheese Soup mixed up with Cheesy Broccoli soup. At Chili's for example you can get Cheesy broccoli soup. Its pretty good, but not the same as Quiznos Subs. Quiznos has the best soup around. The menu says its just Broccoli, Carrots, and Cheddar. All things good.

So, if you are feeling ill, go ahead and take your over the counter medicines and complete your rituals, but be sure to get your Broccoli Cheese Soup from Quiznos!

What is it?

eBay has a new brand campaign launching this week. You will see commercials for it during TV shows like Desperate Housewives, Lost, Alias, and Ellen plus prominent placement on the World Series games and Monday Night Football. You will also see print campaigns in popular magazines such as Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrate, Cargo, Rolling Stone, Lucky, Time and People.

The Campaign is called "it"! Check it out!

If you're looking to buy anything, check eBay first. And when you do, go through the Kreshel.com website so Karen and Jay get credits (its good for our job security)!

~ The California Kreshels

Bear Hunt

We went on an Animal Hunt today. Creighton's friend, Kai, had his 3rd birthday party and one of the activities was an Animal Hunt, or as Creighton likes to refer to it: A Bear Hunt. There were clues of where to go and at each spot there was a stuffed animal: Bear, Monkey, Lion, Snake and Spider. Once you found the animal, you got a sticker to put in your notepad and at the end of the Animal Hunt, if you had all five stickers, you got an toy animal. It was a great way to explore and get to know the park, especially for first time visiters like Creighton and Easton. It took us around all the playground equipment, field, etc and I think Creighton enjoyed the Hunt.

It was ironic, as this morning prior to the party, when I was blow drying my hair, I heard Creighton calling out to me from the living room. I could not hear what he was saying, so I went out to check on him. He was sitting on the living room couch completely covered by a blanket and told me he was on "A Bear Hunt". (No, he did not know about the morning's birthday party plans, hence the irony.) Anyhow, he said, "come join me on the bear hunt mom", so of course I had to crawl under the blanket too and giggle with him on our "Bear Hunt". Quite the hunter today...

~The Mom

Picking Pumpkins

We went to one of the local Pumpkin Patches this afternoon. We took "all" the boys. This included Creighton, Easton and Creighton's best friend, Thomas. They had a ball. Creighton and Thomas ran up and down the rows of pumpkins, occasionally jumping the rows of pumpkins to get to the next aisle.

Easton thought he was in ball heaven. He kept trying to pick up the pumpkins and throw them like he does with the balls in the house. We were a little early as the patch was only half set up, but I don't think that dimished the fun that they had.

We all picked a pumpkin to take home with us, and even visited the local chicken coop to listen to the "ba ba baak".

The patch we go to is the one that we have visited every year since Creighton was born. It's just a stand off the side of the road, so when you are taking pictures you have to be sure to shoot away from the road to give you a sense of being out on a farm, but at this age the boys seem to have just as much fun as if they were at one of the bigger Pumpkin Festivals in the area. And the traffic is much better.

~The Mom

Now That is Home

We took a walk this morning to Downtown Willow Glen. It is about a mile each way and on Saturday mornings they have the Farmers Market. So, while we are there we hit the crepe stand and view the booths. This morning was even more eventful as the Willow Glen High School had their Homecoming Parade. We were able to see the police cars, Hummers and High School Floats (mostly oriented around Disaster Relief, Habitat for Humanity, Katrina, etc).

Anyhow, it was a great morning and as we returned to our house, we were around the corner and a house away when Creighton told us "we are near our house". It was great. We had him get out of the stroller and show us where and he lead us around the corner and home. Comforting to know he recognizes and knows where home is.

~The Mom

The Last Straw

So, Easton has decided this morning that he can suck. A straw that is. He picked up Creighton's straw sippy and used it successfully. We are one step closer to never needing to carry Baby Equipment with us when we are out of the house! Just asking for a straw. Seems restaurants carry those more often than they do extra sippy cups!

Of course for around the house, the straw sippy is the way to go. However, he also likes to shake the sippy after drinking from it, so he (and the comforter) is currently covered in water. I did a little research and found some leak proof straw sippys. They come in a couple days. I'll let you know how they work out.

It maybe his first, but we are hoping it's not the last straw.

~The Mom

Creighton - Protecting Easton

At school, Creighton is in a Kindness series. He will often say "the kindness pledge" to us when we remind him to be nice.

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Kindness Pledge
(Sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star")

I pledge to myself on this day, To try to be kind in every way.

To every person, big and small I will help them if they fall.

When I love myself and others, too, That is the best that I can do.
--------------------------------

A part of the series is to ask him about how he can show respect for himself, his parents and the environment. He told us this week that he could show respect for us by "Protecting Easton". So, I think Creighton likes his brother as much as his brother likes him.

~The Mom

Thoughts from Mom

Creighton and Easton continually amaze us with all that they learn and do on a daily basis.

Easton turned 11 months old this week. (He was 11 months on 11/11!) Already he is walking all over the place and diligently working on how to run. His favorite thing to do is follow Creighton around the house. It is adorable to watch. Just this week, while we were getting ready in the morning, Creighton comes into the room carrying his plate and two waffles. (For those of you who have seen him in the morning, he LOVES his Blueberry Eggo waffles for breakfast.) Anyhow, right behind him toddles Easton carrying, yes, you guessed it, an Eggo waffle. (He only has four teeth, but this does not stop him from eating any table food we provide.) Creighton proceeded to sit down on the rug to eat his waffle and Easton quickly squatted and plopped himself down next to him. Within seconds, they were both contentedly eating their waffles. Mind you, this is all without direction from either of us. Apparently Creighton had picked up not only his waffles, but got one and gave it to Easton too. We could only barely contain our laughter at how cute the two of them looked.

More later...I will try to put up something at least once a week on the boys to keep you all "in the loop".

~The Mom

Kreshel Peripatetic 2005: New Mexico

For the New Mexico Peripatetic, we built ourselves quite a nice little journey down to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

We have put some pictures out on our Kreshel.com website where you can see some of the pictures that Karen and I took.

The trip was great. We rented an RV from a place called Family RV. The vehicle itself was nice... 32 foot C-Class machine. Room to sleep 8. The service from the place wasn't great, but all in all, we got there and back safe and sound! If you want to buy one for yourself, you can check eBay Motors.

We took our family of four (Karen, Jay, Creighton, and Easton. In addition to our little family, we were lucky to have Jay's uncle Ernie and Ernie's girlfriend Michelle join us. Ernie did most of the driving on the trip. Michelle did a lot of the cleaning and some of the cooking. But those duties aside, Ernie and Michelle were just great travel companions for us. The Kids, Creighton and Easton had a blast with the two of them. It was nice to have Ernie there to get to know his Great-Nephews. We would definitely invite them down to hang out with us again (hopefully they feel the same!).

At the Balloon Fiesta, we spent 3 days witnessing a series of events, including: Mass Ascensions, Special Shapes Glowdeo, Competitions, and 3 nights of Amazing Afterglow Firework Shows.

An awesome Performance!

... The California Kreshels!

Welcome to the Kreshel Communique... Blog Edition

This document reports the historical happenings of Karen and Jay Kreshel as they strategically maneuver through the early years of their marriage.

We have rounded out our marriage with two handsome boys (Creighton P. and Easton Ames).

We have our house with white picket fence and all. We have the big SUV (sorry, no minivan). And, we have our two incomes. Yes, we both work in the Internet eCommerce space (eBay.com)

We are happy, organized, and enjoying our lives! Our Kreshel Communique is meant to be a collaborative, interactive tool for you, us, and whomever else to participate in our lives. Please feel free to comment where applicable, and keep in touch with us and others as we grow!

...The California Kreshels