Weekend Numbers

5: the number of concession stands we helped set up Friday night for the Holiday Hoop Tournament at 5 schools
4: the number of games Noah played in one day (they won 3 and lost 1, placing 3rd)
1134: the dollars spent on food for the concession stands at Costco by me ( to be reimbursed later after I take back the
unopened cans of nacho cheese sauce and chili)
135: the number of hot dogs sold
39: the number of teams who participated grades 4-8
14: the number of hours spent at the tournament yesterday

I had to be at my station yesterday morning by 7:00 AM to start the coffee and put the gluey nacho cheese sauce in the crockpots to make nachos later in the day. I could feel my intestines tying themselves up in knots just looking at that disgusting yellow goo.

The first games of the day started at 8:00 AM. Noah played at 8, 10, 3, and 7. If they'd won the 7:00 PM game they would have played in the championship game at 8:00 PM. After such a long day the boys just ran out of gas. After shutting down the sites and cleaning up it was after 9:00 PM before we got to head home. It was a very long tiring day. I didn't get to see Noah's first game because the teams who were supposed to run the stand I set up didn't show up so I was stuck there until I could recruit some workers. Despite the stress of not having enough people to work concessions and trying to keep on track of all the games going on at five different sites around town it was a fun day.

But today we've all been lying around resting. The most strenuous activity I engaged in today was putting new sheets on the bed. Tomorrow the Christmas tree comes down and I'll get to work on updating photo albums. Since we went to school through the 21st we don't have to go back till the 7th. It's nice having a long break after the holidays are over.

Merry Christmas

As you can see by the clock in the photo of the aftermath of opening presents we had an early morning. All the presents were opened by 7:00 AM. Video games, movies, and clothes were the most prevalent items. We don't get toys at our house any more. After a breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls we played Kabookii on the Wii. It's a version of the board game Cranium. The kids beat the grownups. Then we watched Zac Ephron, John Travolta, and company in "Hairspray." Our ham feast was followed by a chilly walk around the neighborhood. We had snow mixed with rain during our midday dinner. It definitely felt cold enough to snow during our walk. The Sonics play the Trailblazers tonight so I'm sure we'll watch the game later. Last night Forrest talked to his family since they do most of their celebrating Christmas Eve. I talked to my folks this afternoon in Portland. Today was a nice, quiet day at home. The rest of this week won't be so quiet as we head towards the tournament that our league hosts on the first Saturday after Christmas. It's a one day basketball tournament that runs from 9:00 AM till 9:00 PM. I'm helping coordinate the concession stands at 3 or 4 different sites. I'll be one of those ladies at Costco later this week pushing one of the large flat carts.

Yule Log

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1214148960/bctid1339217473
Check out the history of the yule log TV phenomenon.

Real Trees vs. Fake "Trees"

I am firmly in the real tree camp. We always had real trees growing up. For several years we had live trees which we later planted in the yard. Live trees are very heavy. It's a pity no one every videotaped our efforts to wrestle the heavy potted trees into the house on my brother's skateboard. Later in my childhood we discovered local tree farms where we could cut our own tree. My parents have gone to the same farm for years. The county where we live has several Christmas tree farms. We've tried several of them during our 18 years of marriage. I figure that I'm supporting a local farmer when we choose to cut our own tree, and after the holidays the tree is recycled into mulch for local parks. The only time we've bought a cut tree was one Christmas when Forrest was horribly sick with bronchitis. And even though we didn't cut it down it did come from a local farmer.

Fake trees are not natural. They don't smell wonderful. They eventually end up in a landfill as garbage. Enough said.

I Forgot the Decorating Photos

As you can see the kids had to stand on the back of the couch and on the piano to decorate the biggest tree we've ever had. I had quite the odyssey trying to buy more lights on Sunday. Two months ago when Costco first put out their LED lights I bought a string of 100 soft white lights. That is enough lights for the smaller trees we ususally buy. But not enough for this monster. So I went back to Costco and they were completely out of LED lights. I proceeded to try Lowe's. They were out too. My last store was Ace Hardware where I was finally able to buy LED lights. However, these were bright white, not soft white. There's definitely a difference when you put them next to each other on the tree. I guess December 9th is too late to shop for lights.

Busy Weekend

Two basketball games for Noah, ice skating with friends and taking her written driver's license test for Alyssa, hunting for and arguing about the perfect Christmas tree, and a birthday party for one of the kids Alyssa babysits.

Alyssa passed her test, she'll take the behind the wheel portion on Dec. 27th and if she passes it she'll be officially licensed on Feb. 1st. Noah's team won both of their games. The first one by more than 30 points and the second by more than 20.

Sunday morning dawned cold and snowy. Our house always looks more festive when it's snowing. The Christmas tree farm just down the road was beautiful covered in snow. We tramped through the snow and admired the views. We finally decided on a beautiful 12' tree. It's a gorgeous, full, Grand Fir, very aromatic. The whole house smells great. Amazingly enough we got this huge tree for $25.00. It should have been $35, but the owners of the farm didn't feel like measuring and just let us have it for the under 10 foot price. Since no one plays the piano in our house any more we decided to take full advantage of our vaulted ceiling and place our big tree in the middle of the living/dining room blocking the piano.

The birthday party was at a place called 3,2,1 Bounce. It's a huge warehouse building filled with a variety of bouncy houses, the kind you see at carnivals. It has become a favorite party spot for the kids of our friends. This is the third party we've been to at 3,2,1 Bounce in the past six months. The little cutie Alyssa is posing with is the sister of the birthday boy.

Hey Check out the Elfs click below

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1207634211

Everything Runs Together

Children's sports schedules are crazy. I just paid Noah's AAU basketball fees right after Thanksgiving to the tune of nearly $150.00, and tonight I have to go sign him up for Little League. Then they have tryouts in January and practices start the first of March which is right after the basketball end of season tournament. Football sign-ups are in April with tryouts in May, gear hand-out the last weekend of July, and practices every day for three hours starting August 1st. The month of July is the only month without sports for Noah.

Basketball has the most reasonable schedule. Tryouts in October, practices start in November and the season starts Thanksgiving weekend. I don't understand why baseball sign ups are so early this year. Maybe the league is afraid they'll lose kids to the new arena football league that has sign ups in February, so they're trying to get kids to commit to baseball early. That's the only explanation that makes sense. I think this might be Noah's last year of baseball. He's toying with the idea of participating in track next year when he's old enough to do middle school sports. He'd like to try shotput and discus.

I guess our sports commitments mirror the holidays. Some stores are already marking down their Christmas decor and it's only the first week of December. They have to make way for the Valentine's stuff.

Stormy Beginnings

Wow! December sure has started with a bang. We had snow, sleet, icy temperatures, white out conditions, and slick streets all day Saturday and into Sunday. Today the temperature is 20 degrees warmer than Saturday's high and flood watches are on all the rivers through Wednesday. It's breezy here, but on the Oregon and Washington coast wind speeds over 100 mph have been clocked this morning. Forrest is waiting to see if he'll have flood watch duty any time this week. His shift to patrol the dikes of Skagit county during a flood is 6 PM-6 AM. Hopefully if they're going to send him out tonight they'll send him home early this afternoon to sleep for a few hours. The photos I've posted are from late Sunday morning. As you can see it was snowing very hard, but it wasn't cold enough to stick. Usually we can see the island and Port Susan beyond the trees, but as you can see we were all socked in and our view was hidden.

I'm at school with no children today. It's our report card day. However, since we went to an online grading program that the parents can access all the time I don't have reports to fill out. Right now I'm waiting around for my music and library grades so I can finish updating the online system. Then I'll have the rest of the day to get things ready for my December arts and crafts projects.

Since Forrest and I didn't go away for our anniversary in October as we usually do I took him on an overnight trip to Seattle over the weekend for his birthday. We had a great time Christmas shopping, going out for coffee, eating out, and seeing the beautiful Christmas decorations.

Thanksgiving Weekend Fun

What a great weekend! My folks came up for the holiday bringing good cheer, dressing, pumpkin pie, and a new way to play cribbage. It's a tabletop version which Alyssa and Noah picked up quite quickly. I am not a visual learner so I struggled with visualizing the play. They helped us out by taking the picture that will accompany our Christmas cards. I won't post it here since most of my readers are family members and you'll be receiving a photo with your card.

Mom and Dad got to attend the first two games of Noah's Turkey Shoot basketball tournament. The team lost their first game to their arch rivals in a heart breaking contest. I was miffed by the officiating. None of Noah's teammates went to the freethrow line at all during this game. The other team went many times and won by 11 points. The second game was Noah's best of the weekend. He had a double-double, 12 pts. and 16 rebounds. Noah's team ended up with a 3-1 record for the weekend. We got to spend lots of time with our basketball friends whom we'll be seeing every weekend till the first of March. It's a good thing we all get along so well. They're a great group of people.

On Saturday night we went to an Apple Cup party to watch the annual WSU Cougar game vs the Washington Huskies. It was a partisan crowd full of Coug fans. The game was exciting down to the final whistle. Forrest made the mistake of drinking his friend's concoction called a Touchdown. The mixer is Red Bull energy drink. I don't know what kinds of alcohol are in it. But obviously it didn't agree with my hubby and he has asked me not to let him ever drink Red Bull again.

Alyssa and one of her babysitting clients, precious little Chloe, put up my Christmas decorations between basketball games. They did a beautiful job. Forrest put the lights up on the house and the place looks very festive. Alyssa also helped me shop for presents for most of my nephews and my one lone niece.

All in all a very full and fun weekend.

The Future

I had a vision of the future this morning. It was actually a vision of my sister's future with her three boys. Noah had a two brothers, aged 11 and nearly 14, spend the night last night. Noah is as big as the older boy. As I watched these two tweeners and the teen wrestling on my family room floor I pictured my sister's house in a few years. Her boys are 4, 7, and 10. With long legs flailing and big feet kicking I was prepared to be repairing lamps or furniture. The boys plus Alyssa went through a gallon of milk and a gallon of juice in the past 24 hours. I just went grocery shopping yesterday, and I need to go again.

Noah is finally growing again. He went from May through October without adding any inches to his height, he was stalled at 5'4" for five months. He's now grown an inch in the past month. His new basketball shoes are size 13. I'm sure glad I only have one boy to feed. If I had three that eat like Noah I'd have to take on a second job.

Good luck Michelle!

Holiday Plans

We've finally made our holiday plans, and we've told both sides of the family that we're staying home for the whole holiday season, Thanksgiving through New Years. Usually we alternate holidays, Thanksgiving with one family and Christmas with the other. This year we're staying home. Our families are welcome to join us. Noah can sleep on the floor in Alyssa's room and guests can use his queen bed.

We're tired of trying to travel, attend Noah's holiday basketball tournaments, and have some quality rest at home. We often return to work exhausted rather than rested after the holidays. The price of gas, traffic, and the weather can make the journey to see our families miserable.

As a child we spent most of the holidays at home, in Portland, just the five of us. I got to see my friends and enjoy my time off from school. We've spent a few holidays at home during our 18 years of marriage, but we've never stayed home for the whole season.

Another reason we're staying home is that Forrest is going to be traveling for work a lot more in the coming year. The county has tapped him to take the training necessary to become a bridge inspector for the public works department.

So all of you readers who are also relatives, give us a call and let us know when you're coming and Noah can change the sheets on his bed. Happy Holidays!

Missing my Book Group

Book group just hasn't been the same since the bookstore where we met for more than 10 years closed down. The owners couldn't find a buyer who met with the approval of the landlord so the lease was lost and the business folded. It was one of the last independent bookstores around. We started meeting in the food court area of a large grocery store. I went three times. It's too loud and distracting for good conversation. I'm still on the email list so I get updates, and I know what the group is reading. The group is supposed to move to the bookstore at the local community college when the major renovations of that space are complete, but that space probably won't be ready till after the first of the year. I've missed meetings because of my kids' activities, but I could have made other plans and gone to the meetings if I felt like I was going to enjoy it.

I'm reading an interesting book about Medieval Iran right now. It's called The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani. It's her first novel. It deals with the world of the Shah, his courtesans, the royal carpet designers, and a poor girl with amazing talents for design. I'm only 1/4 of the way through, but I know it's going to be a new favorite. An amazing book for a first novel.

Halloween Prep

Just a few photos of our pre-Halloween traditions. Enjoy!

Endings and Beginnings

Football is over. Noah's team lost their playoff game this evening. The coaches praised the boys and thanked them for a great season and Noah cried. He gets emotional when he loses, but this was more about saying good bye to some men he really respects. We'll have the end of season party on the 4th and turn in the gear. His head coach, a big teddy bear of a guy, gave Noah a big hug and said "I love you." That just made Noah cry more.

After the game Forrest and the kids went to a huge haunted house with the neighbor and his kids. I bet they're having a great time. I didn't feel like standing in line in the cold to get scared so I came straight home. It's so nice to have the house to myself. Neither of my kids are trick-or-treating this year, the haunted house is the more mature way to celebrate. This is the first year since 1993 that I don't have to buy or make a costume. We're getting pumpkins tomorrow because I refuse to give up that part of the Halloween celebration.

This past week Noah had basketball tryouts in addition to his football practices. He's exhausted. Basketball practice starts this week so we get no break between sports this year. It will be nice to be inside, warm and dry for a change. Football practices and games were getting very cold and wet.

Forrest and I will celebrate 18 years of wedded bliss tomorrow. Alyssa is babysitting for one of Noah's friends tomorrow night so they're staying overnight while Forrest and I go out to dinner. Forrest and the kids brought me home two dozen beautiful apricot roses today. What a lovely surprise. We're going to our favorite seafood restaurant at the marina. I can hardly wait.

Students

My teaching teammates and I have been wondering why this year's group of children seems to be so much more immature than the average class. They aren't all immature, but there is definitely a higher percentage than usual. I think I have the answer to at least part of this puzzle. In my class more than 3/4 of my students are the youngest in their family. Since I'm married to the baby of his family I do know quite a bit about them. They tend to be coddled, babied, and rescued by their parents.

I have to admit that I've rescued Noah from difficulties at school myself. But my oldest never needed rescuing. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that Noah had left his language arts book in my room after completing his homework the night before. Since I have a break at 9:30 I decided to run the book over to him. I was hoping to just slip in quietly and drop it off in his class. But Noah's teacher, Tom, who is a friend of mine wouldn't let that happen. When he saw me he said, "Look class, Noah's mom has come to rescue him. Our parents do that for us all the time and we need to appreciate them. Noah go give your mom a hug and thank her properly." So with bright red cheeks Noah walked across the room and grudgingly gave me a hug. I don't think he'll ever leave a book behind again.

Homecoming Dance

Alyssa had a great time at the Homecoming Dance last night. She went to dinner and then to the dance with two of her girl friends, Randi and Amanda. They had dinner at Jimmy's Pizza and Pasta at one table and Forrest, Noah, my folks, and I ate at a separate table. Then I drove the girls to the dance where they met up with the rest of their friends. I was shocked to see several limos, including a huge Hummer limo. It's only the Homecoming Dance, not the prom. That seemed a bit excessive. Most of the dancing was done barefoot, so she didn't need those fancy red shoes she bought after all. She danced her first slow dance with an old friend. In fact she's know that boy, Dain, since she was two years old in daycare. Here a couple of photos of the evening.

Homecoming Parade

Tonight was Alyssa's Homecoming Parade. This year all of the floats were great. I think either the seniors or juniors will win this year. The sophomore's vision of New Orleans was a bit complicated for a float which they could only spend six hours on. As you can see by the lighting in the photos the weather changed a lot during the course of the evening. By the end of the parade Alyssa was soaked and freezing. She came right home, showered, and went straight to bed. The past few days of float building, homework, and less sleep than she's used to have take their toll. She's the big sleeper in this house. Ten hours a night is what she runs best on. I'm lucky to get seven. Tomorrow is college dress up day so Alyssa is going to wear all WSU garb including her brother's WSU flip flops. I'll post later this week and include photos of Alyssa in her Homecoming Dance dress.

3:10 to Yuma

Forrest and I finally took ourselves out for a date night. We've been trying to get to the theatre to see this movie for weeks. We even went on a Friday night and paid full price. Usually we're too cheap and only go during economy hour. "3:10 to Yuma" is a gritty western with Russell Crowe at his charmingly evil best and Christina Bale as a heroic Civil War vet. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It's always been a pet peeve of mine to see a Western where the actors are dirty yet have dazzlingly white teeth. This movie is not one of those. The men are all dirty right down to their poor dental hygiene. It definitely makes the movie more realistic.

This week is all about Homecoming for Alyssa. She spent hours decorating Mardi Gras masks for the sophomore float last night and this morning, and later this afternoon she's meeting with the float committee to start construction. Last year she was part of the winning float committee as a freshman. It was the first time in memory that the freshmen won the contest. Wednesday night is the parade through town. Hopefully it will be warmer and drier than last year. Friday is the football game and Saturday night is the dance.

A Long, Long Week

It's hard to believe that it's only Thursday night, but I know that it is because I'm watching "Survivor" as I post this. This has been a crazy week. Monday was an inservice day, so this should have been and easier week because I only had four days with students. However, that's not how this week has shook out.

Tuesday we had a very long assembly, nine year olds don't sit well on the hard floor for an hour. I didn't get much work out of them the rest of the afternoon.

Wednesday was picture day. This year we tried out a new picture company. Everything that possibly could go wrong did go wrong. My scheduled time was originally 11:15, then we were moved to 12:50, and finally we were called down at 2:15 and we were still kept standing around waiting. The kids missed their last recess because we were waiting in line for photos. I tried to take the kids out for a few minutes of recess and then it started raining cats and dogs.

Today we had our first big writing assessment of the year. It is untimed and the kids get as much time as they need to plan, draft, edit, revise, and publish a five paragraph essay. I blocked out the whole morning for this endeavor. Half of my class was done by lunchtime, most of the others were done by 1:30. What a long, tedious time to monitor children. We spent the rest of the afternoon drawing still lifes of pumpkins and gourds, and helping our first grade buddies with math.

Tomorrow should be a fairly normal Friday with the exception of our fundraising assembly at the end of the day. It's time for our annual cookie dough sale. The sales rep will breeze into the school and rile the kids up into a frenzy. It's a bit like an old time medicine show. Thankfully it's at the end of the day so I can send them home to their parents right afterward.

Sorry if this sounds whiny. I really do love my job most weeks, just not this one.

More Football

Here's a photo Forrest took of Noah at Qwest field last weekend when they went to the Seahawks game. They saw a nailbiter of a game with the Seahawks winning 24-21. They rode the train down from Everett to Seattle which takes you buy the multi-million dollar waterfront homes in Mukilteo and by a nude beach frequented by gay men in the summer. Noah was quite entertained by a drunk guy telling him about the evils of drink on the train ride home.

Yesterday Noah's team dominated and won 32-0 on a cold, wet, blustery evening. Noah played the whole game on the offensive line and took a few snaps at defense. Our biggest lineman went down in the first quarter. His arm split open a gaping wound from the artificial turf and he had to be taken to the emergency room. We were so wet and cold that it took us till bedtime to feel warm again, and my nose was still cold when I went to bed. Forrest claims that his core temp is still sapped so he has no energy today. I think that's just a ploy to get out of housework.

Noah is at a paint-ball birthday party for most of the day and Alyssa is going to the movies later with some girlfriends. Forrest and I are just the drivers.

I have a teacher inservice tomorrow so the kids get a day off. However, I have assigned them a big chore. They need to completely clean out the storage area under the stairs and reorganize the holiday decorations and craft supplies that are stored there. I'll be presenting some lesson ideas for teaching 6-Trait writing as part of the inservice. Thankfully I was able to put together all of my materials for this inservice last spring when I had a student teacher so I'm all set to go.

Class Ring: 2010

Alyssa ordered her class ring yesterday. When she was born in 1992, 2010 seemed so far away. Now it's right around the corner. I'm certain I didn't get my class ring till my junior year, but the thinking now is you should get it as a sophomore so you'll get more wear out of it. I haven't worn mine for 25 years, but I've had it on all week. Alyssa wanted to see it when she was designing hers so I dug it out of the jewelry box and haven't gotten around to putting it back. Class rings have really changed. She designed it all online, printed it out, took it to school, and had her hand sized, and ordered in her unique design. I'll post a photo of it when it arrives.

First Loss

Noah's team suffered their first defeat today at the hands of some very big Burlington Tigers. On a bright note he caught his first pass in a game. Unfortunately I was so excited that I goofed up the filming and only got footage of the grass. Noah's friend, T.S., another former soccer player made his first kicking extra points today. The photo is a bit blurry, but you can see Noah, #89, finishing his block and the ball sailing right through the uprights. In this league kicking the ball after a touchdown is worth two points and running it in is worth one. That's the opposite of high school, college, and the pros. But kicking is very difficult for young kids.

We just got a call from some friends who have Seahawks tickets for tomorrow that they can't use. Forrest and Noah will have a great time at the game. Noah went to bed before we got the tickets so he'll be surprised in the morning. It will be Noah's first pro game. I'm so jealous.

Weekend, Glorious Weekend

This was a very long week. We're done with the review and assessments so this week we really worked in my class. The children had to complete their first five paragraph expository essay. I was pleasantly surprised that most of them were successful with the organizational structure required for this type of writing. I also had the kids draw and label a free hand map of Washington. It's amazing to see how distorted their perceptions are of their home state. But generally you can identify the state and its regions.

It's gotten quite chilly this week. The temp in the house hovers about 65, and it's in the forties outside at night. Forrest says we won't turn the furnace on till November 1 (except for the weekend my folks visit next month). I don't know if we'll really hang on that long without heat. We had our first propane delivery of the fall to the tune of $330. But we haven't had a delivery since May so that last tank lasted a long time. In the evenings when we get home we turn on the propane fireplace in the family room to take the chill off, but I don't think that will be enough to see me till Nov. 1st.

Noah has a game tomorrow, it will probably be their first muddy game. The boys will love it. I won't, Noah's uniform shirt is white with blue and gold accents. Oh well, that's what Spray and Wash is for. So far Noah has straight A's in middle school. He's working very hard, and he's being very responsible about his homework.

I took Alyssa shopping for a dress for the Homecoming Tolo dance. The girls are supposed to ask the boys, but she's going with a group of girls. It's a basic black dress, very classy looking. She wants to buy red shoes to wear with it. She's going to sign up to take the PSAT next month. It's on a Saturday morning from 7:30-11:30 AM. I know I'll be the one taking her. Forrest doesn't get up that early on a Saturday unless he's fishing or playing golf.

Eagle Blue, Michael D'Orso

I seem to be on a sports book phase in my reading, first I read Blind Your Ponies an excellent fictional account of small town sports in Montana, the undermanned basketball team from a school trying to avoid consolidation with a neighboring school and their run to the state tournament. Now I'm reading a nonfiction book, Eagle Blue, by journalist Michael D'Orso. D'Orso spent an entire season with the Fort Yukon, Alaska Eagles. The basketball teams in the native villages are the center of the social life of these small isolated compounds. The teams fly to most of their away games, this mode of travel is hampered by cold temperatures. When the temp is -40 or lower they can't fly. The fuel becomes gelatinous at extreme temperatures. Through this book I learned that there are still isolated Russian settlements of old believers with long beards wearing traditional dress from a cenury ago still residing in Alaska. These villages love basketball too. I haven't finished the book yet but I'm enjoying it so much I had to write about it.

Our family is still immersed in football season, but the try outs for Noah's select basketball team are in a mere five weeks. I can hardly wait. I love basketball!

A Satisfying Day

Today was a great Saturday. Alyssa had an early morning babysitting gig this morning so after I dropped her off I made myself go to the gym since I was out and about already. I felt great all day. I'll have to do that again. After that I filled the day with puttering and pretending to clean house and running errands.

While I was at the gym Forrest went fishing and caught his first pink salmon (or Humpy) of the season. Today was the third time he's gone. The pinks run every other year and can be caught from shore. The first time he went fishing this week there was a sea lion in the area scaring the fish. The salmon went right into the freezer to be smoked at a later date. Forrest is hoping to catch several and smoke them all at the same time. Pinks tend to be mushy so smoking is the best preparation method.

Noah's football team won their second game 13-0. He didn't play any defense today, but he is on both kicking teams and he played most of the game on the offensive line. One of his teammates had an 85 yard touchdown run. It was beautiful. This was a difficult game because it was against one of the other Arlington teams. We have 3 at this age level. I have former students on the other team and one of Noah's best friends is on that team too. I'm glad this one is behind us. It was a great day for football in the Northwest all around: my Ducks won, the Cougs and the Dogs won too. If the Seahawks win tomorrow it will be perfect!

First Day of School

This is partially a faux first day of school. Wednesday was Noah's first day of middle school and my first day with my class,but Alyssa didn't have her first day till today. Yesterday only the freshman students had to attend. Alyssa came to school with me and volunteered to help our friend,Tracy, set up her kindergarten classroom.

Noah likes his teachers so far. He has Home Living every other day this quarter alternating with PE. He worked with sewing cards today so the boy will be able to sew on a button when he grows up.

Alyssa had quite a bit of homework for her first night. She has to give a speech in Spanish about herself tomorrow so I got to be her audience while she practiced. She thinks her math teacher is a bit creepy (lots of very dramatice eye make-up).

My class seems to be full of very sweet kids. Most are excellent readers. Math is the subject I'm worried about. Based on my early assessments we're going to have to work very hard this year.

Labor Day Weekend

This was weekend all about family. We started with a visit to my grandmother to wish her a happy 98th birthday. Although she struggles to hear her brain is sharp. Grandma completes several word puzzles each day.

The next stop was my mother-in-law's house where we got to see Forrest's sister, Jeweli, and her two youngest boys. We hadn't seen them since they moved to New Mexico three years ago. Forrest's family is a yours, mine, and ours family. He grew up with three half siblings-Jeweli and Art from his father's first marriage and Debbie from his mother's first marriage. We attended a barbecue at the home of Art and Jeweli's half sister, Kim, and her family. Noah and Alyssa found that they had a lot in common with Kim's kids. Forrest and I introduced Art to the son he hasn't seen in two decades, Jason, and his wife, Alecia. We were invited to Jason's wedding by his mother whom we met at a school reunion. Forrest offered to fill Jason in on the other side of his family so we've had them to our house for dinner and communicated by email. We were afraid that the introduction might be awkward, but eventually they started talking. Art and Jason even took on Noah and some of the other cousins in a 3 on 3 basketball game. I hope this isn't too confusing. I have trouble keeping all of the players straight myself without a scorecard.

The final day of our trip we celebrated several fall birthdays in Forrest's family at his mom's house on the lake. Then we stopped by my cousin's house to visit with her family on our way home. My cousin's oldest girl and Alyssa are very close. We've always taken photos of the kids lined up by age. In this way Alyssa is the second oldest. This time we also decided to line the kids up by height. That puts my kids at the end and as you can see Alyssa will soon be last as her brother is catching up with her.

Tomorrow night is back to school night. I have mixed feelings about the start of the school year each summer. I'm sad to see my carefree days disappear, but excited at the prospect of meeting new children and families. My kids are happy with the schedules they received and are anxious to see their friends, but they're not ready to do school work yet. Me neither.

Photos from 1st Game

Noah is the kid with the white sleeves making the tackle. After the game the linemen were praised for making that big score possible. The first year players were praised for stepping up and proving themselves. Due to injuries and illness lots of the boys were forced to play positions they've never played before. While the coaches cheered and praised the boys they warned them that the lopsided score would spread throughout the league and the other teams will come gunning for our team to prove that this game was a fluke. The kids were told to enjoy the win and come to practice this week with the same intensity they showed in this game.

Eagle Football

Noah had a great first game. His team shut out the Bulldogs 52-0. He played every down but one in the first half which ended with a score of 34-0. He played less in the second half so the subs could get some playing time and we wouldn't run up the score too much. On offense he played tackle instead of tight end which is his usual position. On defense he played defensive end. He pressured the quarterback and blocked one pass and caught an interception. He also got a sack and had assists on several tackles. I was so proud of him. I'll have to post pictures later. Forrest took the digital camera camping so I had to use the 35mm camera with film that I have to take to the drugstore for developing.

It was a wet, wet game. The game started an hour late. Since we were the last game scheduled for the day all of the delays from the rest of the games equaled a 5:45 start instead of 4:45. By looking at how the parents were bundled up in the stands you'd have thought it was October instead of August.

Forrest and Alyssa will return from camping today. Can't wait to hear all about their trip. I'll try to post photos later today.

Weekend Plans

This was supposed to be a kid free mom's weekend. Forrest and our friend Dennis were supposed to take our four kids camping so that the moms could go shopping, watch chick flicks, and get pedicures. That was the plan until the football league decided that Noah's team should have their first game of the season tomorrow. So now the camping trip has become a father/daughter trip and Noah is staying home with me. He's going home to spend the night with a friend after his game tomorrow so I will have tomorrow night free. We have four chick flicks from Netflix to watch. I'm not sure I can stay up late enough to watch all of them. Alyssa has demonstrated her best OCD traits in preparing for this trip. She made lists, gathered supplies, and was a great help to Forrest in the packing of the trailer.

Noah has worked really hard this week to earn a starting spot at defensive end. He is also on the kicking team and the receiving team. He's second string at tight end, but he might get to start since the kid who starts ahead of him wrenched an ankle at practice last night and sat out the second half of practice.

It's hard to believe that summer is almost over. I didn't get my closets reorganized or the photo albums completely updated. However, I took every opportunity to sit on my deck to read and look out at the water and my rose garden. That does more to recharge my batteries for the coming school year than cleaning and organizing chores. Those things can wait for rainy Sunday afternoons.

Jamboree

Noah's football team, the Blue/white Eagles, played a practice game against a team from Marysville. I don't know what they feed those boys in Marysville, but they're all big. Noah is one of the bigger kids on his team, the kids on the Marysville team start at Noah's size and go up. Noah is number 89. The Eagles struggled in the first half, but they battled back in the second half and played much better. This was considered an instructional game so the coaches were on the field with the boys.

This coming Saturday will be the first real game. Noah isn't starting, but he's one of the first boys off the bench. Since this is his first year he has a lot to learn. He's still over thinking. He doesn't want to make the wrong move, so by the time he makes a decision about the right move it's sometimes too late and he misses his block. The boy just needs some time to develop the type of instincts he has on the basketball court. It was hard to watch the boys struggle. The Marysville team had a dominating 150 pound running back who scored a touchdown on their first possession (Noah only weighs 124).

The weather sure feels like it's football season. It's cool and rainy. I have stadium coat picked out from Land's End that I was waiting to buy in a couple of weeks. I may need to order it sooner if it doesn't warm up. I was hoping to get in a few more hours reading in the sun on my deck before school starts. Hopefully the weather men are right and we'll get some high 70s temps before the end of the week. It looks like March outside right now. I hope the hot weather doesn't return just in time for the first week of school. That would be miserable.

A Great Book

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a terrific book. I read it in a day and a half. It's my book group's September selection. It tells the story of a former circus vet during the depression as he looks back on his life from his 90s living in a nursing home. There's a love story at the heart of it and tons of period details about life on the road during the 30s. A great end of summer read. Enjoy!

More 3 on 3, Driving, and Boo

Once again our weekend revolved around a basketball tournament. The results weren't as positive this time around. The boys finished 3rd. The field of teams was much bigger, and the boys faced many of the same players they play against in their regular AAU season. I was impressed with the boys' grit. They kept their heads up and kept battling. They lost their first game and then won 3 games in a row before losing game 5. Alyssa had a chance to hang out with some of her babysitting pals. Last night we had the basketball families over for a barbecue. The weather turned very cold for an August evening so I passed out sweatshirts and we huddled around the fire pit. Thankfully it didn't rain. Our house is not big enough for seven families. We fed the kids first and then we sent them off to the park to play hide and seek. One of my friends noticed that we're just like junior high--the men clustered together around the grill yapping while the ladies hung out in a group on the deck.

A driving update: Alyssa drove on the freeway for the first time today. She was nervous at first, but she really enjoyed it and said that it was easier than she thought it would be. Alyssa took the photo of our crazy dog, Boo. I've been trying to get a photo of her on the picnic table all summer, but she always jumps down when I open the door. I don't know how Alyssa managed to get the shot.