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.