Basketball Season Starts

The basketball season started this past weekend with the Garfield High Jamboree. Noah got to suit up with varsity. He even got to play for a few minutes in the first game against O'Dea. These are the only photos we took during Thanksgiving weekend. We completely forgot to get the camera out on Thanksgiving Day. We didn't even get our Christmas card photo taken. Here Alyssa poses with her real brother and her surrogate little brothers, Kaleb and Shawn.

Noah listens intently during a time-out.

Since he's only a sophomore sitting on the bench during varsity games will be the norm. Most of his playing time will be when he plays JV. Noah was so excited to get into the game and play his first varsity minutes. He didn't even remember touching the ball till he saw this photo. He did well. He didn't turn the ball over, he made good passes, and he played solid defense. The regular season starts tomorrow. Good luck Eagles!

Good Bye Alexander

Our four weeks with Alexander flew by. I don't know if Noah's German or Alexander's English really improved much, but the boys did become good friends. Noah and his friends were very welcoming, and Alex was just part of their group. He went to football games, Homecoming, the Absolute Air Park (a warehouse filled with trampolines, Noah's fall league basketball games, and he had his first experience trick-or-treating. Alexander got the full Halloween experience by going to the pumpkin patch to choose his own pumpkin. Unfortunately his was so hard he had to borrow a small handsaw from Forrest so he could carve it. We also took Alexander to our friend's huge haunted house in downtown Seattle. He didn't seem to like it much. I didn't either. I did like the part where our friend who owns the haunted house business let us go behind the scenes for a special tour. Before his trip to the U.S. Alex had only played Xbox once. As you can see by the photo he loves it. Alexander and Forrest share a love of race cars so Forrest bought a racing game for the Xbox, and all three of my boys love it. Alexander flew home four days ago. His trip home took 25 hours (including a 4 hour layover in New York). I hope that we will be able to visit him sometime in Stuttgart, and we told him that he always has a place to stay with us if he ever comes to Washington again.

Homecoming 2011

Noah's handsome group all ready for the Homecoming Dance. Alexander (our exchange student), Hannah, Elyse, Amilia, and Noah.


My beautiful kids. Forrest looks small between Noah and Alexander.

Time Flies

This week Alyssa starts her sophomore hear of college and Noah started his sophomore year of high school two weeks ago. Just a short five years ago as evidenced by this picture Alyssa was the big sister in every way, age and height. She's still 5'7" but he has grown to a man sized 15 year old standing nearly 6'4" and weighing 210 pounds. She is still my girlie girl fussing with her hair, make-up, and clothing. He shaves almost daily and wears cologne. They are great friends and have a wonderful relationship. I am truly blessed to have such great kids.

Peace and Quiet

I have had no one to answer to all day today. Noah has been with friends all weekend, Forrest is visiting his mom, and Alyssa went to Wild Waves today. I have had a blissful day to only do what I want to do. I did some shopping. I bought new towels for the guest/kids bath. Usually the kids' bathroom gets the hand me downs from the master bathroom when Forrest and I get new towels. I spent some time puttering in my classroom. I have enough planned for the first three days of school so I am not going in tomorrow. I will not be working on Labor Day. A nap on the deck, washing the cars, and taking photos of an amazing sunset rounded out the day. Alyssa and I plan to get pedicures tomorrow. And the kids will be doing some housework so I can start the school year with a clean house. They've been free from chores all weekend. It's time for them to step in and clean bathrooms and scoop the dog poop from the backyard.

On Tuesday I will get a massage to loosen up my neck and shoulders before reporting to school for some meetings and final prep for Back to School Night. Our wonderful PTA will feed us and the families dinner. The kids will come to my room where they will drop off their supplies, choose a cubby, and a seat, and introduce themselves to me. I am looking forward to a great year. I have several kids who are the younger siblings of students I have had in the past. It's always nice to see familiar faces and catch up with the families.

End of Summer Weekend

After a great Jamaican/Mexican feast at the home of the Adam's family Saturday night we expected to spend a quiet Sunday puttering around the house waiting for Alyssa to get home from her camping trip with her friends in Winthrop. But that's not what happened. Forrest and I picked up some delicious looking Sockeye Salmon from Costco. It was way too much for us to eat so we invited our friends, the Brysons. A few extra kids joined us for the feast. Forrest makes amazing barbecued salmon on a cedar plank. A green salad and red potatoes with dill and butter rounded out the meal. Tracy Bryson brought her famous fruit pizza and the kids also made s'mores and pie iron pies. It was a lovely evening with a gorgeous sunset. Since Forrest is going to visit his mom over Labor Day weekend this is the last big gathering of the summer of 2011 at our house. It's been a busy summer of basketball and driver's ed for Noah and work for Alyssa and Forrest. My main jobs were to run errands, drive Noah around until he got his permit (now he drives me), keep up with the laundry, and cook. I walked lots of miles during Noah's driver's ed classes, and once the weather cooperated I did get in some relaxing time on the deck with some good books. I realized that I haven't taken many photos this summer so I grabbed the camera and took a few shots last night.

Update

My dad told me that people are noticing that I haven't been keeping up with my blog this summer. Well that's because we haven't done much lately. Alyssa is working four days a week at the daycare, Forrest is also working, and Noah has driver's education classes three days a week plus drives. Noah is taking his class with his friend, Kaleb, so I usually walk with Kaleb's mom during their classes. We have walked the full Arlington Airport Trail which is 7.3 miles and parts of the Centennial Trail where it cuts through Snohomish County. After classes Noah and Kaleb usually go to the gym and lift weights or I drop them off at Lake Goodwin so they can meet up with their friends (mainly cute girls in bikinis) and work on their tans.

I have spent two days in my classroom getting it ready. I am having trouble getting motivated to spend more time there right now. All of the teachers in our district are waiting for news of negotiations. The state has given us a 3% pay cut, but we don't know how that is going to be worked into our current 3 year contract. Some districts are having furlough days. Our union president is not doing a very good job keeping us all informed so there is lots of discord and rumor mongering. Hopefully we'll know something soon.

As you can see by the photos Mom and Dad are here for a couple of days. They took us out for dinner last night to our favorite Stanwood, Jimmy's Pizza and Pasta. We are looking forward to our friend's party this weekend. It will be a Jamaican feast prepared by our favorite Jamaican transplant, Cordel Adams.

That's all the news for now. I promise to do a better job of keeping this blog up to date.

Summer Weekend

I made a solo trip to Portland to see my family including my cousin, Suzanne, who was in town for a work conference. As usual Mom and Dad treated us to great food. We also took a drive through the northern end of the Willamette Valley to check out a new resort in the Oregon wine country, The Allison Spa and Resort. It is a beautiful place, but definitely out of my price range.

We also made a stop at the Sokol Blosser Winery to admire the view and taste some amazing wine.

While I was out of town Noah played in and won the Aquafest 3 on 3 tournament, and Forrest and Alyssa took in a sunny Mariner game. Amazingly they got to see the hometown team win a game for a change.

After Jim and Michelle and her family left Mom and Dad's house Saturday night we realized that we didn't take any photos of them. Sorry guys.

Central Washington University Team Camp

Noah's junior varsity basketball coach has 16 boys interested in playing ball in the fall. This allowed him to make two teams of 8 boys each for team camp at CWU. Noah's team (the top 8 boys) played in the small school varsity division rather than the junior varsity division. The other 8 boys played JV. All of the Arlington teams competed well during camp, but Noah's team was the only group to win their division. Great work boys!

Hoopfest Weekend 2011

On last Friday we headed over the mountains to Spokane for Noah's 6th time participating in Hoopfest, the world's largest 3 on 3 street basketball tournament. On the way to Spokane we stopped in Wilbur for lunch at the Billy Burger and a visit with my Grandma Beulah. She greeted Noah's friend, Kaleb, just like another grandson. She met him last summer when we stopped in during a camping trip. Grandma showed us her pictures from the parade she was in last month as the Grand Marshal. After visiting with Grandma we continued on to Spokane to check in at the hotel and to pick up the team's registration packet.
Hoopfest is a tiring weekend and Noah takes every opportunity to rest between games. The boys had a very successful weekend. The rules of Hoopfest are that the winner of a game is the team which is ahead after 25 minutes or the first team to score 20 points.
Noah's team won all four of their games by being the first team to 20 and were crowned Hoopfest Champions for their bracket. It was a very successful weekend for Arlington teams. I know of three other teams who also finished first and another team that finished second.

Noah and his friends like to play skins, but they decided to add sleeves this year, and Noah added the additional accessory of a retro headband. Alyssa is one of the boys' biggest supporters so she of course had to pose with them in front of their court.
Noah is joined by teammates Kaleb Bryson, Bradey Brummel, and Nate Lewis. In six years Noah and his friends have won their bracket twice now. Good job boys! We're proud of you.

After this exciting weekend I made a more sobering trip to Portland for a funeral. The father of my best friend from high school passed away last week. Although it was a sad occasion, it was a great celebration of life for a man who know how to live life well and thoroughly.

May 7th and 8th

Saturday was Noah's 15th birthday. He spent it with his parents, grandparents, his sister, and his basketball teammates. He played three games, winning 2 and losing 1. It hit me hard that my baby boy is growing up because I recently signed him up for driver's ed class for August.
And as you can see he is much bigger than I am. I looked him up on a growth chart, and for his age he is in the 97th percentile. Noah is now 6'3" and 195 pounds.

Mom and Dad came for the weekend on their way to eastern Washington. They got to experience our hectic weekend of basketball in Seattle. Thankfully they are good sports. They took us out for several yummy meals. Thanks for a great visit and for sharing Noah's birthday and Mother's Day with us.

This next weekend we will be on the road for basketball again. We will be staying at a hotel in Ellensburg, and Noah will have games in Selah, Yakima, and Naches. Alyssa is going to meet up with us and spend the weekend following us around.

Weekend in Olympia

My sister, Michelle, and I made a return trip to Olympia for a weekend away from our husbands and children. We made this same trip two years ago. We stayed at the same funky, old hotel, The Governor, which is within walking distance from many excellent restaurants and shops.

The weather was lovely, sunny and clear with just a bit of wind. It was a little chilly, but manageable with a light jacket. We shopped, explored the farmer's market, walked along the waterfront and up the hill to the capitol building.

We were very pleased that despite the recession all of the small stores and boutiques that we enjoyed two years ago are still in business.

After dinner at the Fish Tale Brewery Cafe we went to the movies. I heartily recommend "The Lincoln Lawyer." It's a great suspenseful drama.

On the way home I ventured in to West Seattle to watch Noah play two games in the varsity division of his AAU spring league. He plays on both the JV team and varsity team. His JV

team is 4 and 2, but the varsity team

hasn't won a game yet. They are an

all freshman team playing varsity

teams which is an uphill battle.
Noah's team is 14 and 15 year olds playing 16 and 17 year old juniors.

Next weekend Alyssa will be coming home for Easter and Noah will have a rare weekend off from basketball. Alyssa and I are looking forward to see the new James McAvoy movie, "The Conspirator" about the trial following the assassination of Lincoln. Unfortunately Forrest will have to work on Easter at the tulip festival so we will have our Easter dinner Saturday night.

Spring Break Part One

Alyssa finished her final exams on the 15th and came home for her spring vacation. She won't go back till the 27th so she gets nearly two weeks off. She was here for the basketball banquet on Wednesday night. Noah was voted Most Valuable Player by his teammates. It was a great moment. Now we're on to spring basketball ball. Noah's North City team won their first tournament. Noah has joined an established team so he is having to prove himself and earn his playing time. The coaches don't know him as well as they do the other kids. Noah has only been working out with them for two weeks. He played well in all four games. This weekend was a round robin tournament and they won the whole thing by winning four games in a row. Next weekend he'll have two games with this team on Saturday and one game on Sunday with his high school team. Alyssa is enjoying her time off. She gets to reconnect with all of her "brothers," (A.K.A. Noah's friends). She got to see one of her friends in a production of "Bye, Bye Birdie." And she plans to get together with other friends from high school later this week. Noah and I have two more weeks before our spring break. We are very jealous of her time off. This was also my birthday weekend. My amazing family bought me an ipad that I am learning how to use. My friend, Erin, made me the most delicious lime/raspberry birthday cake, and Forrest and I went out to dinner with friends Friday night.

Late Winter

After a week that started with snow and a late start for my students this weekend has been beautiful. Alyssa and her friends had clear driving over the pass. She spent Saturday afternoon driving Noah and his friends around to film a short video clip for German class. We had the neighbors over for spaghetti, good conversation, and games. Today we took the kids out to lunch and then helped Alyssa pack up to go back to college complete with four loads of clean laundry. She'll be home on the 15th after her final exams. I am so happy that it's nearly 6:00 PM and the sun hasn't set yet. I'm looking forward to moving the clocks forward next weekend. I hate those days in winter when I leave to take Noah to school in the dark and don't get back home till after dark. After having snow on the ground the whole final week of February it was great to finally get out in the yard and take stock of how my plants made it through the winter. I was pleasantly surprised to see so much new growth.