What is Yoga?

I have been doing Yoga classes for almost 10 years.  I started with a video in our apartment living room because I didn't want to make a fool of myself at a gym.  I have always loved yoga.  I knew that it meant "Union."  Union of mind, body, spirit.  But I learned over the last two weeks that there was a whole lot about yoga that I didn't know!  Way more than I did know, as a matter of fact!

Did you know that Yoga is actually a path?  A path to overcoming obstacles in life?  A path that will help us draw near to God?  A path that will illuminate the divine within us?  And did you know that the Asana (or poses that we do in traditional classes) is only a small part of yoga?

I feel so thankful that I have started this yoga teacher training.  I always knew there was so much more in yoga.  It always made me feel SO good!  Now I know why!  I am already feeling the peace of yoga infusing my life.  My interactions with my husband and kids.  With my attitude toward myself.

I feel like great change is coming about!

Happy Birthday TO ME!

I am now WELL into my "LATE 30s."  That sounds pretty old.  And during my 37s, I felt old.  I was in pain from early February through most of the year.  My birthday wish is for 38 to be a lot better!  I am starting off well.  I finally know what is causing my hip pain and taking action to help it heal.  I went to the spa for my birthday.  And I started my Yoga Teacher 200 Hour Certification (the first full weekend of training).  And I feel good.  Really really good.  And tired.  But good tired.
Since my birthday gift is a new bathroom, I didn't get any gifts, except these amazing cards.  My kids are the best.  Except when I am trying to get them to clean up the junk they have scattered all over the entire world during my yoga training.  Ugh.

This is Ben's card.  He told me about the black stuff in the middle.  It had some significance, but I have forgotten already (that was almost 7 days ago and my head is full of sanskrit word fragments).

It is ironic that this is Libby's card to me.  Tonight I made some yummy potato soup.  You should have seen the look on her face!  It was like I was trying to poison her.  I wish I had thought to remind her that she thinks I am "a good cook."

This was another card Libby  made me for something else (like Mother's day I think).  Just got it scanned in.

Sarah made me two cards.  Overachiever!  (Not sure where she gets this???)  She is testing for the Highly Capable program this coming weekend.  Not sure how they think Kindergarteners are going to be able to take tests from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm.  (Two Saturdays in a row!) Glad I don't have to manage that!

I especially liked this one because I am wearing a birthday tiara.

Alright 38.  Let's do this!

Libby's Note & Craft Skills

The flag Sarah is holding was Libby's work.  Libby made one for each of them and for their dolls.  Then after the victory, Libby celebrated in writing!

Libby has become quite the note writer.  I love to see her writing, even if her spelling is still a bit creative.  

Libby wrote Derek this note last night.  She wanted to be sure to get a kiss when he got home from the wrestling tournament.  Not sure why she wrote Liddy.  That is a new interpretation of her name.  

Week in Review

I think this about sums up this week.  Ben's quote from this morning when I was helping him get ready for church, "Mom, you are the nicest mommy."  Pause.  "Only sometimes you aren't the nicest mommy."

Yep, sometimes we have busy hectic weeks.
3 appts for my's hip/glute issue.  (1 at my chiro, who gives me some relief, 1 at my PT who finally diagnosed my issue! and 1 at my  new favorite thing, acupuncture.)
Subs found for all 3 weeks of my classes so I can REST my piriformis.
3 dance classes
2 wrestling matches (T-birds were 1 and 1 this week)
5 Personal Training clients
2 Classes taught
at least 85 pages of Harry Potter (finishing the 1st Book!)
Hours spent working on the bathroom?  Not enough
60+ minutes spent working on double digit subtraction with Libby that felt like 60+ hours.
3 core challenge classes
Many hours spent prepping for the Nortown Open House and an equal number of hours spent praying that people will come!  (My brochure is almost ready)
500 business cards arrived from VistaPrint--all 500 with the back of the card WRONG!  
5 people using the same bathtub.  Can't wait until our bathroom is done!
5 minutes of meditation practice per day.  I will get my mind to calm down, eventually.
30 minutes late to pick up the girls from school after my first acupuncture appt went long.  Oops, a not so nice mommy moment.
1 day of sunshine.  AHHHH!
One AMAZING Seahawks VICTORY!  (I've never had so much fun watching football.  Never.)
And, my last day of being 37.
I'm so ready for my spa day tomorrow.
38 is going to be the best year yet!

What's Mom Been Up To?

When I finished the entryway I promised I was done with projects until after I finished my yoga training (so like July or August).  But I couldn't help it.  We had some extra overtime from the protests burning a hole in my pocket.  So, here goes.  It is going to take me a month or more to finish.  But look forward to a beautiful new master bath very soon!

And, I started my yoga instructor journey.  So, I am going to be busy, but very very calm, right?

Superhero Sarah!

This Superhero is truly super!  She is a super reader, a super sharer and super patient with her siblings.  Most of the time.  She has also been super patient with being SICK.  She has had a cold since Christmas Eve (started with a nasty cough) and she is still sniffling and coughing.  Ugh.  Please go away!  I tried giving her the kid Mucinex, but she can't take the texture of the little pellets.  It makes her gag and she barfs it up.  So, Triaminic it is.  Poor girl.  But she has remained cheerful except for the occasional meltdowns (like the end of a very long 2 hour stake conference, or when Ben wants her seat next to mom).
I am really proud of her academic progress, which is due mostly to her own desire to read more than do anything else.  She is on Raz-Kids or reading a book whenever she can be.  She is testing for the Highly Capable program in our district in February.
Today the Stake President asked for all the primary kids to stand and sing "The Family is Of God" song.  She and Libby sang so beautifully.  I love their voices.
My favorite Sarah quote was this morning. She said, "Mom, it is almost your birthday and we don't have a present for you!"  I told her I was getting a new bathroom (see the What's Mom Been Up To Post) and I didn't need anything else.  She said, "I have a present for you Mom!"  And she gave me a big hug.  Then she said, "And a card."  She kissed me.  "The card says 'I love you'."  Awww.  Melt my heart!
It is funny how much she is like me.  And not like me.  She is playing chess right now with Derek.  She is figuring it out pretty quickly.  What a girl!

Libbyisms

This is how Libby describes herself.  She did all of this without my help.  She is very motivated to get homework done when she is doing something that interests her!

To say that Libby is sassy and spunky would be an understatement.  She is a girl who knows what she wants.  And will get it if she can figure out how.  And she usually can.  These gymnastics mats from Santa have already seen a lot of use!  She is cartwheeling as often as she can.  Which isn't that often, since they have school from 9:10-3:30 (add a 1/2 hour on each side for walking).  Then when she gets home, she has pages of homework.  She complains VERY loudly about some of it.  But when she buckles down to do it, she doesn't have too much trouble.  She isn't the world's best speller (although she usually does really well on spelling tests).  But I love her "best guess" spelling.

This week there was a gunman that approached their school (or the children's center next door depending on who is retelling)  just before students were to arrive.  He told a janitor that he would be back to shoot up the school and others nearby.  Shoreline district closed the schools.  Luckily we hadn't even left home.  Libby's response?  "Best Day EVER."  

They didn't catch the bad guy, (the janitor was so shocked she didn't get a good description) so we have had a higher than normal police presence.  I have never been so nervous as when I dropped them off at at school the next day.  It is never good when you are having a dinner table discussion about what to do if a gunman shows up at school.  

But, Libby was more scared by an episode of Monster High (I finally let them watch some, and guess what?) that she watched that day.  

Parenting Libby challenges me, in part because she IS ME.  And partly because she IS NOT ME.  

But I am working on figuring out how to best help her overcome her challenges (and in the process getting a pretty good view of how I could work on some of mine.)

One of the best parts of our trip to Utah was reading Harry Potter to her on the plane.  Now that we are home we have been working to finish (or should I say forcing ourselves to do our other work so that we can get back to reading?)  It has been so long since I read it that I can't remember what happened, so it is almost like I am reading for the first time too.  

I am thankful for you Libby!

Libby  made this sign for her bedroom door.  Not sure who added the K over the C.  Maybe she realized later that there was something wrong here?

Bennyisms

I decided this week to give each of the kids his/her own post.  There have been so many hilarious quotes of late.  When I asked my siblings for favorite quotes from the trip, they were almost all Ben.  

There was Ben below the rock wall in the snow saying, "A little help here?"

There was Ben taking a tubby with James (who wouldn't sit down with Ben in the tub), saying "AHH, he's tinkling (and James was almost hitting Ben with a jet stream)!"
There was Ben building "booby traps" out of pillows and getting frustrated when Brad came in saying, "Bwad! You ruined my bweatiful booby trap!"

Then Ben playing hide and seek, "You forgot one!  I'm in here!"

And also Ben having had enough with 2 other Nortons saying, "I'm tired of having sisters."

But one Ben moment trumps all the others.  He walked in on my parents taking a shower.  He stared at them through the glass for a minute and then said, "Don't worry Grandma, my sisters don't have wieners either."

He is my cutest little helper.  He always puts the silverware away.  He always drinks 17 sippies of chocolate milk (that he "helps" make) every day.  He gets SO excited when I have a client since that means he gets to watch movies on the iPad.  He started a little "buddy school" preschool this week with some friends from church and had a great time.

But my favorite Ben quote this week was this morning.  I was at a yoga training all day yesterday.  Ben said, "I love you mommy.  I really really missed you yesterday."

I love you too Ben.  Even when you ask for ALL of the "little stuffies" to sleep with, then promptly ask me to come back and remove 99% of them.  When you can't sit through all of stake conference (thanks for giving me an excuse to get a walk in), and when you pester your sisters.  You are the BEST little Benny!  Your hugs and kisses keep me going!

Happy New Year!

Despite the fact that just about everyone was sick in one form or another, we still had an amazing fondue spread for New Year's Eve.  We did fireworks and drank bubbly about 8:30 or 9.  I was in bed by 10:30.  A successful New  Year in my book!  (When did I get so old and fuddy duddy?)

Want to Work out in 2015?

These little group ex instructors in training have what you need!




Brian did an expert job filming these little gems!  He also filmed some of me for my business.  Nortown workouts soon to be offered via streaming!

And In Between the Big Stuff...

We played Just Dance, Heads Up, Go Bling, Scrabble, etc.  One of the kids favorite was Hide and Seek.  Soren remembered his favorite Ben moment.  Soren looked in the living room and found Emily.  He missed Ben's great hiding place.  So Ben said very loudly, "You forgot one!  I'm right here!"  

 I got my hair done.  We also went on a Bulid-A-Bear Expedition with Nick and Drea.  The kids LOVED this experience.  So fun.

SNOW!

In my frantic packing I forgot to pack our snow boots.  So of course, there was amazing snow to play in.  Luckily Target still had plenty in stock!  It wasn't very good packing snow, so no snow men or forts.  But lots of fluffy snowball throwing!  Until the East Wind whipped it all away with 60 MPH gusts!  It was the most insane wind I have experienced ever.

Do you see the snow ball about to hit Soren?

And the snowball about to hit me?  My favorite shots!

Buried ALIVE!

It was really tasty snow!

Skating for Grandpa Kay

My Grandpa (who was a roller rink operator by trade) passed away last Feb. He was always a part of our Christmas celebrations.  His birthday was Christmas Eve.  So, we went roller skating in his honor on the day after Christmas.  We busted out the old costumes.  Even Ben said he wanted to wear "girl clothes."  All 3 Norton kids abandoned their skates after just a few minutes.  But Libby and Sarah both tried it again near the end of the afternoon and got a bit better by the end.  They now have these things you hold onto while rolling like a walker.  I think my grandmother's technique of tightening our wheels was more effective, but whatever works!  We went to a place that had lots of other activities for all to enjoy.  Bouncy houses, a giant jungle gym, etc.  I think it was one of my kids favorite parts of the trip.
(Most of the skating costumes we have were actually  my dad's, from the Mona and Lona numbers where he and a friend dressed as girls.)  The one that I am wearing goes under the one Soren and Brad are wearing.  Ben is wearing the bloomers that go with my dress.

One of my favorite pictures of Ben and my dad!

I actually kept my skates on the whole time, but my feet were really tired by the end.  

Christmas Day...

We started the day off with frantic packing.  (Not my style, but it was the best I could do since I had to wait until they opened a few of their gifts to finish packing.)  Then we headed to the Nortons for the traditional sausages and waffles with bacon in them.  We opened gifts there and got to speak to Paige for a couple of minutes before heading to the airport.  Can I just say that I LOVE travelling with my kids so much MORE than when they were little?  They were SO good!  They each pulled his/her own carryon.  They wore their own backpacks.  And they were so good on the flight!  Ben just played with his guys and ate snacks.  He used the iPad for the last 1/2 hour or so.  I read Harry Potter to Libby and Sarah.  I enjoyed this so much, and so did they!  

Over the mountains and through the air to grandmother's house we went!

Pretty sure this is mount Rainier

We made it!
We opened gifts and had an amazing Prime Rib Christmas dinner.  There really is no place like home for the holidays!  (No place like home for breeding germs either which we were soon to discover :)

This is James, Ben's cousin.  He is about to turn 2.  They are almost the same size.  They really learned to play together.  It was super fun.  You could hear them running around the living room yelling "Beep Beep, coming through!"