The Week in Pictures

This little guy steals my heart every day.  One night at the end of dinner I had the girls clear their plates while Ben and I were still finishing up.  He was assigned to dinner clean up this week.  He said, "Mom, you fill my heart with LOVE."  Why?  Because I made the girls do part of his job!
I was also SUPER proud of him this week because we had his eye appointment to get a new prescription (his glasses have never turned up).  He was SO good for the drops.  He just let the eye doctor put drops in without freaking out at all.  Just sat there calmly.  So I bought him a Minion.
And, just a note.  If you were thinking of buying some kid flexible glasses frames yourself and then having Costco put in the lenses to save yourself a boatload of money--THINK AGAIN!  Costco doesn't put lenses in frames like that.  So, I ended up spending more and having to go away from his signature color (he's going navy blue instead of green) because I ASSUMED Costco would put lenses in any frames.  BLAH!  But he should have glasses by the next week's post.  Hopefully.  

My kids love taking pics in retail establishments.  Seriously.  

Ben in his BEDTIME BANDIT Jammies with his new Bandit stuffie.  They are always using their spending money on more and more toys.  I want them to have money, but I want them to spend it on better things.  How to do this?

We went to the last Shorewood match this week.  This season went pretty quickly.  This week Einstein starts and then districts are this coming weekend.  It's been a "rebuilding" season in many ways.  But the boys stepped up and beat Meadowdale!

Maybe this is a sign that Whole30 is giving me more energy, but I took the kids swimming yesterday.  It was super fun.  Ben still thinks he can swim, so I have to watch him every second.  Sarah passed the swim test and went off the diving board for the first time yesterday (and then did it again and again).  I was super proud of her!  Libby also passed the test and went off the diving board at least 20 times I think.  But, note to self, if they are eating whole30 and then do something intense like swimming, you better have some serious snacks on hand and make a super filling dinner (which I didn't).  Oops.  But we ate a whole package of pepperoni, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries after our post dinner trip to Target and we all felt better.  

Whole30 Week 1

So I can sum up this week with 2 words, ok 3.  Shop, cook, and meltdown.  The shopping and cooking were me.  The melting down was everyone else.  It was a bit rough!  Ben cried for chocolate milk.  Sarah cried because she couldn't have an Izzy at the Very Important Cheetah lunch.  Derek got grumpy without Coke Zero.  Libby freaked out about just about everything.
There was a learning curve for me about feeding my family food that is more nutrient dense.  But by the end of the week we were getting into a groove.  I made a whole30 sloppy joe recipe that we ate on baked homemade potato "chips."  Libby said, "After this month, can you still make this?"  This was a huge step, since most of what I heard all week was that "when this month is over..." insert what they can't wait to start eating again.
I have been surprised though, at how much healthy food they eat with gusto!!!  I am excited to see this month progress.  I feel good, great, about the same?  I didn't have a big crash this week of any kind.  I didn't freak about what I was missing mentally or physically.  It is a very eye opening experience though, to be reading labels like crazy and cutting out sugar, soy, dairy, gluten, etc.  And then to realize you can make your own without all that and it is just as good for almost everything.
My cooking has expanded to include all kinds of new ingredients and techniques.  I have printed several new recipes everyday.  I made salmon for breakfast one morning!  (Actually dinners aren't hard at all, it is replacing the gluten in breakfast and lunch that has been the real challenge.)
One week down, 3 to go--but I know that the way we eat is changing forever! (Okay I hope.)

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yep.  I'm 39.  And Sarah's comment was our favorite.  "Mom, now you are the same age Martin Luther King Jr. was when he died!"  Hmmm....
I got my hair done as my big birthday gift.  And Derek got me an olive oil mister.  (Little did he know that it would be perfect for my decision later in the week to start whole30 with the family--heaven help us!)
But I had a birthday tradition epiphany as we rolled home from the Olive Garden birthday dinner (full belly rolling and driving).  What I wanted from the kids was for them to each read me a bedtime story.  Yep, turnabout IS fair play.  I have been reading to them all these years.  So I let them each pick a book and read to me.  Best birthday gift ever.  I love that my kids are growing up.  (And I hate it at the same time, but more love than hate).

In process-literally.

Finished product.  

Sarah's book choice.  So cute to hear her read Tikki Tikki Tembo (and the rest of the name) over and over.  Love this book.  

Ben was stressing this idea at first.  But he "read" It's Not Fair pretty well!  I helped him a bit, but he enjoyed "reading" to me. 

 Libby read me Eli.  Somehow I didn't get a pic with her.  It is a long long book.  But we made it!

Derek got me an ice cream cake.  It was really yummy!  And I will savor the memory this month while I don't eat any sugar.  

Our Japanese Visitors

So several weeks ago I offered to host a few members of the Japanese Junior Olympic Wrestling team that comes over and wrestles every year or so.  Then I forgot about it.  Heard nothing more.  Nothing was entered into our calendar.  I blissfully started pulling stuff out of the attic for a massive reorganization that I could do at my own pace since no one was going to be using the guest rooms.  HA!  Then Derek casually mentions that in 5 days we will be hosting 2 of the Japanese coaches.  In our guest rooms.  Which are currently full of the attic.  And in the 5 days before they show up I have very little time.  SO, turbo speed attic clean out.  I walked 11 miles in one day moving stuff in and out, rearranging, going through boxes, purging and purging and purging.  My kids have grown, my decor style had changed, but it was all hanging out in the attic.  Whew.  Got it done!
Then I got SO nervous!  I know how to host Americans.  I know what they expect in a bed, in a towel, in a shower, in a meal...but I know little to nothing about what Japanese guests might want.  Yikes!
Derek got to spend about 2 1/2 days completely immersed in the Japanese wrestling exchange experience.  None of them spoke much English.  And he hasn't really spoken much Japanese since he finished his Japanese minor after his Japanese mission.  So 10 years.   But, it came back well enough.  The team toured around Edmonds & Seattle.  They went shopping, met the mayor, and enjoyed American cuisine.  Derek helped translate for all of it.  And he loved it.
I got to feed the coaches breakfast twice.  Scrambled eggs, bacon, rice, ketsup, soy sauce, barley tea, and fun conversation (through translator Derek).  It was so fun that it made me want to have an exchange student at some point.  They gave us so many fun gifts.  The coach on the left has 2 daughters, so I loaded him up with candy and gifts for his daughters.   We were exhausted by the end (mostly Derek), but it was well worth it!

I am hoping we will be able to afford to send Derek in June when our American All Star team goes to Japan for 2 weeks.

Lessons in Love

Last weekend we had a our official FHE (and 2016 family outing planning session) on Sunday.  Derek was gone on Monday night (see Japanese Visitors post for details on his adventures), so I took the kids to Safeway for FHE.  We needed to get some food for the week.  I told them that they could each choose a treat.  They also all brought their allowance so they could buy something extra if they wanted to.  Libby whispered to me that she was going to buy a candy for Sarah and Ben.  Then she announced loudly that she was going to buy candy for her friends at school.  During the trip to the store she was so very focused on what she was going to buy her "friends from school" that she even forgot to pick a treat for herself.  As they were getting in bed I asked if she wanted to come and "help me" as Sarah was falling asleep so she could set out the candy.  Libby wanted to wait until Sarah was asleep.  I knew it was very likely that Libby (who takes melatonin) would fall asleep first, but I didn't want to mess with her plan for her gift.  So I finished my work for the night and went to bed about 2 hours later with the candy bars still sitting on my office table.  Imagine my surprise when I found these the next morning.  Derek said her heard her get up and write the notes and set out bars sometime after midnight.  

I never realized how much my kids would teach me.  

  

Shorewood Victory

Yesterday was the Shoreline Invitational Tournament.  Last year I had yoga training all day and I missed it.  I was glad to be back (and glad it was at Shorecrest, not Shorewood so I just brought my food for the hospitality room and then enjoyed watching).  We love our wrestling family.
And, the team did really well!  2nd place!!

Ben, ready for the wrestling.  Derek took him to practice on Friday.  They stayed after to lift and Ben did pull ups, carried 10 lb. weights, and was all around impressive.  He's going to be one buff dude.

One of Ben's fav. wrestlers, Rhaye.

The kids got to watch episodes on Maren's ipad, but in between each episode, they had to wrestle or run for 10 minutes.  It was awesome to watch them wrestle.  Especially when they all attacked Clark.  

All the placers.  That is a LOT!  2nd place overall.

The whole team...everyone that weighed in at least.  

Ben was pretty excited about the trophy.

Norton Kids Cook!

One of my goals this year is to teach my kids (mostly the girls I guess) to cook.  I'm trying to make time one meal a week to let them choose what we eat and learn to make it.  Santa helped me with this goal by bringing the me a cookbook about teaching kids to cook.  Also kid knives, kid oven mitts, and measuring cups and spoons for them.  This week Sarah was our dinner prepper.  So I let her choose the menu for our kids cooking night.  She chose sushi rolls.  And since we were buying crab, we also made crab rangoons.  They did a good job of helping (except Sarah kept finding her way back to the couch to read in between each step of the process).  I'm excited to see what Libby chooses this week.

Kakizome: Nortons Experience Japanese Culture!

We have a neighbor family that we love.  They joined us for Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.  Then they invited us to join them for their annual Kakizome or Japanese Calligraphy celebration.  (Sadly Derek, who is our resident Japanophile was sick).  But we got to eat Japanese food, wear kimonos, and write in Japanese (which is insanely complicated).  It was so fun!  I learned that the kimonos with the long sleeves reaching down low are for single women.  The shorter sleeves are for married women.  I ate a few new foods.  I hope to do this again next year!  

Happy New YEAR!

This year I wasn't up for a big New Year's Eve party.  So we invited one family to spend a quiet New Year's Eve.  Then I decided to let everyone make shakers to welcome in the new year.  So, it wasn't super quiet after that.  But it was yummy, calm and great company!

We used the chocolate fountain for cheese!  I didn't get a pic of when it was flowing, but it worked pretty well.  Learned a few lessons....and NO massive flying cheese.  So that is good!  

Ben's shaker.  

Sarah's shaker

Em making her shaker

We watched a few of the Netflix cartoon countdowns, and celebrated after every one.  

Happy New Year!

Christmas Break Surprise #2 & #3

Christmas break surprise #2 was a movie (and Derek accidentally let that leak about an hour before we left).  Derek LOVES going to movies.  So I decided we could do another movie if it was a good one.  We picked a Pixar.  I've never seen a Pixar that wasn't a winner.
Until now.  The Good Dinosaur was not Good.  It was tragic and terrible.  Even Ben didn't like it.  He was asking if we could go ask the popcorn man how many minute were left when there was like at least 1/2 hour left.  Poor guy.  Sarah got all teary.  It was kind of a tear jerker.  If you cared about the characters.  Which I didn't.  Couldn't.  But again, it was good just to be all together!
Anyway, surprise #3 was a winner.
WILDLIGHTS at the Woodland Park Zoo!  Sarah figured out we were on the way to the zoo.  But Derek kept teasing the kids that we were going somewhere else.  They were getting so frustrated!  Hilarious. Actually this adventure was originally Maren, Erin, Jed & Rory's adventure that we crashed when I ran out of ideas of my own.
We didn't realize they didn't open until 5:30, so we showed up at 4:30, went to have dinner and then came back.  Pretty crowded, but still fun.

Kids before opening time.  Oops.  

Dinner at Kidd Valley.  Yum.  

One of the best parts was that the Day House exhibit was open and many of these animals were moving more than usual!  Libby got to be face to face with this massive python!  It was looking right at her!

A penguin!

They have a "Snowmazium" or something like that where you can warm up and throw "snowballs."  This was a kid fave!

Sarah ready to throw!  

I loved this week of having fun with my family.  They keep asking when schools starts again because they miss their friends and teachers....and I'm ready too....sort of.

Christmas Break Surprise #1

This week we started a new tradition.  Christmas Break Surprise Adventures.  Almost every afternoon, we went on an adventure.  But we wouldn't tell the kids what it was going to be.  It drove them NUTS trying to figure it out.  Nuts in a good way.  And it was so fun, and so nice after the stress of the last month.

Adventure #1:  Bowling.  None of our kids had ever been bowling.  I couldn't believe it when I thought about it.  I love bowling!  And bumper bowling makes it so much more fun for kids.  (And adults sometimes too, I admit, I used a bumper a time or two as I was getting my bowling groove back.  And I think Derek did once as well, but he probably wouldn't want me to share that tidbit.)  

Sarah got the award for best follow through (she would hold her follow through, Granny or regular) almost until the ball hit the pins.  Unless of course she accidentally stepped across the line and fell down.  Which happened a few times.  

I think Libby hit the bumpers the most, as in she hit them just about every time, multiple times.  

Ben used the bumpers the least.  His balls rolled so slowly that at times we didn't think they would make it.  But they always did.  (Once the ball arrived while the lane cleaner thing was still down.  Oops!)

He got so excited every time!  Notice his ball is still rolling back there, it hasn't even arrived at the pins and he is excited.  

It was just so fun to spend time all together!