Mid-November fun

November is always a hectic time for our family. Not only do we have Rich's birthday and then Joe's birthday, but basketball season starts here at the International School of Stavanger. I am resigned to know that my life will be in the gym on bleachers (when I am not chasing Lily) until late March. I love basketball and the games that have been played so far have been really good ones. The boys spent their summer honing their basketball skills and it seems to have worked. Joe is on the JV 1 team (8th and 9th graders) and Tim is on the JV 2 team (6th and 7th graders...with a few 8th graders as well).
Tim had his first game on the Nov 15th...and the ref did not show up to the game. Joe and his teammate, Spencer, were tasked to ref the game. It was a big learning experience for both of them. The game ended in a tie...and went into a 5 minute overtime. I think Joe has a new appreciation for referees now. Although he really enjoyed getting PAID to be on the basketball court! Tim made several baskets and did a fantastic job during the game. ISS ended up on top! The next day was Joe's team's turn at an away game. They won as well...against some pretty big Norwegian guys. For those of you that don't know, Norwegians on the whole are tall and then...I used to think I thought that because I moved here from Japan and the difference was so striking...however, no...others that have moved in say the same thing. Joe is 6 ft tall and he is never the tallest on the court.
Tim is also playing IBA basketball, which is like a club team. Joe has aged out of that league. Tim wanted one more year of extra playing time.
The picture of me and my galpals in football jerseys was at the ISS International Festival. I was in charge of the U.S. food booth. This is a HUGE event at the school. Each country represented in the school does an activity from their country in the gym and then has a food booth with food from their country in the cafeteria. Our activity was American football. (boy was that a blast!) and so we fed (pardon the pun) off of that idea and did a tailgating them for food. We had rice krispy treats, chocolate chip cookies and frito pie. It was a great success.