I always love it when The Nana is here.  Correction:  I always love The Nana being here.  But since she comes to help when things get crazy, she's always here during the craziest weeks.  This week was no exception.

It started the end of last week when poor, sweet Aiden started complaining of an intense headache and vomiting.  By Saturday afternoon, he couldn't stop crying over the pain in his head.  Long story short, after a call to the pediatrician and a check at the ER, it seems he had a virus that produces the same symptoms as the flu but doesn't test positive for flu.  He ran a fever on and off all week, going to school every other day, and running himself ragged - happily ragged - at basketball on Saturday.  He's still not all better, but he's smiling and happy and on the mend.

We fit in a lot of errands, cleaning, organizing, appointments, and meetings.  Somehow on Thursday, we managed to take Alysia to storytime at the library, pick up the big girls from their finals-week-early-release day, get lunch, get all the girls' hair cut, get Alysia to the doctor, get home to have dinner, take the big girls to their church activities, Aaron and I both had church meetings - one here, one out of town, he brought the girls home after, and I finally got home a little before 10 p.m.

On Friday the boys got their hair cut and Aaron and I left for the temple, with a stop at Costco along the way.  The only hiccup was that we had to take Aiden out of school early because I had erroneously thought he had a half-day because the big girls had a half-day.  I seriously need an extra brain just to keep track of where everyone is supposed to be and when.  That 'brain' has traditionally been housed in my iPhone.  However, it (the phone) has decided that it no longer enjoys its job and likes to take breaks during the day, shutting itself off at random intervals.  Actually that is also an accurate description of my brain as well...  Hmmmmm....

The temple was such a peaceful respite from the demands of the week.  Afterward we had such fun talking and laughing with friends over Mexican food that we didn't get back home until 1 a.m.   We are too old for this.  Saturday morning the boys had basketball, and that evening Aaron played auctioneer at the fundraising dinner for the cub scouts.

I am hopeful that this next week may be a little less demanding, but that usually isn't the case.  I am getting a little better at accepting this pace as a season of our lives, one that won't last forever.  And I have our little bag lady - Hurricane Leela - to remind me every day.  For that I am very thankful.

A while back, I posted about accepting the imperfections of life and finding joy in the moment.  I wish I were better at that.  I've thought several times about updating my blog in recent months but my compulsion to produce a perfectly-composed entry with accompanying images has led me to procrastinate even more.  Good grief.  Get over yourself already.  This blog is no more meant to be perfect than life is meant to be perfect.  Journaling is about documenting my experiences - unpolished, open-ended, and in-progress, just as they are.


We had a wonderful Christmas.  We spent several days with my family and were treated to great experiences.  Grandma Lori took us big girls on a Christmas tour of the historic Pittock Mansion in Portland.  








Then she took us to Papa Hayden's for their famous desserts.  For those of us who rarely eat out, and never get to the gourmet restaurants, it was a rare treat.  Their food is incredible and beautiful.


We got to spend some time with my grandma, my uncle, and my cousin.  We took our first annual Family Walking Tour of Neighborhood Christmas Lights.




Then at Nana's we did a different fun family activity every day.  Swimming, 3 different movies, and the thrill of the Littles' week - Chuck E. Cheese.

Nana started our Christmas time together with a family lesson about the true meaning of Christmas and its symbols.  She talked about how our gift to the Lord is serving others.  For each nice thing the kids did to help someone else during our visit, they got to put a bow on the present for the Savior.  They really got in the spirit of the season.






So already 2011 has brought a few surprises.  The plan for this year came from a very sweet encouraging email from a friend:  Stick to the basics, be diligent and wait to be amazed!!  Bring it on. 

Has it really been 5 months since my last entry?  Good grief.  I turned 38 this weekend, and this is as good a time as any to catch up and re-dedicate myself.


The summer both dragged and flew by, if that is possible.  We were all so incredibly exhausted and burned out by the last day of school.  We spent a good portion of the summer just enjoying being able to sleep in and stay up late.  Aaron was still spending his days studying, and his Saturdays teaching a class at the University, so we stayed on the island during June and July.  This summer's weather was the coldest and wettest we've ever had since moving here 8 years ago - rarely reaching 70 degrees, even while we did our fireworks on the 4th of July.


The last week in July was Kylie's first year of our church's Girls' Camp.  I have been dreading it for years, knowing I would be going along.  I've been on enough field trips to know that large groups of young people are rarely enjoyable for any length of time.  That's where I was wrong.  The week was wonderful.  I was surrounded by over 100 girls who had no need to engage in drama or histrionics because they were confident in their identities as daughters of God.  Everyone could relax, enjoy, cooperate, and learn in an environment of friendship and sisterhood.  I am so glad I get to go back again with these girls and these women.  Next year, I'll even smile in a picture or two.



In August, Aaron's schedule cleared out for a bit, so we took advantage of that time to travel to Oregon to visit with my folks.  I realize that my Grandma's ability and willingness to travel up from Medford to see us in Portland may not last much longer.  So any time she is willing to make the trip, we try to coordinate our efforts.  It takes an act of Congress to get this family of 6 + dog organized, packed, and loaded for a road trip, but we did it.  We knew we probably wouldn't make the best time, leaving at 1:00 on a Friday afternoon, but we didn't figure the normally-5-hour trip would take nearly 9 hours.  Dang.  It was so great to have some free time to enjoy our family, both immediate and extended.  We had all of Grandma's grandchildren in one room for the first time in years.  That was awesome.





There was a lot of informal fun too.  Thank the Lord for summer!

I thought blogging would be such a great way to motivate myself to journal more regularly.  Certainly I have recorded thoughts and events more in recent months than in recent years, but once again, my perfectionist tendencies have impeded my progress.  Of course I do many things every day that are imperfect and have no qualms about that.  However, when it comes to putting something in writing - archiving something for future generations - yowza.  That's a lot of pressure to get it 'just right.'  I really need to get over that.  'Perfection redefined' and all that...


The weekend following Aiden's birthday, The Nana took the whole family to see 'How to Train Your Dragon' in 3D, as per the birthday boy's wishes.  




Since we rarely attend movies that are not Nana's treat, I was floored when I realized that the cost for our family to see a 3D movie on a Friday afternoon was nearly $90.  Holy price gouging, Batman...  Mr. Aiden also lost hims very first tooth.  


On the 25th, Kiara performed in the Drama Club's performance.  The students have been working on this for three months, once each week after school.  Some of the skits left a lot to be desired, but Kiara and her little best friend, Bree, were a kick to watch.  Somewhere, Kiara developed a British accent for her role as a sports reporter.  She said she was very nervous, but she did a great job.


On the 27th, Kylie and I attended the broadcast of the General Young Women's Meeting at church.  The video feed wasn't working, but we had the audio.  There were some great messages for the girls, as well as a reminder for us older 'girls' that we are daughters of God and that He is always there for us as we face the challenges of this life.  Very nice.


The following week started Spring Break.  Coupeville School District always has the first two days of Spring Break as parent-teacher conferences.  The elementary kids got to show off samples of their work from previous months.  It was neat to see how far Aiden has progressed - kindergarten is a year of tremendous growth.  Kiara showed off Power Point presentations she'd done, as well as papers, tests, and class work.  It's very surreal to know that next year we will have a second baby in middle school.  Watching their personalities and interests cement has been really fun.  


At the middle school, conferences are a round-robin type design, where all of the teachers sit in the auditorium and we make the rounds to hear about Kylie's progress.  We get a kick out of watching her try to contain her delight as her teachers make one complimentary statement after another.  


Aiden had his second dentist appointment to get another filling.  It proved to be more difficult than the first, as he already knew to expect pain.  I ended up sitting under him in the chair and holding his hands so he could calm down enough to let them work on him.  Seriously heartbreaking for a parent.  He has at least two more appointments and Aaron has generously offered to go with him to the next one.   It's so difficult to watch your poor, sweet baby boy be so scared and not be able to fix it.  


Easter weekend was very busy with family activities.  We watched General Conference on Saturday, with our traditional breakfast and appetizer treats to maintain morale.  Kiara was feeling miserable with a fever and sore throat, but seemed to improve after a good night's sleep.  Sunday we drove to Seattle for dinner with the Burdge cousins, aunts, uncles, and Aaron's mother.  The older cousins hid eggs for the younger ones to find, and the older grade-school kids formed 'alliances' to ensure the biggest haul.  Awesome.


As Spring Break progressed, we all caught what Kiara had - an adenovirus.  It wasn't the best way to spend the vacation, but it was probably good that we were all at home.  Auntie Lee and the cousins came up for a play day on Tuesday, and poor Kylie spent most of that day in bed with the fever portion of this fabulous illness.  She was really bummed.  We took the rest of the kids to our favorite Ft. Nugent park and they had fun chasing each other around, despite the chill in the air.


On Wednesday, we put on our Relief Society Quarterly meeting, and we had a couple of the ladies share their vast gardening knowledge.  We have really wanted to start a garden, but don't have the money to do a big bed like we wanted.  A couple of the ladies volunteered that their most important tip for a new gardener was -- start small.  It's too easy to get overwhelmed by a big plot and not feel successful enough to want to continue gardening.  So I planted 3 little peat pots with seeds - one of lettuce (which they say grows well here in the cool temperatures), one of cilantro, and one of chives.  When (if) they sprout, then I can put them outside in a pot.  I also really want to do tomatoes.  People said a couple of things about growing tomatoes up here...  First, grow them in pots because they do better because they are warmer, and second to grow only cherry size, because the big ones never get enough heat to ripen.  So I think I will try to do that.   Perhaps my black thumb will show a hint of green this year...


On Friday, Dad and Lori arrived for a weekend visit.  With everyone still feeling a bit puny, we weren't a bundle of excitement, but Lori assured me they enjoy the slower pace.  Our house never feels slow, but the kids enjoyed a nice walk to the beach with Grandma and Grandpa, and playing in the backyard.  We spent Saturday making a nice dinner, and introducing Grandma and Grandpa to the High School Musical experience.  Grandma liked it - Grandpa said he wasn't sure he could take much more.  LOL


They left this morning, and we've spent a lazy Sunday trying to muster the energy and strength required to complete the educational marathon until mid-June.  Thank goodness we have Princess Leela and her makeup artist to inspire us...

It is very difficult to believe that our sweet baby boy is six years old.  What a sweet bubba.  From sunrise to sunset, today was all about Aiden.  He seemed to enjoy every moment, which radiates to those of us who get to be near him.  Happy birthday, Aiden!