Happy 8 Years!

Eight years ago today, John and I eloped on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. To our right, a homeless man cried with happiness for us. To our left, Japanese tourists took our picture. It was strangely perfect and so very us, and if someone asked if I could go back and have a "regular" wedding instead.....I would give a big fat NO. I love how we brought our lives together and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Today, we wandered around Seattle with our two precious boys and had the most fabulous time in the most beautiful weather we could have imagined. This is our anniversary picture, posed and taken by Nathan at the Seattle Center. More on our trip later though.

Happy anniversary, honey!

Socrates

I can't tell you how much this quote as been speaking to me lately.

As I choose to ease up on how much I put on my schedule each week and work further to simplify our life, I am finding more peace. I have been able to focus more on how I want to be living instead of letting my schedule run how I live. I am gradually feeling more organized and more in control. I am getting control of my stress and making better, healthier choices. I am learning to breathe and to be still, and it is wonderful. 

I realized that constant running around makes me feel out of control and incredibly tense. My shoulders are not meant to be hunched up by my ears! Seriously, you have no idea how many times a day I would find myself in a "hunchback" stance while out and about. I can't stand an overly full schedule. No more. I will not live that way. It is teaching the boys to slow down as well. Behavior has been better and fights between the boys have eased up. Aiden is reacting to frustration much better in a very short amount of time and I truly think it is because I am allowing us to have plenty of relaxed downtime as a family throughout the week.

While I would normally want to fill our spring break with activities, I am not doing that this year. We have a few things scheduled throughout the week, but our focus is on relaxation and being together. The boys are very excited about it! And the fact that they actually are excited to focus on relaxation tells me that we're on the right path.

Plants!

The preschool we have been attending since 2008 is having their annual plant sale fundraiser! These plants are certified organic and are really great plants. We've always been very happy with our purchases. There are flowers, veggie samplers, and gorgeous hanging baskets. To check them out, visit: http://www.newleafgreenhouse.com/Spring_Plant_Fundraiser/

Orders are due by April 10th, if you're interested. As far as plants go, we can only deliver to the local Portland-metro area - but if you are just aching to help out and donate, we will accept a donation and the plants will be put to good use!

Feel free to comment, email, or give me a call if you have any questions or want to place an order/donate. The school has a goal of updating their technology and really bringing early childhood education into the 21st century. It's a great cause!

One Little Step

The school district finally got around to completing the qualification and designating Aiden as an official TAG student within the school and district. And they gave me this handy little book....which tells me everything I've already read over the last three years. Beginner? Psh!

I had a meeting with Aiden's teacher after school today. She started with "Well, Aiden has qualified for TAG, which we knew was inevitable back in October...". At least I'm not the only one who feels like this could have been done much earlier. We discussed assessment results and brainstormed lessons for him for an hour and a half. My brain is mush. I don't know how teachers do it.

This is just a little step in the whole process of trying to meet the challenges that Aiden needs and craves, and giving him tools to ease the frustration when the work is boring and easy for him. This is much harder than John and I ever could have imagined. We have a long, long road ahead. But we are very thankful that the official qualification is confirmed. That will make things much easier in the future.

Underpants Dance

Today was long and overwhelming and mind-boggling. I was in a complete mental fog by late afternoon. I prepped dinner and got in the oven, then decided to attempt to fold some laundry while it cooked for an hour. The boys had been playing nicely on their own, so I figured it was a reasonable time to try to get something done.

Not five minutes into it, I hear Aiden laughing so hard he can barely breathe. I head downstairs to see what's happening and there stands Nathan. Dancing. In his underwear. In the living room window. In full view of the nice, elderly neighbor who is trying to mow his lawn. And the poor guy is cracking up at the sight of Nathan, dancing away in his underpants in the window.

How embarrassing. But I had to appreciate that it was grandfather who witnessed it, as I'm sure his own children and grandchildren have done some pretty strange things too.

"What IS it?!"

I found the mother of all jicama. It weighed in just over four pounds. I didn't even know they grew this big. It was the only one left in the store, so if we wanted jicama, I had to get this one. Obviously everyone else had passed it up because it was much bigger than any person/family really needs. The cashier said, "What IS it?!", and then I had other people in line ooh-ing and ahh-ing over this gigantic jicama. Crazy.

Taking a Break

We've had our rears handed to us this winter from every viral illness you can think of. Aiden is currently on the couch with pink eye AND a stomach bug. I am attempting to recover from a vicious upper respiratory virus that required three different prescriptions just so I didn't feel as though I was clinging to life. It seems as though we are keeping up with the "sick every two weeks" routine and it is really wearing us down.

Aiden is still struggling as we wait on TAG stuff. There's been a lot of frustration at school and when he gets bored, his patience is at zero. Things fell apart a bit a few weeks back and that prompted John and I to ask for help. We feel in over our heads with keeping Aiden challenged and unable to properly deal with his frustration when he gets bored. We again feel so blessed that our pediatrician has experience in working with TAG kids - he was able to refer us to a counselor who also has experience working with TAG kids and we have begun seeing him. Aiden's teacher is doing a fantastic job doing what she can with a class full of kids and she has arranged for Aiden to begin 6th grade reading starting next week. The best part is that our pediatrician, the counselor, and Aiden's teacher are all going to be in contact with one another so everyone will be on the same page.

Taking Aiden's current needs into consideration, John and I made the decision for me to take a break from school until the fall. There were some tears shed on my part (I guess I really enjoy it!), but taking some other things into consideration, I know it is the best thing for me to do. Next term would have required me to take class on campus in North Portland (nearly into Vancouver) twice per week. With John's current work schedule, this required childcare for the boys. Childcare costs for the term would have been around $700-$800 and we felt like that just wasn't within our reach.

Additionally, there would have been the extra gas cost for my car - provided my car would have actually survived the nearly hour long drive to campus and then back again two times per week. It can barely make it 15 minutes around town at the moment, as the transmission is going out. I considered the possibility of John and I trading cars on those nights, but my car leaks oil like crazy and Intel has a policy to fine anyone whose car leaks oil onto their parking lot every single time it happens. We could not have afforded fines two times per week.

John will also be taking his final engineering exam in April and with the time required to study for it, I knew we needed to focus on John's studying more than mine for the time being.

I have gotten high praise from my teachers over the past year and the main instructor/advisor for the program is already lamenting my absence, so I know I have a lot of people who will make sure I actually do return in the fall. The upside is that I was already planning on taking the summer off (mainly because I've already taken those classes), so I am only putting things off for one extra term. So, I will be done with the current term in two weeks and then that is it for a while. I'm sure once I get over the initial boredom, I will appreciate the extra time to focus on the boys. And besides, I have lots of time to finish school. The boys won't be this age again and I register my baby for kindergarten on Monday!